Freebies from Jaguar Brunei

I received a surprise gift bag from Jaguar Brunei when I reached my office on Monday.  Thanks you so much to Yusra, Customer Relation Manager of Jaguar Brunei!

The gift bag included two very nicely packaged black box.  One contained a iPhone casing and another a cool Jaguar mug.  Its always nice to receive freebies once in a while especially its related to automotive.

Car Spotting In Brunei - German Beasts

#credit to the owner of the photos

#credit to the owner of the rides

Don't think I need to say much about these 2 pictures.  Two beasts had been spotted at Jerudong area this week.  You have here the G-Wagon 4X4 and Audi RS6 resting peacefully in the parking lot!  Thanks again to the anonymous reader for sending these pictures.

Car Spotting In Brunei - Nissan Skyline R34 GT (HR34)

Another sinister R34 spotted!  Thanks again to #Jeeb for sending me these photos that he took for all of us to share!  This is another replica Nismo Z-Tune kit identical to the purple color R34 that was posted earlier.   This model has the RB20DE engine fitted and you can also tell from the brake caliper.  Not sure this is official import or grey import.  Thumbs up for the owner of this ride!

Car Spotting In Brunei - Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8

#credit to the owner of this ride!

This is the very first generation Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 (WK) spotted behind my shop.  I was told this is a wrapped car!  Holy cow I can't even tell this is wrapped, whoever did this has done a very good job!  This car is fitted with 6.1litre V8 that produced 415hp mated with a 5 speed automatic transmission.  This is a very rare car as only 4~5 units were imported to Brunei and one fun fact is His Majesty actually owned the first unit in Brunei! In case you are wondering there are about 40units of WKII like mine running on the street.

Car Spotting In Brunei - Porsche 911 GT3-RS

**Credit to the original photo owner

**Credit to the owner of the ride

OMG! OMG!  Finally someone imported a Porsche 911 GT3-RS (991) into the Sultanate!  I wonder who this belong to as it still has the UK plate attached!  These photos were taken at Jerudong gas station so I think I know who this ride belong to already.  Anyway lucky owner! 

Car Spotting In Brunei - BMW M135i

 

My currently favorite hatchback from BMW!  This is another M135i officially imported from BMW QAF.  A few years ago I posted a white one but it was a grey import.   This blue tone look so delicious!  You can tell the difference from normal 1 series and M135i from the twin pipe exhaust at the back.  Car is fitted with a straight six turbo charged engine that produced 315hp.

 

New Car In Brunei - Mercedes Benz C-Class Coupe C180 AMG Line

Just went and check out this cool coupe from Mercedes Benz in Jati Transport.  This is the latest C-Coupe C180 AMG Line and will only set you BND$72,800 OTR!  The car is quite loaded with options and features.  I was told first shipment is already fully booked and need to wait a few more months for the 2nd Shipment.  If you like me love the shape of the new S-Class Coupe and can't afford it then the C-Class Coupe will do just fine for you.  It is basically a scale down version of the S-Class coupe in term of body design.  The interior is a carry over from the sedan sibling.  What do you guys think?  4 series or C-Coupe?

Nissan Skyline Registry!

Recently I came across a website called "GT-R Registry".  It contains the complete database of Nissan Skyline R34 to be ever manufactured by Nissan.  The registry consist of how many  cars, how many different models, how many colors, what specification for all the R34 Series.  This included the turbo and non-turbo,  coupe and sedans, GT, GT-V, GT-T and GT-R Series. 

I also just found out from the registry that Nissan actually had a special code for Brunei specification.  It is coded as "BR".   There are also other countries such as HongKong, New Zealand and Singapore  that also get their own special code.  These are the countries that official import Nissan Skyline R34 into the country just like T.C.Y Nissan from Brunei.  In case you didn't know Nissan Skyline is a JDM model.  Meaning it is for Japan Market only.  It is not suppose to be exported out of the country, BUT a selected few lucky countries gets an official thumbs up to import it!  This included Brunei! Nope you cannot buy a Nissan Skyline in U.S.A, Europe, China, Russia and others!

Here are some facts for you Nissan Skyline R34 fans!

Total R34 Production from 1998 to 2008 (67261 units)

• BNR34 - GT-R only (11577 units!)
• ER34 - 25GT-T,  25GT,  GT-V (37,339 units)
• ENR34 - 25GT-4, 25GTX-5 (3,408 units)
• HR34 - 20GT (14,937 units)

Here is some interesting fact about my Nissan Skyline ER34 GT-T Series :-
 

 Series 1 : Early Model

 Series 2 : Facelift Model

• There are 15458 units of Nissan Skyline ER34 GT-T Coupe (Series 1)
• There are 2683 units of Nissan Skyline ER34 GT-T Coupe (Series 2)

Interesting facts about my Nissan Skyline ER34 from GT-R Registry

• It is 1 of 892 Lightning Yellow (EV1) ER34 Series
• It is 1 of 4 Lightning Yellow (EV1) Series 1 Nissan Skyline ER34 GT-T Coupe in Brunei
• It s 1 of 6 (series 1) Automatic transmission Nissan Skyline ER34 GT-T Coupe in Brunei

Interesting facts about Nissan Skyline R34 Series Officially Imported In Brunei by T.C.Y Nissan(no longer exist)

• There are 12 units (Series 1) ER34 25GT-T coupe in Brunei
• There are 3 units (Series 1) ER34 25GT-T sedan Brunei
• There are 5 units (Series 1) ER34 25GT sedan Brunei
• There are 14 units (Series 1) HR34 20GT sedan in Brunei
• There are 24 units (Series 2) HR34 20GT sedan in Brunei

Now I couldn't find the Series 2 HR34 Coupe from Brunei.  I personally seen a few HR34 units with the RB20DE in Brunei.  I am wondering maybe those were imported from used car dealer.  Correct me if you guys have any information on that!

Car Spotting In Brunei - Nissan Skyline R34 GT

#credit to the original owner of the ride

#credit to the original owner of the photos

We don't get too much JDM spotting in Brunei nowadsya and Thanks to #Jeeb for sending me this cool JDM he spotted recently.  This is the late 90s Nissan Skyline R34 fully modded with Nismo Z-Tune Kit painted in delicious dark purple.   I can't see any gauge pod on the center console so most likely this is a GT model that is fitted with RB20DE engine(correct me if I am wrong).  Nevertheless a very good build especially the rear arch extension to mimic the real GT-R wheel arch.  The rear spoiler also received an extension leg probably a replica JUN kit.

This replica kit will cost you around BND$3000~BND$4000++ from the last time I chatted with a Malaysian KK Worhkshop.  I almost bought this kit back in late 2015 but they required my car to be driven to KK, Sabah which I declined.  As for the color,  I too almost wanted to spray the whole car purple but not this shade.  I initially wanted a lighter purple with blue metallic flack.  In the last minute decision I decided to just respray the whole car back to yellow again as most of you avid readers read about back in 2013.

New Car In Brunei - Jaguar F-Pace

Finally get the chance to see the latest Jaguar F-Pace up close at TimeSquare last week.  The design line of the car is beautiful to say the least.  Both models that were on displayed were fully loaded with factory options.  This grey color F-Pace R-Sport will set you BND$125K++ and the red color shown on the last pic is the more powerful version "S" AND will burn your wallet for a cool BND$132K++.

Now incase you didn't know(like me) that F-pace pit against competitors like Porsche Macan, BMW X4, Audi Q5 and Mercedes Benz GL.  This make Jaguar F-pace the most expensive model in its range in Brunei.  Porsche Macan will set you around BND$115K with the rest of the German setting around BND$80K++ zone.

Make no mistake the Jaguar F-pace is a beautiful car but I will choose Porsche over Jaguar anytime for that price range. 

Special Deal from BMW QAF

S/R = Showroom Price

If you are looking for a new BMW now is a better time to get one!  Every models have been slashed from their retail price.  The price lists were forwarded to me this morning and I was surprised of the big discounts!  Economy must be really really bad and obviously hurting majority of the SME.  The minimum price slash is BND$15K for the facelifted 1series and all the way to BND$40K for the latest M4.

What puzzle me is why these weren't offer before Hari Raya.  Those who purchased without discount will really be mad looking at this new  price slash lists.  Nevertheless there is no more excuse to not own a BMW now!

The BMW 420i Gran Coupe sure caught my attention. Hopefully next year they offer the same deal again.  LOL

New Car In Brunei - MINI Cooper Clubman S

Yes yes I have previewed the new Clubman S before but this is a new color combo from MINI that caught my interest.  If you look at the roof and side mirror.  Those are first for MINI!  Normally you can select White, Black or Body color for your MINI roof.   This time you have a 4th options which is Silver/Grey! 

When I was playing with the configurator a few months ago this particular car color was my prefer choice.  But I never knew Silver roof looks so well matched.  This example here will set you around BND$72K++.

This interior is Indigo Blue but as you can see the color hue from my Samsung phone doesn't really show its true color.  I really like this new MINI Clubman S!

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