Road Test: Geely CK

This car targets younger families who wish to ‘upgrade’ their lifestyle with a private vehicle to bring the spouse and kids around town

Text by Andy Hum / Photos by Adrian Wong

CARS in Singapore don’t come cheap these days. Not that they were ever cheap anyway, but the costs of ownership have become so prohibitive. With constant rises at the fuel pumps and the population of ERP gantries threatening to outnumber traffic lights, is it still possible to own a car without having a seven-digit bank balance?

When the Chinese first introduced their home-made cars to the world, it wasn’t met with open arms. Reports on the web and even on YouTube showed clearly how poorly their cars performed in crash tests.

And that was on top of the endless criticisms they faced for copying designs.

Read more about this car review on the Geely CK.

Nomadic aspirations of the urban kind

Road Test – Nissan Qashqai 2.0 (A)

Text and photos by Amery Reuben

Nissan Qashqai

SAY hello to the Qashqai, Nissan’s latest in-breeding effort to develop the once elusive “mini sport utility” vehicle. Nissan hopes that this car’s demographic will be itinerants, sparking a sense of adventure in everyone.

This smaller, European being exists to complement the Murano, and yes, it is European. Despite being conceived in Japan back in 2003, the Nissan Qashqai is really about as European as a Japanese-made entity can exist today. It was penned down by Nissan Design Europe, which is based in Paddington, London. Then, it was engineered and developed at Nissan’s Technical Centre in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, UK, and for the British market, is built alongside the Note and Micra in Sunderland.

While we’re most likely to receive stocks from Nissan’s assembly line in Japan, differences are negligible. That aside, Nissan realises that not everyone needs such a big car, especially here in Singapore. And for many here, being who they are, would rather live with just the image of owning an SUV, without the associated gadgetry, complications or costs for that matter. It’s a car all right.

Read more about this car review on Nissan Qashqai.

Comparison – Honda Accord 2.0 and Toyota Camry 2.0

Executive Orders…
By Jegan Das Haridas of SGCarMart.com, photos by Amery Reuben

Upon introduction of the redesigned and chassis-stretched 6th Generation Camry in 2006, Toyota showed why it was the benchmark in the mid-sized sedan category by offering superior levels of comfort, drive and fuel economy.

Facelift after facelift, the car has received much kudos from automotive critics and consumers alike. Their repeated record sales figures stand testament to their success. Honda on the other hand, have found themselves struggling over time to keep up with the momentum the Camry has built in this highly competitive market. The 7th Generation, US Accord garnered bad reception, most resorted to parallel imported, JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) solutions. Has Honda lost its plot? Well, it did, but not anymore.

Read more on this comparison car review.

Road Test – MINI Cooper S 1.6 JCW

By Amery Reuben
Photos by Darren Huang

You know that saying that goes something like “the top speed and 0-100 timings of your car correlates to the size of your wallet?” We can’t find a more fitting car than your John Cooper Works (JCW) tuned Mini Cooper S.

Currently an in-house signature at MINI, the JCW phenomenon originated from the late John Cooper, a race-driver who turned the seemingly sedate, original Mini into the scorching Cooper S that we know of today.

Obviously, aside from bigger exhaust cowlings, John Cooper Works decals have been plastered all over the car, from the front grille to the boot lid, and on top of the air filter – unmistakable signs that differentiate you from “normal” MINI Cooper S-es (pun intended).

Read more on this MINI Cooper car review.

Road Test – Ford S Max 2.3

S for Sporty. Or sloppy…
Article and photos by Amery Reuben of SGCarMart.com

Ford’s “New Edge” design certainly gives it the edge. A very blunt one. The 2007 S-Max came too little, too late, and it looks more like a Japanese puffer fish more than your average soccer mom’s mode of transport.

Although the front end of this car is relatively boring, you can’t help but feel this is one of Ford’s better designs, crammed with upbeat details like a heavily raked windscreen that lets in way too much sunlight, wide fenders with impressions of gills behind the front wheels, skewed windows and much more.

Despite all that, our younger, “gen-Xers” didn’t seem too violently opposed towards this vehicle, and our materialistic, Ferrari worshipping girlfriends didn’t wretch in its presence either, so we take that to be a good thing.

Read more on this Ford car review.

Road Test – Suzuki SX4 1.6 (A)

A winner perhaps?
Article and photos by Fandy of SGCarMart.com

When I set out to review this car, I imagined myself as a family oriented, budget conscious and practicality-over-style kind of man. I imagined myself to be of average financial status with a family of four. I need a car that is able to fit my family. I need a car that will give me the most mileage on a single tank of petrol. I need a car with a boot that can take my child’s tricycle, my wife’s shopping bags and more. I need a car that is comfortable. I need a car that is safe. I need a car that is not too much of a hassle to drive and maintain. I need a car that is not too expensive. I need a car.

Going by that checklist, there are a couple of options for the man like me. There are a couple of Toyotas, a few Hondas, a Mitsubishi or two and a couple more from other car makers. This market is one of the most competitive markets in the automotive sector with car makers constantly producing cars with a lot more for the same price range.

Enter the Suzuki SX4 sedan.

Read more on this Suzuki car review.

Volkswagen Jetta GLI 2.0T

Sgcarmart’s Amery Reuben takes the GLI for a spin and sees how it compares to the GTI
Powered by SGCarMart.com

If you recall, Volkswagen started the Jetta lineup here last year with the 2.0 TFSI. Great, if you like the engine of a Golf GTI in a four-door saloon with a gigantic boot. However, it never really looked the part. Simply put, its design was plain boring.

Now though, they’ve brought in the venerable Jetta TSI, and that essentially takes care of the “economical but more-than-adequate powered,” entry level lineup of the Jetta range. That leaves the identical-looking Jetta 2.0 TFSI with not much room to breathe, so instead of continuing with it, they’ve decided to up the ante with the GLI instead.

Keeping in line with German tradition, there are no GT-wings, vortex stabilizers, outlandish body kits or fake carbon fiber. Expectedly, this sleeper of a Jetta has understated touches to designate its high performance lineage. If you look closely, you’ll realize that the car is completely unlabelled of the word “Jetta,” having the two GLI badges replace it completely both front and rear.

Read more on this car review.

Discreetly yours, BMW M3 Sedan

Unlike its coupe version, the M3 sedan convincingly demonstrates that less is more, especially when it comes to visual addenda — the styling cues are all functional rather than purely cosmetic
Text and photos by David Khoo, Powered by SGCarMart.com

ONE of the most powerful letters in the alphabet has to be “M”. When tagged as a prefix to the numbers 3, 5 or 6, the presence of any BMW “M” car has the ability to turn grown men weak in the knees and feel all woolly in the belly as they’re reduced to giggly, star-struck teeny-boppers who find themselves stuck in a lift with their favourite idols.

Of course the adult equivalent is for a guy to walk in on a XXX film-shoot with four of his favourite actresses and their favourite multi-headed toy!

A sweaty session with the BMW M3, in four-door guise no less, is like scoring a date with that sweet-looking girl from next door, only to discover she’s more than capable of bringing on the fireworks when things start getting hot and heavy. Let’s just say, with the kind of antics this girl gets up to, you wouldn’t want to be bringing her home to meet momma any time soon.

Read more on this auto review.

Car Review: Opel Astra Sedan 1.8

A good everyday car, much better than anything else from General Motors, but at $86,888, is it worth it?
Text and photos by Amery Reuben, Powered by SGCarMart.com

NOW Opel insists that their new Opel Astra sedan’s life cycle will indeed succeed here in Singapore, just like it has in the European market.

But there is a slight hitch.

The Opel Astra’s oversized central hood line is this car’s main element — it penetrates the windshield, dash and centre console. Flared wheel arches and a trick two-piece rear glass work by sporting good symmetry, while a rather peculiar looking rear completes the picture with a slit rear window. Yes, it looks out of place especially when compared to the rest of the car, but the good thing is that it doesn’t look cheap.

Read more on this car review.

Volkswagen Passat 1.8 TSI Road Test

More power and punch than the old model
Text and photos by Amery Reuben, Powered by SGCarMart.com

Last year, when we drove the 2-litre Passat FSI, we were relatively impressed with the level of comfort it had to offer as a refined cruiser. It lacked power, and nothing much was left to our imagination with the car’s up-front nature. It did offer us something a little different though.

Now, they’ve replaced the aforementioned, workhorse 2-litre powerplant that we have all come to know of in the Beetle and Golf, in the form of a new 1.8-litre TSI turbo. Being the smaller brother to the bigger 2-litre TFSI, it puts out less torque and power. Don’t confuse this TSI for that of the 1.4, turbo-supercharged variant in the Golf GT though, for this new engine does not come with the latter.

Read more about this car review.