Ghana's Premier Automotive Blog

Yes it’s a ROLLS…not Kennedy Agyapong’s and certainly not Asantehene’s own! This one is for one random filthy rich bloke who’s got some $300,000 to spare on a new set of wheels, rather than investing in some house as my ‘’old boy’’ who have than if he ever happens to come across such big “ransom”
The car in question, a 2005 Rolls Royce Phantom is a saloon automobile made in England by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, a BMW subsidiary. The Phantom generates all its power from a 6.75 litre, 48-valve, V12 engine that produces 453 bhp (338 kW; 459 PS) and 720 N•m (530 lb•ft) of torque and pushes the over 3000Kg car from 0-100 km/h in 5.9 sec The engine is derived from BMW's N73 V12 powerplant. The engine is assembled by BMW. The engine uses direct fuel injection, and is a drive by wire design, using valvetronic technology. The power output is regulated by infinitely varying valve lift by moving the rockers and rocker fulcrums via electric servos, rather than using the throttle body. The throttle body is maintained for fail-safe operation.
The car boosts an array of novel features such as:
• Over 44,000 paint colours, and specify any leather colour.[5]
• Instead of a tachometer, the car has a power reserve dial indicating how much of the engine's power is left available to the driver. This is to provide a sense of tremendous power in reserve, and to hide "crude" underlying mechanicals from its owners. The instrument cluster is not shared with any other vehicle. Doors are remote operated.
• The rear doors are rear-hinged, a style commonly referred to as suicide doors, but called 'coach doors' by Rolls-Royce. Because of the rear-seating position in relation to the rear inner-door handles, buttons are mounted on both C-pillars which operate hydraulic motors in order to close the rear doors. An electronic lock prevents the doors from being accidentally opened when moving. The car will automatically brake to a walking speed if a coach door remains open when driving off.[6] The rear doors also house umbrellas that are stored within the doors, and can only be accessed when the front or rear doors are open. The fabric of the umbrella is coated with Teflon to assist in shedding water when the wet umbrella is stored within the door.
• The traditional Spirit of Ecstasy ornament has an automatic electronic retraction mechanism to prevent theft and protect pedestrians in the event of an accident. It may also be retracted by the driver at the touch of a button, and retracted when the alarm is armed. The base contains a sensor which detects movement, and will retract if tampered with.
• The 'RR' logos on each of the wheel hubs are independent bezels in order to always remain upright while the wheel is rotating.
Some of the various luxury amenities found in “this machine of a car” are: a navigation system with voice recognition, power sunroof, upgraded leather upholstery, rear-view camera, rear-seat DVD entertainment system, 26-speaker premium sound system, 8-disc CD changer, 18-way power front seats, 16-way power rear seats, heated and cooled cup holders, rear-seat tables, outside-temperature indicator, universal garage door opener, power tilt/telescopic heated wood and leather-wrapped steering wheel with radio, climate, and navigation controls, power open/close trunk lid, power closing doors, wireless headphones, iPod adapter, refrigerator, and air conditioning with 5-zone climate controls. There are unlimited options available through the Rolls-Royce "Bespoke" program through which the factory will create any reasonable option a customer asks for.

Im looking forward to the day i would ride in one, not to own one myself though, just to be given a ride in one!


Written and Edited by: Yaw Baah-Nuakoh™
Photo Credit:

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The all-new V8-powered 2010 Nissan Patrol has had its debut onto the Ghanaian market, with the Sales Manager of Auto Parts, the official distributor of Nissan vehicles in Ghana, Fawaz Beitie, attending a glittering reveal at the Auto Parts Service Centre in Accra.

Under the bonnet is a 5.6-litre V8 mated to a 7-speed auto with manual shift mode.
The General Manager of Auto Parts Limited, Ghassan Zachour claims the new Patrol is the most powerful vehicle in its class with a 5.6-litre V8 with direct injector and variable valve technology that generates 400bhp and 413lb ft of torque.

On sale across the country now, the Patrol sheds its previous cheap and basic image and goes fully loaded with kit and equipment. Prices in Ghana will start from $84,000 to a whooping $110,000 loaded with loads of tech and kits.
‘The new Patrol is built with the high level of safety, performance and quality that characterises the Nissan brand, and we paid special attention to the needs of drivers and passengers,’ said Mr. Beitie.
As expected the new Patrol is huge and maintains it tough and bluff exterior with strong, plain surfaces keeping a clear link with previous editions, whilst giving it contemporary sheen.
Inside there’s lashing of leather, polished aluminium and wood grain panelling as the Patrol takes a giant leap up the luxury ladder with a huge emphasis on comfort and space for the new car. It boasts wider, higher and deeper front seats and 100mm more legroom for second row passengers as well as a roomier third row of seats.
The Nissan Patrol is offered in three different levels of trim and six different models; LE, SE, and City Package.
The all new Patrol boosts a wide array of gizmos and techs including:
• Intelligent Key – A sensor is triggered when the remote is brought near the vehicle, allowing the user to open it with the touch of a knob.
• Push Start – Start/Stop push button for ignition; a key is not required.
• Curtain Vent – Curtain Vent has several small but highly effective vents mounted in the ceiling above each side window to blow a strong current of cool air down forming a curtain of air that acts as a barrier to heat penetrating the cabin.
• TPMS – The new model employs a revised Tyre Pressure Monitor System (TPMS) with tyre inflation indicator which beeps the horn softly to inform drivers that a suitable tyre pressure has been reached.
• ALL MODE 4x4 system– Allows the driver to quickly switch between four drive modes: sand, on-road, snow and rock, with the flick of a switch.
• Hydraulic Body Motion Control System – The new Patrol employs HBMC with 4-wheel independent suspension.
• Intelligent Cruise Control -Slows your vehicle to maintain the desired distance between you and slow traffic, and re-accelerates to your pre-set speed and distance as the traffic flow picks up. Distance Control Assist. Helps the driver release the throttle and applies brakes as needed in slowing traffic.
• Around View Monitor – The 4 cameras of the AVM come alive to help you park the vehicle even in the tightest of spots.
• 9.3 GB Music Box Hard Drive – Enjoy your personal music library. With the category’s first "Music Box", you can record close to 2,900 songs up to 9.3 GB storage. Connects to iPod®, USB flash drive and other compatible device.
• Hill Start Assist & Hill Descent Control system – Sail through the ups & downs. The advanced system assists you in both climbing and descending from a slope by controlling the brakes and adjusting the vehicle speed.
• Locking differential – The available electronic locking rear differential allows you to pull out of mud or loose sand by distributing torque evenly to the rear wheels.
• (LDWS) Lane Departure Warning System – The system helps avoid unintended lane departure. LDW warns the driver with an alarm and an indicator to brake. LDP assists the driver to bring the vehicle back to the lane by applying the brake.
• Intelligent Brake Assist – If the driver doesn’t respond to the warning, and a collision cannot be avoided, IBA automatically engages the brakes to help reduce collision speed and impact, mitigating the consequences of the accident.
• Vehicle Dynamic Control (Electronic stability control) – Combines with Traction Control System and Brake LSD (Limited Slip Differential) functions to automatically prevent the Patrol from sliding sideways on slippery road surfaces when changing lanes or negotiating a curve.


Written and Edited by: Yaw Baah-Nuakoh™

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With the release date for the next generation Honda Civic still some one year away, and with the striking image of the out-going
model, my expectations of the next-gen Honda Civic was a car; simply put "WILD". But the first prototype images i saw whiles
looking for the ''real civic'', i asked my self, ''what the hell were the Honda designers thinking'' is this the new CITY or the
Chinese spec of the new CIVIC!!
Now back to what Imthishan Giado of CarMiddleEast said about what he saw...
We snapped these twin silver prototypes during a spell of early morning hot weather testing. Apart from a few missing ‘H’ badges, this is the Civic you can expect to see in UAE showrooms next year. As our pictures show, it’s very similar in dimensions to the existing GCC model with a comparable midsection; the glasshouse, doors and wing mirrors look to be unchanged.

The front fascia is where the big news is – gone are the old model’s undulating curves over pronounced arches and drooping headlamps, replaced by a sharper, wedgier front end and what looks to be a wider lower air intake. Optional foglight cutouts are on either side, disguised by heavy lashings of pesky silver gaffer tape. That tape is also present at the base of the A-pillar and the C-pillar as well over the rear bumper, so we suspect there may be a few stylistic surprises yet to come.

Out front, the earlier striking chrome moustache framing the central Honda emblem is now a fairly generic three-bar grille, while the angular headlamps look to be the same as the ones found on US market models. Note the character line that starts from the end of the front lights, spears off and extends all the way to the arrow-shaped rear cluster. The latter has lost its former GT-R-ish four circular brake lamps in favour of a squishy hexagonal look that’s vaguely reminiscent of its baby City brother. A slim, almost vestigial spoiler caps the pert rear end.

The unique “folding-hands” wiper arrangement looks to have been retained atop the steeply raked – and vast, start saving up for tint folks! – windshield, but the old printed antenna seems to have been given the heave-ho in favour of a traditional (and probably cheaper) stubby aerial mounted BMW-style above the rear windshield. Suitably-chunky 16-inch five –spoke alloys round off the major exterior changes.

Inside, the two-tier dashboard has been retained, raked even more steeply toward the driver. The steering wheel is still a three-spoke affair but it now sports two four way controllers on each side instead of the earlier toggles. Gone are the knob-based temperature and fanspeed controls, with a slew of buttons taking their place. That’s below what looks like a double-DIN touch-based navigation system – tuners of the world rejoice, your favourite rolling music platform still lives.

On the far left of the dashboard, you’ll notice a single, very large green button that says “Econ”. On overseas models, pressing this switch sets the engine, transmission and cooling functions to maximum efficiency, although judging by our hot climes, it’s unlikely to get much use here. We didn’t get a chance to look under the hood, but our sources suggest that the engine being tested is a 1.5 litre unit, which if true is significantly smaller than the existing 1.8 140bhp one. Hello fuel efficiency, goodbye acceleration.

Overall, outside of the few details we couldn’t discern, it looks to be a blander, more generic version of a car that should be at the very heartland of Honda thinking. The earlier, space-age Civic landed like an atomic bomb in the compact car market, sending arch-rivals like Toyota and Nissan scurrying back to the drawing board to bring out more exciting-looking sedans.

Now Honda looks to be losing faith in its daring design direction, delivering a cheese-wedge sedan that could easily be mistaken for – whisper it – one of the equally wedgy Koreans that are flooding out of South East Asia. Or perhaps it’s merely a reflection of these austere times where sobriety is a virtue. Either way: we want our old Honda back.

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This is officially the second safety system demonstration in as many "Look at this!" announcements that has gone horribly wrong for Volvo. That's right, two. The first one was back in May and led to a new S60 estate crushing itself into the back of a truck.
This latest mishap occurred during a media demonstration to Australian journalists in Europe.

Now that the known-as-safe Volvo brand is officially owned by the Chinese, is this a sign of things to come?

The mechanism in question is part of Volvo's pedestrian avoidance technology, which makes use of cameras and radar in the nose of the vehicle to control the brakes and stability control system in order to reduce driver/pedestrian injuries. The object that the system was meant to detect was Bob the Dummy; as you can see in the vids, it didn't detect a damn thing.

That's not to say the system is terrible; after all is said and done, it worked 75% of the time. Of the twelve runs, only one ended with Bob getting the full force of the Volvo unleashed on him, with the other two still being less than perfect. Some of the blame has been placed on a camera that doesn't work well in low-light conditions (infrared / night vision, guys?).

Volvo's Jonas Tisell, Active Safety Systems manager, told journalists, "The failure of the test was due to the dummy not being set up properly, therefore it did not give an echo enough for the system. So the dummy was not relevant in this situation." So...blame it on the dummy? And "not relevant"? How does being to blame (according to Volvo) translate as irrelevant?

More like Volvo just got caught with its pants down...again.

By Phil Alex

Via: Drive and Autoblog.com

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A team of Japanese researchers have developed an airbag system for the exterior of the car, rather than the interior, with the purpose of protecting pedestrians.
Via CrunchGear:

"The airbags deflate rapidly upon impact, just like conventional airbags, to soften the effects of a crash for pedestrians. The prototype car equipped with iSAVE that you can see on the pic above was shown earlier this week and is said to be the first of its kind. iSAVE can be used with electric cars only.

The research team behind the airbags says it expects to sell up to 50 units by year end for 3-wheeled cars before fully commercializing them in 2011 for four-wheeled vehicles. The iSAVE system for 4-wheeled cars will likely be priced at $17,800."


Source: WonderHowTo

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I normally choose to do long distance road travels ie: Accra-Kumasi, Sunyani-Accra at night. I use what is called the ''sleeper'', that is we start the journey around 10pm and get to our destinations at dawn around 3:30am. So you can sleep a bit, then re freshen up for your duties or ''ronnings'' in the morning. Yeah, so basically that's how i normally do my long distance road journeys. Well last Thursady was no different, i was in Accra on Thursday dawn, did my usual ''ronnings'' that same morning, and was bound to be in Sunyani Friday morning for an important meeting. So i was done with all my ''ronnings'' by 6:30pm and had to head for the Neoplan station in Kwame Nkrumah circle to board a ''sleeper'' to Sunyani for my appointment on Friday morning. so after all the usual heavy traffic in Accra central, i finally get to the Neoplan Station at exactly 8:30pm, i started shivering, because i know the buses normally start their journeys at 8:00pm, and here i was, 30 go minutes late I finally get to where the buses park, and the bus bound for Sunyani is packed with passengers, so i asked the bus conductor, "Massa is the bus full"??? He replies saying, "boss, one space more left, its GHc13!!" so i ask him, ''where is it''? he's says here...right to the door where the bus conductors normally sit, if there's one on the bus. At first my heart skipped a beat, but i had no other option. Well i don't really know how to describe my seating position to you, but i know the readers out there who board these buses (ADB, Stanbic and Yutong) know exactly what in talking about. so i get in my seat, strap on my seat belt and whisper a prayer to my maker. By 8:55pm our night journey to Sunyani had began. Well since i was not so comfortable at where i was seated, i tried not to dose off, but as hard as i tried i just couldn't help to take a nap, but i was quickly awoken as i was moved forward because the driver apparently jammed the brakes and swerved to the left of the road to avoid hitting a taxi that crossed as, and i could hear that squeaking and hissing sound of the bus' air brakes plus the numerous insults that followed. Well just then, i said to myself, what if buses had anti-lock brakes, just as cars do, and even drum brakes will do. I don't really know how the ''air brakes'' work, but after googling it out, i had a slight idea of how it works, so i have decided to share that here http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/brakes/brake-types/air-brake.htm . After feeding my brains with knowledge on how this works i asked myself that same question, can't these car manufacturers develop a new and more advanced braking system for buses and trucks?? All these ABS/EBS found on cars, can't they develop the same technology on buses and trucks?? I think i they did, it will help to save a lot more lives on our roads, i dare say that these buses and trucks are the No.1 causes of accidents on our roads, especially at night, even though what prompted me to write this wasn't the fault on our bus driver, but along the journey, i saw bus and truck drivers dosing off, others too driving reckless and so on, if they get an ABS/EBS i think it will help them stop much more quicker and save lives too. Anyways if anyone knows of such technology in buses and trucks, please let know ook.


Written and Edited by: Yaw Baah-Nuakoh™

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Auto Parts Limited, a distributor of Nissan cars in Ghana, has added a new model to the Nissan family.

Dubbed the Nissan Sentra saloon, the new model for 2010 received a mid-cycle refresh. It is has an aggressive design which makes it easily adaptable for African roads.

Speaking at the launch in Accra, the Sales Manager of Auto Parts Limited, Mr. Fawz Baite, said the new addition was “not to replace any of the existing Nissan models, but should be seen as a new concept in terms of performance, style and comfort”

He said aside the outside design, which was pleasurable to the eye; the new Sentra was designed for less fuel consumption and environmentally friendly with a responsive engine which satisfied the driver’s demand on the road.

The revisions on the 2010 Sentra includes a new grill inspired from its bigger sibling the Nissan Altima, slightly different headlights and tail lights that are identical to previous years. New trim lines are also offered to balance out the prices.

Inside is a new red backlighting colour for the speedometer and knobs, and a new CD player with an optional navigation system. The new audio system also includes iPod and USB integration on certain top line models as well as a backup camera

As part of its safety features, the 2010 Sentra has an interior functionality including standard seat belts with front airbags, side impact and curtain airbags, as well as a crumple zone, which allowed certain areas of the car to absorb and fritter away energy upon impact. The car is also equipped with Nissan Intelligent Key™ with power trunk release.

Mr. Baitre urged Ghanaians to appreciate the design, performance and safety features of the new Sentra and purchase it fro maximum satisfaction, but he was also quick to add that although the Sentra’s safety properties would contribute to passenger security, it was still essential for seats belts to be worn at all times.

Written and Edited by: Yaw Baah-Nuakoh™

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