It's funny that some music CD albums in Japan somewhat portrays the love hate relationship with the Nissan GT-R (R35). Check out these album covers below.

I find it very amusing. LOL

Pic 1: I love R35!!!!

Pic 2: I hate R35!!!!

Been pretty quiet .....

Gosh, it's been pretty quiet here lately. Sorry for that folks. I've been busy with my job but rest assured I'm scheming up some mods to be done with the ER34. Got JDM Auto Link to try to source me some rare stuffs. It's about time I did a bit of pampering on the ER34. Hopefully it can be found in the land of the rising sun. *fingers crossed*

In the meantime, here's some pictures of the ER34 with Felixia Yeap, Malaysia's one and only Playboy bunny. :)

DILYSI #18: Frasiers Hill

Pic 1: The group setting off - Dinesh right at my rear. Note DARK skies.

After a long hiatus on the DILYSI sessions and doing a recce trip 2 weeks back, DILYSI #18 took place last weekend to none other than Frasiers Hill. I have had many sessions to Frasiers Hill in the ER34 and before that in my Proton Perdana V6. I really love the route and what it has to offer in terms of driving enjoyment.

What is different in DILYSI #18 was the weather. This is by far the worst ever weather I have had going up Frasiers Hill. It was raining pretty heavily thus the roads were drenched! To add more drama, as we get closer to The Gap, the roads were littered heavily with leaves and tree branches. Add a couple of fallen tress and landslides, it really does gets very unnerving.

And I was driving a little bit faster than I should in these sort of conditions. Not a really wise thing to do I must say. All the seven of us (2 ER34, 1 BCNR33, 1 BNR32, 1 ECR33 and 2 A31) would probably be finding it a bit of a handful to drive hard as we got nearer to Frasiers Hill, and as the weather worsens.

There's some incidents enroute and the drive was cut short. We didn't even make it to The Gap. We were probably 5 km away to that. Oh well, as long as everyone is ok. Not sure when will the next DILYSI be .......... somehow I think I might want to retire from driving my ER34 like I've just stolen it and my life is worth half a penny.

Pic 2: Turning in after Ulu Yam town


Pic 3: This is how bad the condition is. Rain, wet roads and loads of leaves


Pic 4: Turning back as a fallen tree have blocked the road


Pic 5: The group just hanging around


Pic 6: EJ's ER34, Temujin's BNR32 and Wai Chun's A31


Pic 7: Loki's BCNR33 and Alvin's ER34


Pic 8: Feez's ECR33 and Temujin's BNR32


Pic 9: A monkey enjoying its meal


Pic 11: Inquisitive fellow this one

BNR34 Seats and Interior Trims

Pic 1: BNR34 Seats

The interior trim of the ER34 is kinda dull and uninspiring. I've not really liked it since I got the car. All I've done so far is just to add on a single piece of Recaro RS-G and changed some of the panel trims to the BNR34 version.

Many people would be eager to slap on the stock BNR34 seats into their ER34 for it looked really good and does the job of holding the driver very well. This is especially true of the newer BNR34 seats where it has the black trim. The older grey trimmed seats are just as dull in my opinion. The trouble is that these sort of parts doesn't come easy nor does it come cheap. There have been a couple of grey trimmed BNR34 seats that popped into the market place and those were sold for top dollars! The black trimmed version? Suffice to say it's as rare as spotting an elephant in downtown Kuala Lumpur! Hehehe

Pic 2: BNR34 complete interior seats with front door panel

But lucky me I just got hold of some very rare bits of interior trims off the BNR34. I've got:-
1) Pair of front seats with railings
2) Set of rear seats
3) Set of front door panels

The best part is all of the above are finished in the black trim which originates from the newer of the BNR34s. I've chucked these in the corner of my house and been staring at it whenever I pass by the area. Sat on it numerous times to get a feel and jolly well, it's damn good! Plus it looked really nice with the black trim. I'm positive, with this set in my ER34, the whole interior would look simply awesome. Another plus point is that the front door panels comes with the lighted red lens where in the ER34, it's just a reflector with no lights inside.

I'm actually at a cross road now. Not sure to install it onto my ER34 or to sell it off. If I'm still on stock seats, it's a no brainer to put it into my car. But I have a Recaro on the drivers side already. I love the Recaro RS-G and am a bit apprehensive about taking that out of the car.

Decisions ...... decisions ..... What do you think? Hmmm .....

Pic 3: Nice trimmings


Pic 4: BNR34 Rear Seats


Pic 5: BNR34 Front Door Panels

Recaro Side Protector

Pic 1: Recaro Side Protector

It is common for bucket seats to have worn side bolsters. The high sides of the bucket seats means that the driver will often rub against it when entering and exiting the vehicle. Friction, over time will wear off the cloth trim of the seats and expose the insides. Not a pretty sight and not something that I hope to happen to my Recaro RS-G.

To prevent that from happening, I got myself a Recaro side protector. Basically, it's just a piece of leatherly material to wrap around the sides of the seat. With it on, the fabric underneath is protected from wear and tear.

A simple thing but works a treat!

Pic 2: Before fitment


Pic 1: After fitment

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

AC Delco NS40ZL Maintenance Free Battery

For the past week, the ER34 have been kinda hard to crank up especially during cold morning starts. It gets much worst if it's left un-driven for 2 days or more. It takes a LOT of cranks to get her started. Not very impressive if there is any passer-by around. Kind of embarrassing actually. The battery voltage reading as indicated by the Blitz Fatt DCIV confirms that it's running a tad low on juice.

Skyline absolutely hates low voltage battery and it really does show. After checking through my records, my last battery change was exactly 2 years ago. Guess it's about time to replace it. Got my usual AC Delco NS40ZL Maintenance Free Battery from my regular parts shop and it's all good now. With just a crank or two, the ER34 roars to life beautifully! Pleased! :)