the petrolhead

Stupid Spy Shot

2009-05-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

(This is a story about my very own stupid spy shot. I mentioned it as “stupid” because the pictures were taken by stupid camera phone.)

Picture 1

Date: 20th April 2009

Place: In front of Perodua R&D centre, Rawang

Time: 4.28 pm (after going back from D46T briefing!)

Car Model: Perodua MPV (codename D46T)

Yep, it’s a not a clear JPG file. But the black car that they sticked with black tape is obviously Perodua MPV. The MPV is escorted by the blue Hyundai i10 (They tried to confuse people by using other brand instead of using Perodua car).

Picture 2

Date: 20th May 2009

Place: Hyundai HQ,Glenmarie, Shah Alam

Time: 11.21 am

Car Model: Hyundai i30

It’s a mystery. I didn’t know why my camera unable to focus. At the same time, there were some security guards, so I didn’t have the opportunity to take another picture. The red car is Hyundai i30 and it is not yet available in Malaysian market. Besides, the Hyundai i20 was also there!

Picture 3

Date: 21st May 2009

Place: Chery Alado HQ, PJ

Time: 3.30 pm

Car Model: Chery A5

And it’s even worse. I snapped one picture but when I checked it, then I realised there is no picture taken. So, I replaced it with picture taken from internet.

Moral: Please bring your SLR Digicam for a good spy shot.

Kancil (A Tribute)

2009-05-19T06:39:00.000-07:00

My late father had been one of the earliest buyer of Perodua Kancil. Back in 1994, he used to trade in his Nissan Bluebird 1.8 so that he managed to buy this car. On that time, most of my classmates used to think that my dad’s got the coolest car in planet earth.

That was my earliest memory of Kancil. After 16 years of production, Perodua decided to stop producing Kancil model. Starting 1 May 2009, there would be no more production for Kancil even there’s always demand for it.

It’s an iconic car. People used to love it. Boy in campus used it to pick up a girl and their users vary from makcik to hot chick. With more than 750,000 productions since 1994, it became the 2nd successful Malaysian car model after Proton Saga. Former mat rempit might used this car during the transition period from motorcycle to a car. Some stupid guys who got nobody to sponsor them in racing, transformed their Kancil to racing car. That was Kancil I knew, affordable and flexible.

Ten years from now, when some of us look at the car they might remember the first time they drove a car, their first girlfriend or even remind them to their first child (who accidentally have been ‘made’ in the car).Err..that’s a different story..

Forte

2009-05-17T04:43:00.001-07:00

Nope, it’s not Honda. It is the new Kia Forte. I am not so sure whether Naza will assembles it here but one thing I am sure is that it got handsome looks that Vios owner will commit suicide. I heard that it was design by Mr. ex-Audi designer. What a stupid, weak economy, even Audi designer lost his job. Haha..

The Kia Cerato Forte will be here in 3^rd quarter of 2009. However, if you got enemies who owned Vios and you want him to die before 3^rd quarter of 2009, you can travel to Singapore and buy it since it is already available in Singaporean market.

This car is powered by 1.6 power plant and it got high standard kit such as 6-CD changer, iPod connectivity and reserve parking proximity display. I am not going to trade in my current car for this car but personally, I think that it is worth to buy this car because it comes with a good package. You will probably think twice before buying this car, just because it is Kia.

The MPV

2009-05-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

If you are young, free and single, why you should care about MPV? If you want to buy the MPV with stupid name (well, you know what I mean), I am not a tactful person who can answer your question. Please visit the showroom and make enquiry to the person who got the spiky hair there. He is probably the salesperson who is so happy to cheat you.

Build a proper plan for your young and sweet time. Don’t waste your money buying MPV, it will make your look older.

Proton MPV: Pictures

2008-12-05T17:45:00.000-08:00

Quantum of Solace

2008-11-16T21:16:00.000-08:00

No, I am not going to write about Olga and this is not about Mr. Bond himself. This is an automotive blog, so let’s talk about car instead. The chasing scene between Bond and the bad guy in the beginning of the movie looked so real but let’s face the fact; it’s Alfa Romeo 159 chasing after Aston Martin DBS.In other word, it’s like Perodua Kancil 660 chasing after let’s say, Perdana V6, Honda Accord or Toyota Camry.

Alfa Romeo 159 is powered by 1.9 engine and 0-96km/h will takes 9.5 second while the Aston Martin DBS is powered by 6.0 V6 engine that will takes you only 4.2 second form 0km/h to 96km/h. So, it is impossible for Alfa Romeo 159 to keep chasing the Aston Martin DBS.

My conclusion is, Mr. Bond is not a good driver and the bad guy behind the steering wheel of the Alfa Romeo 159 is probably a five times Formula 1 champion. Besides, I heard that they crashed five Aston Martin just for that scene. What a waste.

New Honda City 2008

2008-10-24T22:03:00.001-07:00

This is the new Honda City. If you park it beside Toyota Vios, this Honda City will look like Jessica Alba and the Toyota Vios will look like an ugly dugong. I am 200% sure that you will choose to date with Jessica Alba rather than the ugly dugong.

As an untypical automotive blogger, I am not going to ‘copy & paste’ the technical spec of this car and pretend I knew everything about it. So, what I wrote here is based on readers’ view. This ‘sexy Jessica Alba’ come with 1.5 engine and it is more powerful than the engine of Toyota Vios (okay, Vios is the benchmark here). Besides, it is longer, higher and wider than Vios. Honestly, I am thinking of trading in my current car for this Honda City.

The price could be between RM 80, 000 to RM 90, 000. For those who already place their booking on Toyota Vios, you can just cancel it. Aquaria KLCC is a great place to watch some dugong and you don’t have to buy them from Toyota.

Battery

2008-10-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

I would like to dedicate this article to Mr. ‘I-am-working-for-Toyota’ (well, you know who you are).

Not everyone needs Toyota Prius but everyone needs battery, and even Toyota Prius itself need a battery. Good battery can last for up to 4 years if you maintain it properly. A long time ago there’s a friend of mine who proudly working with Toyota but sadly his car battery went flat just because he never cared for his battery. So, here are some tips for basic battery maintenances:

1. Ensure the water level is always above the minimum line and make sure its level not exceeded the maximum line.

2. Remove white precipites at the battery terminal by pouring warm water on it.

3. Top up the battery water by using ONLY deionized water (available at petrol station)

4. Switch off your air-cond, radio and light whenever you want to leave your car.

5. Park your car at a shade area.

6. Don’t buy Toyota Prius.

I am sure this tips will help you to make your car battery last longer.

P/s: you can buy a new battery with discounted price from me. It’s 60% cheaper than a market price but it is only available if you have my number (or if you are my close friend).

Proton MPV

2008-10-20T22:16:00.001-07:00

Somebody spotted this..

..and somebody is creative enough to come out with his photoshop version.

Myvi SE 2008: Picture, Spec and Price

2008-10-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

Perodua Myvi SE Facelift 1.3 M/T (Solid) - RM49,900.00
Perodua Myvi SE Facelift 1.3 M/T (Metallic) - RM50,400.00
Perodua Myvi SE Facelift 1.3 M/T(Special Metallic) - RM50,800.00
Perodua Myvi SE Facelift 1.3 A/T (Solid) - RM52,900.00
Perodua Myvi SE Facelift 1.3 A/T (Metallic) - RM53,400.00
Perodua Myvi SE Facelift 1.3 A/T (Special Metallic) - RM53,800.00

LPG

2008-09-26T21:11:00.000-07:00

I spotted this forklift in part warehouse in Shah Alam. Look at the gas tank behind the forklift; it’s the same cooking gas (LPG) that your mum uses to cook your favorite dish. The LPG powers the forklift. The warehouse management decided to use LPG since it is cheaper and cleaner. One tank of LPG can be used for about two days.

The warehouse guys said that the LPG could also be use in normal cars. Just imagine your cool car with this green tank. It’s like Brad Pit wearing skirt. Haha…

YB

2008-09-21T18:22:00.000-07:00

(Coincidently, I wrote this on 16 September 2008 after going back from Putrajaya)

How good is your YB performed as your community’s representative? Well, if you ask me, I would say he is doing bad. I do not have his KPI form but as a bona fide citizen (who pay for road tax and have a valid driving license) I am upset with him.

It is not complicated to rate your YB. I realized that what I am going to write will sound a little bit crazy but hey, this is reality. I bought a brand new car 7 months ago. I drove it decently in a past 7-months and its drive shaft started to produce some funny sound (in other word it was broken). Right now, you might confuse the link between my drive shaft and my YB, are you?

To understand the causes of that funny sound from my drive shaft is simple. The answer is the road condition. I mean the one that I take to reach the nearest highway. It is so terrible. There are many holes on that road. You can go fishing at those holes and if you are lucky, you probably could get some fishes. Moreover, the road accidents statistic showed something – not less than three peoples were died at that same location in the past 3 months.

Mr. YB, if you read this, I hope you could do something to improve the road condition. We do not need that ‘selamat-hari-raya’ banner (featuring yourself) on the main junction, what we need is a good road condition. Please Mr. YB, Please.

The Death of a Friend ( A tribute)

2008-09-17T17:42:00.000-07:00

There's someone in my neighborhood died in a road accident 2 days ago. I made a few calls to my close friends just to make sure who’s that guy – it's Zulkarnain Ismail, the guy who sat next to me during my primary school days. He was only 25 and just married recently. Personally, I felt so sad.

Road safety is a boring topic to discuss. People won’t listen to them. But, the fact that 6,283 peoples died in road accidents last year showed that something should be done to tackle this issue.

The key to road safety is quite simple, drive safely, follow the rules and maintain your car properly. If you think that it will not happen to you then you are totally wrong. Yes, I never thought that thing couldn’t happened to Zulkarnain but it do happened and he's gone. Life is so fragile, so please drive safely.

CARoscope

2008-09-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

Don't read horoscope. They are rubbish. There's another method to learn about other people characteristics – by reading my CARoscope.

Perodua MyVi – You are kind of person who can easily be influenced by your friends. Plus, you are energetic and young. But, if you are 50's and driving this car, it is a sign of mid-life crisis.

Naza Citra – You don't really care about current fuel price.

Proton Perdana V6 – Err..Are you a government servant?

Proton Saga BLM – You are a great family guy and loves to travel with your family. If you are female, it's a sign that you have a lot of shoes (in the boot)

Proton Satria Neo – You want to be cool but you don't have enough money for it.

Naza Bestari – You think you are different and unique but you are not.

Perodua Kenari – You are kind of person who hates Perodua Myvi just because your enemy owned it.

Toyota Avanza – No, no. You don't have to tell me about your age. I know your are 45 years old and your fifth child is 9 years old.

Toyota Prius – You got some money and a smaller brain too.

Proton Savvy – You are a gay.

Ha ha..

This Could be Kenari Replacement Model

2008-09-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

Yep, this is a photoshop image but my informer said that the Kenari Replacement model will be based on Daihatsu Materia (and it will look like this images).

Perodua MPV?

2008-09-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

I dont understand why some peoples keep saying that Perodua MPV will be based on Toyota Sienta. I think it will be based on Toyota Verso instead.

Love

2008-09-11T18:21:00.000-07:00

(In conjunction with university homecoming)

I really think love in campus life has a narrow definition. I mean, it is too conditional. Girl will love you if you are good looking, if you earned 3.67, or if you drive your parents’ car to campus. They will never love you if they found out that you are a kind of person who love to help blind pedestrian to cross the road.

Love is too visual then. It is about how you look. It is about your “mode of transportation”. It is about how many Big Mac you can afford to buy. Nobody will love you if you are wearing unbranded shoes or using Nokia 3210. Love in campus life is love at first sight kind of thing.

I don’t believe in love at first sight. You should not use that kind of concept in deciding which car to buy. Proton Satria Neo might look sexy at first sight but you never know how it feels until you owned it for 2 years. When Perodua kenari launched in 2000 people said that, it looked like a shoe but people keep buying it until today after they knew how reliable this car is.

Moral: don’t simply buy a car if the only thing you like about it,is the look. Take your time to do some test drive. The same concept applies here, don’t simply falling in love with some hot chicks. Take your time to err..”test drive” them.

Vendor Briefing

2008-09-09T23:57:00.000-07:00

Perodua HQ is like my second office. I'll be there for at least once a week to check for stocks, meetings, payments and quality issues, and to attend monthly vendor briefing. The vendor briefing for this month have a lot of fun since they gave me a lot of information regarding new models:

1.Myvi SE Facelift – mass production will be in September 2008
2.Toyota Avanza Facelift – mass production: December 2008
3.Viva Facelift – production: Nov 2008
4.Nautice Facelift – production: Januari 2009
5.Perodua MPV – production: 2009 (unconfirmed)
6.Kenari Replacement Model – production: 2010 (unconfirmed)

I like vendor briefing!

Toyopet Prius

2008-09-08T17:28:00.000-07:00

The name sound like Pokemon creature but it is actually a car.

A few decades ago, there's a car that produced by loom company. It's Toyopet car. This fact impressed me a lot. The company has evolved and now known as Toyota.

A few weeks ago, blogger Adie Dali (he is working for Toyota) wrote that Toyota is going to bring Toyota Prius in Malaysia.Yes, it is a hybrid car but to say that Toyota Prius is a new model from Toyota is like saying Dayabumi is taller than KLCC, which is untrue, which is stupid. This car has launched in 1997 for Japanese market. So, now they want Malaysian to buy this car. We don't want this car. Sorry Toyota.

If you want to buy a car, buy with a dignity. Why buy an outdated ugly car that will cost you RM125K if u can buy some good looking car for below RM100K? Proton Gen.2 EVE Hybrid is expected to be mass produced in 2010. Guys, be patient.

Adie, we knew it is an old model. So, why don't u tell your boss to rename it to Toyopet Prius. I think antique collector will buy it.

My Life as an OEM Exec.

2008-09-07T21:14:00.000-07:00

I like it. It’s a fascinating job pretty much every day of the week, I really love it as much as ever. To say it’s paradise might be a bit too much, but it sometimes gets close to that. I enjoy travel, visiting car factory and learn a lot about car.

8.12am but no rush, no traffic jam

Perodua HQ = My Second Office

1000,000th Perodua

Nissan HQ, Segambut

Menara Naza, Kampung Baru

Inokom HQ, Kulim

TEST DRIVE: Proton Saga 1.3 AT

2008-09-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

I recently got a chance to test drive Proton Saga 1.3 AT. Relax chaps, it's actually not bad. As a typical Malaysian cars, the interior is simple. The dashboard is wide that you can play tennis on it. I am impressed with the legroom and the head room that I think enough even for the tallest guy in your neighborhood. The Noise-Heat-Vibration (NHV) is quite good and it's better than Myvi. The engine run smoothly although I think it needs more power since the power/weight ratio is not so good. If you are working as a professional kidnapper, this is a-must-buy car since there's a huge amount of space in the rear boot.

It's a bit confusing when they put signal switch and rev meter at the left hand side, I don't like it to be honest. I'm sure that the rear visibility is better than Gen.2 but with an absence of rear viper it can creates rear visibility issue at certain time. Driving at night could be tough since the automatic gear doesn't come with light to indicate the gear position. So, the only way to know it, is by looking at the meter every time you want to change the gear.

You probably have a mental problem if you think this Saga is a good looking car. No, it's not a good looking car. If you are 24 year old this car will makes you look like a 42 years old man with 5 kids. But, who cares? With price tag below RM40K it's a worth buying.

Not Good for your Vehicle (NGV)

2008-09-04T18:08:00.000-07:00

So people are talking about installing NGV tank in their car. I am not going to do the same. I rather have my teeth pulled rather than installing that nuclear tank in my car. Just read this:

1. Yes, it cheaper than petrol but it will cost you RM3K – RM5K just to install the tank.

2. You will spend 3 year queuing at NGV station every time you want to fill up your car with the gas. The good thing is that you can make a friend with taxi drivers.

3. It is dangerous. Some mechanics told me that it could affect chassis structure. But, if you want to die in car accident, just ignore this.

4.Bad news for lady driver. It can reduce space for you to keep your unused shoes.

5. It’s just not macho.

Think twice.

Car Washing Tips : The Concept

2008-09-04T17:39:00.000-07:00

( No subliminal gay messages were use in this article)

I am untypical Malaysian guy. I don’t watch football and I don’t really care if I don’t have a girlfriend. But the most important thing about this is, I never send my car to car wash. I just don’t believe them and I don’t think I will satisfy with their job.

There are three basic steps in cleaning your car. Washing, polishing and waxing. Washing is like washing your face with facial foam to remove all dirty things while polishing is like using facial scrub to remove dead cell from your face. In metro sexual guy (or gay) point of view, waxing is like applying some lotion or sun block to your face. The main purpose is to protect your face from UV or UVB and to moisturize your face.

I use Meguiar’s product line in this process. Yes, it’s quite expensive but it worth it. Meguir’s car shampoo (it can preserve wax protection) cost me RM28 for 475ml while Meguiar’s Deep Crystal Carnauba Wax priced RM47 (475ml). I use microfibre cloth (with nano technology) since normal cloth will harm cars paintwork.

Car wash didn’t use this entire thing. They don’t really care about your car, but the important thing that they get huge amount of money from it. Washing your own car is good if you want to build a relationship with your car. Err.. I am untypical Malaysian guy. Am I?

This Could be Proton MPV : The Prequel

2008-09-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

It's illegal for me to keep the previous post (This Could be Proton MPV). Thus, i replace it with some photoshop images that might look quite a same with actual car.

The Ultimate Fuel Saving Tips

2008-08-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

High speed + Low Rev = save fuel

I have read a lot of fuel saving tips recently. I’ve found out most of them are rubbish. One of fuel saving tips suggested car users to remove roof rack from their cars. In real world how many of car users use this thing? Nobody. The last driver who used roof rack in Malaysia was died in 1973. That was a long time ago.

Then, there's a suggestion to take away the car seat, carpet and even spare tire from the car so that the car can be lighter. So, how to seat? What if something happen with your tire? How your car interior will look without a carpet?

So, here is my homemade fuel saving tips:

1. I believed that keep your rev low is the key to save fuel. To keep rev low is to be a smoother driver. I changed to N gear when I found my car can move without power for more than 1KM. In addition, minimizing the use of brake can keep the rev low since u don't have to put more power after braking.

2. Make sure your car is 'aerodynamically good'. Remove your spoiler since your car doesn't need extra grip. Sell that spoiler to friends. Use that money for your fuel budget.

3. Never fill up your tank to full. Fill RM30 at the stations that reward you with some super cars. If u are lucky enough to win those cars, sell them to friends. Again, use the money for your fuel budget.

4. Don't buy Naza Citra.

I practiced these tips everyday and I found it's worked. I got the same kilometres with less fuel and I still have my seat, carpet and spare tire in my car.

(p/s: I m just kidding. Some people think that this blog is too serious. So, this is the funny side of me.haha..)