"Evolusi KL Drift" movie trailer

If you remember one of my earlier blog entries, the ER34 made some small time appearences for the film "Evolusi KL Drift". That was way back in June 2007 (you can read about it here). After months of waiting, the movie trailer was finally released.

The movie will be in the cinemas in April 2008. Can't wait to watch the movie and hope to catch a glimpse of the ER34 in there. :P

Autobacs Bangkok

Pic 1: In front of Autobacs, Sathon

I was in Bangkok, Thailand last weekend for a bit of an R&R and hanging out at the usual shopping places such as Chatuchak weekend market, Suan Lum Night Bazaar, wholesale markets around Pratunam and luxurious shopping malls such as Siam Paragon.

Besides enjoying the lovely seafood at Yaowarat (Chinatown) and at Soomboon Seafood　(สมบูรณ์ ชีฟูดส์), I found time to visit Autobacs in Bangkok. There are actually two Autobacs in Bangkok! Yes two of them, one in Sathon and the other one at Pattanakarn. I went to the one located in Sathon as it was nearer to my hotel.

I wasn't expecting much especially since this is Thailand and it will never compare to the Super Autobacs in Tokyo Bay Shinonome. But nevertheless, the store wasn't too bad ... except not much parts for the Skyline (or JDM cars for that matter). But it was an eye opener. Came across many chassis reinforcement bars for the Toyota Yaris and Vios though. If I drove one, I bet I'll grab a whole lot of bars back. :P

The setup is basically more or less like the ones in Japan; just smaller in size. You will find rows of air filters, wiper blades, brake pads, rotors, engine oils, bulbs, wheels, tyres, meters, air fresheners, audio equipments, bodykits, etc.....

Here are some pictures that I took of Autobacs....

Pic 2: The store's exterior

Pic 3: Rows of HKS, K&N and Trust air filters

Pic 4: Wheels galore!

Pic 5: Springs for your ride?

Pic 6: Exhausts from Trust, Blitz and Nitto for Jazz, Yaris and Vios

Pic 7: Bulbs from PIAA, HKS, Osram, Polarg, IPF, Raybrig and Philips

Pic 8: Stuffs from NISMO, Mugen, Ralliart, Sti and TRD

Pic 9: Chassis reinforcement bars

Pic 10: D1 counter with magazines and DVDs

Pic 11: Bodykits for Toyota Yaris

Pic 12: Anyone wanna order the new Nissan GTR (R35)?

My 1st year anniversary !!!

Pic 1: Pic in the ER34

Gosh, time really flies........I've already married the love of my life (no not the Skyline!) for a year now. Yup, already tied the knot for a year with my beautiful other half. We've been through a lot of ups and downs in life together as a couple for 9 years and counting. I must thank the man above for keeping us together until now and hopefully for many many more years to come.

Ashley is great as a best friend, activity partner, travel companion and of course as my wife. An all rounder thats no where else to be found. Oh and I must add that she's the one that gave me support and strength to purchase the ER34 and realise my dream of owning and driving a Skyline. Without her I think I wouldn't have taken the plunge to get the ER34. :P

We've never looked back ever since and I must add this entry in my blog as an appreciation and thank you to my other half. Here are some pictures we took with the ER34 for my wedding photography. I've just gotten the ER34 for about 3 months then thus it's all still relatively stock.

Thanks Ashley!! :)

Pic 2: Exterior shot

Pic 3: Rear view shot

Acthung! Flaming ER34

ER34 flames - Video by sakakida

Referring to my post on Kakimoto Catalyst Straight Pipe, I finally get to see how the car is from the other angle, i.e behind the car. When I was a lot younger I used to envy seeing those JDM cars with flames thrown out of the exhaust. Now that I am experiencing it myself, it's a nice feeling that I finally can do it with my own car. It's no big deal to a lot of people but coming from a guy that drove a humble Proton Wira 1.5A (4G15) and a Daihatsu Charade 1.3 (G200) before getting the Proton Perdana V6 (6A12), this is whole new motoring experience.....

Together with sakakida and corrupt, we shot the below pictures and video. Sorry about the quality of the pictures, they were extracted from a poor quality video. :(

Pic 1: Flames starting

Pic 2: Flames away.....

Pic 3: Blue-ish flames at the end

OMG!! A crashed brand new R35 GT-R

The debut of the R35 GT-R in the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show made heaps of impact the world over. This iconic car out of Nissan's stable is no doubt every boy racers wet dream (and playstation racers too :P). A number of units were already shipped around the world; some to Australia, Dubai, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, etc........ I got wind of a unit coming into Malaysia as well. And it has already been sold to a guy from Penang at RM6XX,XXX.XX CASH! Lucky bastard!! :)

Sadly though, one of the unit that reached Hong Kong (香港) was already crashed even before it was sold! The R35 belonging Wai Cheung Motors crashed during a test drive session. This is the first photographed crash on the R35 GTR! The car hit something on the sidewalk and the airbags even deployed. Such a shame to see a beautiful car go to waste! :(

I got these set of pictures from the Skyline guys in Hong Kong......

Pic 1: Crashed R35 GT-R

Pic 2: Crashed R35 GT-R

Engine Oil Change - Torco SR-1 5W-40

Just recently did my 65,000km engine oil change. Poured in the Torco SR-1 5W-40 again coupled with an oil filter change from Nissan (Part No. 15208-53J00). This is the best oil I've used so far. It's pricy but hell you'll feel the difference once you tried it.

The SR-1 SAE 5W40 Exceeds the standards set by: API SM/CF, ACEA C3-04, ACEA A3/B3/B4, MB229.31, VW502.00/505.00, BMW Longlife-04 and Porsche.

Pic 1: Torco SR-1 5W-40 Engine Oil

Pic 2: Nissan Oil Filter (Part No. 15208-53J00)

Here are some details of the Torco SR-1:-

Product Description

SR-1 is a selective cross blend of highly advanced 100% synthetic base oils and proprietary additives aimed at power efficiency and engine protection. SR-1's performance is not compromised by standardized additive technology or by our compe titors' price points, it is simply a purpose built, specialty formula designed to exceed the demands of high performance Japanese, European and US sports cars.

A combination of Generation-2 MPZ and low friction base oils reduce frictional losses to increase horsepower and torque by as much as 3%. A premium polymer and additive system controls viscosity for long term durability, maximum engine protection and eliminate engine deposits.
Torco SR-1 is the ultimate in high performance synthetic motor oil technology. No other synthetic motor oil meets the performance and protection benefits of SR-1.

Features & Benefits

• 100% Synthetic Formula

• Generation-2 MPZ frictional loss technology

• Increases horsepower & torque

• Reduces operating temperatures

• Advanced engine protection

Kakimoto Catalyst Straight Pipe

The exhaust that I have on the ER34 is a cat back HKS Super Dragger; which means that the factory catalytic converter (cat) is still in place. The cat is a device used to reduce the toxicity of emissions from motor vehicle exhaust systems. Yes, it is a good thing and helps to protect the environment too.

BUT it also robs precious horsepower......so I've ordered in a replacement pipe to rid of the cat. I got the Kakimoto Catalyst Straight Pipe (Part No. NSP305) from Japan thanks to bro Lufias for helping with the purchase and courier. :)

Pic 1: The Kakimoto Catalyst Straight Pipe box

Pic 2: The contents!!

The Kakimoto Catalyst Straight Pipe is made from stainless steel and comes with the below items:-
1) 1X Straight pipe (Sized 80)
2) 4X nuts
3) 4X bolts
4) 1X Kakimoto sticker
5) 1X User manual
What about the two exhaust gaskets? Well, I sourced that locally here. :)

So how's the car after the installation of the Kakimoto Catalyst Straight Pipe? Immediately the ER34 felt different! It now revs more smoothly to the higher range of the rev counter and sounds more menacingly solid. The stock boost on the ER34 was raised too. My mechanic says it's normal for boost to increase slightly with the cat out of the car. Thus it also felt more powerful. Gasp! :P

With the cat on previously, I've always gotten explosions from the exhaust on upshifts and also when I release the accelerator abruptly. But sadly though, no flames......now I get cool blue reddish flames thrown a feet away from the car. Woohoo.....must be a great view. I'll love to get a video or a picture of that!

On the con side of things, besides being a polluter, the ER34 is definitely going to gulp in more fuel than before. Perhaps, that's the price one has got to pay. With escalating fuel prices, this isn't quite well welcomed. Well at least I did shelved some weight off the car. The cat is bloody heavy weighing in at 4.5kg! Oh and I hope my rear bumper won't get burned too much that I need to wax it every a couple of days. :P

In case, you are wondering, the item price listed at Kakimoto Racing website is JPY 16,800 for the pipe and JPY 2,200 for the accessories (nuts, bolts and gaskets).

Pic 3: The parts breakdown

Pic 4: The two gaskets

Pic 5: The stock catalytic converter removed

Pic 6: With the Kakimoto Catalyst Straight Pipe installed

Pic 7: In case, you are wondering, the Jap words means "For Racing Purposes Only"

Malaysian Skyline Club Gathering 040108

Pic 1: Group photo at Seri Wawasan Putrajaya Bridge

The Malaysian Skyline Club held it's first gathering for the year 2008 on the 4th of January. The number of Skylines that turned out is nothing short of amazing. Present are 20 over units of Skylines of various variants from the R32 to the R34 models. Some are pretty stock while others have been modded quite a fair bit.

The night started with a getting-to-know-you session whilst checking out the rides that were present. Right before midnite, the cars all move out for a cruise (a really fast cruise that is!) towards Cyberjaya via the new KL-Putrajaya Highway. This new highway cosing about RM1.4 billion (USD$ 426 million) to build is 26km long of pure wangan style highway. Most of the way, the roads are very straight with long sweeping bends. However, some stretch are a little bumpy and the downhill left sweeper to the toll booth at the end of the highway is pretty dangerous if one is speeding and are caught unaware. Seeing a bunch of Skylines speeding at speeds in excess of 200km/h on a damp highway is a crazy sight! I kept my speed below those of the front runners; those guys are mad buggers! :P

Pic 2: Stopped after the exit of the KL-Putrajaya Highway

Upon reaching Cyberjaya, we stopped for drinks and a chit-chat session in the newly opened Old Town Kopitiam located in Jalan Teknokrat. I guess this establishment gave hope to those working in the "desert" of Cyberjaya more choices of food in the area. I was made to understand that food choices in Cyberjaya is extremely limited and exorbitantly priced!

After about an hour or so, we left Old Town Kopitiam and head out towards Putrajaya. Here along the main road infront of the Ministry of Finance (MoF), we made a couple of "hot laps" much to the enjoyment of the guys. The sounds of the RB engines resonating off the building walls are wicked! Such music cacophony...........

Pic 3: Traffic jam full of Skylines?!?!

Pic 4: Parked outside the Ministry of Finance

We actually intend to have a group photoshoot here at MoF but decided otherwise and instead head out to the Seri Wawasan Putrajaya Bridge. This bridge connects Precinct 2 on the Core Island to the residential area of Precinct 8. Touted as one of the most beautiful bridges this side of the state, it's a magnificent structure consisting of 2 pylons and an arch with multiple cable stays.

At the bridge, the cars are parked in formation for the very very very late photoshoot. Our antics were noticed by a passing Police patrol car that promptly kept us in strict scrutiny. The coppers doesn't seem to be very pleased with our presence there. After a while, guess the cops got restless and began checking out our road tax and also jotting down our number plates. A good time to get our arse off the place. All jumped into our rides and make like a banana and split (sorry can't resist the term :P). It’s already 3:00 am by then; gosh…what a late night out.

Oh btw, a video was to be produced out of the night with highway speeding footages, cruise footages and also drag footages. Can't wait to see the end result from the DVD. It has got to be really cool!

Here are some pictures from the night.

Pic 5: Skylines invades a petrol kiosk

Pic 6: The cops are here!!

Pic 7: Coppers keeping a close eye on what we are doing......

Pic 8: Lots of white Skylines in this shot eh?

Pic 9: The two BCNR33 of the night and Driftmeister's Veilside kitted R34

Pic 10: The guys checking out the cops and vice-versa :P

Pic 11: This daytime shot shows how straight the KL-Putrajaya Highway really is

New AC Delco NS40ZL Maintenance Free Battery

Pic 1: The AC Delco NS40ZL MF Battery

Geez!! I thought after going through a replacement alternator and recharging my old battery all will be fine. Guess not eh? After I charged the battery, it was flat 2 days later. It was completely drained out; I can't even crank the engine. I bought my battery on the 4th of January this year and I've 4 more days before the 1 year warranty period runs out. Better try my luck to claim warranty before I go and procure a new battery. Like mentioned in my previous post, batteries are getting costlier nowadays.

When I brought the battery back to the shop, they were a bit sceptical about the possibility of claiming it and being on the 31st December 2007, it doesn't really help that most of the people from the distributor are away and it's a public holiday the very next day. Thankfully, luck was on my side, as I was called about 30 minutes later to come and pick up my new replacement battery. Woohoo!!! That's fast work and it saved me buying a new battery for the ER34. :P

Pic 2: Old battery out of the engine bay.....

Pic 3: And the new AC Delco NS40ZL MF goes in.....