Vehicle: 2006 Nissan Cefiro 230JM
Price as tested: HK$236800
Performance: The JDM Cefiro is available with three VQ engine. VQ20DE, VQ23DE and the familiar VQ35DE. The subject of our tester comes with VQ23DE which is good for 173 horses and 178 lb/ft of torque. Given the nearly 3800 pounds, this engine has provided decent grunt even when [...]
Vehicle: 2006 Ford Focus Ghia 1.6 5-door with Durashift
Price as tested: HK$149800
Performance: The European Ford Focus is available with a wide variety of powerplants, this 1.6L is just one of them. With only 100hp and 107 lb/ft of torque, dare I say the performance is barely adequate. The main reason of the adequte performance is [...]
Vehicle: 2006 Jaguar X-Type 2.1 Sport sedan
Price as tested: HK$369000
Performance: Unlike the North American spec, the X-Type is also available with an entry-level 2.1L DOHC 24-valver V6. This engine is based on the Duratec V6 engine family but it has been detuned from 2.5L to 2.1L. If you thought 2.5L already felt underpowered, this 2.1L [...]
Vehicle: 2006 VW GTI 2.0T DSG
Price as tested: HK$299000
Performance: Unlike the outgoing GTI which were powered by both 1.8T and VR6, the Mk5 version is powered by only one engine. This 2.0L turbocharged engine is great enough to forget about the front-bias VR6 without losing the delicate balance of 1.8T. This 2.0T FSI DOHC 16-valver [...]