Myth BUSTED!

It’s very much unfortunate that due to work commitments, I had to neglect this blog for quite some time now. But this Pocong is darn good at cunningly and intentionally all in the same body language grabs me back in with its new set of TLC requests!

It was last Monday after my wife taking a pot shot at this fella that it idles like a mesin tebu due to the ECS Stg1 clutch kit fitted, and to my surprise this Pocong taking it very personal. Few minutes after, it went on to becoming notoriously extra vocal in whistling upon spooling at WOT and idles coarsely loud and rough like a mad truck.

On a perpetual disturbed mind, I went to start thinking whether the turbo bolts gotten themselves loose or boost leaks or downpipe/exhaust leaks or is it the first sign the K03S is doing a harakiri etc. The next morning after tiring thinking about it even during my wet dream, I went to drop the car at Alex’s Ever Auto to check it up. That’s where I was basically carless for 3 solid days as they’ve got ½ of dozen of backlog Audis to clear first.

Two days went by and upon calling Alex, the problem myth is BUSTED. It turns out that turbo metal gasket was torn to pieces, specifically the one from the K03S turbo outflow to intercooler needs replacing. This made absolute sense because upon diagnostic checks during 60k kms service we encountered "17705 - Pressure Drop between Turbo and Throttle Valve (check D.V.!)". The original gasket itself is not expensive which is about RM50 but the labour charge is 3 times more as Alex’s right hand man needs about 3 solid hours in getting the job done courtesy of very space constraint engine bay.

But at the end of the day, you know what, to me it’s worth every penny. It now spools stealthier with very very timid whistling with very smooth delivery throughout the rev range. And I’m very certain the car feels punchier now as I can have much more mental torque steer at 3rd gear. The idiocy is BACK!

And while waiting for SuperSport dampers to reach Frank’s place sometime now, I just have a pretty good idea of how my ideal cheap & cheerful FMIC would works great in giving cooling consistency and reasonable response. All I need is a good condition used aluminium intercooler like Evo3, new piping route from turbo-intercooler-manifold with ~2” diameter and Ah Heng’s magic hands. Clues are available below :)

Oh yes, I suppose to rant my thoughts of the new Fiesta 1.6S and how well it cope with the uphill & downhill curves at Ulu Yam but unfortunately my brother who just gotten the delivery of it keeping his keys miles away for me to grabs it. Nevertheless, I’m still going to try HARD to give it a go hehehe

The troublemaker ...

Original VW 1.8T intercooler flow...

This is what I have in mind...unfortunately Ah Heng is pretty tight up :(

Heart Breaking Dyno Dynamics at Millennium...

Just got back from Dyno Rev Party at Millennium Motorsport Sunway organised by a good friend of Satria GTi Club. At first I wasn’t too keen at letting the Pocong let loose on Joshua’s new ‘heart breaker’ Dyno Dynamics treadmill because 1) 99.99% chances some of the horsies will be MIA 2) 50-60% chances it could be more than 10-20 hp 3) I was flat broke with settling summons, SuperSport dampers and 100cc kart test.

True enough, lots of 4G93s registering well below 110hp and another friend who dyno-ed at the same place I’ve gone registered 139hp but at this ‘heart breaker’ dyno merely 119hp, that’s 20 horsies gone! But considering my unbearable curiosity, I went for this Russian Roulette at the very last minute.

The end result is expectedly lower than before but not by much …. 174.6hp/213ftlb(288.7nm) which got me smiled all the way home. ~4hp MIA but gain ~35nm! I suppose much of this down to the value for money ECS Clutch Kit Stg 1 complimented by the DV and cheap & cheerful BKR7E copper plugs.

Having said that, the power delivery wasn’t as linear as before and Pocong is suffering from heat soak as subsequent runs netted 10hp less which means FMIC is inevitable!

I was kind of happy actually but power delivery needs to be more linear

This was done in two years ago

Not bad against the Clio 197 F1 (The Chase Car)

Autosport Polo Chasing the Bull...

Autosport Australia is certainly serious in breaking their non-modded engine Polo GTI into 1min10s barrier at Wakefield as this video certainly giving it a very good encouragement. Can't be said to that Lambo driver though...

SuperSport Dampers

There’s nothing much to write about on the Pocong nowadays as I’m pretty much ‘content’ with the current setup. It now has adequate juice to keep up with most cars and has reasonable feel for handling and grip on the twisties.

Yeah, I can wish a lot more but a lot more means more money which I can’t afford to unnecessary spend and make time out of my even busier schedule than before. Besides, the tuning effort might not be worthwhile because probably at the end of the day, if I want to get a focus driving horse, I’d be better off with RWD NA S2000 or yeah in my wildest dream … ahem pristine Duke 916!

That can only realize in some years to come and for Pocong now till then, what I can do is giving it good refreshment maintenance but not necessarily TLC kind. And that brings me to suspension dampers. As it clocks slightly shy of 61k kms now, the dampers are starting to show signs of softness. I remember vaguely that my old Waja stock dampers ran out of steams after 10k kms of usage, so at 60k kms is quite alright in my book of thoughts.

My original plans of getting a coilovers was almost dead set until I realised it’s going to set me back into broke warning signs in my head and nowadays I’m driving it in a very civilized aunty-like way as rempiting workout of the past has now transferred to gokart. Hence, coilovers is pretty much overkill really.

So finding the right dampers replacement is the way to go. I just found out that there’s a brand called SuperSport which is a sister company to Spax is offering sport dampers for Pocong. When they meant sport dampers, it’s the usual stuff - shortened and slightly larger piston rods, partially foreshortened housing for more suspension travel, 30% uprated damping than stock, gas assisted, heavy duty and 12 months warranty etc. And having read reviews coming from VW junkies in the states and UK, it’s the best bang for buck and rides well too. But what’s not usual is the price. Having looked at orangetuning.de, it retails at €128 for a set of four (inclusive 19% VAT)!

Having done the math, it should cost me €110 at most plus shipping another ~€50-60 which is still way cheaper than source original dampers locally and almost Proton like costing which is great. On another note, I seriously doubt it gives the same feel as the Bielstein B8 or H&R cup dampers but I’d be very satisfied if it can gives 70%-80% the same feel. That said, I buying one otherwise it’s going to be H&R cup dampers which is additional €100 up. Hmmm….

€110 is darn good value for money!

SuperSport PU Top Mount for paltry sum of €55

Plan B Option - H&R cup dampers. Going this route means no budget for Alpinestars Tech 1-K :(

60k kms Service Done!

The Pocong just had her 60k kms major service done yesterday at Ever Auto which so happens accompanied by 2 Mk1 TT 225 and 2 Mk1 TT. Everything went very well except upon changing the ripped rr brake lights, it worked as dimmed as rear tail lamp something isn't right there. Oh well, got to do it next week then! Oh yes, if nobody was around, I could have sawed MTM muffler of one modded TT 225 and get it weld to Pocong but my luck wasn’t that bright haha…

Once done with that, sent the car for alignment & balancing at Mun Jee (MPS) Sunway. Tyres were flipped and rotated, toe calibrated to 0 and some other magic mojo and I'm happy to report the steering feels much more pointy than before!

Here’s the breakdown of the cost this time around:

Engine Oil: Castrol Edge 5W-40 4L RM205.00
Engine Oil: Castrol Edge 5W-40 1L RM51.25
Oil Filter: VW 1.8T (06A 115 561 B) RM35.00
Spark Plug: NGK Platinum V-Power BKR7E RM50.00
Coolant: G12+ RM40.00
Rear Bulb RM3.00
Labour RM80.00
Service Tax RM4.00
Alignment & Balancing RM84.0o0
Total RM468.25

Cun looking MTM muffler there!

Mun Jee's mojo rocks!

Media Formula Plus 2010 Revisited

Pictures tell a thousands words right but which words?? Well some of the words in the last Media Formula Plus 2010 area these courtesy of 1Motor resident photographer....

Group photo...1Motor conquered rightist, leftist and centre!

Team discussion took place with Firman aiming for the TOP!

All smiles except him again hahaha

Satay

Firman

And yours truly

Kiki of Driven gave a thumbs up!

This is where you can see smiles widen so much so that the teeth are clearly visible from everyone especially us

Malay Mail successfully defended the title

And when it comes to us, the team manager says it all!

Mk1 Golf with a JDM heart!

A mate of mine has just got another toy car, Volkswagen Mk1 Golf! The conditions are pretty at sorry state at the moment but the same can’t be said on its heart power plant. Gone the bone stocker 1.3, say hello to the 1.4 4EFE forced fed delivering 135bhp/157nm. 135bhp might look a bit commoner nowadays but on a chassis that weight less than 800 kilos, it’ll go like stinks. And that bone stocker 4EFE could potentially surpass 200hp on wheel with some mods added on, it’s a new definition of madness retro of the old school!

I wonder if this can sayur the guy's other monster RB25DETT Skyfiro on the 1st-2nd gear acceleration...

Gaga Frog inspired Rocco!

We’ve heard loud and clear by the Bar Council almost putting authoritarian stamp to the government to expedite court cases and of course out of the blue ‘individual rights’. Though in recent years I think Bar has moved into becoming a political joker party in which doesn’t seem to be my cup of tea, but on the expedite cases I honestly applaud them in doing so.

But while they keep on fighting, their members aka lawyers are the crooked lots. Intentionally and indirectly all in the same body language, they still want it to be more or less of the same practices. And one of the readily available examples is convincing the court of postponing cases when things don’t go to their ways. And of course, more delays might means more professional fees further imposed on clients per se.

And that’s what happening to me in recent years till indefinite years. I’ve been slapped with subpoena three times to attend a court hearing as a PP witness and each of the dates given which include today and tomorrow have been postponed again and again. Surely having me ranting about this out loud will definitely be waking up their fangs but hey isn’t that freedom of speech is among the agenda by their ruling body?

Looking back at yesteryears movie like The Godfather, lawyers are there for The Don but they weren’t the war consigliere but guys like Rocco Lampone is. To sum it up, his character is obedient as he’s ruthless and brutal, all in one go. Is that the same case applies to Volkswagen Scirocco? That’s what I’ve got to know this morning.

In an effort not to waste my successfully applied leaves, me and my friend went to VW showroom in Bangsar for him to have a go at Mk6 Golf 1.4 TSI which I drove earlier. We reached there when the sun is just about 40 degrees up and greeted warmly to our hearts and eyes by a out of this world hot looking with model-like body lady SA. If I wasn’t wearing my cheap looking specs, I honestly thought she’s the product we’re window shopping for.

And while we waited for her to get the keys of the Golf, we were busily looking at the cars then her then the car then her again till my eyes trajectory accidentally shifted towards the bay window which overlooked the Scirocco 1.4 TSI. And in a formula 1 split of a second, she’s standing right in front us. Cheeky enough I did asked her if that Roc can be test driven as well and she said YES!

Coming towards the Roc, visually, it’s exactly the same as the 2.0 FSI minus 17” wheels, Merlin fabric seats and of course force fed 2.0 200 hp replaced with the same 1.4 TSI engine as in the Golf. And as for the looks, the Roc isn’t as seductive as MiTo, girly as MCS, far from being beautiful, this Rocco looks like a product of mad love making between a funky Lady Gaga stylist and a frog which in turns transformed into love hate fashion thing. And when it comes to fashion, I’m first class graduate dull!

And the same theme is replicating on the inside. The same stylist has inevitably educated Wolfsburg Ingenieurs applying the same funkiness into the dashboard which origins carried over from Mk5 Golf, weird door handle and seventies rear seats. Typically enough these Ingenieurs still have a common sense in their forehead, ergonomics are still user friendly, all the buttons and levers are being placed at the right place except for the hand brake which is biased to the left and every time I think of touching it, coincidentally nearing that hot chick, a reminiscence of my wife sour face keeps popping up.

My typical habit of beginning a test drive session involves making sure the seating position and mirrors are spot on but this time around I was busily thinking how to make a socialize conversation with this hot SA with her skirt getting shorten by an inch as she seated into conti-Recaro hugging designed seat. And every time, I try to think of something, a vision pops my head of my wife armored with Uzis signaling a WW3 is coming very soon!!

So in my forward defense move, I quickly fired up the engine, slot the transmission to S and line up the Roc to the Jalan Bangsar towards Mid Valley for power and handling so called test. And just like the Golf 1.4 TSI and Polo 1.2 TSI, it hesitates to move rapidly as I floored the throttle. I wonder why this characteristic is in placed for these new VW cars as certainly Mk5 didn’t!

Power wise, I was told this Rocco has 20hp extra than standard which the same thing I heard from SA in Jalan 222 as well. But as floored and I’m sure of that, it looks as though that it pulls exactly the same like the Golf, not an inch different. So a million dollar question is where on earth that 20 horses went? A quick googling habit led me to know that this Roc has the same power figure as the Golf. Given that, I guess probably that remaining horses still got stucked in customs as they negotiating reduction from what already ridiculous 40% tax on CIF for the extra horses.

It’s still a brilliant engine nevertheless as details in the Golf review but not quite punchy and rapid as say R56 MCS. It’s hard to find the reason here but perhaps the gearing is a wee bit longer than ideal? I don’t know for sure. For bone stocker golf is no issue but for Roc, it is. And that’s a bad news for VW because MCS is the obvious competitor in this hairdresser performance car category. Thankfully enough, the price of the MCS is similar to Roc 2.0 FSI.

Having said that, the Golf drives sedately civic but this one is very sporty but obedient. Wider rear width, ACC trickery and 17” giving plenty of grip to fool around and I’ve a hunch the same applies to 2.0 variant as well. Doing 140ish on a sweeping road back towards Bangsar doesn’t upset the stability at all, it just hold on tight its frog inspired body to go through it without much fuss. The steering too has much better positive feel than the Golf but again not quite as engaging as the R56 MCS but close enough and that means still behind FD2R. And in the 1.4, you could hardly get to see the chassis aided by ACC is going to work overtime given the lacked of power.

But unlike an FD2R and MCS, it has way more comfortable ride going through rough patches. And of course you could meddle with the ACC to soften the car a bit more. This I think a real treat for hairdressers before of course devil slipped into their veins to become a complete chucklehead like yours truly.

By no means, it’s still a very good hatch with tidy handling and gives RM40k savings over 2.0 FSI and as mentioned by that hot chick, she prefers Roc over MCS :) As long as you stay away from the 2.0 FSI variant you should be fine but there’s also a devil thought of topping a meager RM10k more for an FD2R for complete chucklehead experience. Not quite a Rocco Lampone experience I’m expecting hence the reason I went to City Karting in the afternoon to burst some steams away by tapauing Italians duo claiming they topped the timesheet of 1.01 min in a 80cc kart. It wasn’t a waste annual leave it seems :)

With the colour and the looks, I can't be wrong right?

For Sale: NGK V-Power BKR7E

Item: NGK V Power BKR7E
Description: A range colder than stock plug, ideal for chipped VAG 1.8T. Being copper based, it has better efficiency than similar range iridium based plugs. And priced 1/3 cheaper!
Condition: Brand New Price: RM50/set

Interested? Contact Firdaus @ +60123827575

Smaller cc can have lots of POKE afterall!

It’s a stereotype and commoner perception that bigger is always better especially coming from the accountants because 99.9999% of them are money centric. Err actually I should have put the lawyers as well come to think of it :P

Naturally bigger cc engines should be more powerful and better but on one corner you’ve these German grease monkeys whom given their sense of humor are anything but funny thought since they managed to shoved in an engine on the wrong end and still can get away with it, now might as well come up with engines with all but smaller cubic centimeters but can still tapau others when it matters.

End result is an engine of 1.2-1.4ltr with both functionalities of supercharger and turbocharger and greener to the environment and of course to the wallet too. So it’s hardly surprising that it has been awarded Engine of the Year 2009-2010 on the trot! Or has these been overhyped??

Moment of truth comes recently that I’ve got a call from Francis about test drive invitation of Mk6 Golf 1.4TSI and just soft launched Mk5 Polo 1.2TSI. Next day passed, as I en route to KL for a troubleshooting the troublemaker appointment, a quick detour to FA Wagen Jalan P Narayanan for a quick spin!

First on the checklist was the Golf. Hmm it has been two years Mk6 Golf has been around, although the outlook has started to grow on me but given my obviously honest answer, I still prefer the flashiness of the Mk5 even though nowadays already started to look dated. And if I may, the rear end of this Mk6 is the most pemalas design which incidentally inherited from the not so good looking Toureg which many grandmas will still call it ugly even after putting on their spectacles upside down.

That’s just about it really because once you climb inside the car, it feels no-nonsense, matured and almost Audi-feel quality material fit and finish, far departure than the Mk5. And even the fabric seats, though from photo looks cheaply grey but offers fantastic at ‘home’ feel with good posture and support. Having said that there’re still some parts with contrast cheapness like the flimsy indicator/wiper stalks – typical Volkswagen.

The first thing after I did once fire up the engine to life was to get it into reverse. Interestingly without throttle being applied, it creeps automatically just like the old Iswara autobox which is nice after thought. And when I line the car up to join the main road, the dry clutch DSG seems to be hesitant to move forward rapidly, exactly the same feeling like driving an AMT Savvy. I know this well because I crashed one before because of this!

But once you engage the DSG in manual mode and plant the throttle to the floor, my GOD these Wolfsburg Ingenieurs have nailed every cubic of this engine perfectly! I’d be wrong to say that virtually it’s lag free, far from it, it feels actual, reality, fact is lag free! And unlike standard Polo GTI 1.8 which runs out of puff after 4.5k, this thing actually pulls further up….a wee shy before 5.5k rpm. And at no time I felt any interchange awkwardness between supercharger and K03 turbo, the power delivery is very linear and smooth. Out of a 1.4ltr engine, I shook my head in an instant!

And it’s mated to this flappy paddle DSG which ratios have been tailored to suit this masterpiece of an engine. Yeah, every gear change feels rapidly precise as usual and of course followed by unapologetic farts. And they make a good companion by a mile in comparison to the MiTo 1.4 T-Jet, 308 Turbo and even the one I’d like to own someday the R56 MCS (A).

The ride and handling characteristics on the other hand are all but sporty. The steering weighted far biased for the city runabout, it just lacks of feel couple with a commoner 205/55/16 tyres and softer sprung ride to become a hot hatch nor it aspire to be. That’s Golf GTI’s territory. On the bright side, it soaks bumps remarkably good and more comfortable without getting overly floaty.

It’s hardly a rocket science that this Golf is being marketed to executives with small family in mind, bundled with ample lots of goodies and needed an understated car yet not a laughing stock for valet parking in front of event functions. That’s German business sense to you.

Getting out from the Golf and into the Polo, I knew beforehand that Golf is the better car except the looks which I really really like it a lot. What makes the styling a little more sort of standout and flamboyant is the fact that they’ve taken something very simple and translated into something big. Understated, typical German eh?

But at the same time, you get certain features, certain flamboyant and certain flair that perhaps haven’t been seen in a small hatch before. Example, look at the way the headlamp cluster made up from different material, different colours and it’s also more of mean and classy looking at the same time. And yet there’re lots of layers, different surfaces and texture and that is a very high-end car feature which we haven’t seen in a small car before this.

Come around to the side of the car and that’s where you’d get to see more of the muscle. This sharp lines flowing all the way from the front and comes back and turned into a nice shoulder. Very neatly done and adds definition to the rear end. Same applies to wheel arch, it’s flared yet it has flat fleet along with sharp lines. So overall, the car tad bigger than the old Picanto inspired Polo but looks way stunning!

But because trying to price the car as cheaply as possible, they’ve skimp on the accessories e.g. basic alloy wheels wrapped in 195/55/15 tyres almost ruining the whole thing! God the wheels looked hideous!

Apart from the exterior, massive improvements were done on the inside. If I can recall properly, the dashboard material is almost exact quality feel like the bigger brother Golf and ergonomics like typical Volkswagen simple designed control at all the right places. But cheapness still can be seen on the door trimmings, control panel meters and also the shiny surface HU.

Unlike the 1.4TSI, this 1.2TSI only has a single turbocharger pushing to power to 105PS/165Nm mated with the same dry clutch DSG 7 speeder. And rightly so, not exactly punchy but adequate enough to drive around just like the 1.6 NA with better torque to rely on except you only need to pay RM55 of road tax and better fuel consumption than Focus TDCi too!

Because this is entry level Polo, the driving refinement is well basic. Just like the golf, the steering feels lighter than too light of the Golf for feel, 195/55/15 tyres couple with standard dampers and spring giving a basic continental feel without sporting credential.

But these little bits here and there are what made up the car being chosen as Car of the Year 2010. And rightly so because none of the superminis which are up for grabs in here can make this Polo a bit rugged on the edge when it comes to looks, practicality, safety features and goodies. What’s more RM109k is a reasonable price to pay(….this is until they watered down the pricing structure like before hahaha)

I could have been separating out the review but there’s a reason for that. These two cars hold some of the possible insights of the new Polo GTI coming to our shore next year. A nice bit of kit that compliment standard Polo outlook, 17” Denver wheels and the same 1.4 TSI carried over from the Golf only more powerful at 180PS/250Nm. By then, I guess even accountants would even like it :)

It looks fine until ....
Images taken from Bangau

... you see this :(
Image taken from Bangau

In contrast, to me Polo is the better looking brother

Next year coming soooonnn....

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!

ADAC VW Polo Cup Duel

Have a look the the vid below, pretty exciting duel between Jimmy Johansson vs. Philipp Leisen in ADAC VW Polo Cup. Regardless of who came on top, doing wheel to wheel stuff and even watching it is really exhilarating to say the least. Oh yes, VW Polo Cup based on mildly tuned VW 2.0 litre NA mated with 6-speed box from Lupo GTI.

Ford Focus TDCi

Going into an era where fuel prices has catapult up way faster than many politicians can walk their talks has prompted us Malaysians to look for alternative fuel be it diesel or hybrid. Whatever the positive findings of hybrid technologies can be, they’re still in infancy stage which is why many car manufacturers still banking on new age turbodiesel.

Common praises including ‘zillionth’ percentage of better fuel economy, superior torque low down, and lower emission levels. All is a jolly good news for us motorists but is there any free lunch in this world for something that is too good to be true?

In here, Ford has already loosing its appeal to Malaysians since the Laser and Telstar days in the nineties. They managed to crawled back just a bit with the Ranger for short period until introduction of Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan Navara, Toyota Hilux and the likes rath back at them. In these trying times, and to get its anchor dealer Auto ConneXion to breathe for survival sake, they’ve brought in Focus 2.0 TDCi at affordable sums of RM125k OTR (excluding insurance) which is about the same price as Honda Civic 2.0, Toyota Corolla Altis, Nissan Sylpy and Mazda 3 2.0. And as we kept hearing fuel prices going to be revised again and again, I truly think it’s a smart, cunning and brave move!

And so today after going rounds and rounds of window shopping of which is the best place to go for custom FMIC installation with for the Pocong, I found myself cruising along Federal Highway en route home until I saw Ford dealership on the right side. What the heck, let’s waste my not so precious weekend time for window shopping that Focus.

The moment I stepped into the showroom, Mane who’s the SA on duty came to me and said “Afternoon Sir, let me guess you’re in for the Focus turbodiesel right? We don’t have on in the showroom but you can have a look at our test car at the front and maybe going for test drive?” Surely I can’t say no :)

Practical and great to drive, the Mk1 Focus is really hard to fault, only thing we can’t never be entirely happy with is its looks. That’s where Ford responded to that by giving the new Mk2 Focus pretty substantial makeover with headlamps which is very Mondeoish, grill and front end also being redesigned to take on latest Ford’s corporate look. And while it’ll take a very keen eye to notice changes on the profile and the rear end, the whole new outlook is very much muscular and modern than its dated predecessor.

Going inside, the dial pack is again Mondeo inspired; sharp red-and-white background instead of the boring old green and some silvery touches surrounds for the dials except on this TDCi, the redzone starts from 4.5k rpm while speedometer up to 240 km/h. Fit and finish remains well ok. However, the plush bits on top part of the dashboard contrast painfully with the hard, dull and well cheap stuff everywhere. By Ford’s standard in the past, this is by all means mediocre. Even the leather seats, as supportive and comfortable they may be, feels not really seem to be made of leather, quite frankly PU is more appropriate if I’m being honest.

Like most Fords, it’s quite reasonably well equipped. Apart from its 2.0 four pot that makes 134PS and 320nm out of diesel force fed and being delivered onto the tarmac by Ford’s very own double clutch’s Powershift 6 speeder, it comes with 16” alloy rims wrapped in 205/55/16 profile tyres, Dual Electronic Automatic Temperature Control (DEATC), rear air-cond vents, electronic adjustable front seats, tilt and telescopic adjustable steering and audio control mounted on steering column. Safety and security being kept in checked by ABS with EBD assist, ESP, dual airbags on the front and of course 5 star NCAP crash rating.

After getting myself strapped in the driver’s cockpit with driving position set just spot on, cranked the engine with ‘S’ button located at the gear console turned to ON. First impression I’ve got is, blimey, it’s seriously quiet in here hardly I hear diesel clatters, hell the Pocong’s idling is way more noisy.

As I drive it out of the gate with right foot firmly nailed to the floor, it made me realise that turbodiesel in car nut point of view memang indah kabar dari rupa. This is where diesel’s superior torque can’t in many ways to compensate lack of revs and horsepower. Full stop.

Plenty of faults I can pinpoint here, first of which is the lack of response on the delivery, the boost finally come on song after around 2.5k rpm, in the diesel world is pretty laggy where as mentioned earlier redzone is 4.5k rpm. 320nm claimed figures feels overrated really. And how ‘much’ it gives at that powerband comes in one lump sum but after 4k rpm, you need to change gear. That’s how much frustrating driving diesel fed cars. Mind you this is using 6 speed double clutch gearbox, if it’s 4 speed conventional Ford’s, it’ll be horrid.

While the designers have done much on the car, the engineers look like skipping office hours with lots of ELs and MCs. And that’s not a bad thing really because dynamically it’s already class leading. McPherson strut on the front while the space saving control blade on the rear carried over from Mk1 is already good enough in providing well balanced chassis and good compromise between good road holding and comfort.

Although the test route wasn’t exactly spritely by nature, the steering feels sharp, positive and above of all is natural. Better than many hot hatches around including Satria Neo CPS, Alfa MiTo, and regrettably Polo GTI. Still I stand corrected that R56 MCS may have an edge on this department compared to Focus but I can imagine if you’re driving this Focus on the twisties, you’ll definitely forgotten for a while that this is actually a proper four-door family hatch, with generous space inside which happens to has a very spot on dynamics all around. And let’s not forget, it’s never in anyway anytime uncomfortable, the setup on this thing is brilliant. You’ll go into a bump and it immediately settles down again, it’s really as I said earlier a class leading.

Should Proton needs a new yardstick in ride & handling, it has to be this Focus. This is because of all Proton’s I’ve driven and I’ve driven all of them, they have never been as this Focus’s competent.

That said, I truly feel, Focus TDCi is quite an astonishing family car in every way given its price tag and diesel fed benefits. Of course build quality is declining but you don’t pay for a VW. The 308 turbo and Civic definitely got their work cut out by some margin here except only left in mind is how affordable is the maintenance of the car. But hey, since Malaysians rarely keep their cars for many years, why bother much on this when it comes with 3 years warranty and free servicing.


PS: Should you buy one, please for the love of God uncheck the optional blue stripes. It’s very loud and rice!