PETRONAS IS ALREADY SELLING RON95.

Yup. PETRONAS is already selling RON95 at some of its stations ahead of its September inroduction and this has made me a slightly happy man. The one station that I know is selling that stuff is the one on the MRRII somewhere after Kepong on the way towards Jalan Kuching/Batu Caves. I'm already using the stuff and from my observation, it works perfectly fine in my Impreza 1.6TS. No hiccups of any sort.

It should, since the owner's manual states that the car is recommended to run on the said substance. Most new global spec cars can run on the stuff. In fact all new cars with Fuel Injection can run on the stuff. These new engines have sensors here and there can will tell the ECU to retard or advance its ignition timing according to the quality of petrol that is in the car's tank. Most cars can even run on RON92 without any problems but hey, some are basically too scared to try. As I've stated in a previous posting. If your car is not a highly tuned monster, it should safely run on the cheaper stuff. Anyways, its your loss if you don't try it.

How much savings do I get from running RON95 over 97 (RM1.80)? Over 40 liters I'd save a 'whopping' RM2.00. But I use about 60liters a week, so I'd save around RM3.00 per week using RON95. Now RM3.00 x 4 weeks is RM12.00. It may seem insignificant, but RM12.00 can go a long way at the local sundry shop or at TESCO. Or that RM12.00 can be put to good use by blowing it all on entertaining friends at a teh tarik stall. At the very least your friends will think that you're a generous ol' chap. And that's a good thing during times of recession.

p.s - I've recently driven a nice classic Mercedes Benz saloon, of 1974 vintage. An excellent year. I haven't fallen in love with it, but it was an interesting drive nonetheless. It will be reviewed in here soon.

Dearest BMW, Don't Design Garbage and Call Them Niche Cars Will Ya? a.k.a. The BMW X6

I was driving peacefully along the SPRINT highway somewhere in Petaling Jaya when I was passed by the monstrous BMW X6 3.0. This car was recently launched in this country and the driver must have been feeling proud driving that hideous monster up and down the roads of Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur. I seriously cannot understand how BMW came up with such a design brief and issued a go ahead to build this car in the first place. The design brief must have read:

Dear Mr Bangle (then Head of Design, BMW)

This is the Board of Directors writing to you. Hope you are fine. We need you and your 'brilliant' degsign team to come up with a Sports Utility Vehicle that has a sloping tailgate (like a hatchback), 4 doors, square jawed David Coulthard front end, funny lines here, there and everywhere, BMW front grill that is as flaired as nostrils from an angry gorilla and sitting on 20 inch tires.

The reason for this is that recently Mercedes has come up with the CLS and it concerns us. The CLS seems to be taking sales from our M5 and M3. We think the reason for that is that it looks pretty good. We now think that with this new SUV cum Sports Hatchback Coupe we can recover some of the ground lost to the CLS. We reckon that with a car that is a 'niche within a niche' BMW will be able to profit as this is what our customers want. They do not want a CLS i.e a coupe with 4 doors, but they, the ultimate driving customers want an SUV that is sporty.

Yours sincerely
The Board

What is heck's name were thay thinking? It makes no sense. The X6, according to a guy whom I know who rides a bike to work thinks it is a bulldog on wheels. I myself think 'why?'.

What makes BMW think that "I think our X5 customers want a coupe, but still want an SUV at the same time". So to kill a lot of birds with one ugly stone, BMW comes up with a 4 door hatchback that is slightly shorter than an x5 but as high as a Toyota Harrier.

Yes, BMW engineers can make it corner like a hot hatch, because basically it IS one, only ten times the size of one. What's the actual point? If you want to drive fast, buy an M3, buy an M5, buy a Mercedes CLS or buy a Megane R26R (IF YOU REALLY WANT A FAST HATCHBACK). Don't buy a stupid looking, pointless, idiotic, niche car that thinks it can do everything. Furthermore, as an SUV, it cannot even wade though mud. It can't tow a trailer. It can't do most things people buy SUVs for.

BMW hardly makes sense. Ah, Mercedes has tapped into a niche market with the CLS. We'll tap into ANOTHER niche market, they said. Yes, no one has thought of a 4 door coupe on stilts. So they built it.

By then, the X6 passed me by, leaving me with bitter thoughts about the pointlessness of its existence. Then a Proton Gen2 passed by. It then occured to me that the BMW X6 is actually a Gen2 that has been photoshopped with a different grill and lights and its size increased by 1.5times, running on 20inch rims instead of 15in rims and tires. BMW should give royalty to Proton. I'm right, trust me. Look at the pics below and tell me truthfully whether they're the same car or not?













Left: The Proton Gen2 Right: The BMW X6 (or was it the other way round?)

Then again, I may have started a new trend here. We're used to seeing Proton Wiras modded to have tall tires like palm oil estate rally cars, soon we'll see X6 replicas running around Kuala Lumpur. Why buy the X6 if you can make one for yourself cheaply?

Perak: The Lumbering State. Volvo: The Lumbering Brand

There has been lots of rubbish of the political sort being thrown around in the Malaysian state of Perak these past couple of months. The tussle between the two main parties has gone from the removal of the state minister with a new one and a new state speaker to replace the previous one due to the change in state government that happened because a few members of one side jumping ship to the other. Now all this nonsense has got me thinking. What actually has Perak got to offer anyone in the first place with the exception of the people in charge?

Why I am asking such a question is that it usually benefits the people in charge as they can give out grants, land and contracts to their family, friends, cronies and those that they feel deserves it. Of course, this is supposedly done through ‘transparent’ negotiation, application forms, tenders and meetings. But the biggest problem I see in Perak is that irregardless of who’s in charge, the state is one of the slowest developing states in Malaysia.

The whole state seems to be like Taiping (see the pic below). Slow, idyllic, beautiful, a haven to pensioners and a place where we can sit at the market and point to a spot and place a bet with your friends stating: “The rain will come and its first drop with hit that spot at 2.30pm…for 10 Ringgit”.

It honestly is that slow. The traders who sell stuff at the market actually do that. They can and will wager a bet on anything and everything around Taiping as they’ve got nothing better to do with their lives. I should know. I was born and raised in Taiping and I still love Taiping for what it is (due to good food and its heritage actually). I can even predict atmospheric patterns to this day and age.

Actually the main problem with Perak is that it is a state in between Penang and Selangor (or more accurately, the Klang Valley). Development is concentrated in the two states and all trade centers around these two growth areas. The spillover of the development in Penang is towards Kedah, from Sungai Petani to Kulim and in Selangor, most of the development has gone towards Negeri Sembilan towards the Nilai district. It seems that Perak has not been able to gain any spillover from actual manufacturing and even in tourism; things do not seem that colourful. The only thrill I get in Perak is passing Jelapang toll to the North towards Taiping, where it passes through slightly ‘mountainous’ terrain. The North South Highway at that stretch is at its highest, with a nice long tunnel to listen to the exhaust note bounce off of it and nice uphill and downhill dual carriageways for you to enjoy sweeping corners as well as tight bends. It might un-nerve some drivers, but I enjoy that stretch tremendously.

Perak has Pangkor Island and Lumut as seaside resort locations. Maxwell Hill (Bukit Larut) as its hillside resort, and Taiping (including Pasir Salak) as its heritage site. But not much development or promotion has been actually done to make these sites. Of course there would be environMENTALists that would like to see the state under-developed so that places like Maxwell Hill be pristine and undisturbed. But heck, I love Maxwell Hill, but the only way to reach that place is by the government Land Rovers or if you enjoy hiking, a good 5-6 hour trek upwards. The last and only time I trekked up Maxwell Hill I was 15. If I went trekking again, I’d probably give up after the first 50 feet uphill. If I carried on any further, I’d suffer from breathing difficulties. Okay, no vehicle pollution for the hill. Could someone install a cable car service then? Not some flimsy cable car like the one in Langkawi, 1 piece of wire with one hook holding the cabin up to a wire isn’t what I call a safe way of travel. As a friend said, “if you had a choice between sky-diving and scuba diving, always choose scuba diving ‘cause your head may survive a scuba dive over a sky dive without a properly opening parachute”.

Pangkor can be another Langkawi if someone as visionary as our Tun Mahathir came along and decided that we need another Langkawi and pushed any development like crazy. We have Lumut as the Corte D’Azur and say, Pangkor as an Island paradise close to it. That would be fabulous. But notice that the roads leading to Lumut ain’t a fantastic highway to make travel easy. No one actually has done a proper development plan for the state of Perak and someone should do so soon. What? You want me to come up with one instead of complaining? Who says I don’t have a plan? I’m not getting paid for it so it’s staying in my brilliant brain for the moment. Of course, neither I’m being paid to maintain this blog but that’s a different matter isn’t it?

Perak is slightly stuck in a time warp, where time moves slowly compared to the two other states. It is not 1875, 1975 or even 1995. It’s 2009, and Perak needs a big push and therefore could the state government, whoever is in charge please buck up, set aside differences, move forward and stop all this nonsense. Is that actually so much to ask?

If Perak were a car it’ll be a Volvo 240. Years ago around 1875 when tin was being mined, rubber beginning to be planted and when Ngee Hin fought Hai San. It was a happening place to live. Nowadays, it’s basically the same car being driven around by a pensioner who happens to live in Taiping in the year 2009. Or if the pensioner used his EPF money draw out, he’d buy a used 1995 850GLT and think,

“Damn, that’s progress!This 850 is a mighty fine car.”

But he failed to note that the year is 2009 and the 850 is already a decade and a half old and car dynamics and basically progress has changed for the better. And that's how modern Perak is, in my opinion.

Things have moved on and even Volvo has moved on with their current S80 (right). With their IKEA styled center dash and modern, dare I say it Honda like looks and very acceptable ride and handling. However good a 240 is in ferrying people around, it’s too laid back. Yes there are twin turbo Supra engined 240s around which are actually fun and hilarious to drive. But ol’ Grandpa Abdullah still wouldn’t run fast with the latest pair of Addidas or after a heart transplant. You wouldn’t want to try out corner even a Satria GTI in one if you get what I mean.

As for Volvo, it too needs a bigger push. As good as the new S80 is, I still don't see anyone thinking about buying it. It still needs more image makeovers here in Malaysia (and maybe the world). No one actually really stops to think about buying a Volvo. Seriously. Unless he's looking for an estate like the V50. For RM250k+, most would buy the smaller Mercedes c200 or even the BMW 320. More dynamic Volvos please? or more race exposure to bring in the younger crowd (like what they did in the 1990s in the BTCC with their outrageous Volvo 850 wagons).

But I’d leave Taiping as it is. Those in the know would understand

The 240. Nice car, great Memories. But things have moved on a bit. Use one now in stock form and you'll be called 'Granpa' even if you're only 30 years old.

The 850. In R form, pretty fast box. I remember seeing one which really went for it on the then newly completed SPRINT highway in Petaling Jaya sometime in 1999 going like stink. Awesome shoebox! Great if you could find 850T5-R. Fab sounding 5 cylinder and turbo grunt to go.

Earth Hour and An Old Mercedes Worth Mentioning About

A month has come and gone. We had Earth Hour recently. We had Earth Day also recently (which I think made absolutely no impact on saving the planet whatsoever). We had a change of Prime Ministers recently (good riddance to the previous, hope for the best in the new one!), and we had 3 by-elections for us coffeeshop political analysts to sit around and have their unofficial post mortems to chat about. As for yours truly, yes, I did my part during earth hour. My family and I were at my wife’s family home in Petaling Jaya where we basically sat in the dark and gossiped about family matters. Now how many of you actually turned off their lights during Earth Hour? Remember, its turning off the lights, not life support machines for the elderly or incubators for premature babies. Imagine if people did just that.

Now as brutal and uncaring I may seem, I was coerced to do my part for the hour. But let me tell you the real facts of such a ‘token gesture’. Earth Hour doesn’t actually save the planet from burning up tons of carbon and polluting the atmosphere. This program is about asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. It is however a token gesture with no real savings. Why do I say so? It’s simple.

It seems that the following was saved as an example:

“The Philippines was able to save 611 MWh of electricity during the time period, and is said to be equivalent to shutting down a dozen coal-fired power plants for an hour.”

However, that didn’t take into account the paraffin candles burnt, battery operated torchlights used, and bonfires created as well as other forms of light that use some sort of energy that isn’t solar or hydro electrically operated. These sorts of lights also use carbon based fuel, which is basically the same as what’s used in most power generation stations. Not to mention, we have to note that power generation by any nation’s power plants flows through a grid that does not have a storage capability of any excess power generated. Imagine having a battery the size of Mount Kinabalu. Even then it wouldn’t be enough to store excess electricity generated by all the power producers in the country.

The only actual savings are each and every participant’s electricity bill but not the nation’s power producing bill. No one actually knows if the power producers actually scaled back production of power during that period, and I do not think 1 hour is actually a long enough time for the managers of Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) to say “Gee, Earth Hour’s approaching….let’s cut the power producing by 15% for the next hour.” It’s actually not possible. It may be easier to ask them to produce facial hair then ask them to draw out a production plan for 1 measly hour, being a government linked body. So Earth Hour is for individuals. To educate them on how to save some money, and some power consumption in their area and not much more. It would be beneficial if this Earth Hour was a daily event whereby everyone cuts their consumption of electricity by 10% throughout the day. When that happens, the production planners at TNB would realize that power consumption is lower and they will then adjust overall production accordingly. Then actual carbon savings would exist. So, 1 hour per year does diddly squat actually. But hey, sometimes any event celebrated globally is actually an excuse to party together and nothing else.

On the point of something motoring yet GREEN, I have to state that hybrid cars like the Honda Civic Hybrid sold here isn’t all that green. Have you ever thought of the lifespan of that car? Car manufacturers would like that you change your car every 5 years or so basically to keep them in business. But the fact is that if you change your car every 5 years or so, it’s uneconomical in the environmental sort of way as you haven’t taken into account the amount of energy that goes into producing a car. In order to produce a car we have to take into account the raw material transported to the factory, the energy needed to mould and stamp metal body parts, to mould and stamp plastic parts, rubber and to make tempered glass isn’t all that energy free. If you use a car and change it every 5 years or so, you’re causing even more waste of energy.

On another note, do you think your Honda Hybrid’s battery would still be efficient after 4 years or so of use in this hot and humid climate? I’d bet that by the 5th year you’d need new batteries. New batteries for a Hybrid may cost you RM10,000.00 as they are not cheap. Now have you thought of disposing those batteries? They’re gonna be a pain to dispose of in an environmentally friendly way in this country as we haven’t the rules and regulation in place for that.

You want to be environmentally friendly yet drive a decent car? Buy any car with a catalytic converter (and keep the converter in place) and use it for at least 9-10 years. That’s the right thing to do when it comes to cars. And trust me, cars nowadays aren’t as faulty as cars from the 1970s. They are basically bulletproof in some ways and with some maintenance and car they will last longer than 15 years.

Another way to safe the environment is to buy a second hand car. This basically means that you’re buying something that is already around for a while and that doesn’t cost any more energy to produce (brand new). I’d suggest the Mercedes Benz W124 series. These cars were produced from the mid-80s till the mid 90s. These cars were built like vaults and have already reached a kind of motoring icon status due to its reliability, solidity and durability. We’ve seen shows like 5th Gear trashing a W124 (wagon) to bits and it still performed admirably. We are still seeing them ply the streets of Kuala Lumpur and Putra Jaya and on the North-South Highway. Some of thse cars have 300,000-500,000 km mileage and they are still going strong. Heck, I’ve seen a few of these still plying the streets of Singapore, where nearly everything is less than 5 years old! I suppose it doesn’t look that dated. Integrated bumpers, flush fit doors, very conservative yet uncluttered design does that.

I’ve driven a few of these cars over the years and while they are slightly dull to drive, I’ve always felt that if I was in the market for a dependable luxury cruiser, albeit cheap to purchase and maintain yet comfortable enough to make long highway cruises, I’ve buy one in an instant. What makes them dull to drive is the slow recirculating ball type steering wheel and that funny two stage throttle pedal. The thing with the steering is that it has no feel whatsoever. Some feedback from the road is actually good, but in this car, you basically use it to turn and there’s no connection whatsoever. Which may be a good thing if you just want to waft through someplace stress free. The throttle pedal however is something which you’d get used to I suppose. An trait that we have to get used to, like the stupid gearshift in the Alfa 147 I drove, the handbrake in my old 1982 Civic or like hitting some switches on the Millennium Falcon to get Hyperspace drive.

But, I have to say that if you bought a 6 cylinder W124 series Mercedes, things are actually quite happening. I’ve driven the 200E, 230CE, 260E and the 300E. The latter two are actually quite fantastic to drive. You would notice that the W124 is actually pretty nimble with a 2.6liter or a 3.0liter 6 cylinder engine. There’s more than ample torque to get it moving, the 4 speed automatic box pretty smooth and eager. Progress through any highway would be faster than brisk. You’d be able to cruise at 200km/h in one of these 15 + year old cars. You would be surprised that once you get over that dead steering wheel you’d notice that this tall, squarish sedan can actually hustle. Grip is abundant and you have to realize, it was designed and (mostly) made in Germany; the place of high speed cruising. Ride comfort is pretty decent. Firm and solid but pliant enough for most. If you have one of those Honda Civics, Proton Gen2s on sports springs, the W124 would still feel like a luxury sedan. Even Perdana owners would be surprised that it’s as comfortable as one and it may be actually be cheaper to maintain that one!

Go buy one, change the bushings, get new shocks and it’ll allow you to have decent motoring at a fraction of the price of a brand new Mercedes. If you have a bit more, buy the 2 door CE version. It has a slight shorter wheelbase and a sportier design from the A pillar backwards. Everything else feels the same and maintenance would be the same too.

So save the planet, buy an older 6 cylinder car (lots of power here which is a good thing) that could last you through the next 2 decades. You buy a car that lasts longer and is already built, you don’t’ contribute to mass production that partly contributes to the planet’s decay. Either that or you could buy yourself your dream car, but use it for about 10 over years. That’s actual savings.

Economic Stimulus? On Blogging and on certain events in the Automotive World

Ah, that's more like it. A RM60 BILLION stimulus package is what we all need. Provided the money reaches the general public instead of going through some politician's campaign fund first. Aside from that, let's add some figures to the picture. America, the main cause of this current economic turmoil is spending USD$200 Trillion and our neighbours are spending SGD$21 billion. I suppose our package is somewhat 'reasonable', before you take into account the fact that Singapore has about 7 million people to feed compared to at least 27 million of us here. America has around 290million people by the way. You guys do the math. Is the economic package big enough?

On another note, it's been fun blogging for the past two and a half years. Of course, this blog doesn't read like most blogs, where some would write on what they had for breakfast, what they had for lunch and then what they had for dinner. What dress they choose to wear today, yesterday or tomorrow. What they feel about the current political scenario or what pictures or poems they took or wrote. On an average, I write about 1.5 articles per month and since this blog's been around for almost 3 years, do feel free to browse what I've written previously.

On an automotive note, I am pretty happy that the new Honda City looks like a car instead of another tadpole on stilts. I truly despise the previous one. There is no other car that's as horrifying to own. Well, maybe the Hyundai Accent (also the previous one with all those stupid RX-S badging and fake scoops) as that car is so anonymous that a lamp post outshines it.

I also somehow pleased that most of my friends and relatives choose to purchase somewhat different from the norm automobiles. The recent being my wife's cousin, who is a somewhat happy owner of a Toyota Caldina GT4. I told him that it was a better alternative than one of those Toyota Wish or Estimas that everyone who's married with kids wants to own. He recently got married and all the best to him.

At his wedding reception his government contractor friend with a Mercedes E55 look a like was there. Now he has gone nearly the whole hog to transform his W211 E240 into a quasi-E55. The only difference is the 6 cylinder hum from the engine and a lack of a humongous rear diff that the E55 has. This a a chap who paid almost RM25K for a set of AMG brakes to make the look complete. The things people do to achieve automotive bliss.

I have to give a big hand to the guy who owns the blue Lancer Evolution 7.10. I'd say his ride is now an EVO 7 point 10 on the richter scale. It has everything and safely pumps at least 450bhp at the engine. This is after meticulous research, a brilliant mechanic and an owner who does not cut corners to achieve a target. Another way to achieve automotive bliss. But I'd hate to be the passenger in that car right now. When it had 350bhp at the engine I was slight nauseous, with 450bhp, I'd destroy his car mats.

On a closing note. Now that there are 3 lanes on the North-South highway. Things are so much better for me. I don't mind travelling North or even South. My last trip to Singapore took me 3 hours with a 45 minute break at Air Keroh, Melaka. And last weekend, traveling back from Muar took a decent time even with ridiculously heavy traffic due to the recent 3 day weekend. It should have been done years ago.

Malaysia vs New Zealand and the ugliest vehicle in the known universe

While I was on holiday in Langkawi a couple of months ago I got a little pissed in between munching down the turkey ham and sausages during breakfast. The notion of paying RM450++ a night for a chalet suite with breakfast at a 5 star resort in Langkawi seemed pretty reasonable. The notion that we had to pay the same amount for a small room at a business class hotel located at Queens Street in Singapore seemed outrageous nonetheless. It occurred to me that my Malaysian Ringgit’s value is slightly higher than rubbish outside of the country with the exception of supposedly poorer countries like Thailand, Indonesia and India. I’m sorry. But I have to say that Malaysia is a country that’s supposed to have much more better purchasing power than it currently has right now. And the argument that I shall put up is the whole nation of New Zealand.

According to the all knowing, all seeing and all intelligent wikipedia.org…..

“New Zealand has a modern, prosperous, developed economy with an estimated nominal Gross domestic product (GDP) of US$128.1 billion (2008). The country has a relatively high standard of living with an estimated GDP per capita of US$30,234 in 2008, comparable to Southern Europe, e.g. Spain US$33,385, but lower than the United States at US$46,820.[30]

New Zealand is a country heavily dependent on free trade, particularly in agricultural products. Exports account for around 24% of its output,[36] which is a relatively high figure (it is around 50% for many smaller European countries).[ii] This makes New Zealand particularly vulnerable to international commodity prices and global economic slowdowns. Its principal export industries are agriculture, horticulture, fishing and forestry. These make up about half of the country's exports.”

And now Malaysia, according to the same all knowing source that all should use:

Malaysia is a growing and relatively open economy. In 2007, the economy of Malaysia was the 29th largest economy in the world by purchasing power parity with gross domestic product for 2007 was estimated to be $357.9 billion with a growth rate of 5% to 7% since 2007[1] The Southeast Asian nation experienced an economic boom and underwent rapid development during the late 20th century. With a GDP per capita standing at US$14,400, it has, from time to time, been considered a newly industrialized country.[2][3]

Malaysia is well-endowed with natural resources in areas such as agriculture, forestry and minerals. In terms of agriculture, Malaysia is one of the top exporters of natural rubber and palm oil, which together with sawn logs and sawn timber, cocoa, pepper, pineapple and tobacco dominate the growth of the sector. Palm oil is also a major generator of foreign exchange.

Tin and petroleum are the two main mineral resources that are of major significance in the Malaysian economy. In 2004, Malaysia is ranked 24th in terms of world oil reserves and 13th for gas.

As one of three countries that control the Strait of Malacca, international trade plays a large role in its economy.[5] At one time, it was the largest producer of tin, rubber and palm oil in the world.[6] Manufacturing has a large influence in the country's economy.”

Now after reading that you can see that a nation of 4.8 million sheep farmers and a couple of billion sheep has a fantastically high standard of living compared to our country. I am still surprised that we have less purchasing power over a country with at least 5 times less citizens and only produces sheep as its main source of income. For heck’s sake, we produce cars, bikes, tv sets, watches, phones for the whole world to consume, we are also rich in palm oil, petroleum, rubber and tin which they don’t have and we have a currency value that’s lower than New Zealand? (as I write this it takes 1.83RM for NZ$1.00)

Is it because 28 million people to share a total GDP of $360 million US Dollars over 5 million people with $128 million makes the ratio in favour of New Zealand over Malaysia? Well, partly yes, but We have nearly everything to trade under the sun and they have sheep and they still make more than us?

I think the powers that be have a say in anything and everything. The people in fully developed countries are willing to ‘assist’ their counterparts by believing that it is alright to purchase lamb at a price that’ll make a New Zealander have a higher than average income but they are unwilling to pay a Malaysian, Indonesian, Indian manufacturer higher amounts of currency for items produced in these countries. It’s either that or our governments or the people in power are capitalizing on the lower wage and intends on keeping it low to their benefit and not the general public.

If the government in New Zealand can allow and afford a certain standard wage for all of its citizens, why can’t a country like ours, with more stuff to export and more products that are in demand be like New Zealand? There is something extremely wrong with this situation and there’s nothing much we in Malaysia can do about it I suppose as the people up there seem to be happy getting free food and lunches while asking their staff to work for RM500.00 per month. These are the same people who own multi million Ringgit companies that pay themselves RM50,000.00 per month but somehow believe that their staff should only deserve RM700.00 for working 8 hours in an assembly line. Of course he’d fight for low wages as he needs to keep it that way so that he can take weekly flights to London. As for the government, the situation is the same. The rich directors lobby the ministers and keep them happy. Hence the status quo. I believe it is also this mentality that the government does not allow for a strong Ringgit. Think about it, it does make sense. Then again, I always make perfect sense.

By the way, I have sat in the ugliest vehicle to be sold in the country and maybe the universe (for all time). It is the Ssangyong Stavic (Short for Star Victory or Rodius elsewhere). I hired it to take the family to the LCCT and surprisingly, it is totally refined on the inside. At 110km/h the engine, being a diesel was reasonably quiet at 2,000rpm. The ride was acceptable, somewhat like a current model Toyota Estima. The driver told me that it was also quite stable at speed and once pushed it to around 195km/h. I told the driver that the car looked like crap, he agreed and laughed when I added that luckily he’s sitting on the inside and didn’t have to look at it while driving. Sitting at the front passenger seat, the veiw is as usual MPV commanding and the materials used seem decent. Very Japanese at best. At around RM170,000.00, no individual would be turned on to buy such an ugly pig of a people carrier. Only companies that needed a diesel MPV that’s pretty easy to maintain would. That’s pretty amazing for an ugly monster. However, we all know that ugliness won't sell cars even though we'd remember and recognise it for ever. And that's why Ssangyong may not last this worldwide recession.

The BMW Seven Hundred and Fifty

Now pay attention folks. This here is the first Uber-Saloon ever produced by a German marque since the almighty Mercedes Benze 450SEL 6.9 in the 1970s. The BMW Seven Hundred and Fifty as Q mentioned in the James Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, or simply 750iL as what you and me would normally call it is an engineering marvel. Although the 750 mentioned in the Bond movie is the newer E38 model, the predecessor E32 is the car mentioned here.

In 1987, BMW figured that the time was right to launch a technological tour de force. The 750 had a 5.0liter V12 engine that pumped out about 300bhp. In those days, 300bhp was alot of horses. It was also the most technologically advanced v12 that anybody produced in a while. Jaguar was in fact soldiering on with its v12 from the 1960s for its series III Jaguar XJ12. With 300 horses, this saloon could wipe the slate of most Porsches and Ferraris of its day. If not for the usual 250km/h speed limit German manufacturers put on their saloons, it would and could hit 300km/h given a decent stretch of autobahn.

It also came loaded with all the necessary refinements (although not 'Q' branch refinements) like double glazed glass, self levelling suspension at the rear and even stability control, which was rare in cars of those days. These cars was ultra refined. Even Mercedes Benz only managed to come up with 8 cylinders in its ageing 560SEL W126 platform in 1987. Only with the epic (in size and engineering) W140 series, Mercedes became king of the Uber saloons with the 600SEL 6.0 liter v12 which pumped out 408bhp in 1992.

Driving the darn thing

I drove one sometime last year, as when it first came out I was still in High School. Honestly, driving a 7series never felt easier with so much power. You'd think 300bhp would overwhelm any chassis. Nowadays, 300bhp may be considered as the norm as most small Imprezas, Evolutions have more than that nowadays. But you must remember, this was mid 1980s technology in play here. Back then, people seemed happy driving their 120bhp Honda Civic SI thinking that they've got the fastest thing ever built and doing 180km/h was a magical figure to most 20 year olds. Maybe that's why no one really died those days (except for those really unlucky ones), kids today get to crash at around 300km/h if their parents can afford a Nissan GTR. Lucky buggers.

BMW managed to make everything seem to work nicely for the 7. I felt like I was handling and driving a much smaller saloon. This was down to impressive ergonomics (i.e controls and seating where you want it to be). Lane changes can be done at ease unlike some larger saloons which you'd have to plan a day in advance. It felt extremely nippy and felt like driving a Honda Civic EK9. Okay, I'm exaggerating here. But it does feel nippy and nimble enough for city driving. Coupled with its all leather and wood interior, air conditioning and other refinements. You'd still feel like you're a Captain of an Industry and not like you're in a pensioned off freighter waiting to sink.

Somehow, these older BMWs seem to have one flaw. Brakes that are very under servoed. You feel like all of its 300bhp is going to run wild if you don't apply pressure on the brake pedal. I thought all hell may break lose if I didn't apply pressure to the pedal. Hard work just keeping still in a 300bhp salooon if you know what I mean. I first thought that it was a fault in the brakes as it being a 1990 model and all but no, I've read that most BMWs feel like that. Not that I am complaining when I was driving faster than parking speeds.

How much would one cost you these days? About RM40,000.00 would get you one. Maybe cheaper. How do I know this? By the same person who let me drive it in the first place. His dad, the chairman of my company owns two of this. Both are drivable and both are immaculate as the build quality and materials used were superb. Faults? Some electrical niggles here and there, but they're at least 18 years old. Acceptable. Road tax for the cars however isn't so acceptable.

Note: You could get the newer E38 740 (pictured below) for around this price and imagine that you're James Bond. Yes he drove a 750 version of this in Tomorrow Never Dies, but I've heard both the BMW V12 and V8 and there's not a doubt in my mind that the v8 sounds better than the 12. It always is, I'd like a V8 woofle that has a sense of occasion over eerie silence and refinement of a v12. Unless its a Ferrari 12. (which I recently got to listen as I managed to coax my friend to start up a Testarossa recently)

And another thing, these cars were the last decently styled Seven series before the supremely ugly Seven series styled by Chris Bangle came along. From a slim pillared saloon which is the epitome of subdued elegance and speed, we got a gargantuan hulk that's hideously ugly and even if they say it drives well, I rather stay miles away from it. Yes BMW says that sales of that model were better than previously, but that's no excuse to make a car look like a building. It's not supposed to look like the Guggenheim. Make it look like the starship Enterprise or a space shuttle. Anything that looks like a rocket is better than a stationary piece of living space.