DILYSI #17: Frasiers Hill, the recce

Pic 1: The ER34 at its fave playing ground

Unbelievable but my last trip to Frasiers Hill was exactly two years ago! And the last Drive It Like You Stole It (DILYSI) was one year ago! Oh man, looks like I have been in hibernation for way too long. I still love driving on touge (mountain roads) but it's just that family commitment (and age!) kind of somewhat deters that from happening for quite a bit. Or maybe I'm just plain lazy!

I've been telling myself to do a recce trip early this year. Somehow, I never get to do that until last weekend when my touge buddy Alvin pesters me that it's about time we revisit our old favourite playing ground. Plus he has just converted to manual transmission on his ER34 so I guess it's also a shakedown run for him. We were joined by Bhagwan who decided to have a cruise most of the way. He came with a leaky radiator and a huge unsecured boom box in the trunk. Hahaha

It's mostly a recce trip to check on the road condition and also if there's any changes to the routes. I'm pretty happy to report that things were almost just like before except some parts of the roads now are better BUT it's still the good old road surface mixture that we love. Smooth roads dotted with some that have ruts on 'em. Some damp stretches, wet leaves and sand on some parts, dips and undulations and not to mention, low overhanging tree branches that scrapped Alvin's car. LOL

What changed a lot was up in Frasiers Hill. Old buildings were refurbished and gone were the mamak stall that we used to hang out a long time ago. The tiny little coffee shop that we used to have breakfast was also gone and supposedly moved up the road. We went to this new food court sort of building where we had breakfast. Yummy burgers were available and so were great Nasi Lemak. Got to try that next time.

Pic 2: Alvin and Bhagwan

With my stage II upgrades, I find that my driving pattern had to change too. I had to keep the engine on higher rpm to so that I have sufficient boost coming out of corners. I tend to row between 2nd and 3rd gears lesser too compared to my previous setup when going towards The Gap.

The best part of this drive besides the great company was that the roads were practically deserted. All the way to The Gap and up to Frasiers, we practically have the whole road to ourselves. I'm driving as if it's a one way street utilizing all the roads on front of me. It was a blast and most definitely won't be too long till we come up here again. :)

Till the next DILYSI.......

Pic 3: Lovely roads ...


Pic 4: ... with lovely bends


Pic 5: Parked at the 'entrance' to Frasier Hill


Pic 6: Alvin's ER34


Pic 7: Waiting for Bhagwan


Pic 8: The three chaps that got nuttin' to do on a Sunday am

DILYSI #15: Frasiers Hill

Pic 1: Two white ER34s

My last Drive It Like You Stole It (DILYSI) was 2 months ago and I thought that'll be it for quite a while due to other more pressing commitments. It was kinda revived for my cousin Joshua who's in town for his holidays from the UK. He wanted to see what touge is like thus none other is than Frasiers Hill was the destination.

It was an early Saturday morning that we choose to go thus many of the regulars can't make it. Sunday would be a better day definatly for all. :)

Pic 2: Two white ER34s

Anyway, only Alvin (with Woay Chee riding shotgun) any myself went for the drive. Faris was supposed to join us with his newly purchased ER34 but a flat battery that fateful morning got him stranded. Hope all is well now. :)

Traffic on a Saturday morning was much denser than Sunday, next time should stick to a Sunday drive. Hahaha

Pic 3: Alvin right at my tail

The ER34 felt 'different' from my last drive. It was sort of under steering a bit on fast sweeping bends. A couple of times, I veered too much of the next lane with oncoming traffic! Overall, it was a fair mix of fast bits and slower sections. I tried to refrain from going too hardcore due to my 16 years old cousin on board. :P

Pic 4: Coppers!!

We ran into to a couple of cops enroute. First car was a Perodua Kancil whereby I blasted past it in 2nd gear and upshift next to it as soon as it turns off the main road. That was super fun!! The second cop was in a Proton Waja crawling at a snails pace. I had to brake to about 50km/h and cruise beside it for the photo above by Woay Chee. Good shot bro. That was really fun too especially giving the car gas after the photograph. Lucky, we were not chased by the cop. :P

Pic 5: Alvin going over the fallen tree

Traffic cleared tremendously once we reach the road leading to The Gap. Now the real fun begins. The road was practically deserted save for a couple of cars off and on. Funny thing is we ran into another fallen tree that sprawled across the road (there was another fallen tree in DILYSI #14). There were quite a lot of damp stretch up Frasiers Hill and the TCS was working overtime trying to keep the rear in check. We didn't stay too long up in Frasiers Hill. As soon as we've had our usual Western breakfast up there, we head back downhill towards Kuala Lumpur as I've got some matters to attend too.

It's mad but this 180km round trip from home and back costs me 3/4 of the petrol tank. wtf!


Here's some small clips that my cousin took with his iPhone

Video 1: Uphill at The Gap

Video 2: Downhill at The Gap

Pic 6: My cousin Joshua


Pic 7: Alvin going up Frasiers Hill


Pic 8: ER34 charging uphill


Pic 9: Nice bend


Pic 10: Love this pic by Woay Chee


Pic 11: ER34 'climbing' uphill


Pic 12: Alvin's ER34


Pic 13: ER34 about to head down from Frasiers Hill from the control gate


Pic 14: Open wide now...


Pic 15: Butt shot


Pic 16: Butt shot


Pic 17: Parked at the bridge


Pic 18: Parked at the bridge

DILYSI #14: Frasiers Hill

Pic 1: The cars up in Frasiers Hill

The 14th installment of the Drive It Like You Stole It (DILYSI) series was to Frasiers Hill. Not many cars went this time round as some decided to pull out last minute. You know who you are .....

Anyway, my last trip to Frasiers Hill was way back in December 2008. Damn ... it sure didn't felt that long ago. Time really does flies. A total of 7 cars met up at our usual rendezvous point before heading off. There were:-

2 Nissan Skyline 25GT-t
1 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II
1 Mitsubishi EVO VI
1 Mitsubishi EVO VII
1 Suzuki Swift Sport
1 Proton Satria GTi

Traffic was slightly on the heavier side along Ulu Yam this time round but after that it's pretty clear all the way. I was really gunning it despite the traffic. Going fast, braking hard and overtaking all the way. Midway through the course on a sweeping left-hander, a chap waving his arms in the air caught my attention. Oh shit! Something must have happened up front. Throttle eased off slightly, I caught sight of a spun Alfa Romeo 156 on the right hand side of the road. The car belongs to another group of driving enthusiasts. I saw a fair mix of continental cars parked at the roadside. Saw amongst others a Fiat Coupe, Fiat Punto, Mercedes Benz SLK, Alfa Romeo 147, Volvo S40, etc.. The car looked like it spun 360 degrees and ended up on the embankment. I hope the driver and car is ok. Check out the video at 7:20 onwards. You'll see the ER34 passing the incident site.

Video 1: ER34 at Ulu Yam

After seeing some picture of Jon's orange EVO VI, I finally got to see it in its flesh. This is one intimidating beast. Stripped interior, roll cage and sporting an Ikeya Formula sequential shifter. You wouldn't wanna mess with this car. :P

Pic 2: Jon's EVO VI

Heading up towards The Gap, I was taken by surprise right after a bend; up ahead is a fallen tree right across the road! I literally shouted "FCUK!!" in my heart and slammed on the brakes progressively to stop a couple of feet away from the tree. Hazard lights on and lifted my hand out of the car to signal a 'halt', I reversed my car a tad bit away from the debris. The two charging Evolutions behind luckily managed to stop in time and avoided each other and me too! The tree must have just fallen early in the morning. It was still in a mess!

Pic 3: The felled tree practically blocked the whole road

We are in a dilemma now. To proceed or not to proceed? Jon started work almost immediately to rip off some branches to create a pathway wide and high enough to squeeze underneath the tree. After letting a passing Perodua Kenari to perform the acid test, it looked safe enough and we proceeded on.

Pic 4: Deciding to proceed or not

Pic 5: Going thru....


Pic 6: Going thru...

Luckily enough we reach The Gap just in time; 10 minutes before the gate closes for traffic going uphill. The 10km way going uphill towards Frasiers was very very tricky. The road is damp and there's wet leaves strewn everywhere. The ER34 struggles for grip and constantly lost traction. Having semi slicks on the car doesn't help either. Those AWD boys would probably have a better time than me. LOL :D

Up in Frasiers, we had some great American style breakfast and took a walk around before going back downhill when the gate opens at 12:00pm. Enroute down, we took a little breather at the Sg. Selangor Hydroelectric Dam before heading back to Kuala Lumpur via the same route.

Oh, btw the felled tree was already cleared when we head down. I must say that's might quick and effective work by the authorities. And that's on a Sunday too!

It was another great drive and it was truly enjoyable driving with you guys.

Till the next drive.....

Pic 7: Going downhill


Pic 8: Jon's EVO VI


Pic 9: At The Gap checkpoint


Pic 10: The cars of DILYSI #14


Pic 11: What's under the hood?


Pic 12: Charging downhill


Pic 13: Mun Kit's Swift Sport and Jon's EVO VI


Pic 14: Hwa Ming's BNR34 and my ER34


Pic 15: Alvin's ER34 and Yap's SGTi

Drive It Like You Stole It #11 - Frasiers Hill

Pic 1: The gang

With the last drive about 3 months ago, driver rust is setting in really bad. With a free weekend, some of us went for the 11th installment of the Drive It Like You Stole It (DILYSI) session. We head to Frasiers Hill again but extended the route from there onwards to Bentong, then Janda Baik and finally Genting Sempah. From there, we joined onto Karak Highway back to Kuala Lumpur.

That’s 220km of pure twisties. Woohoo!!

A total of 8 cars met up at our usual rendezvous point before heading off. There were:-
2 Nissan Skyline 25GT-t
1 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II

1 Nissan 180SX
1 Subaru Impreza Sti Ver. 8
1 Mazda RX-7
1 Toyota MR2
1 BMW E34 5 series (with 1JZ-GTE heart!)

Pic 2: The cars

Yeap. There was a continental. This is the second time a continental make joined our drive. The 1st one was the BMW E60 5 series before DILYSI was started way back in October 2006. The difference is that this E34 has a Japanese heart. LOL :D

The day started off with some setback. As Danial had a nail embedded in one of his tyre, we had to push off without him while he scouts for a tyre shop that is open on an early Sunday morning! Amazingly, he managed fix his tyre and catch up to us not too long after we stopped for breakfast in Frasiers Hill. He must be tearing the roads apart with his SW20. :O

Pic 3: Danial's SW20

This drive is also my getting-to-know-you session with my new tyres. I've only covered 500km in 'em and have not come to grips with it (pun intended). Furthermore, after fitting in the tyres I find the car felt a bit weird when I chuck it into corners. Can't exactly put my finger to it yet.

I was quite worried about the weather report as it predicted clouds in the morning and rain in the afternoon. We were pleasantly surprised to see glorious clear skies during the whole duration of the drive. Rain only started in mid afternoon by which we're already back in Kuala Lumpur. :)

Pic 4: The cars at Frasiers Hill

The drive from Frasiers Hill to Bentong and Janda Baik to Genting Sempah was great fun! Much like The Gap where there is sparse traffic but the corners are a little faster here as it's much less tighter. Very much still Scooby and Evo habitats. ;P

I was not pushing as hard right after Frasiers Hill when the ER34 started giving out a continuous tick-tick sound when the steering is turned. Everything else seems fine except for the worrisome ticking sound. I really hope nothing major is wrong with the ER34.

Oh, someone got himself a battle scar this trip; and was exceptionally cool about it. LOL :D

Many folks have been messaging me for pictures, so I'll keep my writting short and here's the pictures PLUS a video. :)

Man, I need to get the ER34 for a check-up soon.

Vid 1: ER34 at Janda Baik (Part 1 of 2)


Vid 2: ER34 at Janda Baik (Part 2 of 2)

Pic 5: The cars at Frasiers Hill

Pic 6: The whites

Pic 7: Butt shot

Pic 8: The whites (again!)

Pic 9: Woay Chee's mean-looking FD3S

Pic 10: Breakfast in Frasiers Hill

Pic 11: Not your 'normal' E34

Pic 12: ER34 carves some corners

Pic 13: Optimus Prime leading the way to Cybertron

Pic 14: A quick stop for a breather enroute to Janda Baik

Pic 15: Waiting for a bus?

Pic 16: At the bus stop

Pic 17: Off we go again......

Pic 18: Regrouped at Janda Baik Village

Pic 19: At Genting Sempah R&R along Karak Highway

Pic 20: BMW E34 with a grin

Pic 21: Toyota 1JZ-GTE heart

Pic 22: The pop-up headlights gang