If I Cannot Afford A New Audi I'll Just Have To Make My Car Into One

Posted on MyAutoBlog.org by yours truly. There have been so many Sagas with a Subaru scoop, bodykit going around but the owner of this car is more ambitious......... Click here for more details.

2010 meets the 1990s: My Review of the Proton Satria Neo

Read about my thoughts on a 2010 Proton Satria Neo over here.

The Audi A4 Gets To Breathe, and Fart a Little Easier....

As what the owner said, "It Ain't Rocket Science". That being said, the mods do work very well. Read it in CarThrottle.org.

I Recently Spotted A Peugeot 3008 ...........

The Peugeot 3008 (Hippopotamus amphibius), or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae (the other is the Pygmy Hippopotamus – or the Austin A40 – now extinct.) The 3008 is the third largest land animal (after the elephant and the white rhinoceros) and the heaviest extant artiodactyl, despite being considerably shorter than the giraffe.

The 3008 is an SUV, and therefore it can be semi-aquatic, able to cross small streams and city flash floods, and climb tall roadside kerbs, rivers and lakes where territorial SUVs preside over a stretch of river and groups of 5 to 30 females and young. During the day they remain cool by posing in local watering holes like Bangsar or Sri Hartamas. They emerge at dusk to graze on Starbucks Coffee and other places where expensive coffee and clothing is served. While 3008s rest near each other in the water, grazing is a solitary activity and the 3008 are not territorial on land.

Despite their physical resemblance to pigs and other terrestrial even-toed ungulates, their closest living relatives are the slightly dumpy looking Audi Q5 (the Q7, while huge looks so much better looking – somehow those longer overhangs front and rear and that longer bonnet helps a lot) from which they diverged about 55 million years ago. The common ancestor of Q5 and 3008s split from other normal looking SUVs (like a Mitsubishi Airtrek, Subaru Forester, Range Rover, Freelander etc) around 60 million years ago. The earliest known 3008 fossils, belonging to the genus ugliesthippoaroundus in Africa, date to around 16 million years ago.

The Peugeot 3008 is recognizable by its barrel-shaped torso

, enormous mouth and teeth, 

nearly hairless body, stubby legs and tremendous size. Check out the overhangs front and rear. 

It is THAT disproportionate in terms of looks.Press photos make it look decent. My photos make it look decent too. You have to see it for yourselves to see how horrid it is. Anyway, it is based on the the third-largest land mammal by weight, behind the white rhinoceros and both species of elephant. Despite its stocky shape and short legs, it can easily outrun a human with its efficient 1.6liter 156bhp turbocharged engine. 3008s have been clocked at 30 km/h (19 mph) over short distances due to having the same engine as the current Mini Cooper S, the Peugeot 308GT and also due to its 6 speed automatic gearbox (over the ancient 4speed automatic in the 308 sold here in Malaysia).

And that folks, is the new Peugeot 3008. NAZA underestimated the demand for this in Malaysia as for RM145K, people seem to want this funny looking SUV. Some even chose to buy this due to Audi having a 1 year waiting list for its Q5 over the 3008's 8 to 10 month waiting list. Being more than a 100k cheaper yet still a European import makes it pretty desirable. But it's plain ugly and pretty pointless as it has no real off-road capability whatsoever. I'd never buy an SUV just for its commanding driving position especially if it looks like a hippo. People are buying for the badge, purely for the badge and the image (what image?) that a continental has over here in Malaysia.

Much like those Avanza owners. Buy a crap van just because its a Toyota. Now they're buying an ugly SUV because its a Peugeot. Please people...if you want to buy a Peugeot here in Malaysia, there is the  407 and pointy nosed 308 for you to buy. Not a water loving mammal.

An Article from Another Blog Caught My Eye and Some Thoughts on High Mileage Cars

After a bit of light reading at syedoutsidethebox.blogspot.com I have extracted this for you to read.

“The CEO (of Proton) said that they have sembahyang hajat when they embark on something or other at Proton. The CEO and his Managers all sembahyang hajat together, with the CEO playing imam.

 

My view is this. Cars are made of steel, aluminium, parts and components. The European cars can now give up to 60 MILES PER GALLON or equal to 20 kilometres per litre of diesel !! The new technology in Europe is diesel driven. It is becoming clean, with a very low carbon footprint and gives great mileage.

 

Even the Chinese cars like Chery (a recent member of the car fraternity) are latching on to European standards and technology. I dont know how sembahyang hajat plays into all this? I believe at least one religious person has said before that the 'sembahyang hajat' does not work. “

The above was an excerpt from the above mentioned blog where some political in nature Malaysian bloggers had dinner with the CEO of Proton so that he can explain some politically charged issue that I have no concern of whatsoever. We all know that ‘Sembahyang Hajat’ means a Prayer for a Wish/Request. If the above statement is true  (Note the ‘IF’ word here) this is what Proton is resorting to conducting all the time when it builds cars for the general public to sell then we now know the actual problem of Proton. They are hoping for something called Divine Intervention.

Divine Intevention is a term for a miracle caused by God's active involvement in the human world. I mean would God actually dabble with the creation of a new Proton? Would The Almighty be willing to turn a lemon, like say the Satria Neo I drove recently, and turn it into a Ferrari Enzo beating creation? Or send his Angels down from Heaven and mould that ugly Proton Waja into a Maserati Quattroporte everytime a Waja leaves the assembly line? Would the same Angels also tune that exhaust note of sad, dumpy looking Proton Saga and make it sound like something Mozart wrote?

Actually I don’t think so. You have to actually help yourself first before others can help you. If the product is already a half baked one, then you’ve got it all wrong. Even sembahyang hajat will not help.

A systematic definition of miracles performed by apostles. Of course, no one in Proton are apostles, but the following defines what a miracle is in an Islamic sense. I am using this since Sembahyang Hajat was brought up and if they did one everytime they launched a car, they must have did it when they launched the Satria Neo, Persona and Saga. Anyway, the definition of a miracle can be found in the work of the Muslim scholar al-Īd̲j̲ī Mawāḳif, historian A.J. Wensinck states.The main purpose of miracle is to prove the sincerity of the apostle and has to satisfy the following conditions:

1.     It must be performed by God

2.     "It must be contrary to the usual course of things"

3.     It should be impossible to contradict it

4.     "It must happen at the hands of him who claims to be an apostle

5.     "It must be in conformity with his announcement of it, and the miracle itself must not be a disavowal of his claim"

6.     "It must follow on his claim.

Right. Number 2 means that the miracle ‘must be contrary to the usual course of things’. If the build quality of a Proton is usually bad, (remember that Satria Neo I talked about recently? Bad seat, bad air-cond blower etc.), then nothing could ever stop everyone from criticizing it.

This is the same if it was a Toyota Avanza. I say that the car is absolute crap because it is. No miracle can ever change the fact that it has leaf springs, a badly designed shape and a lorry chassis. If it were built differently, it wouldn’t be an Avanza. The only miracle I see that Proton wants to emulate from Toyota is the fact that lots of people are gullible and, to put it bluntly, idiotic enough to buy one. So maybe, on that note, all those Sembahyang Hajat actually works. People are rushing out and buying at dumpy looking Proton Saga. With that, I take back everything bad I said in this article about Proton conducting the Sembahyang Hajat. Or do I?

Now speaking of cars that have actual quality, this E-Type from the early 1970s (a Series III V12) recently made its way across the border up North. A thousand kilometer trip was not a problem for it and the only set-back that happened to it was a speedbump that was too high, resulting in a cracked exhaust that was easily fixed. Oh, I was there when the mechanics took the car to get the exhaust repaired. Ever heard a Jaguar V12 unsilenced? I have. It was epic.

On the same note, the owner of that wonderful car also made another 1,800km trip in a 1995 Toyota Estima Lucida which had over 260,000km on the clock without any issues.

Cars like these will go on forever. Like the Mercedes W124 I reviewed earlier. It seems that the notion where old cars are clunkers and break down all the time should be put to rest. It all takes some routine maintenance. Stuff that needs to be changed, when it needs to be changed, should be changed. Cars with great build quality will last nearly forever. No extra prayers needed. Just a simple ‘Bismillah’ before you start your day is all you need….. If you’re a Muslim that is, and a short prayer for a splendid and productive day for others out there is all you need to do. It is as simple as that folks.

Proof That LED Driving Lights is More for Style Rather Than Safety

Good afternoon. I had this piece written showing evidence that those LED lights you see on those Audis, Porsches and other cars are purely fashion or style statements. Click here to read the article posted on MyAutoblog.org.

Some Photographs and A Few Interesting Postings on MyAutoBlog by Yours Truly.....

Hello again. I have been pretty busy travelling around the Peninsular recently. I made a 2 trips down South. One to Muar, Johor and one more to the Lion City for a change of air. I basically went to someplace a little more hectic but surprisingly more organized than Kuala Lumpur, so it was good.

The 'murtabak singapore' at Zam Zam and at Victory next door ( both pictured above) is nice on a Sunday morning, or for lunch or for dinner.

Oh yes. Check out this little Suzy. It is smaller than a Jimny SJ413. But it has chunky off-road tires, taller suspension and all the off-road goodies. I wonder if this little car does leave the island for off-road jaunts in Malaysia.

Now I've not been quiet on the writing front. I have been writing new pieces for MyAutoBlog.org.

The following are some that I think are worthy to share in here...........................
1. The Beacham Jaguar MkII.  You now don't have to send that Jag of yours for a modernization in the UK anymore. Click here to read the article.

2. Gordon Murray's T25. A nice small car concept. I like small cars. The original Mini is one of my favourite drives and so was my 2nd Gen Honda Civic. Of course, this is smaller than my Civic, and smaller slightly than the Mini. Go here to see some pics and a writeup about it.

3. Drive a black car? Some more useless research conducted by people who want grants from the government or to show that they are doing something with taxpayer's money at all those Institutes of Higher Learning.

4. The next Suzy Swift is out. Check out how much it doesn't differ here. It may be longer, wider and taller, but it stays the same.

5.Late night shopping at Mustafa's in Little India, Singapore, a Toyota with a Subaru Scoop (even in Singapore we get mods like this) and an old W124 wagon plying the streets of Singapore at night. They don't throw out their old stuff all the time if you know what I mean. Click here for this.

Of Glee, its similarities to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and the 2010 Satria Neo M-Line

So. Glee has become a supposed international phenomenon. Critics seem to love it and the fans, like the Trekkies from Star Trek, have called themselves 'Gleeks'. The series features numerous song covers sung on-screen by the characters and the musical segments typically take the form of performances, as opposed to the characters singing spontaneously, as the intention is for the series to remain reality-based. Or so the show's producers say. But let me tell you that Glee is nothing new to people here in Malaysia, or India for that matter.

It is like watching a Hindi or Tamil movie from Bollywood, India. People in those movies break into song and dance in the middle of something. Just like Glee. There, we get Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit and a brimful of Asha on the '45. These actors and actresses act in movies that have song and dance every 20 minutes or so. In Glee, we have four to five songs, where the same thing happens. People break into song and dance for no apparent reason whatsoever. Or just to look good while dancing and singing like part of an MTV music video. The only difference is that Glee is in English and not Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Telugu or any other Indian movie made out there nowadays.

Of course the comedy and the witty dialog would keep you anchored to your telly and watch the movie but the truth is, you're watching an Indian movie being played out in English. Even I find it quite entertaining actually. BUT there is nothing for you to think that Glee is a super cool television program that is totally innovative and unique. It is a Hindi/Tamil/Telugu etc movie adapted for television and then to English. Actually if you wanted to watch people singing, go to a concert, open up YouTube or go to your local pub.

Imagine Glee without the song and dance, would you bother watching it? Imagine watching the hit Hindi movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai without the song and dance. So you tell me how cool is that then? There. I've said it. It is actually the same thing. So all you Gleeks out there should just borrow or buy some Indian movies and you can get the same high in a different language.

So in the words of Mr “Everything Comes From India” from the BBC series 'Goodness Gracious Me', Glee is Indian (as is Mona Lisa, Leonardo DaVinci, the Queen, etc). There. I've gotten it off of my chest. Now let's talk about cars again.

The Proton Satria Neo is one car which really does not fit me. My good friend recently got one for his wife to use, which is all very fine as the wife is petite. Unlike yours truly who keeps hiting his head everytime he enters the car. I even hit my head trying to adjust the seat. I really forgot about how low the roof of this car was as the only time I actually sat in a Satrio Neo was at the launching and if I remembered properly I hit my head then too.

And yes. That sunshade is utterly useless as it blocks the view completely if you are taller than 5foot 7inches and drive in a proper, straight up position.

Anyway, since I've already complained about this fact before in one of my very first articles (do browse through my earlier stuff and see if you can find it) I'll move on to something different about the Satria Neo aside from the iffy build quality of the car my friend bought. Which was a noisy air-condition blower that goes 'RRRRRRRRRR' if you set it more than one-thirds of the blower speed (lucky being a Proton it was still cold at the speed) and that the seat won't ratchet. Which is really rubbish since the Satria Neo has been around for around four years. Warranty claim will be made on both issues at the 1000km service.

But the main gripe of this article and in true journalistic (or artistic) license I shall harp about the problem of the Satria Neo when you have to use the car at night.

As you can see, the main meter cluster is very nice to look at at night. So is the radio and air-condition controls.

But as soon as you look at the gear gate, you go 'Ahhhh, it has an old world glow to it' ...like it was from a bakelite cased radio that is backlit by a reddish, yellowish glow from a time long forgotten. The 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Or at the very best, a meter cluster that is lighted from from the 1970s that makes the fonts look blurry and dull.

Basically what I am stating here is that the gear gate is lighted up really badly. It looks like something from days long gone. It does not even properly match the glow from the radio and air conditioned controls. Why is it so hard for this car manufacturer to get even a simple thing like this right? The picture on this does not show the difference as much as I wanted to. But if you have the chance of sitting in a Satria Neo when its dark, you should try looking at the gear gate area when its lighted up.

The great thing was this fact was pointed out by my friend. Basically his statement summed up the car. “The car isn't that bad with the faults that I've found (the blower, the faulty driver's seat and that ugly glow) as the car only cost RM51,000. ” he said. But then just a second later he added “Actually no. It's actually bad, very bad.”

Yes. The Satria Neo M-Line looks good, handles very well (great chassis – you should try it) and now with the IAFM module does not have that stupid torque dip. But again, it is let down by impracticality (for taller people), iffy quality and that retro-when-its-not -supposed-to-be back lit gear gate.

Oh yeah. My friend got the car about 3 weeks ago. This was the car on the first day of ownership. New 17inch rims replaced the stock 16inch rims and tires.

After the second week the car now has a full R3 styled bodykit and does not even look like this anymore. Sometimes my friends really surprise the heck out of me. I may post pictures of it soon in full drag.

Two Articles of Mine on CarThrottle.Com For Your Reading Pleasure

I've got two new articles of mine on carthrottle.com. Click here to read about Lady Gaga, Too Much Money and Mad Cars and here to read about Why I am not too keen on  Hybrid and Electric Cars. Of course I have written about this on myautoblog before, but this is an expanded and a little more detailed article than before. Enjoy.