Civic Changes
The US-built Honda Civic Coupe is now available in Australia with the DOHC VTEC 1.6 previously offered in the Hatch VtiR. The car also boasts new brakes, with the front discs being 262mm ventilated items and at the rear, 239mm solid 'uns. The gear ratios in the close-ratio 5 speed 'box have also been revised, with lower lower gears and higher higher gears, if you see what we mean!
The Spirit of "Aero"
The memory of the Saab 900 Aero has reappeared in the form of the limited edition Saab 9-3 Monte Carlo. The Monte Carlo features 147kW in manual form (136kW in auto trans models) from its 2 litre turbo four. All the fruit is included - leather sports seats, 3-spoke 16 inch alloys, six speaker CD stacker and woodgrain dash.
Fast Toyotas
Toyota will have a presence in most Australian and international motorsport arenas in 1999. The Australian Rally Championship will be contested by the pictured Corolla; the GTP Camry will continue to build on last year' success with the MR2 also racing in GTP; Toyota Team Europe will contest both the World rally Championship and the Le Mans 24 hours (in different cars, though!); and in CART racing, five cars from four teams are Toyota-powered. Toyota has also begun a feasibility study looking at entering Formula 1.
Quickies
- One of the interesting things that we can do here at AutoSpeed is see which articles are most popular, see how many readers we have per hour, and so on. With the new on-site search engine we can also see which terms are being searched for the most - which gives us a good idea of where your interests lie. Amongst some weird and wonderful search terms that people have used, we came across one breathtakingly simple, direct and to the point: fucken hot rotaries! Had to chuckle at that......
- EFI Direct are to drop the Kalmaker Street Pro I and II software packages from their line-up. These packages allow real-time re-programming of the Holden Delco ECU. As a result we have managed to negotiate a special deal with EFI Direct where the last remaining KalMaker Street Pro I and II kits are available at A$200 off the normal price. This means that Street Pro I is A$495 and Street Pro II A$595. Also, the diagnostic software Scan Pro I (VN/VP) and II (VR/VS) can be had for only $120 each! To get these discounts you must mention that you are an AutoSpeed reader, and note that the support for these products in the future may be limited. For further info go to http://www.efidirect.com.au
- The new Alfa 156 uses carpet on the inside of the wheel arches to reduce the spray hazard thrown up from the tyres.
- Kia has decided to sell every one of its current stock of Sportage four wheel drives for A$22,222 - regardless of equipment fitted!
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