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August 22, 2016

SsangYong Designs Now Are Inspired by Korea and Nature

In the past, SsangYong has made cars which were as visually challenging to understand as their nameplates: Rexton, Actyon, and Rodius. In fact, for decades, the brand seemed to look for inspiration from the West only to have the finished product look like something that was subjected to a Korean cultural blender. Well, SsangYong is putting that past behind them and now all eyes are on the double dragons and this time, it’s for a good reason.

Enhancing the Natural Driving Feel: A Primer on Mazda's G-Vectoring Control (w/ Videos)

In 2012, Mazda has created an encompassing suite of technologies under the Skyactiv brand. These three elements: Engine, Drive (transmission), and Body are all responsible for Mazda’s fun-to-drive renaissance of late. Though found in every sixth-generation model, Mazda realizes its limitation: they work and operate independently of each other.

Kizuna: The Art of Mazda Service

With Mazda priding itself with building cars that create kizuna—a lasting, almost inseparable bond with its owner, it’s imperative that the company would also offer world-class after sales service. At the Mazda ASEAN Media Forum, the company has revealed just how far it has gone to achieve this and where they are taking aftersales parts and service next.

Mazda owes its very existence to one of its most recognizable technology: the rotary engine. Without this breakthrough, Mazda could have very well been swallowed up by Toyota and Nissan.

Driving Fun is an Exact Science for Mazda

Mazda knows it’s not a large car company. The biggest ones in the world boast production numbers topping in the 7 million range while the Hiroshima-based carmaker does no more than 1.5 million. Yet, instead of obsessing with market share and volume, Mazda wants to develop a strong bond with its customers. In turn, this has become Mazda’s corporate identity; their irreplaceable presence in the motoring world.

Long Distance Love Affair: The Mazda Skyactiv ASEAN Caravan

Photos by Ulysses Ang

There’s no greater test of love for a car than a long-distance drive. While it’s easy to get infatuated with a car right at the showroom floor, that feeling normally fades away the moment you put in the miles. You imagine the seating position could be better; the sight lines clearer; the power more linear. So imagine what Mazda put at stake when they subjected the entire Skyactiv-G line-up (except the MX-5 and Mazda6) on a grueling 4,000-kilometer journey through Indochina.

First Drive: 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Photos by Ulysses Ang

Parked neatly in a row, about a dozen 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedans stood watch at the Padrão dos Descobrimentos. One of the most recognizable landmarks in Lisbon, the monument celebrates the Portuguese Age of Exploration. It’s an apt location for the E-Class’s first outing. Always the standard in elegance and luxury, the E-Class is about to set sail to a new territory: one that brings it to the realm of cutting-edge technology and self-driving cars. This is the Mercedes-Benz for the iPhone generation.

Of Resilience and Natural Beauty: Nissan Drive to Discover Heads to Leyte and Samar

Photos by Ulysses Ang

After touring Rizal and Zambales, the third leg of “Visit the Philippines, Drive to Discover with Nissan” goes to its first location outside Luzon: Region 8. Leyte and Samar played host to the program created in conjunction with the Tourism Promotions Board or TPB, the marketing and promotions arm of the Department of Tourism. The program aims to boost local tourism using road travel to tourism destinations recommended by the TPB.

Innovation that Excites: Nissan Global Headquarters Gallery (w/ 25 Photos)

Photos by Ulysses Ang

What’s a trip to Japan without a visit to least one car museum? Previously, we’ve done the Mazda Museum, Toyota Auto Salon Amlux, Toyota Mega Web Showcase, Toyota Automotive Museum, Subaru STI Gallery, and the Nissan Zama Heritage Collection. Now, it’s a quick trip to the Nissan Global Headquarters Gallery in Yokohama.

First Drive: 2016 Honda Civic 1.8 E

There’s a saying that goes: once you go boosted, you never go back. Say what you want about the linearity of a normally-aspirated engine, but once you’ve tasted a sweet turbo, it’s hard to replace that feeling. The instant power, the feeling of being dug into the driver’s seat—it’s intoxicating. And after putting the 2016 Honda Civic RS Turbo through its paces, it’s a confirmed drug addiction on wheels. But now, in the hilly roads of Bohol, there’s something that’s just as good: the 1.8 E. Despite losing the turbo, it’s mighty good. This drive confirms what you’ve all known all along: the Civic, in any form, is great.

6 Things to Look Forward to in the 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Mercedes-Benz has diversified its product range extensively in the past few years, creating new interpretations of luxury in the process. Yet, the E-Class remains the three-pointed star’s most important and most iconic vehicle. The all-new, tenth-generation model’s launch is fast approaching and to whet your appetite, here are six standout features of the world’s most intelligent sedan.

First Drive: 2016 Nissan GT-R

The main problem with track events is that you’re given such limited seat time with any given vehicle that it doesn’t leave a lasting impression. The Nissan GT-R, as you probably guessed, is one big exception. My run with it was limited to just a handful of laps around the Gran Turismo-sounding Sodegaura Forest Raceway and a single hot lap with a professional NISMO race driver; yet it’s all that took to make me re-think if the laws of physics actually existed.

Just How Fuel Efficient Are the New Toyota Fortuner, Innova, and Hilux?

Bringing out their second-generation IMV or Innovative Multipurpose Vehicle to its first long-distance road trip at the annual Toyota Road Trek, Toyota Motor Philippines took the opportunity to test the real-world fuel mileage provided by the new GD-series diesel and Dual VVT-i equipped TR-series gasoline engines.

First Drive: 2016 Mazda6 2.2 Skyactiv-D and 2016 Mazda CX-5 2.2 Skyactiv-D AWD

What a difference a letter makes. Though it doesn’t look it, the two Mazda vehicles you see here: the Mazda6 and CX-5 AWD are very different from the models introduced last year. No amount of squinting will help you see the changes, because the only discernable difference is found on a trunk badge that reads, “Skyactiv Technology D”. Yes, Philippines, the Skyactiv-D is now here and it’s going to transform how you’ll drive.

Photos by Ulysses Ang

Huwag maging dayuhan sa sariling bayan (Don’t be a foreigner in your country) has been an effective call for Filipinos to explore more of their country first than any other place. It’s a clear message that every region of the country offers not just attractions, but culture and heritage as well. It’s a call that Kia Philippines and Columbian Autocar Coporation (CAC) heeded well as they brought six of their best-selling vehicles to the island of Negros for a three-day journey across three provinces.

Ranger Wild: The Ford Ranger Camp New Zealand

Photos by Ulysses Ang

When you get an invitation to rough it with the Ford Ranger in “Middle Earth”, you don’t say no. You get your papers in order and get ready to leave, pronto. New Zealand is known for its picturesque wild natural beauty; perfect for the go-anywhere, do-anything nature of the Ranger. All that’s needed is for me to get ready for the adventure of a lifetime.

Honda's ASIMO to Greet Foreign Travelers Entering Japan

Visitors entering Japan will be welcomed by a brand-new ambassador: Honda’s ASIMO robot. For a one-week period starting Monday, March 28 to Sunday, April 3, travelers entering through the Narita International Airport will be greeted to ASIMO’s dancing moves.

9 Significant Cars from the 2016 Bangkok International Motor Show

Photos by Ulysses Ang and Chevrolet Press

The 2016 Bangkok International Motor Show is unusually meh this year. Normally the staging ground for everything ASEAN, this year’s edition seems drier in terms of new and/or significant product launches. Still, some automakers came out with their wares; products which will undoubtedly come here in one form or the other.

Cutting out the exotics which regular buyers will likely not care about, these are the significant cars from the 2016 Bangkok International Motor Show.

First Drive: 2016 Subaru Forester 2.0i-Premium

The Subaru Forester is being attacked from the most unlikely source: the mid-sized 7-seater SUV. Though this compact crossover has its segment down pat, the allure of having a larger SUV with seating for seven has affected sales somewhat. This is critical because it’s the biggest volume driver for the purveyor of the boxer engine and symmetrical all-wheel drive. So what’s Subaru to do? Well, they’ve done the right thing: give the Forester a well-timed refresh to help it embrace a much more premium market position (without the premium price, of course).

First Drive: 2016 Toyota Innova 2.8 G

Toyota is serious about their Innovative Multipurpose Vehicle or IMV that a team of its senior engineers circled the globe and listened to customers, including those from the Philippines, to find out what their vehicles go through. Armed with this knowledge, the result is the much-improved second-generation IMV capping off with the most-awaited iteration of them all: the all-new 2016 Innova.

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August 22, 2016

SsangYong Designs Now Are Inspired by Korea and Nature

August 1, 2016

Enhancing the Natural Driving Feel: A Primer on Mazda's G-Vectoring Control (w/ Videos)

July 28, 2016

Kizuna: The Art of Mazda Service

How the Rotary Engine Saved Mazda

July 25, 2016

Driving Fun is an Exact Science for Mazda

July 21, 2016

Long Distance Love Affair: The Mazda Skyactiv ASEAN Caravan

July 19, 2016

First Drive: 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

July 13, 2016

Of Resilience and Natural Beauty: Nissan Drive to Discover Heads to Leyte and Samar

July 3, 2016

Innovation that Excites: Nissan Global Headquarters Gallery (w/ 25 Photos)

June 22, 2016

First Drive: 2016 Honda Civic 1.8 E

June 20, 2016

6 Things to Look Forward to in the 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

June 6, 2016

First Drive: 2016 Nissan GT-R

May 8, 2016

Just How Fuel Efficient Are the New Toyota Fortuner, Innova, and Hilux?

April 27, 2016

First Drive: 2016 Mazda6 2.2 Skyactiv-D and 2016 Mazda CX-5 2.2 Skyactiv-D AWD

A Journey Begins With a Single Step: Exploring Negros with Kia

April 7, 2016

Ranger Wild: The Ford Ranger Camp New Zealand

March 27, 2016

Honda's ASIMO to Greet Foreign Travelers Entering Japan

March 24, 2016

9 Significant Cars from the 2016 Bangkok International Motor Show

March 22, 2016

First Drive: 2016 Subaru Forester 2.0i-Premium

February 28, 2016

First Drive: 2016 Toyota Innova 2.8 G