Some people say OVERKILL, I’d say COOL

The first reaction many would say (including me initially) is OVERKILL seeing people wearing diver watches when in reality that they’ve never been ‘diving’ even on the kitchen sink. Same goes to overly large fridges and the same thing goes to pickup trucks. Now why is that?

The last pickup that rocked my mind was none other than the Nissan Navara 2.5 turbo-diesel! With four of my mates on board, at around 4.00am I still remember, that bad boy trucker easily climbing up an undisclosed construction up hill with surface covered with anything but muds without even flinching. And once we’re done with our so called myth busted experiment, we took it out for a short sprint having a bad taste beng-up Vios for early breakfast. I was so sure that kid driver must have gone straight to mommy to cry over the river hehehe

But Navara isn’t the once I’d like to rant over err no but the Toyota Hilux 2.5 turbo diesel is. It’s commonly known that Toyota Hilux is the favorite transport of choice of unker Pua Chu Kang and of course the Talibans. It’s one of the very few that can take you almost anywhere anytime with up-time reliability probably surpass well almost anything. Now this beast is my parents’ favorite mode of transport and definitely I've had a plenty of go in it :)

Considering that I’ve been driving lots of hatchbacks for quite sometimes, getting into the Hilux makes me feels like a midget trying to tame a Godzilla, not a GTR Godzilla but Godzilla size Godzilla....

Not just this, this thing is just almost impossible to be parking friendly, not just to the driver but the covered car park as well. This is the first time I went to covered shopping car park fearing that I will scrap the upper concrete and almost none of the parking space I’ve been that can actually fit this thing.

Don’t bother to talk about driving dynamics because it excels straight As on the wrong side of the road. Yes the steering feels exactly like maneuvering a sinking boat and it rides crushingly horrid. Probably things work better off road doesn’t swell right on road unlike a Range Rover.

That’s not it, apart from Avanza, I truly think the interior built quality especially the material used for this Hilux is mimicking a lot like the Viva. No, I'm not kidding. Toyota of today is no longer the Toyota of yesteryears that’s for sure.

But once I started to actually drive this beast, just like the Navara, this Godzilla really moves! The figure did say 144bhp and 343nm. Given the mass of nudging 2 tonnes and yes it does feels like it on the move, though not Navara level, the way it pulls reminded me of my old Satria GTi when it was standard. On Auto still! It gives me goose bumps first time I drive it. And I can count how many times I get this 1) shotgun ride with friend’s 300+hp fwd Satria GTi boosting along Persiaran Surian when the surface was wet 2) Flat out the Pocong along Ulu Yam with no inch to spare on the throttle 3) almost sliding into a ravine at old Gombak road 4) Witnessing my mechanic doing wheell on tricked Wrangler powered by 2JZ…..that’s it I think.

And, it was during this recent raya season that this truck transported my family from KL to Jitra within 4 hours including a stop for breakfast driven by my MOM! Scary to believe yes but it’s true because my brother who took Air Asia flight only needs to wait about ½ hour for them to pick him up at Alor Setar airport which they themselves dropped him at the KL Sentral station for hitching a bus ride to LCCT 4 hours back then.

People say diesel fed engine save fuel right? But that’s not the case for this Hilux, I think, because it needs RM90 worth of diesel to reach there. Hell that’s RM20 more than what my Pocong needs on Ron97 fuel for the same range and same cruising speed.

Even with so many flaws from what I’ve seen, I still like it in fact I think it’s a cool car for common people can afford. Given that traffic jams are getting crazier by the day, I think it would be a good idea to have one so that I can sneak out from it through dividers and slope contours. You can’t hardly say pointless to have 4wd on city roads can’t you? And of course it has given vertically challenge people like to feel like 6”3' :)

Adik ku yang mereng besides the Beast

Awesome Sport Machine!

I've been hooked to Honda S2000 for quite sometime now. Everything is just right - rwd on a roadster but really drives with none of the conventional weakness, very precise and of course F20C that revs till 9,000rpm. The next AE86 cult status, hell yes I'd like to think so! Once I'm done buying a landed home, this is NEXT!

52.5k kms oil change

Pocong just had new heart fluid change at Ever Auto last Saturday. Typical 4.5ltr of fresh Castrol Edge 10w40 and original oil filter replacing the old. And prior to that, the mechanic did not fine any signs of leaks at all CV boot covers and rear bearings still ok. A total bill came to about RM316.75 which includes RM75 for the oil filter. This is a bit odd because either it’s so expensive in here or Alex got it confused with Pocong as Mk5 Golf GTI. Either way, I’m happy with the place and will visit again on coming 60k mileage for major timing belt replacement, perhaps bringing oil filter, plugs and G12+ coolant on my own hahaha

Media Formula Plus 2010

Karting on a competitive level has never been my soon-to-do-list because I feel I’m not ready for it. But it turns out that I’ve got a call from a friend asking me to join 1Motor team for Media Formula Plus 2010 endurance race which held yesterday in Speedway Plus circuit where everything are fully sponsored. Not setting any expectation, I’m game for it because it’s FREE!

Woke up a wee bit early, warmed up the Pocong and drove straight there and it turns out I was the earliest bird arriving at 6.40ish am. With a sandwich pack in my hand, while eating it as breakfast, I went for a walkabout tour of the circuit which I haven’t driven before, come to think of it, the same applies to the other two drivers (Satay and Firman) and it’s the first time too for the team. A tall order to expect anything except finishing the race. What amazes me by doing this walkabout, “detail, details, details” pops up to my eyes on exactly the track width, elevation changes, surface quality (some areas are in mediocre state due to drifting runs held), minor pot holes but enough it giving a hell ride and of course a good starting point for entry points etc. Danny Sullivan’s book is right after all hahaha

Upon registering, 1Motor has been listed in Group C, where the format gives us 8 mins practice & qualifying, and 25mins endurance race. Our strategy of the day was to give our lead drive Satay the whole 8 mins for qualifying and being first driver pulling a long first stint, followed by Firman and I’m the last one acting as fail-safe should we need to climb places at the very last minute. A good strategy nonetheless….

With 9 teams competing in Group C, Satay managed to grab pole by some margin of about mid 1:01mins. Things however starting to look like a Hollywood when our kart failed to start which leaving us at dead last of the pack and this allows TV3 Po-Nai to take the lead. Ironically this also happens to Kiki of Driven but luck, skills and experience on their side when they climb up the pace and finished on top in Group B.

Hoping to achieve the same sort of feat, Satay managed to keep his frustration at bay and began putting the hammer down, nailed just right to climb up places. And by lap 6, we’re back in the lead with TV3 Po-Nai still on his tail. And when it’s Firman’s turn to go, TV3 Po-Nai managed overtake him on the long sweeper and retake the lead and by then gave us a good margin distance.

Being the fail-safe driver, I’ve got pressure amounting to at least catch up to them but things doesn’t turned to be rosy when the kart engine failed to start again and we’ve lost a good 5secs there alone. Going out with track familiarisation and flat out all in one go, I decided to take late apex on all corners on the first lap to get myself acclimatised fast and coming to next lap, I began pushing hoping to catch a glimpse of TV3 Po-Nai by lapping 2 teams in the process. But my overdeveloped trigger-ness on the last corner causes us to lose time and managed to embarrassingly spun on the area on my cool down lap after being chequered. In my defense if I may, I’m struggling to modulate the throttle and brakes ala on-off effect, on when for full out running and anything lesser than full throttle just want to die. Nevertheless we still retain 2nd and heading for the final!

A bit of rain came and camouflaged the track surface and obviously made it slippery especially first and last turn. Another hindrance is our new kart this time is down on power than the problematic first. But that doesn’t stop Satay to clocks high 1:00min but that only good enough for 3rd placing. Given that we’re competing against pro drivers of defending champion Malay Mail XMM, TV3 Po-Nai and Driven, 3rd place is just the best we can possibly do for now.

A biggest surprise of the final was F1 hopeful Nabil Jefri is joining the race albeit starting last. And as expected, he rocketed to fourth behind us on the start. Satay did his absolute best to keep him at bay but that doesn’t stop Nabil to overtake on lap 3 as we dropped down to fourth while Malay Mail XMM and TV3 Po-Nai already about ½ track ahead. Looking at damage limitation, we’re working on to retain fourth placing till the end. But on 2nd stint, Firman got overtaken by 2 karts though unsure whether they were overtaking for position of unlapped themselves. Pressure began to mount to the team for a good finish.

Decided not wanting to repeat the rookie mistakes, as my turn to drive in the end, I decided to taking it easy on first turn but flat all the way through long sweepers and got good rhythm on the slow technical turns on the last section while taking it easy on the last corner. It turned out to be a good approach as I managed to catch-up with the two karts and overtaken them on the technical section and one at the last corner approaching to the final straight. 3 laps to go was the final lap with me taking it cautiously on the last one to bring home the kart in fourth with Driven team behind us!

We were again delivered a jolly good news that Plus team driven by Nabil and gang didn’t classified as competitors which moved our standing to 3rd with prices of RM3000 cash and trophy. It’s a bloody good outcome considering it’s the first time entry for the team with drivers got no experience on this track at all.

I’ve told Mio of 1Motor that I’d like to come back for next year and together hopefully we can challenge for top spot. Until then, my novel has not finished yet and of course in between the time I’m heading for City Karting with buddies for another rempiting session :)

Confirm aku memang layak sebab free hahaha

Not sure whether this is the ideal line in Speedway Plus....but the last turn need to take it wide

Had a walk-through when the sun yet to rise

Glimpse of the sun starting to wake up

It's daylight alright and just done with the walkabout tour

Hmmm

Looks the part but the old junk at City Karting is 30% more powerful

Suubbbbaaaruuu

Geng-geng rempit yang berjaya bersama Mr Manager-nya. It's the first time for the 1Motor team to enter this event, first time track for us all but rezeki murah ini hari hehehe

Mild mods performance stats and new POISONS

It’s been a while since I’ve been actively blabbering about things in here, well the very lame and cliché reason I can say is ‘career’ related. My attention has been glued to it since few months back particularly when I’m in the midst of heading to different paddy field to kais pagi makan petang and also doings lots of catching up on database and geodatabase technologies.

I’m happy to report that the new SQL Server 2008 is twilight years ahead of SQL Server 2000 which I’m certified for; plenty of administrative controls over database schema, impressive TDE and of course almost seamlessly able to accommodate direct injection of spatial data without middleware while performance tuning points largely remained unchanged. Of course, it doesn’t mean it will outcast the tried and tested Esri ArcSDE anytime soon because I can’t see how the SQL Server able to manage geoversioning without much customization.

Well none of that now because it’s not what I’m going blog about anyway. I’ve received two screenshots of Azdilizan’s Polo GTI PocketDyno result. Looking at it, there’s nothing not to be pleased about it. 0-100kmh in 6.85 secs, 0-150km/h in 12.93, ¼ mile in 15.03secs! Quite similar performance figures of a stocker DC5 ITR which is still a very rapid machine. Should he improves on his RT, I definitely think low 6secs in 0-100km/h and mid 14s in ¼ mile is on the cards.

Another thing that caught my eyes is, there’s a possibility of PnP a pair of Porsche Boxter’s 4 potter calipers into the Pocong while still retaining 16” rims as both using the same 312mm rotors. Hmmm I like that! And also for the umpteenth times, I’m still contemplating on getting coilovers and at the moment I know just the right brand, model and at a price that won’t nuke my pocket and of course it’s a landed price. What I can tell you right now is the brand starts with H…

But these two won’t be happening any time soon as I’ve got a novel to write about which is called job handover, it is now eating up the pages akin to a script of Indonesian Sinetron which you can never can say it will be completely finished as branches suddenly keep on expanding like no tomorrow. But having said that, there’s not a day goes by without me thinking of getting these two so stay tuned :)

This reminds of doing frequent 'visits' to route E6 in the wee wee hours with a buddy and G tech gadget glued on the windscreen and floor all the way till the engine went to heaven, that was a loong time ago....

I'm at loss for words here .....

For Sale: Used H&R Sport Spring

Item: H&R Sport Spring
Description: H&R Sport Spring that lowers the car by 35mm than normal Polo height
Condition: Good
For: 1) VW 9N2/9N3 Polo; 2) VW Mk4 Golf

Reason Selling: Unused
Price: Negotiable

Interested? Contact Wu @ +60122733483

Close Shave

Speaking about close shave, in my years of driving, legally and illegally, plenty of close shaves have happened including a motorbike rammed into me while I was stopping for traffic light stop which happened last week.

The condition of that bike was as sorry state like Dean’s Impala was crashed into by a demonically-possessed truck driver in Supernatural finale, only this time caused by the rider’s own doing. The rider was semi conscious and wet himself in the process, a quick rush to PPUM and thorough checks confirmed that he only suffers bruises. And to sums a long day for me, I’ve been to not one but two police stations to lodge a cover report.

Although it’s never my intention to claim damages because honestly I don’t think there’s a good chances that he’s able to pay and high chances that motorbike might not have valid road tax/insurance but I’m merely just taking up insurance should there be any twist down the road. And damages to the Pocong are very minimal - slightly damaged paintwork & dent on the bumper, slightly cracked rear tail light. You’d struggle to actually notice it really.

Speaking of this, it reminds me of some close shaves I’ve experienced down to my own stupidity among which was fish tailing a Waja coming down Genting facing directly towards a lorry (which again repeated in Section 14 PJ), driving blindly onto opposite direction in the darkness of the night in Jalan Skudai near Danga Bay, playing fire with fishtailing Satria GTi at old Gombak road and almost slipping into a ravine where no one would ever know to just name a few.

Since then, I’ve gotten myself laid back and only doing it when I really need it to be doing and on the road I know well and strong mobile reception should things go south. A wee bit chicken attitude there but sure is wiser I’ve become. Probably age already catch up…. but I can all out at karting but then my karting buddy had turned turtle experience the other day. Bummer!!

Just a cut here and a crack there... nothing serious

Only need to make time to visit bodyshop for some respray

Ajae's kart after turned turtle

RM50 penalty for this is a BARGAIN hahaha!