The Fondest First Ride

Was so surprised to see my previous blue vios been sold off on the same day it has been posted on SG Carmart! That means to say that I may be seeing my previous beloved car on the Singapore road real soon... if the new owner didnt do much cosmetic changes to it!

Tell-tale sign of it being my first beloved ride include the black 'fake' airscoop on the front bonnet, the 东北 decal and the Subaru WRX spoiler on the rear boot, the black Top Fuel gearknob and the worn-out blue Razo pedals!

May be new owner takes real good care of the car and give the vehicle a whole new lease of life it well-deserved! I am not particularly proud to say I took good care of the car during its 4 years with me, but it has brought me to places I would never have dreamt of treading without the car. Trips to Pasir Gudang Circuit, Plentong go-karting track and MIMC in Melaka mark some of the fondest memories I could ever recalled! Certain goodies are still onboard for the new owner to enjoy, namely the Phoenix Gold speakers, lightened crank pulley and a WRX fuel pump nestled in the petrol filter.

Well till then on the roads and may you experience a better 'life' in the hands of a more loving owner!

Dorifto Sparks!

Well this is possibly the last drift event that taking place in Singapore for this decade, and will be marked as one of the milestones in Singapore's short drift history. The drift scene has seen tremendous improvements, both in terms of quality and participation, ever since its first official inception in 2007. Events such as the Formula Drift, D-Experience and such has brought many of us into contact with this form of extreme sports, and till then it has never failed to impress the even the mere spectators of the sports.

Organised by Sparks Motorsports and supported by Goodyear Racing and DriftPac, this weekend's clinic is catered specially for those amateurs of drifting who has been constantly let down by the lack of practice space and drift activities here in Singapore! With this in mind, Sparks Motorsports, the motorsports arm of ComfortDelgro Engineering, has organized a clinic that's dedicated to provide drift enthusiasts with an affordable and accessible platform and space to drift. With experienced trainers such as Japan's Ryuji Miki, Singaporean Ivan Lim and Charles Ng offering the participants valuable insights and professional advice on ways to better their techniques, the standard of our local drifters is set to be on the rise!

Drifters aside, today's event also brought forth two rare rides in the form of the Supras, possibly Toyota's best performance vehicles ever. Powered by Toyota's legendary JZ engine, the two cars offered some variations in the usual sea of Nissans today. It is rumoured that the Chilli Red Supra belonged previously to the famed Supra owned and driven by Orido of Japan! I have yet to ascertained this though!

Joyrides in both Ryuji'S and Ivan's S15s proved to be one heck of an experience for myself! The drift standards displayed during their runs, from the insane entry speeds to the early initiations and counter-maneuvers, clearly separated them from the rest of the field. And I could very much hypothesized that they are only showcasing their tip-of-the-iceberg skills for they clearly seemed very relaxed through the session of giving joyrides to the Media and members of the public! You would definitely want to witness their full prowess in a competition settings!

Formula Drift Malaysia will be held on the coming weekend in our neighbouring Malaysia in KL, Merdeka Square. Be sure to head down to witness this thrilling drift displays by many of the big-names drivers in the region! An event you willl surely not want to miss....

Here's some photos captured during the event today with a very humble digi cam! Stay tuned for the more pro photos soon !

The Definition of a Project Car

Having just recently acquired one of the cleanest looking 'stock' Vios in Singapore, I have finally come to fully understand the idea of a "Project Car". This article is thus written in tribute of this particularly innocent-looking and well-polished black Vios. At the same time I would too like to compliment the efforts of the previous owner, my good friend FO, in taking real good care of the car and transforming it to one of the most balanced and performance-oriented Vios in Singapore.
For those who have taken courses on project management previously, you would possibly define a project as a systematic approach to attain a finalized goal/aim.

Any project would have a well-defined timeline with milestones as indications of performance measurements. Well in the case of this black Vios ( I will name it the BlackBird, after the Wangan Midnight Porsche 964 Turbo), the owner has gone through various stages of implementations and trials before finally arriving at the perfect recipe for this performance-oriented sedan. With a slew of rare parts, including Speed D 4.3 Final Drive, Jun Lightened Flywheel, RS*R Best*i Suspension (6kg Front, 4kg Rear), Prodrive GC10 rims, HKS Racing Suction Reloaded Kit for Vios, and HKS Silent Hi-Power exhaust muffler and genuine TRD parts, this is one Vios that you would not want to mess with on the road! FO strongly believes in the quality standard of parts from big JDM tuning houses including HKS and Jun. This philosophy of branded tuning is translated to this ride. If you were to ask me I would say that this is one successful project that's was undertaken and has yielded a real delightful end-results from a dedicated motorsports enthusiast.

So you could imagine my joy and excitement on finally owning this piece of gem! Road handling is surprising neutral and void of body roll (as compared to my previous Vios that's running on just lowered springs); the tuned engine is responsive and climbs to the redline with much ease (the effect of the lightened flywheel I guess); the car pulls strongly with increased torque figures thanks to the installation of the final drive; last but not least the engine note and the exhaust output from the HKS pipe really differentiate the BlackBird from a stock Vios anytime.

With the car now in my care, further projects (depending on my budget constraints of course) will be on hand to spice up the car further! Well for now I will continue to enjoy the feel of this new ride!

Will be uploading some pictures real soon! Stay tune......