Leopaul's Blog

Monday, October 29, 2012

2013 Kia K7 minor change to be revealed this November

2013 Kia K7

Here it is. This is really as it. What you're looking here is the facelifted Kia K7 (Cadenza) for the 2013 model year. What to expect is this newly refined Tiger Nose grille that resembles more like the K9 flagship.

As you may know, the Kia K7 was launched in November 2009, serving as the first of the K-series sedans from this, the midsize K5 sedan, RWD flagship K9, and the compact midsize K3. Well, this is the complete set. The entire Kia K-series sedans are here and the first of its kind will get a refreshed look having spending its three-year tenure.

Specs remain unknown for now but as we all know, it will be on sale in the Korean market this November 2012 and soon worldwide. Oh, it's available exclusively in selected LEFT-HAND DRIVE markets. That's it. Selected LEFT-HAND DRIVE market only. KIA WON'T SELL THESE IN RIGHT HAND DRIVE MARKETS, You get me? You get me? You do get me? Good.

Scoop: http://www.kia.co.kr/about-kia/prcenter/news-view.aspx?idx=1756&Page=1&s1=&sv=

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Vin Abrenica and Sophie Albert are "top honors" of Artista Academy

Vin Abrenica and Sophie Albert

In cased you missed it, aspiring hopefuls Vin Abrenica and Sophie Albert are the first ever winners of TV5's reality talent search show, Artista Academy. Vin and Sophie did everything they can do to please not just the judges Lorna Tolentino, Gelli De Belen, “Artista Academy” Principal Wilma Galvante and TV5 Talent Center head Direk Mac Alejandre, but the AA faculty members composed of filmmaker Joel Lamangan, composer Louie Ocampo and choreographer Georcelle Dapat-Sy as well.

Vin, who was the brother of actor Aljur Abrenica, wished to follow his brother's footsteps by auditioning himself at Artista Academy and winning the "Best Actor" achievement at AA is just one step ahead. Sophie (who auditioned under her real name of Bianca Reyes), on the other hand, is the cousin of a former actress Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski. The former Star Magic talent, who deals with half of her life seeing her dad being in a coma, worked her way to the top of AA and earned the "Best Actress" achievement.

With such achievement, they'll be starring in the new TV5 drama, Forever Barkada, with the other Artista Academy scholars such as Chanel Morales, Shaira Mae, Mark Neumann, Akihiro Blanco, Malak So Shdifat, Stephanie Rowe, Brent Manzano, Nicole Estrada, Jon Orlando, Marvelous Alejo and Benjo Leoncio.

Artista Academy is renewed for next year as "Artista Academy Tweens".

Scoop: http://www.interaksyon.com/entertainment/vin-abrenica-sophie-albert-win-top-honors-on-artista-academy/

Let's Do The News! (October 29, 2012)

And now, the news and this is a serious one because the East Coast of the USA is bracing themselves with a powerful storm that they called it Hurricane Sandy. Here's how Sandy goes at the East Coast according to NHK Newsline's weather reporter Sayaka Mori...

Hurricane Sandy

So, what Sayaka Mori said, this Hurricane Sandy is a Category 1 hurricane, so this is going to be as serious as the other American hurricanes and Philippine typhoons combined, I think. It moves Northeast by 24kph, wind speed of 120kph, wind gusts of 167kph, and pressure of 952hPa. As says here, it's going to hammer down the East Coast painfully and deadly. Everyone at the East Coast are issuing some state of calamity, evacuations, and uh...you know what to deal with during a high-level threat storm. There is just one thing that I'm getting worried about, well not only me, but also anyone at the East Coast that if once merged with a winter storm, it could become a "Frankenstorm" in the run-up of Halloween. Scary and yes, Halloween's on Wednesday so watch out though. As it states, this storm's going to be the worst. Let's pray to God that all of our kababayans out there will be safe from harm. God help us....

Scoop: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20117005#TWEET314586

That one thing I'm thinking about that Hurricane Sandy is um....it's like the East Coast getting nasty karate chops from a squirrel in a suit...

You mean Sandy?

Yes. Sandy...from Spongebob Squarepants...Hi-YAH!!!!

(audience laughing)

Tell you what though? Can you bring me a model of New York City please? Now, tell you what, imagine that this is New York City, which is part of the East Coast. And then, I'm Sandy. Hurricane Sandy at least, and this is what I do when I hit New York City, like this. HI-YAH!!!! HI-YAH!!!!! HI-YAH!!!!!

(audience laughing)

It's like having the whole East Coast being karate-d down by some squirrel! SANDY!!!!!

(audience laughing)

So, Jezza, it was like that squirrel from that cartoon show karate chopping the whole coast.

Like that! Hurricane Sandy is karate chopping the whole East Coast. What to expect? YEE-HAW!!!! HOWDY Y'ALL!!!!

(audience laughing)

Ahem...Blokes? This is no time for jokes. This is a serious case so best to behave yourselves like normal men and let's pray to the Lord God Almighty that nobody will be claimed casualty by Hurricane Sandy. Okay?

Awwwright?

(audience laughing)

Right, time for some more serious news.

No wait! This is even serious! Look what I bought?

What?

It's a Talking Plush Dalek clip!

Talking Plush Clip Dalek Drone

Oh....

(audience laughing, then cheers and applause)

So, your obsession to DW is gone even further and elevated? You got the TARDIS, you got the sonic, then you got one of The Doctor's most hatred foes? Tell you what? Have you guys spotted some DW references in other shows?

(audience murmuring)

First up, I'm sure most of them remember this back in the 90's. It's Rugrats.

A Dalek reference in an episode of Rugrats

See here? On the left, there's a Dalek! Get it? How about this?

Amelia Pond reference in Futurama?

Futurama, made by the guy behind The Simpsons. There's another DW reference on it and when you read "AMELIA POND", it's Amy....

(audience laughing)

Well done Whovians...You're pretty eagle-eyed...How about this?

Hammo! Cut it out with your DW references! Can we please move on?

Sorry...I was going to share this to anyone:

http://drwhogeek10.tumblr.com/post/34469719479/random-doctor-who-references-you-may-have-missed

There was a TARDIS at the back of the newspaper John Watson reads in Sherlock, a Dalek in Season 2 opener of Better Off Ted, a magazine with the Cybermen in the front cover on it in an episode of Supernatural, someone who looks like the Fourth Doctor in an episode of The Simpsons, and there was that dialog from Borderlands 2 that goes like this:

Hammerlock in Liar's Berg can fix me up! Allons-y!

Get it?

(audience murmuring)

I see. Anyone got that point and that's it. Can we please tell some more serious stuff?

Sure, why not?

Ugh...finally....You see, there was a car dealer somewhere in Belgium that sells luxury cars until some stupidity occurred when a large crane trying to position a big fuel tank to the new gas station built right next to the shop tipped over and crushed a pair of cars parked on the lot. Here's the pic...

Large Crane Falls and Crushes Rare
Jaguar XKR-S and BMW 6-Series Coupes

Scoop: http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2012/10/oopslarge-crane-falls-and-crushes-rare.html

(audience laughing)

That's gotta hurt! Casualties include...a previous generation BMW 6-Series E63 and a rare Jaguar XKR-S, which was unveiled at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show and available only in Europe for 200 units.

A bimmer and a Jag became casualties by a large crane fail? Wow! That's a failure! That's definitely a fail. Pity for these cars who got crushed...especially the...HEY! Jaguar XKR-S? Really?

Yes, but that's the old XKR-S. The 2008 one, not the one with the 550PS 5.0L V8 but with the 4.2L V8 on it.

Oh...I see....I thought it was this kind of XKR-S...

2012 Jaguar XKR-S

Yeah, right. So, this year's SEMA Show begins Tuesday, October 30, 2012, and ends Friday, November 2, 2012. It's jam-packed with some of the nastiest and the baddest modified rides to be displayed in Sin City. Las Vegas that is...Take note though, this show's not open to the general public. Sorry.

Yeah, and on that bombshell, that's the news. Those who are living in the East Coast, please be careful.

Ford C-MAX Hybrid and Energi

Now, let's talk about hybrid MPVs. Last year, Japan brought two different hybrid MPVs that made to be fuel-efficient and practical for the Japanese families such as the Toyota Prius α and the Honda Fit Shuttle Hybrid. Both of these Japanese hybrid MPVs had the fuel efficiency of hybrids and good for those who are out camping somewhere near any forests in Japan. For an American car company like Ford, they finally responded to what we might refer to it as a killer to the Prius α and Fit Shuttle...

2013 Ford C-MAX Hybrid

What you're looking here is the blue oval's answer to the Prius α and Fit Shuttle. This is the all new 2013 Ford C-MAX Hybrid. By the looks of it, the new C-MAX Hybrid looks more like an oversized version of the current-generation Ford Focus and I think that this is quite perfect if you are a mother aged 30-ish. Yep, it's just another car made for the soccer moms. It's just another hybrid car made for the enthusiasts of armpit hair and brown rice. However, unlike the Prius α, the C-MAX Hybrid has other features that the Prius α, especially this cool motion sensor power liftgate thingy as seen on the latest Ford Escape. All you have to do is pretend that your kicking the rear bumper but no. Don't kick it. Lift your foot near the rear bumper and it will automatically open the rear door for you. Convenient if you are carrying tons of stuff you bought from Costco, Safeway, Walmart, or any other store that you and your family went out for some shopping lists.

2013 Ford C-MAX Hybrid interior

Like a five-seater version of the Prius α, the C-MAX Hybrid does accommodate up to five people, you, your husband, and your three kids at the back. However, there's just one thing though. Unlike the Prius α five-seater that comes with the old-school nickel battery, the five-seater C-MAX hybrid comes with the 1.4 kWh lithium-ion battery. With that kind of battery and with the 2-liter four-cylinder Atkinson-Cycle engine bolted with an electric motor, that C-MAX Hybrid provides a combined power output of 188 hp (140 kW). Top speed in all-electric mode of 62 mph (100 km/h) and the car's top speed in hybrid mode is 115 mph (185 km/h, meaning that this is much better than the Prius α! And fuel efficient as well because while the Prius α has 44/40MPG city/highway, the C-MAX Hybrid can go all the way to 47/47MPG city/highway. Now what would you do with that extra mileage?

Oh wait! Extra mileage! When it comes to continue your journey, better off with this one...

2013 Ford C-MAX Energi

This is a C-MAX Energi, Ford's first PHV MPV made for extended journeys. You can either recharge the batteries at home or fuel it with petrol at the petrol station, like what you normally did on the Prius PHV. On the upside though, the C-MAX Energi PHV has more power than the Prius PHV because 188HP beats 124HP. On battery alone, the C-MAX Energi can go up to 21 miles and up to 85mph on fewer electricity. On combined MPGe, the C-MAX Energi can go all the way to 100MPGe, meaning that it can go 80 miles farther than the the Prius PHV.

What you can see here is an achievement for the blue oval. The C-MAX not only beats Prii by a long shot but I think I really want to have one of these for my long trip ahead.

PRICE LIST:

C-Max Hybrid SE: $25,200 MSRP

C-Max Hybrid SEL: $28,200 MSRP

C-Max Energi: $32,950 MSRP

Photo: Ford Motor Company

2012 Super GT Motegi update

2012 Super GT Round 8

Twin Ring Motegi Road Course served as the final battle for the 2012 Super GT season. So, who made it this far?

GT500 Class:

WINNER: #38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 driven by Yuji Tachikawa and Kohei Hirate

2nd place: #1 S Road REITO MOLA GT-R driven by Masataka Tanagida and Ronnie Quintarelli

3rd place: #32 EPSON HSV-010 driven by Ryo Michigami and Yuhki Nakayama

Scoop: http://supergt.net/pages/pg:race/device:pc/ln:en/year:2012/round:8/gt_class:gt500/menu:3/result_menu:race/result_menu_2:total

GT300 Class:

WINNER: #911 ENDLESS TAISAN 911 driven by Kyosuke Mineo and Naoki Yokomizo

2nd place: #87 JLOC LAMBORGHINI GT3 driven by Kouji Yamanishi and Hideki Yamauchi

3rd place: #88 MonePa Lamborghini GT3 driven by Manabu Orido and Takayuki Aoki

Scoop: http://supergt.net/pages/pg:race/device:pc/ln:en/year:2012/round:8/gt_class:gt300/menu:3/result_menu:race/result_menu_2:total

Congratulations to:

Masataka Yanagida and Ronnie Quintarelli for their #1 S Road REITO MOLA GT-R winning the GT500 class

and

Kyosuke Mineo and Naoki Yokomizo for propelling the #911 ENDLESS TAISAN 911 to GT300 class win!

This ends the Super GT 2012 season. On November 18, see your favorite Super GT cars and Formula Nippon racers fighting themselves at Fuji Speedway for the JAF Grand Prix FUJI SPRINT CUP 2012. This should be interesting! Until then, many thanks to sponsors like AUTOBACS, Toyota Motor Corporation, Fuji Heavy Industries, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd, Honda Motor Co., Ltd, J Sports, and Gran Turismo.

See you in next year's season! Good-bye!

Formula One 2012 Indian GP Update

F1 2012

It appears he did. Sebastian Vettel from Red Bull Racing did managed to hang in there in the Indian GP round of the F1 2012 season! Such win made the gap between Vettel and Alonso by now 13 points in the driver's standing because Vettel's now 240pts while Ferrari's Alonso now 227pts.

PRESS RELEASE:

Race - Vettel wins in New Delhi as Alonso limits the damage 28 Oct 2012

Sebastian Vettel was never remotely challenged in the second Indian Grand Prix on Sunday, winning it even more easily than he did the first a year ago. Once he'd shrugged off a half challenge from Red Bull team mate Mark Webber in the first corner, he controlled the race and won it as he pleased. It was his fourth consecutive victory, and the first time since Ayrton Senna in 1989 that a driver has led every lap for three races in a row.

His only moments of concern were when his undertray generated a few sparks under braking towards the end, and when Ferrari's Fernando Alonso pushed ahead of Webber when the Australian ran into KERS problems, and began to close the gap slightly. Vettel had plenty in hand, however, and won by 9.4s to move 13 points clear of the Spaniard in the drivers' standings.

Webber had his hands full with Lewis Hamilton's McLaren in the closing stages, as the silver car belatedly came alive on Pirelli's harder tyre after failing to match either Red Bull's or Ferrari's early pace on the soft. That enabled Alonso to make moves stick after a first-lap charge against the McLarens succeeded in splitting them, and he at least kept himself in play for the title after another feisty run.

Hamilton just failed by 0.6s to dislodge Webber from the final podium position while team mate Jenson Button, who had earlier held third before Alonso overtook and then suffered a slight delay with a sticking left-rear wheel during his pit stop, came through for a lonely fifth. Vettel set the fastest lap on the final tour, only for that then to be beaten by Alonso, Williams' Bruno Senna and Button himself. It was small consolation for McLaren, who had hoped to fight for victory.

Sixth place fell after a great drive to Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who fended off an attentive Kimi Raikkonen all the way to the flag. The Finn momentarily moved ahead in their stops, but Massa soon repassed the Lotus and kept ahead thereafter. Nico Hulkenberg delivered again for Force India by holding off a challenging Romain Grosjean in the other Lotus, while another strong performance from Senna saw the Brazilian catch and pass Nico Rosberg's Mercedes to snatch the final point.

Force India's Paul di Resta was 1.1s behind Rosberg by the flag after a lonely race, then came Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo who just held off Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi by less than half a second. The Japanese driver was involved in a small incident with Pastor Maldonado while they were battling with Senna, which resulted in the Venezuelan pitting with a cut right-rear tyre on his Williams. The stewards, who included 1980 world champion Alan Jones, decided that it was just a racing incident.

Jean-Eric Vergne got the front wing of his Toro Rosso pincered in the first corner traffic, which resulted in a cut right-rear tyre for Mercedes' Michael Schumacher. Both pitted for repairs at the end of the first lap, then fought their way back. Vergne's excellent efforts earned him 15th place. Schumacher was later investigated for ignoring blue flags (although no further action was taken) and the German eventually retired his Mercedes after a gearbox issue.

Maldonado recovered to 16th, half a second behind Vergne, while Vitaly Petrov comfortably won the Caterham race against team mate Heikki Kovalainen as Charles Pic beat Marussia team mate Timo Glock home.

Narain Karthikeyan successfully nursed his brakes to get his HRT home as the final finisher in 21st, team mate Pedro de la Rosa joining Schumacher and Sergio Perez in retirement after crashing because of brake failure. The Spaniard was unharmed. The Mexican, meanwhile, was fighting Hulkenberg for eighth early on when he sustained a cut rear tyre, and retired after two further stops.

Scoop: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/10/13981.html

With only three races left on the season, will Sebastian Vettel hangs in there or will Alonso or Kimi Raikkonen catches up as well as others? Find out in Abu Dhabi November 4.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Forza Horizon: It's more fun here...

The more I played Forza Horizon, the more I got fascinated to the cars offered on this game, here are some of my photos I took while playing Horizon...