The Day I Test Drove A Toyota FT86

Yesterday I have the privelge to drive one of the most talked about JDM in recent years, the Toyota FT86.  The car belongs to a good friend of mine who recently dropped by my store for shopping.  I asked for the key and drove around Kiulap area for a quick drive. This one here is equipped with a 6speed manual transimsion and is fitted with TRD Performance AeroKit!  The car is still new so is totally bone stock.

I sat snuggly in the bucket seat and surprisingly the car sat quite low to the ground.  The only car that gave me this feeling is my Boxster S.  I know Toyota and Subaru are trying to create a very lower centre of gravity sportcar but didn't expect them to be so close to supercar level.  I engaged the gear and released the clutch.  Bam! I stalled the car. LOL!   I must admit the clutch is too "soft" or "light" depend on how you describe it.  Both my Skyline and Boxster had medium clutch set-up, so it is quite hard when depressing.

When I drove out of the street, I nailed the throttle immediately but was disappointed of the lack of power coming out from the 2.0 Boxer engine!  I can assured my MINI Countryman S is quicker then the FT86!  Seriously Toyota/Subaru need to fit a turbo-charge inside the engine.  I know the handling is on par with many high end sports car but seriously lacking engine performance really spoil the fun of driving.

The next part I want to complaint is that damn ugly CD Player original factory fitted.  Seriously who still uses this type of In-Car entertainment?  Come on Toyota, at least a Touch screen!

For a BND$50K car no wonder many people are going for for VW Golf Gti, Mercedes A-Class or a BMW MINI that are equipped with better engine performance and equally or better handling!

New Shoes For Dodge Journey R/T

My Dodge Journey is more than one years old and is in needed of new shoes badly.  I had been waiting for Kumho to restock but had no luck.  So desperate that I have to choose a Chinese Tyre for this car.  The brand is called ANTARES.  The tyre model is called Sierra S6.  I had never heard of them and goggling them didnt yell too much info either.  I was a bit reluctant to go for it but the current tires are just too bold to be deem road worthy.  This Chinese tyre only cost $180.00 each for 19"!  The Kumho is about $280 range.  Again I visited AutoPro Tyre in Gadong again for Dodge Journey tyres change.

After the wheel alignment and balancing of all 4 wheels,  I took the car out for a spin and was surprised with the comfort and quietness from these tyre!

225/55 R19 tyre size.  A very rare size, I was told only Dodge Journey and Audi Q7 uses them

Nothing fancy on the tyre tread.  Lets hope it will last a year or two.

One of the really bold tyres!

Cannot resist taking this picture outside my house while people are repairing the roads

MOPAR Accessories from Factory

I found these wheel flares behind the boot on the first day I collected my car.  These are extended wheel flares and for what purpose I have no idea.  Not sure these are for cosmetic or functional use.  Anyway, I finally took some times to have these fitted by myself.  It took less then 10minutes as these are clip on parts.

Before (Front)

After (Front)

 Rear (After)

Better to have it on the car then leave it lying in the storeroom

And I also found these inside the spare tyre section!  These are MOPAR Sport pedals,  at first I thought these wasn't standard in Export Model SRT and almost want to purchase it online.  Last week while I was checking the spare tyres and tools, I then came across this little box.  Little do I know that goodies were lurking inside!  

It was really a pain in the ass to had it installed especially the brake pedal!  Anyhow I got the job done and its looking good, my right foot feels good too!

Communicating with SRT Team!

A few weeks ago I was told that SRT Team will be holding a one-on-one Q&A with owners and fans for SRT products in Facebook from around the world.  Immediately I  wasted no time and pop all the questions that I want answers to.  The above screenshot is what I asked and the one below is what they replied. 

As you can see they only managed to answer Q1 and ignored Q2 & Q3.  Now I know why our lighting system is different from domestic model.  We shall see whether they will update on GPS map and the mist for my headlamps in the near future.

JEEP Announced Recall for Grand Cherokee

Here we go, I guess my Jeep SRT is not the only one that has issues.  Finally Chrysler JEEP found out the problems and announced a recall for 92,000 units of JEEP Grand Cherokee built between Jan 13 till August 13!  My SRT is built in the month of April and I called up GHK workshop and was told to bring my car in for recall and update on the the system.  

Phew~ Will send the car in when the first services is due!  Now I am a bit at ease knowing the problem will be rectified.

Jaguar F-Type is here in Brunei!

Today I took my family to Indera Motor showroom in Berakas to check out their Jaguar and Range-Rover range.  A question pop into my head when I was in the showroom.  "Do you have the F-Type?" I asked because there wasn't any in the showroom.  And the salesman, Saiful replied "Yes we do!"  I was surprised and Mr.Saiful show us around the back of the showroom and two very beautiful F-type greeted us!

The white color shown here is F-Type V6 "S" and the black one is F-Type V8 "S".  V6 "S" model is supercharged with 380hp and the R model is V8 "S" is pure muscle from UK pumping out 495hp!  Price is not confirm yet but I was told for V6 "S" prices will be around BND190k and BND250k for the V8 model.  There is also a base model called the F-Type V6 which they will be bringing in too in the future.

This Jaguar F-Type is by far one of the most beautiful sports car I have ever seen!  It has such a perfect shape!  Would really like one in my garage. LOL! Can't wait for the coupe version to come to Brunei soon!

 

Frustration with JEEP Quality Control!

Hi readers,  just want to vent some frustrations out of my head.  My Jeep SRT has been with me for more than 2 month and we had racked up about 4300km so far.  I am very happy with my Jeep SRT especially the roaring V8 HEMI.   But as you know not everything is perfect in life and a car having minor issue is one of those  moment that you have to live with it.

The first day when I took possession of my car, there was already an issue coming from the front headlamps.  Apparently there was some mist inside both headlamps.  Can you believe I picked my JEEP from the showroom and drove straight to the workshop to have the car checked by the JEEP service adviser.  Talk about an exciting day to collect my new ride.  The service adviser told this is very common for all the new Chrysler and Jeep that is fitted with the new DRL.  A report had been filed and hopefully Jeep will response and had it replaced under warranty.

Secondly is the air-con function from the UConnect system. I have problem turning it on twice!  It was only a small glitch where by restarting the engine solved the problems.  Still, it is an annoying experience.

Thirdly, the GPS from the UConnect system is missing our Brunei Map!  I had checked other countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and even Australia! There are all in the UConnect system!

Lastly,  our DRL system is totally different from the brochure!  Check the above pic and the pic below.  The pic below is the American domestic model, as you can see all lights including the Bi-Xenon, spotlights, DRL and LED are activated when switched on.  Mine is consider an Export model and has a different system compare to the American domestic model. When activating the lights during night time, the system will de-activated the DRL! Only the LED, spotlights and Bi-Xenon will be activated!  Once you switch off the lights, the DRL will be activated!  Not a big deal to me but felt cheated by the brochure....LOL

2015 Ford Mustang Finally Revealed!

OMG! The 2015  FORD MUSTANG is finally out in the wild!!!  I had been following this story for almost 2 years and I am so excited!  In case you haven't heard, this is the Ford first WORLD Mustang!  Meaning for the first time in Mustang 50 years history, it will be available in right hand drive. Finally we can have the very first pony car that started the American pony war! This new version will be available in turbo-charged 4 cyclinders, V6 and the almighty V8.

I am a not a big fan of Ford but still heart for some of their cars such as Ford GT, Mustang, Raptor and others.  Hopefully our local Ford agent will bring this beauty to Brunei!

If this car ever reach Brunei and I got the means to get one, this color below will be it!

Future Project for JEEP SRT ?

I screenshot these pictures from Instagram.  Looks hot doesn't it?  I really like the bodykits on the red SRT.  I never realise orange SRT also looks so wicked!  Maybe I should go and wrap my car......

...and also someone went one step further! LOL!

Product Review - RAIN-X Wipers!

 Just bought these sets for my Nissan and Porsche.  I was planning to get the PIAA wiper but decided to give RAIN-X a try.  This cost me BND$12.50each from any HuaHo Department.  I bought two 21" for Porsche front windscreen and one 18" for Nissan rear screen.  

These wipers were easy to fit and took me less then 1minute per wiper.  After the installation,  I did a test run on all wipers and works just fine.  Now we will see how long these wipers will last.  I had PIAA wipers installed on the front windscreen of my Nissan ER34 and it lasted more then 8 years! 

The rear wiper I just replaced is actually the original wiper from Nissan factory when I first got that car.  LOL and that was exactly 13years ago and it was never needed to be replace till now.

The Display that Caught my attention!

When a car caught your attention, you cannot stop thinking about it.  You will go online or showroom and research as much as you can.  This particular Jeep Grand Cherokee 2012 on displayed at HuaHo Manggis Mall back in June was the one that caught my attention. While my wife was shopping at a pharmacy, I was wondering around nearby shops and noticed a car on display just outside the Mall.  I walked toward it and noticed it was a Grand Cherokee.  At first glance, it wasn't love at first sight nevertheless I asked my wife to check it out when she was done with her shopping.  She agreed it was a very nice SUV.   On the same day, I went home and do a quick research about the Jeep Grand Cherokee online.  This is when I came across the new facelift Jeep SRT 2014 edition.  The more I read the more my interest for this car grew.  The next day I called up my salesman who I bought my Dodge Journey from and asked about the price.  And this is how I ended up buying the JEEP SRT!

MINI Saved by Run-Flat Tires!

Last week, my wife had a flat on her Countryman's.  Thank god the car original tires are fitted with run-flat tires.  So instead of me going over to her workplace for wheel change, I had her drove back the car from work.  The car even instruct the driver to drive cautiously and no more then 80km/hr.  Once I got the car and checked the condition, I found out the front left tire had worn from the inside and created a big hole hence the puncture.   The following day I drove to one of my favorite tire shop and had two very worn tires changed!  The new tires doesn't have run-flat though. Why? Because are damn expensive to replace!

SRT Jeep Leather Key Fob

Woot!  Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT first accessory!  Well it just a puny leather key fob that has carbon fibre looks on the outer layer.  Got this for less then $20 bucks including shipping from eBay.  Quality is top notch and fits like a glove!

Mercedes Benz 350SL

I was at Jati Transport last week with my friend.  He has to drop his car off for part replacement.  This beauty caught my eye when I was strolling in the showroom.   This is the latest SL from Mercedes-Benz and this here is the SL350(lowest engine spec).  Those of you who has deeper pocket can go for the SL500 or SL600.  For those who has even deeper pocket can go for the AMG SL63!  This particular model shown here cost $206,000 showroom price!  For this price the car does come loaded with features and options.   I was kinda disappointed with the interior space though.

Re-Fresh ER34 - NPC 10" Organic Clutch Installed!

Another update on ER34 Re-Fresh!  Just sent my car yesterday to Camden new workshop located behind Gadong Shell Station to have the NPC Clutch replaced.  Remember the NPC clutch I bought back in May?  Yeap, yesterday I finally had the chance to send the car to the workshop thanks to Wong Workshop who took his sweet time to finishe my ER34.

The installation cost me $180 bucks and I also gave the ER34 a full general engine services.  After that I sent the car to air-con specialist to have the air-con pump checked.  Hopefully will get the car back by Tuesday next week so I can try the test the NPC Organic clutch!

The price $180 consists of 3 mechanic dropping down the gearbox and replacing the organic clutch

Lead mechanic Ah Fong(far right)

JEEP SRT checking out on ER34