By Andre Palma
Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE NEW Toyota Corolla is out. Much awaited by the public and the rest of the industry, it is rather curious that a product of this importance hasn’t broken cover with the fanfare and fuss expected of such an established model. Roughly 30 million Corollas, in 10 iterations, sold over 42 years is a lot to shout about. The relative silence over the tenth generation launch says so much.

This is a car that will definitely find itself in the garages of many Filipino families. There are those out there who will buy a Toyota Corolla, sight unseen, just on blind brand loyalty. You cannot really fault these faithful, over the years several of the past versions of this car have really been reliable, value for money automobiles. Two models — the KE7x series and the AE8x series, both of the ’80s — were actually fun to drive. Add to that the inexpensive nature of Corolla parts and you can see why many are still hooked.

Pending a test drive of the 10th Generation Corolla, a definitive verdict cannot be laid down. Although, a quick read of the specification sheet will show that very little has mechanically changed from the previous 2001-on model.

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By Andre Palma
Philippine Daily Inquirer

I HAVE to admit to cringing when Ford Philippines’ Glen Dasig mentioned the word, “Expedition,” over the phone. Admittedly, biases and preconceived notions about certain cars are difficult to suspend, even when one tests them for a living.

It is hard to forget a six-month spell, years ago, when this writer had to fuel a first generation 5.4-liter Triton V8 specimen. It felt like personally sponsoring a petroleum company, honestly. At some point, every pump attendant’s courtesy smile started looking eerily sinister. It got that bad.
It is now two generations later, a long period of time in any process of automotive evolution and even the tamest of cars can change a lot over 10 years. Is the third-generation Expedition any better than the first? Let’s just say that the 2008 Ford Expedition experience is generally a familiar one.

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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 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 Andre Palma
Inquirer

IN A PERFECT world, each human being should have a personal, unrestricted means of transport. For the sake of limiting this argument let us leave out bicycles, skateboards, motorcycles and beanie hats with propellers. Come on, this is a motoring column and the author does not claim any expertise or liking for anything other than automobiles after all.

With that out of the way, the “one person one car” dream is really bordering on idealistic. Even if we are able to dig into our pockets for an automobile, there is the issue of the vehicle reduction scheme.

However much you want to use your car seven days a week for the 52 weeks of every year, the last digit on your plate number will doom you to a carless day out of every seven. So in order to drive every day without fear of a traffic ticket, one actually needs a second car.

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By Andre Palma
Inquirer

CHOOSING a driver’s car is often problematic. Most of the cars that can really rip up the open road at copious amounts of speed are handicapped by prices that would require 25-year mortgages. We would be so lucky to be in that capacity, wouldn’t we?

Thankfully, all is not lost. There are still some cars out there that can fill the budget performance driving requirements of the everyday Filipino motorist. The age of the budget driver’s car is upon us, where low prices don’t automatically translate into the lack of satisfaction.

A blend of simplicity, fun

The mini car segment is loaded to the brim with automobiles that not only drive well, but also are merciful on the bank balance. The Philippine market is lucky though. In the ranks of these small two-box wonders is an automobile that blends simplicity and punch better than most anything in the market today.

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By Andre Palma
Inquirer

MAJOR motor shows are often difficult to initially grasp in their entirety. Merely a single pass of the major manufacturer’s displays can send even the most jaded of motoring hacks reeling from all the sights, sounds and sheet metal. You just get numb from the sensory overload. Trying to understand what’s going on and what the general flavor of the show is comes only when the shell shock passes. Even then, moments of true insight are rare.

Tokyo’s place in the international motor show arena is to divine the future. It is through the fantasy world of concept cars that the world’s major players try to capture our imagination. For manufacturers, showing up at Tokyo without a jaw-dropping interpretation of the future is like going to a wedding reception in your flip-flops. This year there were quite a few who apparently forgot the dress code.

Maybe it was a calculated risk on the part of the manufacturers. In all honesty, trying to steal the limelight from two of the most exciting new releases would be near impossible.

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By Andre Palma
Inquirer

THE INEVITABLE came to my garage last week in the form of a charcoal gray, four-door hatch. The nondescript car mutely crept up the incline of the driveway and powered down in almost complete silence; such a voiceless way to announce an arrival of such significance. I stared at it for a while, trying to grasp the gravity and consequence of this automobile. And in the quiet darkness of the garage, I could swear all the other cars were staring too.

This is a car that for all intents and purposes, spells the obsolescence of almost every other car on Philippine roads today. Over a million units of this very model and its similarly powered brethren inconspicuously ply roads around the globe, leaving in their wake reduced fuel consumption and some of the lowest motor vehicle carbon emissions ever. The hybrids have landed and the 2007 Toyota Prius is at the tip of the spear.

Here’s a photo of the Toyota Prius hybrid in silver pine.

Old news

Hybrids and their symbiotic petroleum and electric engines are old news in the rest of the world but only a handful of these cars are in the country. Having already tested hybrids at both Honda’s Tochigi R&D and Toyota’s Fuji Speedway, one can only imagine my excitement for a test drive in the Philippine setting.

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By Andre Palma
Inquirer

TOKYO, Japan–Since Kiichiro Toyoda got it into his head to shift from textile looms to manufacturing automobiles, the Toyota Motor Corp. has come a long way. In a short 70 years from the first Model AA rolling off the Koromo plant assembly line, the Japanese manufacturer now has its sights set on the No. 1 spot in the global automotive scheme of things. Great really if you are one to speculate on the worldwide stock markets but honestly the impact on the Filipino motorist is anything but a forgone conclusion.

One key phrase frames Toyota’s future strategy for world domination. “Sustainable mobility” seems like words plucked out of just any public relations handbook but the way these two words will color and flavor the way we will drive in the very near future is undeniable, scary even. By addressing environmental, safety and congestion issues, the way we drive and what we drive will change dramatically.

In a world obsessed with carbon footprints, protecting biodiversity and the search for renewable sources of energy, the automobile is often painted as public enemy No. 1. While the Battle for Mother Earth seems lost and the human race is doomed to a carbon-choked future care of the evil automobile, small inroads have been made that responsibly look toward tomorrow.

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