V6 cannot start

Yesterday after work, my V6 cant start. Turned the ignition and not even a sound came up. Then, alarm went cranky! So, I thought it was my old battery which finally went dead. Luckily, I have a brand new Bosch maintainence free batt which I bought from my bro. So, installed the new batt while office people were passing by. :( Ironically, I still cant start with the new batt. So, after calling Kev's mech and troubleshooting thru the phone I managed to get it started. Could be the alarm system needs to be reset... not too sure what happened there. Well, so far so good now...

Thinking of buying a new car to replace the 4-yr old V6. Would really really love to own the Impreza WRX, most prob not a STi cos I simply cant afford it. Th3 BMW E46 is another option. Tough contenders... Also, Kevin has a good deal on the E36 M3. That I can afford but have to think about the maintainance. Anyway, most prob will forego the E36 as it may have conflict interest with my bro since he is dying to own that piece of ultimate driving machine. Only thing which stands in his way is financial backing...

Nagoya Motor Show 2007

On my last biz trip to Japan, I took additional one day off to drop by the Nagoya 2007 Motor Show. It was a rare chance and by luck that the show coincide with my travelling dates. This motor show is the smaller version of the Tokyo Motor show.

I was contemplating whether to attend the motor show since I have to settle my accomodation in Japan which is expensive. Well, the main reason I went to the show is because the new GTR was just launched recently and I could not miss this chance! So below are some of the pics of the Beast itself...



nice cross-section view of the car. Looks like camera trick eh?


The drivetrain. Check out the CF prop shaft! There are 2 shafts there - the CF is the main drive shaft while the other one drives the front wheels if necessary.


so damn close to the GTR but yet so far! Some lucky guys were able to get into the cockpit and I think its by special invitation.




Impreza ver10 WRX rally car. I am just going to show the front. For the rear, you can have a look at the Harrier. I was disappointed with the whole Ver10 design from the hatch back design to the rear lights. But then, Imprezas is not about beauty, it is whats underneath the hood and its performance. Anyhow, I am still eyeing on the Ver8 and 9.


Suzuki Hayabusa. Bad ass bike...


Audi really scored big time with their new LED light design. Like the simple yet aggresive front spoilers with the huge ducts. Perhaps they figured out its time to mount some challenge to BMW's infamous angel eyes.


I wonder why there is no S2000 is Msia. All I see nowadays are RX8s on the roads. Amazing roadster. Wish this could be my project car.


Supra replacement model. I think its called LH-S. Very futuristic and edgy design - not sure whether the real car will incorporate this or not. I foresee it will give the GTR a challenge.


One of the best wheel design I have seen. Very nice spokes and there are CF all over the wheel. Nice! It may help if the calipers and rotors are much larger.

TheSPfiles

I was introduced by a buddy of mine YW to this blog - theSPfiles.blogspot.com. It was a blog to capture all the mods by this local Penang guy, Andrew Saw on his Putra (he has sold off his Putra). I was reading thru his archive postings and was completely blown away by his level of mods. The effort, time, money and 'detail-ness' was top notch! He took into account the technical aspects of most of his mods and unlike some ppl who just dump in a massive turbocharger without considering the optimization portion of the mod.

So far, I was really impressed with his carbon fiber hood. It was a DIY project and only succeeded on the 3rd time which met his expectation.

Need to continue to keep reading~~~

VXR 3600 LiPo

I jumped into the LiPo bandwagon after tired of maintaining NiMh packs. So after much research on LiPo, I got the VXR 3600mAh rated at 20C. Its a pretty good deal and thin (15mm) so it can fit into my T2R without any modification. Currently, I have modified the VXR pack to fit into the Mini. T2R is using the MaxAmps 5000 *grin*


The VXR pack has decent power maybe due to the 3600mAh which lacks more amp output. About the 20C rating - not too sure how true is that. Read a lot forums saying that the C rating is more of a marketing gimmick and there is no actual standardize method to test or rate it.


So far, the VXR pack held up pretty good and quite balance thus, I only balance it once in a while. It is really light about 170g. I have shown some mods to the pack to fit int the Mini and also added about 120g. The Mini has better balance and traction rolling was reduced. Well slightly reduced due to the fact that I am using 26mm (1/10) Sorex tires and also my driving is not smooth.

Here are some mods I did to the pack to fit into the Mini...

Added 120g of weights to the top and bottom of the pack. I was very lucky to get steel weights and there are thin ones from the tire shop. Usually weights are made of lead. After adding the weights and foam tape, I shrink wrap it.



The double-sided foam tape fills in the gap between the edges of the pack and the rounded battery slot of the Mini. Also, absorb some impact since the Mini undergoes heavy impact. :-) The modded pack fits like a glove! Hehe... happy with the end result!


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Black Swift

Some pics of my Tamiya Mini M03-M Swift. Again, it is very very beaten up now due to accidents and countless traction rolling... :( :(

One of the reason I got hooked to RC...

is because of this video by Singaporean drifters. Saw it few years ago and it I was amazed with their drifting skills + the whole choreography of the video.

checkout soundtrack too!

Tamiya TT01-D Silvia

Here are some of the pics of the Silvia... wayyyy back before I thrashed this car with my amateur control skillz :)

Setting the TT01

Set the TT01 to have larger downstop now to have smaller droop. Even with the high downstop, the droop is still a lot. Also, the ride height was lowered by 1mm. Will see how it goes this Thurs night when I try the new settings.

I was quite happy on the previous setting. Significant difference was felt afetr adjusting the droop, height and spring settings. No more oversteering in the mid corners! However, need more improvement. Silvia still understeers in tight corners and in S- turns.

2 more days for RC drifting!!!

Obsession...

Always wanted radio control or RC cars since I was young. Thus, when I had the chance to go Japan, I got my 1st RC kit - a Tamiya TT01-D Silvia for drifting! I love S15 Silvias!!

Its been almost a yr now and tonnes of money spent but its damn satisfying! I love cars but cant afford to buy and fully mod a real car. Also, how fast can a modded car go in Msia roads??? As for RC, I have tune different settings and use different parts to change the handling characteristics of the car. Its really great fun to have the car run the way you intend it to be.

My collection has grown from the TT01-D drift car to Xray T2R and Tamiya M03M Swift. The Swift is the cheapest and most fun to drive esp. with a group of friends. The T2R is fast and can be much faster but my skills is the limit. Needs more practice. I am eyeing a new car which is the Tamiya 416 - target to get it by end of this year.

As for real car, it have to wait... quite happy with my V6. A year to go before complete my loan. The itch is always there to get a new car. Would love the BMW E46 325i or the Scooby WRX or a Evo 8. Damn! Well, will review my options again when the loan finishes...

Virgin post!

1st post on my blog! Hopefully I will be able to keep updating this blog with my jottings on life, my new found obsession - RC cars, real cars as well as gadgets...