Citroen C1 II

2015 Citroen C1

The Peugeot 108 has its own twin rival and even though they look different on the outside terms, the new Citroen C1 feels technically the same as the Peugeot 108 as examined before. As a matter of fact, both the Peugeot 108 and the new Citroen C1 were part of the Toyota-PSA triplets born from Kolin, Czech Republic, since the first ones. It's kinda more of a Japanese-French collaboration, don't you think?

Like the Peugeot 108, the Citroen C1 can be offered on either a three-door or five-door and can be fitted with a 1.0L e-VTi 68 Airdream or the 1.2L VTi 82 PureTech petrol engine. You can even opt in for the Airscape model, which comes with a canvas roof at the top as similar to the Peugeot 108's TOP variant.

2015 Citroen C1 interior

2015 Citroen C1 interior

Like the Peugeot 108, the Citroen C1 still comes with the same quality like you expect from budget compacts but it can be configurable by request. You can even have it with the 7-inch screen featuring Mirror Screen where our satnav will serve as the mirror of the compatible smartphone connected. I should warn you that when people go for the Airscape variant, because this is one of the city cars to drive in the summer holiday in Europe,  even when you close the roof off, you can expect some few winds slip through or the noise from within. Yes, that sounds way too familiar to you when you read anyone's first impressions because first impressions don't usually come impressed but when you get used to it, this city car deserves a lot of respect and a lot of love love love.

2015 Citroen C1

The 1.0L e-VTi 68 Airdream engine on the new C1 develops 68PS of power output and it's mated with a 5-speed manual. Even though it's not quite as quicker as the competition, it's one of the most fuel-efficient cars ever made because 26.3km/L is usually plenty for its fuel economy, although actual fuel mileage can vary, depending on your driving style.

As for the 1.2L VTi 82 PureTech petrol engine, developed by PSA Peugeot Citroen, this engine develops 82PS of power output, 23.3km/L of fuel economy, and 99g/km of CO2 emissions. That sounds a lot for a city car but even though these engines are not powerful enough to sneeze your way home, its pseudo McPherson front axle and a deformable rear beam can really add some smile all day long...unless if you're Grumpy and you know it.

2015 Citroen C1

In terms of pricing, the new C1 is more affordable than the 108 because while it starts at 10,150 Euros, the new Citroen C1 costs 9,950 Euros so can anyone hardly explain why this Citroen is way cheaper than its 108 twin? Anyone? Nope? Nope. No comment but surprisingly, the new model is now 200 Euros lower than the old C1.

So there it is, it's very difficult to distinguish which to choose these French city car twins because while the 108 is a high-quality city compact in its own right when well-equipped, the new C1 is much more of an affordable alternative and with so many choices to choose from, it takes guts to determine the winner.

Photo: PSA Peugeot Citroen

Transformers: Age of Extinction

We all love enjoying the Transformers franchise from the range of toys made by Hasbro, the cartoons, and the movies since the first one in 2007 but for the fourth Transformers movie, called Age of Extinction, is this really the best Transformers experience we ever had? Let's see...

The latest installment sees a new male protagonist, played by actor Mark Wahlberg, as well as a new storyline that is way different from the previous installments. In this movie after the Autobots saved the world from the brink of destruction, humanity cleans up the remains from the war torn Earth. Wahlberg plays the role of a mechanic where he and his daughter discovered a deadly conspiracy that will wipe out the Transformers while an ancient powerful opposition has been awakened to bring Earth down to its knees. With the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, joined forces with their new human allies, the war between good and evil has been blurred and the Autobots are ready to expect the unexpected.

Yes, this is now a plethora of automotive mayhem because there are numerous cars featured in the film including the Pagani Huayra, the Lamborghini Aventador, the Chevrolet Sonic, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, the new Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, and so much more. Bumblebee, as a Chevy Camaro, gets two versions; one as a first generation and the other one is a latest fifth-generation facelift which doesn't look so right after its previous installments. Those new machines really edged out the luster from the human casts which also includes Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Li Bingbing, T. J. Miller, Han Geng and many others.

Now I know the cast is now way different from the previous ones but the storyline never felt so good, in true Michael Bay fashion, as the battle for Earth's survival spans across the globe made this installment one of the most thrilling Transformers experience yet to offer this Summer. It really turns skeptics into believers and it will leave them hanging for more. Has our faith in Michael Bay restored? Yes...but only just.

Although Age of Extinction maybe a departure to the Transformers movies we know but this movie never fails to impress us...if the producers were very careful about making this movie feature a million dollars worth of cars. It's quite of an overload if you asked.

My rating: 3.9 out of 5

FIFA World Cup 2014 - Round of 16 (Part Two)

In the second day of the FIFA WORLD CUP Brasil Round of 16 match, Holland and Costa Rica were emerged as the winners on this match. In the Holland vs. Mexico match, the Dutch gave everything they've got to secure their spot to the semi-finals and they've won the match against the Mexicans at the score of 2-1. Meanwhile in the Costa Rica vs. Greece, the 1-1 tie lead to a penalty match where at the score of 5-3, Costa Rica advanced to the semi-finals.

Tomorrow, it's two European nations against two African nations as France takes on Nigeria while Germany takes on Algeria. Obrigado!

Let's Do The News! (June 30, 2014)

The big scoop today...

- Motorcyclist Bobby Goodin was killed in a tragic motorcycle accident during this year's Pikes Peak Hill Climb after crossing the finish line at the top of Pikes Peak.

- There's still more innovative firsts to be introduced on the all new 2015 Ford Mustang as the next generation pony car will introduce Sync 911, which includes sending a report to the local authorities how you crashed and if you were belted.

2015 Ford Mustang

- IN WEIRD NEWS: The Anime Expo committee stuffed over 4 tons of Nature Valley Granola bars into attendee goodie bags, in preparation for next week's event.

- In celebration of Love Live! School idol project's 5th anniversary, since its inception in 2010 as a self-described "ultimate user-participation project", the Season 2 finale announced that they're working on a Love Live movie! We're all pleased, the μ's are pleased, even Honoka Kosaka is pleased.

- Bradley Steven Perry (Gabe from Good Luck Charlie and Kaz from Disney XD's Mighty Med) will star in an upcoming Disney XD original movie, titled Pants On Fire, where he plays as a teenage boy who never stops lying until his made-up friend Mikey (played from Tyrel Jackson Williams who played Leo from Lab Rats) came true and most of his lies turned into reality. It's Kaz meets Leo in the upcoming Disney XD original movie and it's all set later this year.

- Sabrina Carpenter, who played Maya Hart from the recently added Disney Channel series, Girl Meets World, covers Imagine Dragons' Radioactive in a Disney Playlist-featured clip.

- A student from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde was killed from hazing, with three others injured.

- They say marijuana is a drug highly prohibited by the law while some parts of the world are legal. Guess what? The CBCP states that this prohibited drug is fine for cancer patients. Is the CBCP's statement true or is it just a cover-up to state that weed is okay to everyone?

- Manila mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada believes that the case against Jinggoy Estrada is "very very weak".

- An offshoot from the global terrorist network, al-Qaeda, declared the seized territories in Iraq and Syria an Islamic "caliphate" and summoned global factions to pledge their allegiance.

TTFN!!!

Wow Mali! - June 29, 2014

On the June 29, 2014 episode of Wow Mali!

- NAWAWALANG BANGKAY - This grave's going to take you to the grave!

- ULILANG BIIK - A detective tries to investigate the death of the piglet's mom.

- STAR DANCER - Lady needs a lift to get her money...turns out she's just a dancer.

- COMMERCIALS FU - HABA NG HAIR - In the new segment, Commercials Fu, Mr. Fu combines commercial spoofs with some classic Wow Mali good time. On this episode...this portion is brought to you by RICHOICE!

- NAKITA NYO SYA? - Excuse me but...have you seen my kid?

- ISA NA LANG, TATAKBO NA - Room for one more? Because we're moving! Not the jeep! Us!

- EMOTE CONTROL - ANG DRAMA MO - On this episode's Emote Control, a celebrity takes a dramatic stance seriously.

Forza Motorsport 5: Power vs. Grip

When choosing a track toy, do you need a track toy that is focused on power or focused more on grip? To find out, I went to Mount Panorama, which is located at New South Wales, Australia, to find out.



Here is the venue and here are the cars prepped for this comparison:

The KTM X-BOW R. The track toy armed with the super sports car technology for the 21st century. It comes with the Audi 2.0L TFSi engine producing 295HP of power and 295lb-ft of torque. It only weighs around 1,786lbs.



And then, the Caterham Superlight R500. Top Gear's 2008 Car of the Year. It maybe 32HP less than the X-BOW R but it weighs 670lbs less than the X-BOW R so despite that power difference, its lightweight bodywork is worth the gripping capable enough to classify itself as a track toy.



There's a saying that goes "Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere". That was the word from Lotus founder Colin Chapman because some car companies value aerodynamics over engine.

So, while the X-BOW R is 60% more on power and 40% focused on weight loss, and the Caterham is more on weight loss and a little care less on the power despite the fact that it has better power-to-weight ratio than the Bugatti Veyron; guess it's time for me to grab the bull by the horns, bite the bullets, and literally put these track toys to the test at the home of the Bathurst 1000.



So there it goes. The X-BOW did it in 2:29.627 while the Caterham R500 did it in 2:29.215, meaning the lightweight R500 beaten the powerful X-BOW by about 1/3rd of the second, proving that subtracting weight is better than adding power. Maybe that's why there are some wanted to lose weight rather than add power to create a track-focused high-performance vehicle.

FIFA World Cup 2014 - Round of 16 (Part One)

The Round of 16 match on the FIFA WORLD CUP Brasil has begun and the remaining 16 countries are slugging against each other to vie for the semi-finals.

First, there's the match between hosting nation Brazil and Chile. In this match, they've tied at the end, leading the game to a penalty match where Brazil wins at the score of 3-2. Then, the match between Colombia and Uruguay ended with Colombia wins the match at the score of 2-0.

Tomorrow on the Round of 16 match, it's Holland taking on Mexico and Costa Rica slugging against the Greeks.