Nissan Silvia S15

While I’ve checked in Pocong to FA Racing for suspension setup, I managed to drive this Nissan Silvia S15 for half a day. It’s actually one of the cars I’m hunting for in 08 and ended up with the Pocong. I like the more ‘feminine version’ of Skyline, white colour, spot-on driving position and the steering feels meaty enough given it’s still running stock. Hmmmm….pretty much a good platform to venture into rwd :)

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.

Mégane Renaultsport 250 Cup – You've just messed up my mind!

Judging from many months of sabbatical leave of absentees here, some of you might have thought that this blog is going to rot in the blogger.com hosting facility. Well, while I can’t deny it has gotten rusty around the edges and I can’t help but to use cliché excuse of work commitments which partly comes with a hell of a nightmare in getting ArcGIS software to work in an clustered Solaris zone which I would say the OS behaving like an 100 year old senile old man. And for a fact, I’m still working to sort it out …. with a sledgehammer soon!

Having slept last night at 4.00 am and woke up at 6.30 am (to send wifey for hemodialysis treatment), it’s almost like ordinary F1 GP live telecast time. That’s just not enough time at to have a short dreaming exercise. Radioactively speaking, this has somehow short circuited my daily SOP whereby for the first time in my life, I had a big mug-sized brewed black coffee in PMC to stay up which I haven’t had any before. And I also just had a different perception on a car I initially thought as overhyped. And my fellow blogger Azmir’s latest posting does pour something in the caffeine that stimulates me in getting interested in asking for a test drive.

And because PMC was nearer to PJ, on the way home, I told wifey that I want to take a slight detour to PJ to stroll back some memory lanes with an intention of dropping by a place carrying an address of No. 5 Jalan Semangat. The Renault showroom. Upon walking to the showroom, I was warmly greeted by a guy named Amos who brilliantly manages to make me feels at home in there even though I was donning a VW GTI t-shirt with French cars prejudice tattooed in my forehead. This I can explain.

You see, I’m coming from over the years witnesses pretty much of horror experiences from my relatives who own Frenchies among which:-
1) A clutch assembly decided to disintegrate itself from my uncle Citroen BX while I riding it to cross Johor-Singapore border.
2) The very same car has appetite in leaking its hydraulic suspension lines, any new replacement will only be leaking the following months after.
3) My grandpa’s then ancient Mk3 Cortina has better reliability than his another always sick Peugeot 305
who ends up staying at workshop than at home; and {the best of the lots}
4) My cousin’s Renault Mégane decided to auto pilot itself after cranking up the engine even the gear lever still at P. That was in UK.
Not that I’ve anything against Frenchies owners out there but hmm yeah, now you can see why I always stay away from it…….

Now however, the introduction of the new Mégane Renaultsport 250 Cup has started to get many chuckleheads throwing away Evos, Scubbies, Type Rs and GTIs for this striking and flowing hot hatch as their preferred sunday drive weapon of choice. And that has irked me a little considering from thick skull of mine, Frenchies comes with preloaded disintegration package for free of charge.

Gone by the days of the R26R was packaged with somewhat no holds barred, stripped out, anything other than air-cond being considered as luxury add-on with its sole party piece was all about thrills. Now, I feel Renault has modified the sporty Mégane’s angle of attack, nosed it a fraction towards the mainstream led by the mk6 Golf GTI, the hot hatch class seems intent on becoming all things to all drivers, with cars so polished that much of the texture has been worn away on concentrated Clorox formula inside out.

Sitting on my wish-list 6-way adjustable Recaro hugged seat with the engine on, I had to spend ¾ of an hour with Amos to understand how the electronic appliances, from radio, pedal cartography, digital gauge, g-nometer and main control console which resemblance a mini Gran Tourismo gadgetries of the CBR35. On the Godzilla, it’s ok but on the Frenchies, my gut feeling would say it ‘might’ just break after minutes driving out of the showroom. Again, I’ve let the prejudice got the ahead of me. But unlike the ubber reliable run-of-the-mill Golf GTI, this Megane has 6-speed manual box with mechanical LSD harnessing 250 odd horsepower from 4 potter 2.0 turbo engine upfront. A recipe that resembles a finely crafted mechanical watch which every tick gives a sense of bonding not some Playstation joystick.

Having said that, it’s a good thing that I can grasp how to alter throttle mapping from “Progressive” to the very “Extreme” on-the-fly before starting giving the car a good spanking towards Hartamas and back using E23 highway. To kick start this test drive session, I opted for “Linear” as I was told the delivery is ‘pretty brutal’. Check on that and next. The first impression upon getting the 18” matte black wheels rolling was the short-pressed clutch bites sharp and early; and the gearchange kind of stubborn to cog which some might struggles for balance a bit.

Going for ‘town’ drive towards Jalan Sultan Abu Bakar proved to be a little compromise. Having played back and forth from “Progressive” till “Sport” every hundreds of meters, the power delivery is very docile and very smooth with very much NA philosophy than outright forced fed stuff. And of course, typical French, on the rough surface and potholes, the Mégane is perhaps even more impressive. Never once being crude and frantic like typical JDMs and MCS, it soaks everything with 235/40/18 rubbers in its stride, utterly unruffled by quick progress. On the other hand, the clutch’s bite couple with the ‘need’ to swap cogs in between revs often might give daily driving especially on start-stop traffic something to think about. Nevertheless, those who’re used to aftermarket super single clutch will probably say it’s still a friendly puppy. 

With all that sober driving, the car stops at a traffic light junction besides Phileo Damansara with what separating me and E23 was less than 50 meters. Having ‘mastered’ the right hander scrolling technique, I opted for “Extreme” and began counting the moment to let it rip just a little bit.

Green pops up, immediately dumped the clutch, short shift to 2nd somewhere at 3k rpm, then only flat 2nd and 3rd at 4.5k rpm with gearchange started to show its true colour of giving satisfaction rowing through the cogs with precision but something has left me somewhat a little bit flabbergasted at first. Make no mistake this car is rapid and ubber responsive and smooth to an extend it doesn’t feel the G-excitement we normally get from force fed, in fact the meager chipped Polo GTI has more of that at midrange.

Decided to give another poke, I headed towards second part of the E23 towards Hartamas for another go. Flat 3rd till 5th, once you go past 4.5k all the way till 6.5k rpm, that’s where the 250 horsies comes to play ball nudging 200kmh on a short stretch before pestering after road hoggers. That’s what I call power! Combining with well stacked ratios of the 6-speeder, I’m not surprise if it can keep up with the 300bhp Focus RS at that range. So in terms of power, though not brilliant but that’s a check alright.

Moving on to dynamics, well honestly, I would prefer to have a nice flowing Ulu Yam to endorse but today’s session is good enough to note that it has most immediate, crispiest and very well weighted steering feel of all hot hatch I’ve ever driven yet. And even though it has close to 1400 kg of weight, going through rapid lane changes didn’t indicate it any heavier than the 1200 kg Pocong. To further add some spice, I flat it on a right hander just after Royal Selangor Club at 170ish, you know what, it just glided effortlessly and remains planted with a little bit of hint of its tail getting excited on slight liftoff courtesy of slower car going into the fast lane. If I want to be a bit more picky, I would say steering a little bit ‘numb’ at 15-20 deg of initial steering movement but then again so to all fwd cars. If this car were to let rip in Ulu Yam, it would be very very hard for many to keep up much less to overtake!

At this moment on, I’m left with a conclusion that no matter how much mods and fine-tuning on the Pocong’s suspension, it will never ever be as good as this Megane. And this has messed up my mind a little bit. Considering the price of RM228k which is steep I can deny, but given the ‘GT3’-like driving experience and mouthwatering pace on straights and curves, it make perfect sense for anyone having enough dough to buy this. Should I get one of these, it's going to don the colour of Oyster Grey with maybe the powder coating the wheels to bronze. Power upgrade might be inevitable and stock exhaust has got to be ‘upgraded’ for more rotty and pop character but suspension and brakes would stay stock. And I would name the car as Langsuir where unlike stock Polo hops in between, this car just serenely and goosebumply glides! :)

Sorry folks, I'm not being a fan of yellow. Oyster Grey is more stealthy!

The best place to look at this Megane imho

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?

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

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!

Mini Cooper S

I was on leave last Thursday and my morning agenda was to fetch Ajae from the Audi Hangar Glenmarie as he’s sending his Polo for rectification. And knowing him well enough now, it’s never come as a surprise to me that he will always be late in anything (pun intended Ajae! :P). During my initial waiting at the Hangar looking at arrays of B8 A4 2.0T and Mk2 TT 2.0T, it tickers my bell, is a pre-reg Mini Cooper S R56 a bargain now?

There and then, I drove out of the Hangar and head straight to Auto Bavaria which is less than 2 clicks away. Parked the Pocong at the “Customer Only” parking, I strolled into the showroom and meet a Mini Specialist by the name of Adam. Sad to say there’s no pre-reg Mini available because they don’t have problem in selling them! And there’s no MCS on displayed too but there’s one for test-drive….

Honestly speaking, I prefer the looks of its predecessor R53 as I feel the R56 getting too grown up and bengkak front end doesn’t helped either. Interior design funkiness is still not my cup of tea, and why a huge speedometer placed at the centre? Do you want me to get kicked in arse by my wifey for going 1km/h above speed limit?! And why in the god’s world they only bringing in auto?

As soon as I’m driving it out of the Auto Bavaria compound with sport button turned on and DSC off, my none-insured mouth began to shut up. The power feels very natural, responsive almost NA like with torqueyness of unmistakably forced fed. Unlike the 308 turbo which shares the same engine as this, the power doesn’t seem to be tapering off after 4k rpm, it keeps on pulling till it reaches to someway past 5k rpm. Though not as Pocong fast but it’s quick nonetheless at 184bhp and 260nm.

The only achilles heal to this is the auto box, it just doesn’t do justice to this MCS. Although it comes with slightly closer final drive than the 308 (I think), it’s not as responsive as DSG or DCT as what BMW calls it. As a driver’s car, it can only be fun with manual box which like a mechanical watch might not be as accurate and rapid as digital ones but it gives every sense of purity and enjoyment of every tick.

With the wider chassis and tracks, you can mesh almost all the juice coming from the 1.6 turbo going into the corner and it will stick to it. Might now be as JCW level but screw the MiTo, Pocong and Golf GTI, they wouldn’t stand a chance on windy roads, this is inevitable truth. Going really hardcore, you could trail brake as you turn into a corner, instigates a swivel, four wheel slides and the front bonnet should be able to pointing out of the corner very early in its radius. Once getting the hang of it, you can string corners together with dabs here, lifts there at huge amount of speed. And yet this MCS doesn’t comes with LSD.

Equally amazes me is the steering, it just full of feel, pure, quick but none of the artificial fuzziness you’d get from the MiTo. The only downside to this is wider turning circle than maybe a CRV. No doubt that it’s the best feel I’ve got from any road going car I’ve driven. People often enough scoff at the MCS for having choppy, at worst harsh ride but for me it’s OK, yes it’s firm but none of those jarring or harsh. In fact, I think ABT spring-ed Polo GTI would be far worse.

At this moment, maybe some of you would think the FD2R still has the edge over the MCS. In terms of raw pace, definitely hands down and to a certain extend handing too but you’ve to understand, Conti hatches have always giving more adjustability at the limit while the R badge Hondas making full use of its diff to really work with the chassis and give awesome grip in and out corners. Two separate recipes but outcome is pretty much the similar excitements. It’s very much of a case of some like cheese cake while some others prefer good ol apple pie for dessert.

After 15 minutes drive, honestly I don’t want to give back the keys to Adam but two things made me to. First and foremost is the lack of manual transmission in the MCS in here and second is the price of RM239k. It’s really hard to justify the asking amount when the FD2R which offers far more power, space and practicality bar the choppy ride at RM40k cheaper and the same amount can buy you Rocco Lampone inspired Scirocco which is the in-thing hot hatch nowadays. But if you’re looking for classic reincarnated hot hatch which isn’t only about the looks but goes really well too, you can never go wrong with MCS.

Back to me, looking at wifey going into a step higher in her career ladder and me god willing enroute to greener grass, this MCS will be in our radar for long time to come.

Laser blue with white stripes and top is my current favourite colour

VW Polo GTI - Think of it as the Golf GTI before it got fat

A very entertaining review by Clarkson himself on Polo GTI. Not everything is true though like you can never achieve Mk1 Audi TT 240bhp with just remaps, you need K04-001 too :P

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by Jeremy Clarkson [www.timesonline.co.uk]


When you buy a washing machine, does it ever cross your mind that the water could be injected into the drum a little more quickly, or that the spin cycle could be turbocharged in some way? No? Well what about your lawn mower? Ever thought of chrome plating the blades or supercharging the two-stroke? Really? You’ve never felt the need to fit blue underfloor running lights or add a whale-tale spoiler? Of course not, and rightly so. There is a very good reason why you leave your household goods alone; because you have a sense that they’ve been designed to be as good as possible, and that if you start tinkering you’re going to make them worse.

I bet, therefore, that your toasted sandwich maker is exactly as it was when it came from the shop — still in its box, even. And I’m also willing to bet that you have not modified your car in any way, either.

Obviously this doesn’t apply in America, because any nation that can’t make a cup of coffee and is utterly confused by the recipe for “a pot of tea” is going to struggle pretty badly when it comes to something as complex as making a car.

So if you have a Buick or a Chevrolet, then even a four-year-old child with a Fisher-Price screwdriver set could make dramatic improvements. If you have a Pontiac Aztec, you may as well wheel it to a spot under your kitchen worktop and attach it to the plumbing, because it would make a better washing machine than it does a car.

That’s why America is awash with small tuning companies to whom all car enthusiasts turn when they’ve bought a car from GM, Ford or Chrysler.

What’s more, Americans always think they can do better. It’s why they try to tune and customise shows like The Office instead of just buying ours.

Here in Europe, however, things are different. Yes, there are tuning companies — Overfinch for example — who do good work. But as a general rule we steer clear of trying to make improvements because we have a sense that when it comes to the business of making cars the car makers are better qualified than some bloke who rents an arch from Network Rail.

I looked at a new Jaguar XK8 last week that had been modified by a company called Racing Green. It looked tremendous and the performance figures were impressive too. But I noted the enormous wheels and the low-profile tyres and couldn’t help thinking: “If they work, then why didn’t Jaguar fit them in the first place?” More worrying are those who try to change a car’s performance using nothing but a laptop.

You may not know this but the engine in your car, providing it isn’t a Riley or something else from the days when black people were funny, is controlled by a computer with simply awesome power.

It reads the humidity, checks the weather and notes the ambient temperature. It sees where you have your foot on the throttle, what gear you’re in, whether you’re going up a hill or down the other side, and when it has all the information it needs it refers to a “map” and thinks “Okay. If it’s this hot, and the car is in this gear, and the throttle is in this position, the ‘map’ says I must inject precisely — to the nearest atom — this much fuel into the cylinder”.

And if you have a four-cylinder engine turning at 4000rpm the computer is referring to the map and making these infinitesimal decisions 133 times a second.

The map is drawn by clever people who live with their mothers and do not know what daylight looks like. It is designed so that the engine uses the smallest amount of fuel while providing the cleanest possible exhaust and the maximum amount of power.

The map, then, is a series of compromises and if you, too, are the sort of person who lives in the dark and likes to hack into defence computers and start world war three, you can access it with a simple laptop and make changes.

Great. But it doesn’t always work. Recently, at the MPH show in Earls Court, we needed to change the handling characteristics of the new Jaguar XKR. On the slippery floor there was too much understeer and any attempt to kick the rear end out with a bootfull of throttle resulted in one rear wheel spinning uselessly.

Naturally I suggested hitting it with a hammer, but no. A man plugged a laptop into the car’s computer and with each strike of the keyboard he made the handling just a little bit worse. Each time he made alterations to the map, trying to improve one thing, something else would cease to exist altogether.

I’ve seen this before, at various Formula One races, and when very high performance cars are delivered to the Top Gear test track. People in corporate short-sleeved shirts try to cure misfires, and a million other maladies besides, by plugging the car into a laptop and giving the map a new set of compromises. It never works. Ever.

The misfire may be cured but the downside is that when you start the engine it immediately sucks all of the sky into its cylinders and then bursts. Or it shoots so much carbon dioxide out of the back that the temperature shoots up to a million and we all die.

I’m not saying that car companies always get it right. They don’t. But they’re more likely to get it right than you. And that brings me on to the Volkswagen Polo GTI.

This comes with a 148bhp version of the turbocharged 1.8 litre 20-valve engine that produced 237bhp in the old Audi TT. So why not simply change the map and, hey presto, you have a 237bhp Polo. Wow. With something like that, you could bend time.

Hmm. I advise caution, because while the engine is certainly strong enough to handle 237bhp, the car isn’t; something you will discover about half a second before you hit the tree.

If Volkswagen thought that the Polo could handle 237bhp, then it would have 237bhp. They’ve decided that 148bhp is about right, and I agree.

In many ways this little car is the spiritual successor to the original Golf GTI. Back in 1981 that cost £5,700, which in today’s money is around £13,000 — £7,000 less than the current, much bigger Golf GTI.

The Polo is not only closer in size to the original hot Golf but at £14,810 closer in price too.

And spirit. It has few of the fancy add-ons that have all but killed off the hot hatch as a volume seller these days. Apart from a lower ride height, and a honeycomb grille, it just looks like a small car that happens to have a big engine. And I like that.

I liked the handling, too, the sense that you can go round any corner at any speed. And I liked the power. Yes, there’s a bit of turbo lag, but if you stir away at the gearbox that’s eliminated and you’re left with a little car that’s genuinely nice to drive.

It’s also surprisingly practical, well equipped and easy to park. And it’s easy to mend, because of course the wing on a Polo GTI is exactly the same as the wing on a normal Polo.

The only problem is that if I wanted a fun little car I’d rather have a Mini — a car where you really can save money and get better performance with a bit of after-market tuning.

An £11,000 Mini One does 0 to 60 in 11 seconds and has a top speed of 112mph. A Mini Cooper, with exactly the same engine, does 0 to 60 in 9 seconds and has a top speed of 126. How? Simple. The “map” is different.

So instead of buying a £13,000 Mini Cooper, go for an £11,000 Mini One — which is exactly the same — and then pay someone with an Oedipus complex a hundred quid or so to change the map.

I hope that, for once, I’ve been of some use this morning.

Vital statistics

Model Volkswagen Polo 1.8 GTI
Engine 1781cc, four cylinders
Power 148bhp @ 5800rpm
Torque 162 lb ft @ 1950rpm
Transmission Five-speed manual
Fuel 35.8mpg (combined)
CO2 190g/km
Acceleration 0-62mph: 8.2sec
Top speed 134mph
Price £14,810
Rating 4/5
Verdict The new Golf GTI, but that said, I’d still prefer a Mini

Alfa MiTo, god I LOVE it!

In case you haven’t notice, Sime Darby’s Auto ConneXion finally launch Alfa MiTo last Friday, priced at on the high side of RM153,888. No way I’m going to let this MiTo passing by without at least having a brief drive. Joined by three laysing old timers, we went to its 3S dealership in Section 13, PJ the day after.

Visually, it’s love or hate thing when it comes to chrome side mirrors and bug eyed inspired by 8C Competizione. To me, it brings charms and lovable character, a bit of retro flavour from the snooty shield shaped front grille, exact replica of Satria Neo front fender, 17” alloys with P-Zero rubbers, to its rear high waistline with circular LED lights, making it unmistakenly an Alfa but with a modern day looks. Imagine it as Satria Neo made by Italians only better looking and sexy. Mind you Proton Satria Neo is already a nice looking car. 50 year old chaps wouldn’t have problem scoring with the ladies if they’re driving this I think.

Powered by the economical 1.4 ltr inline 4 albeit turbocharged, you’d get 155bhp@5500rpm and typical turbo torque 230nm@3000rpm transfer to the front wheels with 6-speed manual box and electronic diff. It also equipped with Alfa ‘DNA’ 3 settings – Sport, Normal and All Weather. Plenty of controls too namely ASR, HHC, MSR, CBC, TBC, DST, TTC to complicate things further. Personally I would consolidate these simply as ESP. Yeah the more acronyms, the more canggih impression to the customers!

Suspension is pretty much straight forward, coilover setup, Macpherson independent front, torsion (twist) beam on the rear and 17” wrapped with 215/45/17 Pirelli P-Zero rubbers. Alfa went slightly mad when it comes to brakes, they fitted the MiTo with 4 potters BBK on the front which sourced from Brembo, and these are the same ones used on the Brera!

On the inside, it’s typical Alfa affair. Black themed cabin with CF looks dashboard on top, dials as usual are hooded and four prominent round air vents where each made up of horizontally split vanes. Alfa classic ribbed leather seats by Pelle Frau sums up the ambiance, although I’m not so sure whether the Exora looking steering should be in there. Ergonomics may not be as user friendly as VW or Toyota but when you’re inside seduced by its aura, somehow you’d have forgiven the idiocy. There’s a proper space at the back for two adults but legroom might be a little bit crampy. But boot space for a car this size, I’d say generous.

Lets talk about fit and finish if I may, the MiTo’s materials are pretty solid and impressive (slightly below par than its bigger brother 159 and Brera) but the glossy silver painted on the centre of the dash and some parts of the steering definitely be exhaustive over few years to come especially in hot climate countries like in here. And they’re still behind VW, Toyota and Mini when it comes to gaps consistency especially between door trim and dashboard. Equipment wise, the ones selling in our shores comes with pretty high spec-ed - 7 airbags, cruise control, 6 speakers in-car entertainment, bi-xenon headlights, and separate zone climate control.

The test drive route was a rather short one, not enough to see it hot hatch-ness ability but then it’s better than none. Initial impression, I find the steering is too freaking light weighted much akin to earlier Slyphy I drove recently. I stopped by the road side for a while to change the DNA setting to “Dynamic”. Now the steering feels better weighted but somehow not direct enough. On another note, the engine response seems to be better and in-dash screen started displaying boost reading.

As impressive as they seems on paper, the boost comes in late at around 3.5k rpm stays until 6.5k rpm and delivery feels like a bit kuih lapis. Don’t get me wrong, it’s powerful and in MiTo chassis, it will go bonkers than standard Polo GTI but it’s just not my cup of tea. I’m sure it some of it attributed to ‘oversized’ front mount intercooler. It goes to show that no replacement for displacement still relevant in today’s world. Gone the Alfa grows, the engine note is more like crackly though slightly muted compared to Pocong. Still great noise but I prefer 2.2 JTS engine on the Brera and 159, and yet the 2.2 engine still not as pronounced as 2.0 ltr equipped Alfa GT.

The 6-speed manual ratio is relatively close enough but gear change feels imprecise and rowing through the gate is a little bit longer and plasticky. Bar the steering feel which is numb even on Dynamic, the chassis is well balanced and chunkable through the corners. And tricked suspension electronics helps in reducing roll without making the ride too harsh. It may not be MCS league but sure fun to toy around. The brakes feels sharp and sometimes may be ‘over powered’ so it’s a good excuse to uprate the power should you ever get one. :)

In short brief moment with the MiTo, I sum it up as a feisty little hatch with to die for looks (well almost), typical Alfa flair but not quite as sporting as its looks might suggest. The so many electronic trickeries are unnecessarily complex, and it does not enhance the overall handling experience. And at RM154k price tag, it’s considerably expensive to justify for many motorheads but people will still buy it because seduced by its charms and sexiness. I could be one of them but I’d rather wait for the GTA variant – 1.75 ltr 240 bhp. White or Cream will do along with red leather seats hmmm that gives something to think about!

Oh yes, we do tried the Brera and 159 too. We just simply fell in love with the 159, it has the looks, Italian flair, plenty of space inside, impressive build quality, engine that grows and priced way cheaper than other Germans at RM188k. So for the E90 320i owners, you’ve bought the WRONG car! hehehe

Satria Neo replica front fenders!

By far my favourite colour but god it looks GOOD!

High waistline with circular LED lights inspired by 8C Competizione too ... some say from 599 GTB!

Another look at Italian's flair

Bug eyed, either you like it or hate it

Typical Alfa affair

Don't you love this classic ribbed leather seats???

As impressive as they're, displacement don't lie

17" dial wheels, and unmistakenly 4 pot Breambo BBK

I agree completely, sign this VSO might end up having you presign your divorce paper!

Images courtesy of Azdilizan

Impul tuned Nissan Sylphy - Identity Crisis

Honestly, I don’t really fancy about having a normal family sedan to be given a taste of ‘sportiness’ flavour without substantial change on the engine and suspension. And that’s exactly what Toyota doing on Vios ‘tuned’ TRD and the one I’ve just driven yesterday is Nissan Sylphy ‘tuned’ by Impul.

For extra RM11k premium over standard version, you’ll get Impul bodykit, 17” Impul Aura SX-10 Black & Polish finish wheels, wrapped with Dunlop Formula D-01 205/45R17 tyres, Black II muffler with polished finishing and spring & dampers combo which lowers the car by 25mm. As a package, it looks as though it tried too hard to be young and energetic from what already 50 years old man. Just like Jalaluddin Hassan tried to be 30s, just so wrong.

On the inside, seats have been wrapped in black leather to match Impul black mats and you don’t need rocket science formula to say that black and cream won’t blend well and oh the steering wheel looks as through coming from a truck – the Navara? And that’s not all, if the car is meant to be sporty, why on earth Nissan or Tan Chong Motors in this matter retains cherry wood trims instead of replacing it with polished metals? I doubt it’ll cost much extra.

One thing the car good at is the definitely the cabin size. Although both Sylphy shares the same wheelbase length as Honda Civic at 2700mm, I felt legroom in the Slyphy is much better. Few cm shy than PV6 Executive in my honest opinion. And the boot is very very spacious too. Clarkson can be dumped in there no problem once Satria Neo & Myvi diehard fans get their hands on him and I guess you know why…

If you’re enthusiastic driver, you won’t like to drive this. Although it has loads of power on low end but as you floored further, midrange onwards have been err suffocated. Gear ratio is like having 1st, 2nd then 6th and 7th. At 100kmh, the engine revs just a bit shy below 2,000rpm making highway cruising a pleasing experience and easy on the wallet. But once you rev the engine past 3k onwards, expect the fuel consumption to increase very substantially.

Steering feels like you’re maneuvering a boat, light enough for babies to turn it around. This is very handy when it comes to parking the lateral giraffe but then its turning radius is quite well WIDE. Ride remains compliant even on 17” rims and lowered suspension, but damping is rather soft hence leans more on corners. Typical uncle setup.

This is by far to say that Sylphy as a family sedan a bad apple from Nissan but I think Impul ‘tuned’ one is. The additional premium you’re going to pay, in my view isn’t worth the extra and Civic prospective customers will still be eyeing Civic. Standard Sylphy is the better deal and good thing about Nissans is that just like Toyota, they hardly go wrong and maintenance going to be very straight forward and affordable. I for one like the simplicity and easy of mind of Nissan Sentra as a family car.

If you’re looking at sporty family car, Peugeot 308 Turbo is the one to go and its price is just about RM115k (now comes with paranomic glass) which is better spec-ed, more plush and definitely more usable power except just a ‘bit’ crampy on the legroom. And it turns out that I was wrong about RM11k extra for this Impul ‘tuned’ because there’s a more expensive option which costing RM15k extra making it RM127,900. And guess how much rip off they’re doing.

Images from Nissan

26k kms and Wishing for Somemore!

The Pocong clocked 26k kms as of yesterday and been with me slightly more than a year. Every working day, been terrorizing Duke highway because of the lateness of the hour to the office. I know, it’s a lame excuse for peddling the throttle deeper to the ground :p

At this moment, having enjoying the car in the perspective of pocket rocket, given me somemore expectations beyond what he can currently offer.

First of, I need more grunt on the top end, just a little bit will do. Having used to exercise my right foot to be as sensitive as female heart (pun intended!), it’s just as boring and laggy in 1-2k rpm! That’s the trademark of forced induction no matter how grown it might be nowadays, nothing beats NA.

Second, as progressive handling it gives, I just wish more way more outright grip entering and exiting corners. Steering as usual feels too light for me to dial on how much deg of steering input to tackle this, tackle that. At the very least, I really need H&R ARBs and camber kit very very soon arrgghhh…

Thirdly, and really on top of those two, rattling and squeaking noise are getting rather apparent by the day! It’s getting on my nerves now! Talking to people will almost certainly be answered with an evil laugh, that’s for sure. For the amount I’m paying, I can’t accept it nor can you. Believe me, sending to VW SCs especially VW Cars will be even worst.

How worst? Well, a friend of mine, complained about rough surfaced & rusty paintwork attributed to ill-fully done steel chemical treatment. 18 days waited, nothing was done. Few days later, upon inspection, he noted few over spraying causing drying droplet-like paint at the edge of the bonnet in addition to the uneven paint spraying. No way I’m sending mine, god knows what it turns up, could be the whole dashboard and trims doing full orchestra works at the very least. Yes, I’m prejudice about that, can’t help it.

To fulfil these wishes prompting for $$$ to be spent and spent and spent… Unlike some of you, I don’t have that many. And my end of year shopping trip to Jakarta, will definitely ake out more $$$ and this has to be priority no 1, because of wifey been nagging and nagging till cows come home… *sigh*

On the bright side, at 26k kms, the Contis are still well threaded, 5mm before indicator mark, another round of alignment & balancing & rotating will be good enough for 4-6 months :)