By Andre Palma
Philippine Daily Inquirer

LOOKING at the automotive future is always a tricky thing as people gazing into crystal balls need to practice a little discipline, a little constraint. It is tempting to paint the motoring tomorrow as our own fantasy world. Some will dream of a vehicular utopia, where carbon signatures and sustainable consumption dictate the way we motor.

Others will lean toward a picture painted in a post-apocalyptic world, where scarcity fuels petroleum wars and a thick chemical cloud bakes the earth into extinction. It is only when we look at the facts and the trends that a more or less accurate peek into the future of how we will continue our relationship with the car.

The first thing we have to accept is that the car will change drastically over the next few decades. Already the small, efficient and utilitarian automobile is an established segment very popular across markets around the world. Whether industrialized nation or third world banana republic, the rules of the game are changing; no one is immune from the powers of economic and ecological pressure.

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By Aida Sevilla-Mendoza
Philippine Daily Inquirer

DOES the Mazda CX-9 deserve superlatives? Yes, in the sense that it is Mazda’s biggest passenger vehicle, has the largest engine ever in a Mazda and the longest wheelbase in the crossover/SUV class. Moreover, it won the Motor Trend Sport Utility Award for 2008 and was included by Automobile Magazine in its All Stars 2008 list of the 10 Best Cars aside from being voted the North American Truck of the Year by 45 motoring journalists at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

The CX-9 also deserves superlatives for its good looks. Sleek, stylishly sculpted and sensuous with a sharply raked windshield, it defies the boxy tradition of its class yet retains the stance and substance of a sport utility vehicle. For me, the four 20-inch tires shoved right to the corners are the CX-9’s most eye-catching feature, revealing its zoom-zoom capability and adding muscle to an already powerful package.

Built on the same platform as the Mazda6 sedan and launched on the market in 2007, the CX-9 has been upgraded for 2008 with a bigger engine displacement, from 3.6 liters to a 3.7-liter 24-valve DOHC V6 with variable valve timing. The upgrade increased horsepower from 263 to 273 bhp and upped max torque from 249 lb ft to 270 lb ft/4,500 rpm, a welcome boost for the CX-9’s size and weight exceeding two tons.

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By Aida Sevilla-Mendoza
Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE HOTTEST debate in town involves something vital to motorists: fuel. Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who ironically enough authored the Biofuels Act of 2007, wants to apply the brakes on its implementation, citing the recent warning of 1998 Nobel laureate for chemistry Dr. Hartmut Michel that our government’s biofuels program could endanger the country’s food security and harm the environment.

The Biofuels Act, which was signed into law in January 2007, requires the oil industry to sell diesel with a minimum 1 percent biodiesel blend (B1) within three months after the signing of the law and gasoline with 5 percent bioethanol (E5) in two years. The Biofuels Act aims to reduce the nation’s dependence on imported fossil fuels, save hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign exchange annually, cut the carbon-dioxide emissions believed to cause global warming and revive the moribund sugar and coconut industries.

Santiago’s call for a review of the Biofuels Act was immediately challenged by Sen. Miguel Zubiri, author of the House of Representatives’ version of the biofuels law when he was a congressman. Countering the argument that converting hundreds of thousands of hectares of arable land from food crops to biofuel crops will cause food shortages, Zubiri clarified that since bioethanol will be derived from sugarcane, there is no need to tap other arable land areas. And since sugar is only an additive, not an essential food staple like rice or corn, planting more sugar for bioethanol production will not sacrifice food security.

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By Joey Alarilla
INQUIRER.net

SURE, people know the importance of getting insurance when buying a new car, but sometimes we might think this isn’t the case when it comes to second-hand vehicles.

“People sometimes get the wrong impression that only brand new cars should be insured,” Lea Casamayor, chief managing officer of Korean information technology company Sabiclub.com Corp. and business unit head of Autolink.ph, told Roadtrip in an e-mail interview. “But whether it is second-hand or brand new, it is still your property and thus should be insured if one wants to protect his or her investment. Especially [since] not all second hand or pre-owned cars can be bought cheap; they come with hefty price tags too. Car insurance is also a requirement if you will purchase a second-hand car through a bank or private financing. We will utilize our site to educate the people on the importance and convenience of having car insurance.”

Autolink.ph. which is an online portal for second-hand cars, recently partnered with Malayan Insurance to create the Autolink Automobile Insurance. This car insurance product will be offered to the car dealers of Autolink.ph and the Korean clients of Sabiclub.com.

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By Charles E. Buban
Philippine Daily Inquirer

“PUSH the 4L button, shift to first gear then take your feet off the accelerator and the clutch,” commanded our Thai navigator. And before we could even argue with his order, he smilingly repeated the instruction and added, “Trust me, you’ll both be surprised.”

Surprisingly indeed, the pickup did not stall and in fact, continued to drive uphill to the amazement of Bam Olivares (of the Daily Tribune) and this writer.

As if we were not yet amazed, Jirayuth Adhidhebnarangkura of Isuzu Operations Thailand even ordered to shift to the second gear and just steer (again, while keeping both feet off the accelerator and clutch).

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By Aida Sevilla Mendoza
Philippine Daily Inquirer

TAKE one look at the 2008 Dodge Caliber and tell me: Is it a compact sport utility vehicle? A wagon? Or a compact car?

CATS Motors Inc., the Philippine distributor of Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep, is marketing the Caliber as a compact car, having launched it in Manila last October as the entry-premium compact car of Dodge. In Europe, the Caliber was introduced last spring as a sporty compact car representing the brand’s entry into the European market.

More SUV-like

However, the Caliber looks more like a car-based SUV than a passenger car. It shares the same platform and drivetrain with the Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot, both of which are compact SUVs. It is taller and roomier than the Dodge Neon sedan (which it replaces), the Mazda3 hatchback and the Chevrolet Optra wagon (its competitors.) The driver’s seat is high like an SUVís. The broad shoulders, sculpted fenders, 17-inch wheels and swaggering stance are very SUV.

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By Tessa R. Salazar
Philippine Daily Inquirer

INDIAN carmaker Tata recently took the automotive world by storm when it launched its $2,500 Nano. The world’s cheapest car, by far, costs only the equivalent of a high-end laptop in this part of the world, at around P100,000.

To be sure, though, Tata threw out all the little extras to come up with only the barest essentials of a car. At 625-cc, it has one windscreen wiper, no power steering, no power windows, no air-conditioner, and will give about 20 km to a liter. And no one in India is complaining, yet, because the Nano has been marketed as a four-wheel vehicle alternative to the motorcycle.

4 times as much

In comparison, a decent three-liter diesel-powered jeepney in the Philippines would cost four times as much. The cheapest car exported to the Philippines is an 800-cc ultra subcompact priced at P319,000.

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By Andre Palma
Philippine Daily Inquirer

FILIPINO motorists spend thousands of hours twiddling their thumbs in traffic. Really if you think about it, this is something that many of us have accepted as part of daily life. Whether behind the wheel of your own car or on some type of public transportation using the same congested road network, there is no escaping the molasses-like pace of the bumper-to-bumper, rush hour mayhem we call traffic.

Yet one need only look up, toward the heavens, for deliverance. Well, one really need not look that far up. Just meters above the jammed chaos of some of our major thoroughfares is a mode of transport immune to the stifling crawl below. In a one-on-one battle from North Edsa to Taft Avenue you know where logic dictates to best bet your hard-earned cash. Hard as it is to swallow, the elevated trains are decidedly faster than anything with an internal combustion engine and four wheels.

Racing the train

The stubborn, like the author, will attempt to better the speed of the train. At an average clip of 60 kilometers per hour (kph), this is a task that does not seem too tall and is really quite achievable. Add to this that the train does stop to take on passengers at stations. Racing the train may seem like the reckless and haphazard doings of a bored teenager, but there is a deeper-seated reason for such an exercise.

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By Tessa R. Salazar
Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE SMOKE from the New Year’s celebrations had barely dissipated, and some fires in Metro Manila were still raging, when one of the Inquirer editors at the busy newsroom suddenly said from out of the blue, “I’m now beginning to be afraid of the future.”

Asked why, he bluntly blurted, “because oil has breached $100 a barrel.”

Indeed, the implications of this historic breach are still yet to be felt (and the major oil players are now most likely recalculating their prices). But why wait for the inevitable oil price hikes before we start re-thinking the way we choose our cars and the way we drive? Why pay up to P25,000 for special plates ending in number 8s so that we can get lucky on and off the road, when our driving habits and life attitudes make us burn fuel and personal bridges faster than a squatter colony on fire?

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By Aida Sevilla Mendoza
Philippine Daily Inquirer

IN ITS Accident Reporting and Analysis System 2006, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) listed speeding (6,233 cases), faulty overtaking (5,848 cases) and inattentiveness (5,238 cases) as the top three reasons for traffic accidents in Metro Manila. Driving under the influence (DUI) was listed as a minor cause with only 14 cases.

The MMDA’s findings are debatable since speeding, faulty overtaking, inattentiveness and/or falling asleep at the wheel could very well be traced to having had one too many. It highlights the apparent reluctance of traffic authorities to recognize DUI as a major cause of road mishaps. To promote road safety, the MMDA and local government units should include in their budgets the purchase and use of evidential breath-testing devices to accurately measure the blood alcohol concentration level of motorists involved in accidents or observed to be driving recklessly or erratically.

A better idea

At some social occasions in Metro Manila, there is a “designated driver” who takes the wheel when a guest who has no chauffeur is too drunk to drive home. Sometimes it is the wife who volunteers to drive. A better idea comes from Seoul: replacement drivers.

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