Friday, 05 April 2013 17:30
Mitsubishi Mirage and Mazda BT-50 newly-crowned 2012 - 2013 Car and Truck of the Year Philippines
After the long search, the 2012 - 2013 Car of the Year Philippines (COTY-P) has finally been revealed last April 4, 2013 at the 9th Manila International Auto Show (MIAS) held at the Philippine Trade and Training Center (PTTC). Following the footsteps of last year’s winner, the Hyundai Elantra - of which we see many of on the streets - this year’s champ is none other than the all-new Mitsubishi Mirage GLS MT.
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Car of the Year
Friday, 01 February 2013 07:28
Car of the Year 2012 - 2013 Day 9: The Last Hurrah
Words by Jade Lu | Photos by Hans Gerald Chua
Last Saturday, January 26, 2013, was the final day of the qualitative testing for the 2012 - 2013 Car of the Year Philippines (COTY-P). It was a day for big brutes once again, as Hyundai sent the Santa Fe R-2.2 GLS 6AT 2WD and Premium 4WD, which were matched by Toyota’s Fortuner 4x2 G DSL AT and Hilux 4x2 G MT and Mazda’s CX-5 and BT-50. The Honda CR-V made its reprise with the 2.0 S and 2.4 SX variant, this time made in Thailand with local specs (Honda sent the Japan-made CR-V last time).
It was the fitting ending for this chapter. The cars weren’t too exciting to leave us done and fulfilled at the end of the day; they were mellowed down to leave us wanting more. Of course, “more” would come to us during the technical testing at the Clark International Speedway on February 25 to 27, when the cars will once again converge for the acceleration, braking, and handling tests. But until that comes, we were satisfied enough with the cars we’ve driven to keep us at ease until the end of February. Hopefully, the sky will stay clear of rain clouds and strong winds until then.
With that last hurrah, here are some final words from our writers about the cars of Day 9:
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Car of the Year
Friday, 31 August 2012 07:31
Mazda's all-new 2012 BT-50 arrives with a whimper
Words by Christopher Kho
“Better late than never,” they say. Although we've already seen this familiar pickup in showrooms as early as July, Mazda Philippines only recently advised us that their all-new 2012 BT-50 pickup truck is officially here. And now that the Japanese automaker is in the middle of divorce proceedings with Ford Group Philippines, it'd be great to see the BT-50 try to upstage the blue oval brand's Ranger, which also happens to be its fraternal twin.
According to its design team, the BT-50 was sculpted as a “sophisticated beast.” So how do you turn a brute into a prima donna? Well, aside from just giving it a futuristic wedge-shaped profile and slapping on the Mazda 6's front end to it, Mazda engineers have also fitted it with more features than your iPad. Of course, this pickup has its muscular side to it too, highlighted by Mazda's signature five-point grill, boomerang-shaped headlights, and beefy wheel arches.
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Newly Launched
Friday, 08 April 2011 22:05
TRS's crash course video on its testosterone-powered Drift Truck
Words by Christopher Kho | Video courtesy of Tuason Racing TV
Tuason Racing School (TRS) is giving Ken Block a run for his money with their “Truck Drifting 101” video, an action-packed 3 minutes and 44 seconds of adrenaline-pumping tire-burning sideways action directed by the talented Ardie Lopez and filmed at the King's Playground in FTI. It stars the TRS Mazda BT-50 Drift Truck: the world's first diesel-powered full cab drifter. This is not your typical chop shop pick-up that was converted from a road-going sedan. Instead, TRS snatched an off-the-shelf BT-50 and converted this would-be workhorse into a formidable smoke machine. And with the help of Mazda, Castrol, and Bridgestone, it won the 2010 Pro Am Lateral Drift Championship, fending off more predominant drift cars.
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