Get together in Kota Kinabalu 18th Aug 09

Pic 1: Three BNR34s together

I was sort of touring around in Sabah the whole of last week doing some work. When I was in Kota Kinabalu, it was great as I get to meet up with fellow Skyline owners once again. It's nice to meet up with Jeffrey, Darence, Eric, Syed, Johnny and Shah. You guys have really cool rides.

It's also amazing to see 2 units of the BNR34 V-Spec II Nur parked next to each other given that there aren't that many of the Nur around; let alone 2 units together in KK. We've had a great time chatting about anything and everything and also enjoyed drooling at the cars. Ahem ...... the spins around the main road to listen to exhaust notes was exhilarating as well :P

Thank you guys and your hospitality is truly amazing. Thanks again.

Oh, next time must snap more pictures of Darence's ride; ultra rare NISMO S-Tune BNR34. Some engine bay shot would be stupendous!

Here's some of the pictures of the day. Enjoy.....

Pic 2: Some of the guys....Azlan, EJ, Syed, Jeffrey, Darence and Johnny


Pic 3: Eric's white V-Spec II Nur and Jeffrey's blue V-Spec


Pic 4: Darence's NISMO S-Tune GT-R. Saw the yummy Endless 6 pots??


Pic 5: Johnny's ER34


Pic 6: Shah's V-Spec II Nur


Pic 7: Single turbo-ed Nur


Pic 8: Syed's MX-5 Miata


Pic 9: Yes it's a forced induction Miata!


Pic 10: Jeffrey's V-Spec flanked by Eric and Shah's V-Spec II Nur


Pic 11: 4 round stove taillights aplenty that night. :P

A sunny afternoon gathering

Pic 1: Some of the guys....

Last Sunday instead of doing an early morning drive to my favorite hill roads, we've decided to hold a small gathering among enthusiasts for a chit chat/get together session. The turnout was pretty decent although a couple of guys can't make it last minute.

There were:-

7 Nissan Skyline GTT
1 Nissan Silvia S15
1 Nissan Silvia S13
1 Toyota Supra
1 VolksWagen Golf GTi

Pic 2: Amir's Supra. Love the clean look.

It was good to meet up with some of the guys again; and some of the newer guys/owner. There were some really cool rides that day. I'll leave the pictures to do most of the talking. Suffice to say, we have the big whp guys, the widebody chaps and everything else in between. :P

It's good finally to see the alter ego of my white ER34. Alan came with his recently kitted black IMPUL 534S ER34. Now we have 2 units of the same kit roaming the roads of Klang Valley. One white, the other black. One angel, the other devil. Hehehehe :P

Here's some pictures of the day. Enjoy.

Pic 3: The angel IMPUL 534S


Pic 4: ... and the devil IMPUL 534S


Pic 5: Zul's sleepy eyes RPS13


Pic 6: Alvin's widebody ER34. Massive work done on this beast.


Pic 7: Arun's S15. It goes as fast at it looks.


Pic 8: AlvinT's faithful touge ER34


Pic 9: Steve's ER34. Lovely NISMO wheels there...


Pic 10: This is what 400whp looks like


Pic 11: Azmir's newly purchased ER34. Welcome to the club bro. :)


Pic 12: George's widebody ER34. Check out those massive offset wheels. :O

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

Leaky Caster Arm Bush (RHS)

Pic 1: Leaking caster arm bush

In January (read this), I replaced my left hand side caster arm bush due to a leak. I’ve decided to leave my right caster arm bush as it is. It looks fine thus I don't see the need to change it. Guess I misjudged it. I noticed some oil marks beneath the ER34 after I parked it for 11 days when I was outstation last week.

After looking around, I found that the oil leak (which was darn sticky to the touch) was from the caster arm bush. Looks like I need to get that changed. I got hold of the Nissan caster arm bush (Part No. 54476-35F20) and got it replaced over the weekend.

Pic 2: Nissan caster arm bush (Part No. 54476-35F20)

So if you do have a leaky caster arm bush, remember to change both of them at the same time. I’ll save you time and labour when the next one decides to go a couple of months down the road.

At least now I have peace of mind. :)

Pic 3: The leaky bush on the caster arm


Pic 4: New bush on the caster arm with the leaky one next to it


Pic 5: Caster arm bush now good as new

Drive It Like You Stole It #12 - Gohtong Jaya & Bukit Tinggi

Pic 1: Some of the boys

DILYSI #12 actually is an invite from the rotary boys of the RE Club. The initial plan was to head to Goh Tong Jaya via Ulu Yam. Yeah, the route is a bit on the short side thus from there some of us continued on the journey up to Bukit Tinggi via Karak Highway.

There were 6 cars for the drive comprising of:-
3 Mazda RX-7 (FD3S)
1 Mazda RX-7 (FC3S)
2 Nissan Skyline 25Gtt (ER34)

We pushed off from our usual RV point a bit later than usual but it's ok since we are not heading to Frasiers Hill where the route up is time controlled. We departed slightly after 8am and surprisingly the traffic is still not too heavy. The bunch of us still managed to stretch the legs of our rides. Woohoo!

Video 1: Going through Ulu Yam twisties

Upon reaching the town of Ulu Yam, we stopped for a quick breakfast. Thanks to Wayne for the treat. Appreciate the gesture. :P

Pic 2: Waiting for Wayne here

Pic 3: Our breakfast stop

Pic 4: That's how close we are to Genting Highlands

After our breakfast, up we started our ascend up to Gohtong Jaya. I'm not particularly a fan of this route due to the steep inclines and unassuming corners. Many of which tightens in the middle. Got to be careful not to overcook them else it will be disasterous. Following behind Chun Beng, I'm amazed at the lines that he took. He's a darn fast driver!

Video 2: Going up to Gohtong Jaya

Reaching Gohtong Jaya, we stopped by for a quick chit chat and 'teh tarik'. There were a couple of Lotus Elise MK1 and some superbikers where we were. Now those are some serious machines.

After Gohtong Jaya, we head downhill to rejoin Karak Expressway. Here Chun Beng and Shukor left us and head back to Kuala Lumpur. The remaining 4 of us continue up towards the Bukit Tinggi exit on Karak Highway. Going up Bukit Tinggi is a joy as there are practically no cars on the road. The roads are darn clear even at 10:30 in the morning. Simply marvelous. Perhaps next time we can have a session here going up and down twice! Hehe

After a quick rebreather, off we head back to Kuala Lumpur. We clocked about 140km to and fro for this trip and I'm mighty pleased as this is indeed a very good and effective stress reliever. Been quite stressful at work for the past week; now I'm ready for yet another week. :P

Video 3: Going up Bukit Tinggi

Pic 5: Check out the twisties :P

Pic 6: Following close behind

Pic 7: Chun Beng's FD3S

Pic 8: Woay Chee's FD3S

Pic 9: Wayne's FD3S

Pic 10: Shukur''s FC3S

Pic 11: Alvin's ER34

Pic 12: Having "teh tarik" at Gohtong Jaya

Pic 13: What are some JDMs doing parked in a back alley?

Pic 14: Back alley warrior? :P

Pic 15: At the Rabbit Farm

Pic 16: Group shot

Pic 17: Group shot

Pic 18: These guys wanna be car models? :D

Pic 19: The owners and their ride

Pic 20: 2 FD3S and 2 ER34

Pic 21: The best looking FD3S rear lights I've ever seen!