Spirited revelry

Well, it's half an hour 'till the arrival of 2009 and I'm sitting in my car, stuck in a mile long traffic "catastrophe", and updating my blog through my handphone.

Everyone is stuck without motorized access to most places of interest (POI) due to the extremely "spirited" revelry of party-goers high on the Christmas mood. I guess the first time the authorities chanced upon us for some controlled fun and automotive access to the POIs... We'd just gone out and spoilt it.

One bad apple spoils the bunch erh? But heck, I'd rather be stuck in jam as compared to drunken teens using my roof as a trampoline!
I just finished a short albeit lonely touge session and am going to retire to the comfort of my spongy bed soon. Catch y'all next time... Ciaoz...

Wide throated White Wave

It has been a fantastic week, although work was just dreadful, but wonderfully eventful and nostalgic one.

Recently I just had a touge session with Billy in his Iswara. Being a carbureted version, the revs were light and peaky. A point of note for this particular Iswara, is that it’s running on the Weber DCNF scavenged from yours truly’s initial exploits into the automotive world. I told you it had been a nostalgic week right? My mint DCNF residing in his clean bay. Proud of your advancements bro. Cheers!

Billy had just revised his front suspension and DIY'd a custom built strut bar, and wanted to further test out his dampers before proceeding to revise his rear damping so I, the ever willing driver, is always the perfect accomplice!

See the "ponna" thick bar? It has padding on it to ensure minimal knocking of my DCNF. Webers are a gem in this high pressure fuel injected world.
We headed up to the Teluk Bahang “test route” and lo and behold, the frontal grip was amazing even if only running on 15” A520 street tires (an old series before the Neova era). The rear was still rolling in the bends and squatting on acceleration but that has never stopped me from having fun en route.

Billy did me proud, he polished the cover 'till it shone!

Billy experienced a controlled manner of FWD oversteer with the front end biting with the rear slipping, and just treading its wider slip angle. We were having so much fun sliding the “White Wave” (white is the car’s color and wave is cause its rear handles like one.. Hah!) throughout Teluk Bahang and Batu Feringghi.

We ended the evening with birdwatching at Gurney drive’s Mc Donald’s, a Coke and a smoke for the perfect snappy evening! Thanks Billy for the pleasure of driving your “White Wave”~! Catch you again soon.

An old friend re-visited

My pal Hao gave me a call recently and he'd want to meet up for drinks and some automotive banter. So we decided to meet up at my fav accesories shop, Smart Tint, since I was getting my sub installed (A guy's gotta enjoy his every automotive experience right? Check back for updates).

Minutes into the install and Hao showed up in his pristine condition KE70. The reason I say his car is pristine is that each and every panel was welded, repaired and fully painted inside and out, he even replaced all 6 glass panels including the side mirrors. The interesting thing about his car is that its engine and drivetrain, as well as the baffled petrol tank was scavenged (ironically) from my TE (nicknamed Pooh)!

A short drink later and some chit-chat warranted a drive and where else than to take it to my fav test route. It handled beautifully and there were slight clunks and clatters everywhere but that's what old school rides are meant to feel like right? I enjoyed it thoroughly as most parts were scavenged from Pooh, this rebuilt KE handled almost exactly the same albeit with a slightly snappier tail.

Pristine condition 20-Valve Silver Top 4A-GE from the Pooh (TE). The entire engine had been rebuilt with all belts changed out and modified to fit into the RWD platform. I missed its roar for the longest time.

Monster Auto Meter tacho for keeping shifts spot on. Believe me, without that cap, the shift light is blinding... Fantastic effect, even during day time drives.

It's been months since I last drove a RWD and the experience was a nostalgic and emotional one. I miss my TE badly. Anyone wanna venture a build? *evil grin*

Thank so much for the drive, Hao, and hope to see you on the touge again soon.

Spotted.. ScAv in front of the TV all weekend!

Mark went for his company's annual dinner the past week as the organizer and won himself an Ipod nano (no conspiracies there, it was a legit draw). So during the weekend, I got a run through of what the Nano could do. It so happened the only thing loaded was an episode of this funny series I'd never thought I'd ever come to watch. I just can't believe, I'm now stuck on a series... What more, the series is titled, Gossip Girls! (Damn you Mark, damn you to hell!!!)

The characters (L-R): Blair, Nate, Serena, Dan, Chuck and Jennie. (I know... I can name them all... Damnit!)

And I am uncannily stuck on this... Like "ponna" (very in Tamil) addicted kinda stuck!

But it's all in the plot... Thus far, I've seen vengeance (the main driver of the charachters it seems), deceit, love, sacrifice, and all manners of occurences. But somehow, as the show progresses, you feel that there are just too many coincidences that happen and that Manhattan is a really small city :P

The story goes plain, dry, tasteless, and predictable somehow... Then somehow, you gotta hand it to the directors, it catches you when you least expect it and you're once again intrigued.

I for one totally enjoyed to watch how the rich spend their time idling, plotting, ascertan and (hardly) abstain. All that and still manage to be tracherous while still holding a smile to your face.

I gotta get home soon to start watching it again... Muahaha... And Mark's downloading Season 2 for me. What to do, economic downturn ma... Cannot go out to spend money, so stay home and watch soppie series lor...

Psst... Here's another reason why Gossip Girls have got my undying attention over the weekend.

Serena (the main protagonist), the former "IT" girl turned goody-two-shoes... With a flair! Blake Lively is simply perfect for this role, kudos to the casting director, and portrays all the emotions spot on.

I have to admit, she does sympathetic, sad and excited expressions VERY well...

What would the queen bees be up to next?

XOXO

Downturn and not looking up yet!

I'm going to run the risk of sounding like an economist in this post... But heck, I just gotta say it. The economic downturn is hurting everyone's wallets. The "big brother" countries have been hit REALLY hard and when the big multi-nationals there start saving cost, all the smaller manufacturers will be hit big time. Every company is having a cost reduction fever from cutting leisure costs (claims, entertainment, etc..), utilities costs and the nightmare-ish manpower costs.

Penang is in a state of suffocation. Where consumers are saving up in light of the current situation whilst manufacturers dare not hold stock in fear of a huge inventory that cannot turn-over with consumer demands being at an all time low.

Heck! Even the touge sessions have decreased as everyone is saving up for the financial drought projected to be arriving soon.

BUT~!!! Tonight will be when the Northern Touge members, along with a sponsor of ours, will just throw caution to the wind and let our tighly buckled belts loose for a night out in the hills full of adrenaline pumping, and tire screeching action!!!

See you guys there, and bring your game... Hahaha! I'm just lovin' this.

p.s. I had to salvage this post somehow right? :P

True blue pal

Soon and I were just wandering around town last night, just checking out the night life since it's been some time since any of us had been partying. We were going along the UPR (Upper Penang Road) stretch when Mark called up and asked if we wanted to meet up. As "busy" as Soon and I were, we hurriedly agreed and sped off to the Caltex station meeting point.

Mark soon arrived with Daniel in tow, and a bright set of HIDs were following suit... Whom other than our true blue touge kaki from KL, Shazwan was in town! We were chatting away to the sounds of Kardinal Offishall and having a few drinks from the store.

What does a touge-head do when in Penang? You'd have to check out the routes here of course! Daniel had already brought Shazwan and Mark up to the dam and back, but they'd left out one route so I could have a little fun to quench my "thirst". Without further ado, we filled up, warmed up and got to driving :) It was a fairly fast paced lap around Vale of Tempe, after which Shazwan got a call and we had to head back to meet up with his better half.

We were turning of to Gurney when Shazwan called and his DC5 got stuck on a low curb. Being an out-of-towner, he didn't know of the low, sloping extension in front of the traffic lights and went over it with his front wheels with his ass still hanging in the air. Soon and I lifted the rear as Daniel slowly released the clutch to unhinge the DC5's butt.

Shazwan was feeling a little down and out but luckily nothing major had occured and we all left for home happily ever after :)

The Silver Banana hasn't been to touge in quite a while. Tonight was a real refresher course!

*psst* We met a very "enthusiastic" Smart For Two on the way back. He drove like an ass, we had our fun and laughed our asses off! (Sorry no pics, I told you we were laughing our asses off!)

Chatting at the roadside is just... Old skewl! I likes...

Petrol price slash!

Soon and I were just out wandering the streets last night and coincidentally met up with Raymond (Golf GTi) and Calvin (Celica but was driving his GSR) near town.

Calvin's Celica started smoking around the bonnet area, with him in it looking rather cool, so we pulled into an Esso station to check things out. Calvin revealed that his radiator pipe had just cracked so water was splashing on his super hot FI block. Phew!

We filled up the radiator and reserve tank with pipe water just to get back when the Shell next door totaly shut down all its pumps and lights, but as far as we know it was a 24hr pump. Being the curious cats that we were, we went over once the lights came back on to see what had happened. The price of fuel had went down to RM1.80 for Regular and just slightly above RM2 for V-Power.

But the amazing thing was that Esso was still selling at RM1.90 up till around 1am. Haiz... The coy industrialist in us all....

p.s. Calvin got home safely and is installing Samco's today :)

DSC Time Attack Super Battle

One for all, and all for one... Let's take to the tracks one by one. *my rhyming's just lame right?*

Well, that's what participants will be doing at the 29th Dec Time Attack!



Further info can be found on http://tougeking.blogspot.com/2008/12/dec-29th-2008-time-attack-super-battle.html

I'm just a bloody righteous samaritan today :P
All the best in the event dude!

Racing Drift 2008!

Be entertained this 18th December:
Further info can be found on http://tougeking.blogspot.com/

Here's helping a friend out. Cheers mate, and good luck with the event.

NT Race Day results!

Hi readers, as promised, here are the NT Race Day results as promised.

Result Table:

1.6 litre Class:
Champ – Calven Goh – Toyota Vios
1st Runner Up – Goh Eng Peng – Toyota Vios
2nd Runner Up – Gerald Gomez – Perodua Kelisa

1.8 litre Class:
Champion – Lee Chin Hooi – Honda Civic EF
1st Runner Up – Suhimi – Proton Wira
2nd Runner Up – Patrick Tam – Honda Civic EK

Open Class:
Champion – Patrick Tam – Honda Civic EK
1st Runner Up – Nick Chin – Honda Civic EK
2nd Runner Up – Edwin Koh – Honda Civic EG

To get updates on the Northern Touge activities, they can be contacted at the following sites:
http://northerntouge.com
http://northerntouge.blogspot.com
http://snappyscav.blogspot.com

Snappy ScAv visits Hypertune track day

A couple of the Northern Touge crew were at Northern Garage chatting away and just having a jolly good time whilst Loy hooks the Green Monster up with a short shifter. As we were just about done, I got a call from one of Hypertune's journalists, as one thing led to another, I ended hooking them up with a day at Dato' Sagor Circuit in Kg. Gajah, one of Malaysian motoring's best kept secrets (sorry Mark, I couldn't resist), and got an invite to Hypertune's event.

Since we were still smoothing out the edges on the Green Monster's handling, I thought I'd take it down for some high speed tests with some cheap rubber on all 4's (so there's similar grip and behaviour) just to get a feel of its natural handling.

As the day dawned upon us, we had mild alignment settings and tire pressures set on for testing purposes just a day ahead. Next morning, Mark (owner), Daniel and I, hopped into the green monster (Daniel sat at the back :P) and headed down to the Dato' Sagor Track for day of fun in the sun.

We arrived bright and early with only the caretaker there to greet us, informing us of the wet conditions and telling us how the track was a lake the weekend before. There were a few big puddles and some wet spots but nothing to dampen our spirits!

Shazwan (a member from KL) then showed up in his beautiful blue DC5 which I got into ASAP, what are the odds I get to again right? We went round the track and after some laps, I gave him a few comments to clean up a couple of his lines whilst we wait for the rest to arrive.They literally brought the thunder upon arrival. I mean, just look at the rides present.. R34, Evo, Scoobies - 2 of the 3 HT projects in fact!

Bug-eye prancing on track in its new dress and lower hemline (never thought I'd be happy with a statement like that!)

And Hawkeye in all its decal-ed glory! Sadly, after much refinement (and I finally got to compare notes), Subaru had worked out almost all of the boxer's signature rumble :(

The entire party was under the tents for a shaded tire change and impromptu "weight lightening".

Kuman's, whom is a fighter jet pilot and uses his tactical helmet (which costs RM80,000) for track purposes, superb GTi (whom was featured in October's issue of HT).

It's carbon fibre... Seriously... But don't keep your hopes up 'tho. It's only military issue :P
The NT members that was present that day (L-R): Scav, Alia (Shaz' better half), Shazwan (DC5), Daniel (NT publicist). And of course Mark whom was cameraman for the day. Thanks bro.

It was a fairly cloudy day at the Dato Sagor Circuit. All of us escaped without sunburns :)

Pristine CTR (FD2R) brought by Tang of Cosmic Elite whom brings in Q8, Torco and Lube Gard.

Kecil buli besar???

The Hypertune crew doing their thing on track!

I was just having too much fun testing out the Green Monster and let me tell ya, 220hp on a well sorted chassis is just impossible to outrun on a daily driver. But trying to do so... Priceless! :D

You guys might recognize Mark's, not of the Green Monster's, ride from a previous feature in the mag. The white dolphin emerges!

Murali's V.9 looks awesome under the shade of the evening sky!

But heck, anything goes with us. Even this super stock Focus...
And a shy little Myvi hiding it's absorbers from plain sight.

Hands down to the hardest trier of the day. This dude was trying to flick, of Scandinavian origin, his Evo into a sliding blaze of glory all day, only to find that the hardcore drivetrain and Mitsu's electronic wizardry are just impossible to overcome!

Everyone left for home, tired, battered, worn, exhausted and every other variation of the word, but deep down... The little petrolhead, every synapse and every bated breath sounded of Benny Benassi's most renowned song... S-A-T-I-S-F-A-C-T-I-O-N!!!

Life thus far!

Life had been super busy, work was just piling up and just a load of stuff had been happening, especially after the event. Loads of follow ups and multiple discussions had to be had, post mortems and future improvements are underway.

Luckily, there was a long weekend that had just past and I had much time to catch up on all I'd lost out on. Friends that I'd not seen in ages and my Family... Which I'd ignored. And there's nothing more important than family!

Well, I did forget to post up the results table and am very sorry to all the champs. It'll be posted online soon.