The H&R Monotube is IN!

The coilovers have been installed last Saturday by my regular mechanic, Auto World Car Service in Wangsa Melawati. It wasn't a straight forward installation as the coilover casing has slightly bigger diameter than the original; and we've forgotten to slot in 'freeplay bearing' in between new front top mount and coilover. This has caused irritating noise during turning when vehicle was stationary also known as "coil-bind" problem. Luckily we realised this soon and redo the front installation again. Applying WD40 on the spring plates also helps fortunately :)

And yesterday, I've sent the car for its overdued tyre rotation & balancing at MPS Auto .... and I've actually met up with Faidzil Alang of FA Racing to seek his chassis setup service. Based on his enormous experience as a official test driver & racing driver for R3, I'm quite confident he'll setup my Pocong just as what I wanted: to be competent sunday drive tool with fluidity ride than outright harshness. The car will be in by this Saturday. So stay tune :)

With bigger casing, it's troublesome to install this H&R coilovers

Purposely set the ride height heigher a bit until FA Racing says otherwise hehe

H&R Monotube Coilovers

As you know, the current SuperSport dampers has reached its EOL and replacement is inevitable. Instead of going through the same route of short stroke dampers again and again, I've decided to bite bigger bullet for this H&R Monotube Coilovers and it's finally here courtesy of Speedzone. The price offered by them is well almost the same offered by most of my regular online websites, and yeah it's no brainer really not to go for it. And I'm still banging my head that I should have gone for this in the first place years back!

Part Number: 29379-2 (9N3 GTI)
Dampers Construction: Inverted Monotube.
Damping Adjustable: No. 30% stiffer fixed damping from factory. No mentioned of spring rates.
Ride height adjustable: Yes. As much as 20-50mm front and 20-60mm rear.
Rebuildable: Officially not serviceable in here.
Front Spring Rate: Not known, Rear Spring Rate: Not known.
Top Mounts: Use back the stock rubber top mounts.
Price: RM4k landed

Finally after a month of waiting :)

The package with ever willing non-payable model lol

It's inverted monotube alright

Unofficially, the dampers made by Koni

90k kms service

With the car’s mileage approaching 90k kms, another major service is imminent. This time around, the refreshment job was ‘contracted out’ to two of my regular workshops 1) Auto World Service & Repair; and 2) Ever Auto. Both are good in their own way and among the very few that I can leave Pocong without worries. Here’re the breakdowns of my bitter pills:

Engine Oil: Liqui Moly Top Tech 5w40 RM275.00
Oil Filter: VW 1.8T (06A 115 561 B) RM35.00
Labour: Engine Oil, Oil Filter & Spark Plugs RM80.00
Bushing: ECS Rear Axle Bushing Kit RM252.64
Brake Pads: ECS Red Stuff (Front) RM0.00
Brake Pads: ECS Red Stuff (Rear) RM205.91
Spark Plug: NGK Platinum V-Power BKR7E RM50.00
Coolant: Redline Water Wetter RM55.00
Brake Fluid: Motul Dot 4 RM44.00
Thermostat: Wahle 82 Deg Thermostat RM61.59
Labour: Axle Bushing Pump RM25.00
Labour: Installing Radiator Thermostat RM45.00
Labour: Skimming Brake Rotors RM50.00
Labour: Installing Rear Axle Bushings RM280.00
Labour: Installing Brake Pads & Brake Bleeding RM80.00

Total RM1,585.06

And that’s going to be the end because I’ve found out that the SuperSport dampers are getting weaker by the day. So coilovers are inevitable and now I’m at cross road between BC V1 or H&R Monotube Coilovers. Come to think of it, I should have went for it in the first place back then….sigh…oh well

DC Trip - Part 2

DC Trip Part 2:)

The closest I can get to White House

Apple Store in Tyson's Galleria

Welcome to Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum!

Immediately greeted by "hanging" P-40 Warhawk

One of the very main reasons why I come to DC....Lockheed SR-71. No reconnaissance aircraft in history has operated globally in more hostile airspace or with such complete impunity than the SR-71, the world's fastest jet-propelled aircraft



MiG-21 F13 Fishbed

Grumman A-6E Intruder

Lockheed X35B

Sikorsky UH-34D Seahorse

Bell UH-1H Iroquois "Huey" Smokey III


Northrop N-M1

Boeing 707

At Overvation Deck overseeing Dulles Airport

Concorde

Recently completed Dulles's terminal train service

Dulles Airport is much more modern now

DC Trip - Part 1

Just want to take a break from blogging about cars for a bit. My last trip to DC was in 93 and it's been awhile. And this time around, I truly had an awesome time especially in Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum besides Dulles Airport. It's just like Disneyland for Aviators :)

So enjoy the part 1 :)

A bit of exercise work for the Fiesta

Transit in Amsterdam Airport

Spotted A380 in Dulles Airport

Residence Inn Marriott next to my principal's office

No fancy restaurants but the environment of this place is just inviting

Shopping time at Leesburg Factory Outlet

I swipped my credit card as far as it can takes lol

Washington Monument at night

Walking at night feels awkwardly safe in US

I kinda like this picture, don't know why :)

Gathering Parts for 90k kms Refreshment Buffet

Anticipating that I'll be in DC for a week, I intend to make full use of it by getting some stuffs for upcoming 90k kms refreshment buffet for Pocong. So few days before my arrival, a quick chat with the guys at Ohio easily landed these at hotel for a meagre USD10 courier cost via FedEx:

- ECS PU Rear Axle Bushing Kit USD79.95
- EBC Red Stuff Rear Pads USD65.16
- Wahler 80 deg Thermostat USD19.49

On top of that, I've had already purchased VW genuine front and rear wiper blades (RM100) and Lemforder front top mounts (RM110). Another 6k kms to go, gathering parts still continues :)

Received this package on Wednesday

ECS PU Rear Axle Bushing Kit

ECS Red Stuff for the rear to compliment the earlier unused gathered front pads

Wiper refills and Lemforder top mounts. Bought the top mounts because it's cheap, RM55 per piece. Proton's kinda price :)

Wahler 80deg Thermostat

Dodge Caliber

I was in DC on a business trip for a week recently. With an exception of say New York, anywhere else, you need a car to move around. A quick ring to Enterprise Rent-A-Cara company did get me this, Dodge Caliber 2.0(A). Starting rent rate is quite cheap honestly speaking at USD40 but the moment I added up basic insurance, gps and sales tax, the rate per day is USD82. Oh well…

The Caliber to me is a typical American kinda design with bold looks, tall and high ground clearance. Treat it as scaled down and baby Dodge Charger with a meager 2.0 litre engine mated with CVT gearbox. Pretty cool considering at that time Dodge Charger is not available for rent. The engine, if I can recalled correctly derived from joint venture between Chrysler, Mitsubishi, and Hyundai; is relatively brisk for entry level 2.0 NA. Still I got left behind 10 tiangs on traffic light drag with an old school Passat 1.8T. That’s about the only pluses I can say about the car.

The steering feel is non-existence through the turns like an SUV than a hatchback and body control is poor. Straight “As” flop. That’s probably the reason why I won’t bother in illustrating any further like other cars I’ve reviewed.

It’s far too crude and coarse inside out to be genuine rival to Focus, Golf or even Corolla. But for aunties who own small SUVs and not clearly educated on driving quality, this Caliber might make a weird kind of sense.