Since everyone's doing an Audi TT into an R8.....

"..... if you're rich and you couldn't care less about your Audi R8 looking like a TT, you should be the one doing such a thing. Everyone is making cheaper cars into more expensive ones so it will be something unique indeed if someone did it the other way round. "


Click here to read about it. Posted on Myautoblog.org.

The New Perodua Myvi: Pictures and Opinion

Typical Toyota/Daihatsu. In a way that is. The reason being that this all new Perodua Myvi is actually a million times better looking than the Toyota Passo version of it that was launched circa 2010 in Japan. That car (pic below) ended up looking ultra feminine and basically caters to the Japanese 'Ah Soh' customers (or those not familiar with the term - older auntie type people). These sort of customers buy the Passo simply as a means of transport. To the market and back. To the weekly bingo game and back. To the Hair Saloon and back.

Presenting Another Crazy Russian Monster SUV cum Sportback - Dartz Nagel

".... these Russians amaze the heck out of us. I get very amazed watching Sukhoi SU30s do incredible low speed maneuvers (at airshows), seen those large Russian Mil helicopters dump tons of water over fires (in a demonstration), felt the robustness of an AK47 and have even met a 75 year old Russian rocket scientist/engineer (who was still employed at the time) due to my line of work but when it comes to making cars, the Russians seem to think in ways weirder than even the Americans...."


The Russians are now King of the SUV hill. In my opinion that is.


Click here to read about it.

R172 Mercedes Benz SLK gets tuned by Piecha Design

"Styling exercises actually make more money for these tuners as nearly everyone wants the car to look really good outside of clubs, bistros and hotel lobbies instead of tearing up the autobahn."


Bodykits hit the streets so fast it makes your head spin. The new R172 Mercedes Benz SLK gets tweaked as soon as its out of the showroom. But as usual, its only about the looks. Performance parts take awhile longer.


Click here to read about it.

Subaru small cars are now Toyotas and why the new Impreza is slightly dull

"Of course it does. But they're so utterly predictable and dull vehicles. Take the Toyota Passo a.k.a Daihatsu Sirion/Boon a.k.a Perodua Myvi a.k.a Subaru Justy. They may look slightly different with different eylashes, skirts or jewellery, but they are basically the same shape."


So economic pressures have led Subaru to stop making their own small cars. Sad news. And why does the new Impreza look a little dull?

Click here to find out. 

Austin Mini 1275GT

I wrote a piece for Carthrottle.com on the Mini 1275GT recently. Imagine that, driving a tiny little car all the way from Ipoh to Kuala Lumpur. I left at night from Simpang Pulai near Ipoh and it was raining. The wipers were intermittent in that the wiper motor did not have enough juice to move them all the time (due to faulty grounding) and I was basically driving a dark B-road in the rain. Quite a scare but at least the very old car had good lights to balance things off slightly.

On those B-roads I felt like Paddy Hopkirk driving in a rally. Of course this wasn't a snowy Monte Carlo but it was pretty wet nonetheless. Driving a Mini on a B-road is certainly one of motoring's greatest pleasures.

Driving on the highway was slightly unnerving at the start. You feel slightly small until you get used to those lorries and busses passing by or when you're passing them instead. At least you can maintain a steady cruise of about 100km/h so that progress isn't that slow. It was a nice slow drive basically, one that I could actually enjoy listening to that 1,275cc engine and transmission do its Mini-like thrum. No other car has a noise combo like it so much so that when BMW made the new Cooper S, that supercharger actually mimicked that original gearbox whine.

 "On the B-roads it was a little bouncy but on the 12 inch Minilite wheels and tire combo the ride felt waaayyy better than the original 10inch rims and tires. I suppose this is due to the improvement in modern rubber. The Mini actually cornered better and rode more comfortably than when it first left the factory nearly 35 years ago. "

Read more about the Mini 1275GT here.

p/s. I did not drive back to KL without some semblance of back-up. Two cars left for KL that night, the other was this car from the cat family. A real mis-match.

More on my trip to Kuantan and something about New York's Yellow Cabs

As some of you readers may have read I was in Kuantan recently and this is a slightly more detailed write-up about it. Of course, I still left some bits out, mostly non-motoring. I took hundreds of shots, from a 16mp camera down to a 2mp camera phone. This mostly came from a 5mp camera phone as downloading a lot of 16mp photos takes up bandwidth and a chunk of my data plan. But what these photographs do is tell the story.

Click here to read about Kuantan.

And now, on something iconic. The yellow cabs in New York will be replaced in 2013 by Nissan Minivans. Sigh.

Click here to read more about it. Posted on MyAutoblog.org.

A-pillars in Cars These Days

I wrote a piece on how A-Pillars and side mirrors in cars have grown over the years over on MyAutoblog.org. A very relevant topic if I may say so.

" A Hyundai Atoz suddenly appeared out of nowhere. 'Nowhere' in this context meant that it appeared after it was hidden behind the A-pillar as well as the large elephant-like driver's side mirror."


Click here to read about it. 

Peugeot EX1 - Yes, It Sets A New EV Speed Record...BUT.....

"The Peugeot EX1 was piloted by Stephane Caillet and lapped the 20.8km Nordschleife in 9 minutes 1.338 seconds with an average speed of (yawn) 138.324km/h. Note that Peugeot have quoted until the 1/1000th of a decimal point for both lap time and average speed. I suppose when you're going this slow every 1/1000th of a second counts. "


Click here to read more about the Peugeot Electric Car That Looks Like A BatMobile But Is Slower Than One. 

Taiwan's Luxgen Neora is a Mish-Mash of Ideas

A concept car by a Taiwanese car maker. Nothing really interesting but this is what new manufacturers try out in order to find a distinctive identity.

Click here to read more about it. Posted over at Myautoblog.org.

Tony Fernandes Buys Caterham...Why?

To piss off the people at Lotus I presume. Click here to read more about what I think about this piece of news.

A Bentley that thinks its a Porsche GT3 RS

"You can tell that it is very much a boy racer with those ‘ISR’ go faster stripes on its side; ala Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Somehow no one told Bentley that the over 2000kg Continental Supersports that no matter what you do, a Bentley will not float like a butterfly and then sting like a bee."

The Bentley Continental Supersports ISR...... Click here to read more about it. Posted over at Myautoblog.org.

Some thoughts about car interiors of the near future

"The sketch you see above is one of a future Audi A3 Sedan. Ignore the funky steering wheel as it may be drawn that way to show the rest of the dashboard. And what do you actually see? A dashboard devoid of signal switches, wiper stalks and gear knobs. "

I posted some thoughts on the interiors of cars over at MyAutoblog.org. I suppose soon we will see stuff like those in I Robot turn into reality.

Click here to read more about it.

Volvo Concept Universe - The First Concept Car Under Geely and It Looks Slightly Awkward But Nice

"Those that are familiar with classic Volvo design would recognize the Volvo PV544-like bonnet, low set headlights and the shape of the grille. Its design team actually did spend some time looking at classic Volvos and I believe that it does look portray the essence of the earlier Volvos. The nose from the three quarter angle shows off the car pretty well. It may look awkward at first but it does make the car a little different than the norm."


Click here to read about it. Posted over at Myautoblog.org.

The Volvo 850 T-5R and the 850R

"Once upon a time, Volvo was famed for its safe and utterly box-like or brick-like 240, 740, 940 series of cars. Everyone who was an uncle actually wanted one. It exudes safety through its brick-like shape and Volvo marketed the 'S' for Safety word to the hilt. Volvo marketed safety and some people like me would say that it also marketed dullness. "

No Volvo in the last fifteen or so years made as much impact as the 1995 Volvo 850 T-5R.

Click here to read what I think about it and the Volvo 850R that came right after it. Written by yours truly and posted over on MyAutoBlog.org.

Capturing the essence of the original Skyline GT-R: Wald Black Bison Nissan GT-R

".... their Nissan GT-R Sports Line Black Bison Edition is very tasteful in my opinion. It captures the essence of the first Nissan Skyline GT-R, the KPGC-10 from the 1970s with that simple black rear wheel arch extension and it works."


I think you readers will also agree wholeheartedly with this opinion of mine. Click here to read about it. Posted over at Myautoblog.org.

Nissan Latio Sedan = London Black Taxi....Really

Recently I keep seeing black coloured Nissan Latio sedans on the road. I have a problem with the way the Latio sedan is styled. It basically has one of those failed hatchback to sedan designs. It may not be as ridiculously bad as the previous generation Honda City or that Pug Ugly Peugeot 207 Sedan. But it's close, quite close.

You see, the Latio Sedan maintains that ridiculously high roofline of the Latio Hatchback. It then has a truncated looking boot that makes the roof look even higher. And then it has small wheelarches, this also makes the roof and the body of the car look tall. The whole car is ungainly. It looks like it was designed for women whose hairdo require building permits due to height issues. It the good old days where men wore top hats the Latio would be well accepted. Men who wear such hats would love it. Women with those KLCC height hairstyles would adore them.

Racing drivers and tuners would totally hate the car for the unnecessary height. Anyone who thinks that their Nissan Latio is from the same Nissan tree as the GT-R must suffer from some sort of mental disorder. Really. The car that is the actual relation of the Nissan Latio sedan is actually a modernized London Taxi Cab. And if you buy a black Nissan Latio, it cements this link even further.

Let me give you a run down on the London taxi cab as well as comparing it with the Latio sedan.

Taken from everyone's favourite free encyclopedia – Wikipedia - The traditional black cab (so-called, despite being of various colours and advertising designs) is designed for its purpose. There have been many models over the years. The space beside the driver's seat can be used for luggage, although there is much luggage room in the passenger compartment. The turning circle is smaller than other vehicles of similar size (a black cab is said to be able to "turn on a sixpence"). The cab seats three people on the back seat, and two more in backwards-facing "jump seats"; there is good headroom, originally for passengers wearing top hats.

Now let's fill in the blanks with the Nissan Latio - The traditional Nissan Latio Sedan (so-called, family car despite being of various colours and advertising designs including something called the Latio Impul) is designed for its purpose. There have been many models over the years. The space beside the driver's seat can be used for luggage, although there is much luggage room in the passenger compartment. The turning circle is smaller than other vehicles of similar size (a Nissan Latio is said to be able to "turn on a sixpence"). The Nissan Latio interior seats three people on the back seat,"; there is good headroom, originally for passengers wearing top hats.

Okay, I've edited it slightly it slightly, but now take a look at the photos below. The similarities are striking and with that, I hereby state that if you buy a Nissan Latio Sedan, you're actually buying a London cab.  

Upcoming F10 BMW M5 - Restrained Aggression... How The Ultimate Driving Machine is Suppose To Be

"The F10 BMW M5 is another car that I am looking forward to as it somehow brings back what I truly like about BMWs - discreet restrained aggression. Think E39 M5, E30 M3 and the E34 M5 as well as the earlier 3.0CSL coupes from the 1970s and you'll know what I am trying to say. "


Do click here to read more about the upcoming F10 BMW M5. Posted over at Myautoblog.org.

Saab is Bleeding .... But I Honestly Do Not Care

"I still wouldn't give two hoots if Saab kicked the bucket. They've not shown me anything within the last year or so that would make me weak in the knees, make my jaw drop or drool all over like a rabid dog in heat." 

I don't really care about Saab and if you want to know more about what I think, do click here to read about it. Posted on myautoblog.org.

Keeping the Volvo XC90 fresh with Heico Sportiv

"........ But I suppose the target market for the Heico Sportiv XC90 are in fact people who use their XC90s for school runs and these people don’t want children running away sobbing, in fear and afraid of crossing paths with a highly modified Volvo."


Click here to read what I think about Heico's XC90. Posted on Myautoblog.org. 

Where to eat in Singapore....and in Kuala Lumpur

..if you fancy Murtabak Singapore you should head over to ZamZam at either its original location in Singapore or at Jalan T.A.R. in Kuala Lumpur.

Click here for some travel advice. Posted over at MyAutoblog.org.

When In Kuantan Do As The Locals Do....A Drive On The Beach

It is pretty fun actually. Take a car right up to the water's edge,  do some figure eights (but do be careful that the front wheels don't dig or you might actually roll over), and some driving on the sand. The thing about the beach along Pantai Balok in Kuantan, Pahang is that the sand is pretty packed and not like the soft sand you get on some beaches. I also suppose this is because it was low tide and the waves on the East Coast pound the beaches over there pretty hard till the sand gets compacted. I know you can't do this on Batu Feringgi, Port Dickson (as it is actually hard to find an access road right to the beach with development everywhere) and some other beaches on the West Coast.

I believe that driving on the beach shouldn't be limited to watching TV shows like Top Gear doing it. We should do it too and if any of you skeptics start making statements like "that Perodua is going to rust after that". It won't. Firstly, it isn't a car from the 1970s, secondly it isn't an Alfa Romeo or a Fiat from the 1970s and thirdly, all new cars get decent galvanizing on their chassis these days and don't really rust. Let's also mention that I wasn't the only one doing it. Locals do it too. And if you don't know what galvanizing is, please look it up yourself.

And fourthly, if you've been following my blog, I have been telling you people that you should live a little. Buy a car you like, not because of resale value, and enjoy the car instead of keeping it at home while you take the bus or motorcycle to work. It's only metal so you don't have to treat it like a trophy for display only and it's the thrill of the driving experience that is most important. This is one of them, and as I also said, sometimes a driving experience isn't about the speed, or the power. This is one of them.

Mobiado-Aston Martin Concept Phone

It doesn't work yet, according to gsmarena.com. But it begs a few thoughts by yours truly.


"Anyway, it can display maps showing stuff from Foursquare and with cameras integrated to the future Aston Martin the occupants in the car can take photos of themselves inside the car and post it on Twitbook or Faceter. Imaging twitting “Driving the DB10 today, boy I feel good.” to all your slightly poorer social networking friends out there. Oh, the envy." 


Read more about this concept phone here. Posted on myautoblog.org.

At the Mercedes GP Petronas Meet The Fans Session - Pre-2011 Malaysian GP (UPDATED)

The Meet the Fans session for the Mercedes GP Petronas team happened on the 6th of April. I happened to be at SURIA KLCC for the event. It started at 545pm and was quite interesting.

Nico Rosberg and Herr Schumacher....doing what F1 drivers do aside from drive. A lot of PR activity.

Schummi's Biggest Fan(atic).....It is a real tattoo, not a temporary paint job. Shocking.

The Mercedes GP F1 car.

The mighty Mercedes Benz CLS 63 AMG. First preview in South East Asia. We're lucky Petronas is sponsoring the Mercedes GP team as we get to see the latest mega Mercs before others do. We got to see the SLS AMG before most countries last year too. More pics and a detailed report would be posted soon over at CarThrottle.com and also over at MyAutoblog.org.

UPDATED - A detailed report has been posted over at www.carthrottle.com. OR Click here to go directly to the write-up.

Project Kahn Audi A5

This is another one of those Audis that ape the Audi R8. I now have the opinion that if you actually used this bodykit you're just trying too hard.

Click here to read about Project Kahn's Audi A5 mod job over at Myautoblog.org.

Porsche's Hybrid Supercar, the 918 Spyder

The 2013 Porsche 918 Spyder is a hybrid supercar. It's like eating a whole chicken, some spare ribs, a bucket of whipped potato and still losing weight at the same time!


 And oh yes, buy this hybrid and you can buy a limited edition 911 Turbo S Edition 918 Spyder too. What new marketing gimmicks would manufacturers come up with next!!!!

Click here to read about it. Posted over on MyAutoblog.org.

The Mercedes Benz C63 AMG Coupe & The Ugliest Car Sold In Malaysia Today

Don't you just love Mercedes-AMG cars? They sound really superb. This new one looks a little plain-Jane though. Maybe they're keeping the steroids off until the Black edition of the car comes out?

This Mercedes Benz C63 AMG Coupe may look a little plain but whatever the case, any new AMG is worth waiting for these days. Especially if it has a normally aspirated V8 in it. Oh the noise.It's always about the noise when it comes to AMG Mercedes'. It makes you weak in the knees. The heck with everything else. And while it is plain looking, it is not ugly. Which is what no one wants in a car. Unless you're those sad souls in Malaysia who think that buying a Peugeot 207 sedan means you're better off or have more class than a person buying a Proton. Let me break it out to you NOT gently - You're worse than the Inspira owner. Your Pug is PUG UGLY.

I apologise for that outburst. But it seems to me that the Peugeot 207 Sedan is the MOST UGLIEST CAR sold in Malaysia, replacing the previous generation Honda City tadpole on stilts. Note that this is the ugliest car category. The Mini 'Alphard' or the Chana Mini MPV is still reigning champion in the MPV category.

Anyway, click here to read more about the Mercedes Benz C63 AMG Coupe. Posted over at MyAutoblog.org.

ABT does the C7 Audi A6

ABT has already brought forth its tuning package for the newly launched C7 Audi A6. I suppose its going to take a while before the local, not very quick, slightly sluggish to respond, distributors to bring it in. And when they do bring it in, we're not going to see any S models. Why can't they bring the whole range? People are buying Audi by the shipload these days. There isn't a day in downtown KL where I don't see a large Audi driving around and come to think of it, they're mostly grey imports.

Anyway, click here to read about the ABT Audi A6. Posted over on MyAutoblog.org.

The similarity between the Aston Martin Virage and a Daihatsu

The new Aston Martin Virage. A whole new car? Or a slight chassis mod with a new badge? Does it worry you? It doesn't worry me one bit as Toyota/Daihatsu does the same stuff albeit on a cheaper price range. But is it becoming for a company like Aston Martin? Maybe not. But for me the real problem is driving one to the country club and people stare at you thinking that you still can't afford that higher priced DBS or that you're plain cheap.

Click here to read more about it over at MyAutoblog.org.

Suzuki Swift S-Concept showcases the upcoming Swift Sport

The car above is the Suzuki Swift S Concept which was recently shown at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show. This is how the upcoming Suzuki Swift Sport will look like. As some of you readers know, the Swift Sport is my favourite affordable supermini. I totally adore this little car because of its agility, handling and its honest to goodness nature. Not to mention if you love trail braking into a corner this is the car for you. The tail swings round to 'meet' you where you want it to.

 In the article I stated that if it ain't broke, why fix it. This sums up what Suzuki has done to the Swift. A little stretch, a little pull, a little nip here and some added girth there but it still looks pretty much like the earlier car.

Click here to read more about the S Concept

BMW Enters The MotoGP....

....BUT not in the way you'd expect. Even the bikes are basically safety vehicles and the actual number one safety vehicle is a car, not a bike. The upcoming BMW 1 Series M coupe gets a roll cage, fire extinguisher, no rear seats (due to the cage), an exhaust system by Akrapovic and some LED roof lights. And that's about it folks.

Click here to read more about it. Posted on MyAutoblog.org

A National Geographic-like Article About The USDM Mazda 6 Recall

Yes. I am also like Sir David Attenborough, in that I too can speak about something of nature like the yellow sac spider that caused a whole lot of 2009-2010 Mazda 6 to be recalled. Of course, if you read my Peugeot "the hippo" 3008 article, you would already believe me. Wouldn't you?

Click here to read about some spiders invading some Mazda 6s in the United States. Posted on Myautoblog.org.

Steering Wheel Styling Over The Years

I wrote this piece for CarThrottle.com. Steering wheels are something which most of us overlook but it is the part where we use the most to interact with the car. Our hands are alway on them, caressing them, turning them. Some of them look really good, but these days they all have airbags in the middle of them. In those days they looked all slim and slender. This is reason enough for me to write an article on steering wheels.

Click here to read the article and see more photos.

The 'Professional' DSLR Cameraman, The 'Talents' and Some Advice

There is a new disease nowadays in good ol' Malaysia and it is called 'I am a professional cameraman and I need to publish nearly everything I shoot'. Everywhere you turn these days there are people carrying...no, more like lugging around big fat DSLRs to weddings, to shopping malls, to family reunions and even to bed with their wife, girlfriend, boyfriend or gay lover.

In the good ol' days of normal film based SLRs, the 1980s and 1990s, I used to see my dad and my uncles comparing their SLRs and their photographic skills. But in those days everything was like pot luck. When you took a photograph in the pre-digital days if was the luck of the draw. You would finish a roll of film, you readers know what a roll of film is don't you? Anyway, you would finish a roll of film and rush it off to the camera shop to get it developed. You do not have a clue on how the photograph may come out. Sometimes, it is exactly as you wanted it to be. Sometimes, it gets overdeveloped or under developed, either it's your own fault due to bad camera skills or the camera shop screws it up. The worse case that would happen is that you wrongly load the camera and it doesn't get developed at all.

All this has changed. With the advent of digital photography you can now edit your photographs on the spot. This means that you can pick and choose what photographs you want and what you don't want. But it also means that there is also a lack of impromptu or real life photos and everything looks picture perfect when it actually isn't.

Of course in the early days of digital photograpy, everyone wanted a point and shoot camera. The reason was that DSLRs were bloody expensive and people in the early days of digital photography took to point and shoot cameras because it was conveniently small. From lugging around large SLRs they now could carry around something small and compact. Which was great.

But then DSLRs got cheaper, as with all electronic goods over the years and it is now the era of the DSLR. Everyone's got one, including the fairer sex. In those days, only arts and design students from both sexes lugged around SLRs. Now, I see women taking up this hobby by the dozen, lugging around huge DSLRs like they were Japanese tourists.

Then everyone starts shooting photos and posting them on flicker, photo sharing sites, Facebook. Then suddenly appear some of the fairer sex posing for the 'professional' cameraman. Up pops out an industry of sorts where the fairer sex decided that they can be considered as talents for these professional hobbyist. The photos get downloaded and then shared on Facebook for all to see. And the thing was some of the 'professionals' actually were terrible photographers and some of them actually have the nerve in giving 'professional' advice to others. These people giving advice don't even read the manual in the first place.

One example that I wish to share is when I was at Kuala Selangor admiring the fireflies. These tiny creatures were busy flickering and it was a stupendous natural sight. The area was totally dark and silent. The signboards clearly state that no camera flash was allowed but I suppose some people, in this case a Malay lady with a DSLR and the largest flash attachment in the world decided to take a shot of these creatures. It was brighter than lighting for a split second and it basically caused the fireflies to scatter for a moment, destroying the moment. Some people should never be given a camera if they can't even read rules and regulations or respect nature. If I was the guy piloting the row boat, I'd hurl the DSLR into the mangrove trees, and feed the lady to the fishes. In near pitch black darkness, you can't take little bits of light with a flash. You need proper night vision camera equipment. This is just one example of these so called DSLR experts.

And then there are the photo talents that we get to see posted on social sites. Some of the so called 'talents' that these 'professionals' get to shoot actually need concrete as facial foundation. This is needed to actually hide their faces (and maybe parts of their non-model-like bodies). The people holding the cameras should sometimes tell their talents that they should stop being talents. The people holding the cameras should actually stop publishing their photo shoots as I sometimes believe that taking photos should actually tell a story, and taking photos of these talentless talents tell a 'B grade' story that isn't worth tellling. It's like wanting to watch Avatar but then you get to watch a rerun of The Smurfs. Both have blue characters in them but the differences are intergalactic.

So what am I trying to say then? Sometimes, the camera crazy hobbyist should take it easy and really think before they shoot or give camera advice. Sometimes, the person posing, who thinks that she is a Kate Moss, Eva Longoria, Kim Kardashian or even Jessica Biel is actually a Hantu Kak Limah. Both should not quit their day jobs and they should stop having delusions of grandeur by thinking they are genuine 'talents' or supermodels or whatnot.

This is much like the people who like putting up spoilers and stickers and thinking that their car is actually worthy of certain badges and large spoilers. A bit of general knowledge folks. At 160km/h the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8's rear wing produces 68kg of downforce. However, at 0km/h, the huge DTM wing on the 'classic' Proton Saga that we see below makes the owner look like a dork. It doesn't even have alloy rims in the correct size (17inches and above for that touring car look) for Godssake. 175/70/13 does not portray 'race car'. Period. And it has extra cushions on the headrest too. The Proton Satria Neo on the left is much better. Plonk in a set of alloys and it is a bazillion times more sportier. It's like a girl in an evening gown and decked in jewellery, but she's wearing rubber flip flops. 

Photo of the 'Professional' taken from Mr Aqeeb's social network site. Thank You.

An Audi A3 Sedan Concept Was Previewed Recently.....

.....and I like it. This brings back the small Audi sedan like the 1990s B5 Audi A4 sedan. This is a sedan in the size which I like - small enough for urban environments and it has a boot. Very suitable for people (especially those of us in South East Asia) who like having cars with....a boot. 

Click here to read more about this Audi A3 Sedan Concept Car. Posted over at Myautoblog.org.