Another Cardiac Transplant

The Northern Touge family seems to be facing lots of cardiac arrests of late. A multiplicity of members are getting loads of surgery done and worst case scenario members are getting transplants. What of this grim post? I'm actually speaking of the automotive sense and such cases area aplenty as seen here, even our meek Mark is getting a massive build in progress.
Here's a look at the donor whose turbine infused aortal pump now resides in Meek Mark's green monster.

The long time service 4G93 SOHC is now belittled and regardless, now sits in Mark's garden as part of the landscape.

A retrofitted bumper, by Soon, from another donor now provides protection for the intercooler in the form of a this aluminum mesh.

The I/C is well hidden and quite hardly seen from prying eyes. Heck, we might re-paint it in a contrasting black just for kicks!

As gleeful as Mark is of his 4G6X (*hint* Green Monster is still kept legal *hint*) "cuore sustituzione", he'll be leaving for the US soon and this little baby might be left to the ever caring hands of the NT team. Watch out touge kakis, another contender has just been born!

p.s. With all the current automotive excursions and regular upgrades, I guess a little write up on the Silver Banana would be anything but uncalled for. Keep your eyes peeled on this site.

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!!!

Green Monster gets Slammed!

I've been testing Mark's green monster (ori Satria 1.6) recently and sadly, it's always been in the rain or in the wet. Luck was on our side this Sunday evening and I finally had a dry run in the Green Monster.

She's a zippy little bugger around the Batu Feringghi and Vale of Tempe route, nippy handling and very obedient to fast direction changes even though running on 14" Miche-licins :P I loved the mid turn adjustability and it's ability to really tuck into the corner while portraying a slight hint of oversteer!
However Mark, being the greedy little bugger that he is, took upon himself to change to a new set of wheels by Monday afternoon. The Green Monster is now slammed on 17"s and well shod with Nankang's NSII performer all round, he's almost ready for this Sunday's track excursion.
Check back for brakes and suspension tuning.