I Sold My Jeep SRT~!

Good afternoon Readers!  About 3 weeks ago I finally sold my JEEP to a buyer.  I posted my JEEP for sale around December last year and finally had it sold after seven months.  Well I will be lying if I say I didn't miss driving that car.  There are several reasons for selling my car.  One of the main reason is I have recently committed to a long term financial commitment late last year before shit really hit Brunei economy.  So after a long discussion with my wife we decided that JEEP has to go for better flow of our budget. Now my daily ride has been reverted back to Dodge Journey.  

So now I am left with my MINI loan which I intend to have it settle by end of 2016.  So by next year I will be free of car loans.   So what does this mean?  PROJECT CAR of course!  Just two weeks ago I almost put down deposit for a used Nissan 370Z.  The price was a bargain and I was a week late before someone snapped it up.  If my JEEP buyer had bought my car a week earlier I am pretty sure the Nissan 370Z will be parked in my drive way.  

Currently I am looking for several USED models that I wished to have owned a few years ago.  Here is a few : Nissan 370z (BND38K++), Audi TT Gen.2 (BND44K++),  Toyota 86/Subaru BR-Z (BND35K++), Hyundai Veloster(BND$17K++) and Nissan Silvia S15 (BND$18K). These models had been relatively affordable in recent years and I can't wait to get one of these soon!

Next things is to start doing small or medium modification for my all my four cars.   I already have several plans lining up and will be posting it here very soon starting September when the parts start pouring in.  Each of my rides now will get some small mods or upgrade so do check back!  I really miss modding my cars, be it big or small mods.  The fun is always there.

Just for your info the JEEP monthly payment was BND$1730!  Now I no longer need to pay these amount I am planning to allocate a budget of $600 for my future additional car(s) in 2017 after I settle with the MINI loan.  We shall see what 2017 hold for me.  Hopefully all will be well!

Oh these brochure were given to me again by my Virginia, my trusty sales rep from MINI.  I always like the MINI brand and I am planning to add another model in the family so probably I might have 6 cars in my garage!  LOL! 

Avid readers will know I collect car brochure from all sort of car brands

Black Beast Mod - BORLA ATAK Exhaust System

Good afternoon readers,  todays post will be about my new mod on my JEEP SRT.  I had been posting about car spotting in Brunei in my past 10 posts. So its about time for a change of topic.

This is my spanking brand new exhaust system for my JEEP SRT!  This exhaust actually landed in Brunei three months ago but due to budget constraint I need to put this on hold first, LOL.  I will probably have this install before the end of 2015 or maybe near 2016 Chinese New Year.  

This is from BORLA, an American company that specialize in exhaust system that cater for their American muscle cars. There are two types of exhaust system set-up for JEEP SRT,  Type-S or ATAK.  The one you looking here is the ATAK system.  I was told it is louder and has a deep V8 growl compared to the S-Type.

There is a video in Youtube that shows the differences of them.  I have linked the video below.  Enjoy the video!

Double Click For Direct Youtube Viewing

SRT Brunei Fourth Meet Up

Another successful SRT Brunei meet-up at The Empire Hotel.  These time 9 cars joined compare to 4 cars a few months ago.  As you can see from the pictures Cherry Red is a popular color among the Jeep SRT.  The crew went for a quick coffee at Bunker after these photos were taken.  Everyone is enjoying and sharing info on our SRT.  We didn't convoy to anywhere but that will be our top list for our next meet.  Till then....

 

Black Beast Mod - "Grand Cherokee" Scuff Plates

Another accessories added to my SRT.  These are scuff plates and the main purpose is to protect the paint and body of the door panel entrance area.  Of course it can also be comestic purposes.  I got the set from a group-buy thru fellow SRT owners.  At first glance the plate looks like aluminium plate but once you take off the protective plastic you can see that it is coded in Black Chrome.  The black chrome is almost the same as my wheels colors.  It has a little bit of chrome and a little bit of glossy  black.  The set came in a set of 4 plates, two for fronts and two for rears.  The front is pressed with "Grand Cherokee" name whereas the rear is empty without any wording. Check it out!

 

Black Beast Mod - SRT Bumper Trailer Hitch Trim Bezel

Just installed the SRT bumper trailer hitch trim bezel for my car!  If you don't know what to look at, it's the "SRT" wording on the lower bumper between the exhaust pipes.  Normally this car can be equipped with trailer hitch that hide nicely behind the SRT bezel.  Export Jeep SRT do not come with trailer hitch so the bezel do not have "SRT" wording (see last picture in this post).  Normally, the standard bezel flush nicely with the upper bumper whereas SRT bezel extend out by a few centimeter to house the trailer hitch.  I bought this online together with a fellow Jeep SRT owner to save cost on shipping.  It is a nice detail part that I think all Jeep SRT should have.

See the differences?

Black Beast Hitting 4.5sec!

Good evening readers!  Just tested 0-100km/hr and hitted 4.5sec on the SRT Performance Page!  As usual this test included using Launch control and disabling of all aids to the car.  This car only has one engine mod which is the INJEN cold air intake that was installed last month coupled with the fresh new tyres from Yokohama Parada Spec-X. My previous records was 4.7sec tested twice on two different occasions. That is 0.2sec improvement over stock car. All tests were done late at night on a straight empty lane with safety in mind.

So technically, my JEEP SRT can smoke my Porsche anytime.  My Skyline maybe able to keep up but I bet it will be beaten by the JEEP V8 on top speed.

This is the Yokohama Parada Spec-X tyre groove. Not sure how it works but it sure is doing its job well.  The only down side for me is the ride has gotten soft. I didn't get as much road feel as compared to my last Pirelli which was pretty stiff and it was very good for tackling Subok apex. In the future I will most probably stick back to Pirelli or try other brand.

New INJEN cold air intake system!  The system actually works very well.  During driving, I can see from the SRT Performance Page that the temperature dropped from average 50~60celsius to 35~40celsius on a hot Brunei weather during noon time.

 

Hopefully I have enough budget for a set of exhaust by first quarter of next year and that would probably be it for my performance mods.  Am still deciding whether to get a set of 22" wheels.....

 

Black Beast Mod - New Shoes

In less then one year of ownership I already used up all my Pirelli Scorpion Zero tyre treads! I only put on less then 20,000km and my Jeep SRT is already asking new shoes.  I chose Yokohama Parada Spec-X this time instead of going back to OEM Pirelli tyres.  These 4 pieces cost me BND$1500.00 compared to BND$700.00 a pop for the Pirelli.  The tyre size chosen is identical to OEM which is 295/45R20 and TyrePro took the privilege to help me installed, aligned and balanced out the wheels.

Black Beast Mod - Installation of INJEN Cold Air Intake

Finally took some courage to have this installed into the JEEP SRT last weekend. INJEN is a American company that specialise in air intake system.  I bought this from an online shop a few months ago and it has been sitting in my storeroom ever since.  It was an easy task that took me about 40minutes to install.  Everything is a straight fit so no big drama. There are a few components that came with the kit (as you can see in the below picture).  There were two types to choose for this kit, a chrome kit or matt black kit.  I chose the black kit because I wanted a stealthy engine bay looks.

Before the installation

Removing the stock air box

Installation of the INJEN plate seperator

Fitting of the air intake system

Gloss black silicone hose with INJEN logo imprinted

A few more adjustment....

....and the installation Completed!

Black Beast Mod - INJEN Cold Air Intake

My very first mod for Jeep SRT!!!  This is a Cold Air Intake or C.A.I for short from INJEN Technology, a company based in Califonia, West Coast. You can see what goodies comes with the big parcel.  This will be a D.I.Y job and probably I will have this installed by mid August.  Will be posting more of it very soon!

Contents

Cold Air Suction Pipe

Bits and pieces

Air filter

Enclosure for cold air

Heat reflective material given by a good friend who also own a 2014 Jeep SRT

Brunei Map Not GPS

Last month I drove down to Miri, Sarawak with my Jeep for a family weekend trip.  As you know, my car does come with a GPS but only problem is it doesn't has a Brunei map content.  Yes is a very funny joke from Jeep/Chrysler Group.  I hope Jeep/Chrysler will have this problem sort out soon, even with the latest software update recently the map of Brunei is still not shown.

As you can see from below,  that is the map of Miri from the Jeep GPS.  How is it our neighbouring city has their own map and we do not!

I can also check on all sort of GPS information as shown below

While on our way back near the Brunei border I took a quick picture of the Jeep GPS. The yellow patch is Brunei and you can see where the Miri map ends.

Jeep/Chrysler group if you are reading this please get the new patch or update to have Brunei map included!!!!

 

Jeep SRT Vehicle Door Safety Lock Protective Striker Cover

 I came across these Jeep SRT door safety lock protective cover when I was browsing in eBay for some of my car model collections.  These is purely a cosmetic product and cost me less then BND$20.00.  They are made of durable plastic and are very simple to fit to the car.  Check out the before and after pictures below!

 BEFORE

AFTER