ER34 in Astro Channel 304 Jia Yu

Pic 1: The Director setting up the camera

Recently, the ER34 was involved in filming a short Chinese New Year 'greeting spot' to be aired on Astro Channel 304, Jia Yu. Jia Yu is a Mandarin and Cantonese based channel aired on Astro (All-Asian Satellite Television and Radio Operator), which is a Malaysian pay television service.

Basically what will be shown is that a bunch of people from IPC and yours truly doing a group Chinese New Year greeting in front of the camera. The cars served as a background for the shoot. It's a relatively quick shoot lasting only half a day.

A mix of cars were present comprising of Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII, Toyota Celica, Mazda RX-7, Nissan 350Z, Nissan Skyline R34 GTT, Ferrari F430, Aston Martin Vantage, Mitsuoka Le-Seyde, Honda Integra DC5, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, and two stunning stretched Hummers.

Do check it out on Astro Channel 304 as it will be aired repeatedly during the Chinese New Year period. See if you can spot the ER34 and me. Hehehe

Here's some photos from the shoot.

Pic 2: The cars on one end

Pic 3: The cars on the other end

Pic 4: Camera track for the rolling shot

Pic 5: More setups

Pic 6: The ER34 is the sole Skyline representative

Pic 7: Shot from the rear

Pic 8: 8 wheeler stretch Hummer

Pic 8: 4 wheeler stretch Hummer

  

DILYSI #16: Genting Highlands

Pic 1: Grouping up

Well theoretically, I shouldn't call this a DILYSI session since I am not the organizer but just an invited participant but for the sake of easy of reference, I'll call it DILYSI anyway.

The route this was from Ulu Yam to Gohtong Jaya and up Genting Highlands. Not my favorite route but it'll do I guess. It has been exactly 11 months since my last DILYSI. Yea man, it has been that long! What the hell .....

Pic 2: Enroute


Pic 3: Grouping up before the drive

Pic 4: Be afraid when this is staring at you from the rear

I would like to focus this entry about my 'feelings' on the ER34 after my Stage II upgrades. The car definitely has more power and torque but I think the original setup is far better suited on the twisties. The turbine now spools later which makes exiting out of tighter corners a real drag as one has to wait for the turbine to spool before you get any action happening.

With so much torque on tap (well more than previously), throttling out of fast corners or long sweepers will see the tail coming out. In fact, the ER34 tail was sure like a happy dog. It kept wagging around coming out of corners. That's on 255mm width tyres! And they're Yokohama AD07s, sort of like your street-legal semi-slicks. What the ......

I had to have the ER34 on low boost throughout the journey to make it more 'easier' to drive. :(

So yeah, it's now much harder to drive on the twisties as throttle modulation is crucial. I must admit I got scared shit countless times when the ER34 tails out more than expected.

Back to the drive; after the twisties of Ulu Yam, the group stopped for breakfast in Gohtong Jaya before proceeding up to the Coffee Bean in Genting Highlands. Over there we were greeted by the sight of loads of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Lotus. Some were leaving as we arrived. Superbikers were in full force too. There's just so many of 'em. We were all congregating at the same place. :P

What's surprising is that, upon arriving, we were guided by the local coppers to park by the side of the road right outside Coffee Bean. Very convenient indeed. :)

Allrighty then, check out some of the pictures I took. There are also some videos of the drive. Do enjoy. :)

Video 1: ER34 heading up to Gohtong Jaya


Video 2: ER34 going up Genting Highlands with a FD3S RX-7 and a R35 GT-R

Pic 5: Spot the odd one out


Pic 6: R34 rear end looks huge compared to the Porsches


Pic 7: The Jap pack


Pic 8: Regular readers will find this car looks familiar (it was white previously) :P


Pic 9: Clean FD3S and a wicked looking CBA-R35


Pic 10: Privileged parking up in Genting Highlands :P


Pic 11: Superbikes from BMWs to Kawasaki and KTMs to everything in between


Pic 12: Couldn't keep up with this F430 coming downhill from Genting Highlands


Pic 13: F360 Modena twin stove round lighs


Pic 14: Twin round lights on the CBA-R35, F360 and also F355


Pic 15: This VR38DETT is packing massive power


Pic 16: This FD3S is freaking loud. Straight pipe yo!

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 #06 - Frasiers Hill & Bukit Tinggi

Finally after an absence of 3 months, we had our next Drive It Like You Stole It (DILYSI). For DILYSI #06 we head to Bukit Tinggi. Located in the state of Pahang, Bukit Tinggi is 2,500 feet above sea level. It was a cooling 19 degrees celsius when we were there.

Funnily enough I missed the planned route of

Batu Caves - Ulu Yam - Gohtong Jaya - Karak Expressway - Bukit Tinggi - Karak Expressway - Kuala Lumpur

INSTEAD, the route taken was actually:

Batu Caves - Ulu Yam - Batang Kali - Kuala Kubu Bharu - The Gap - Frasiers Hill - Raub - Bentong - Karak Expressway - Bukit Tinggi - Karak Expressway - Kuala Lumpur

The joke was that I only have Frasiers Hill route in my mind all the time. Errrr.....sorry guys for missing the Genting Highlands turnoff and the extra long route but hell yeah it was a really really fun drive yesterday eh??

The drive this time round has the below vehicles:-

3 Nissan Skyline ER34
1 Nissan Skyline BNR34 V-Spec II
1 Nissan Silvia RPS13
3 Toyota MRS (ZZW30)
1 Proton Satria GTi
1 Toyota Supra (MK4)
1 Mitsubishi Evolution 7 (CT9A)

Yea it's real diverse bunch of cars. From front engined front wheel driven to front engined rear wheel driven to mid engined rear wheel driven to front engined all wheel driven. All are represented here. Hahahaha :D

Pic 1: At Batang Kali waiting at the traffic lights

Some of the participants are first timers through these routes thus naturally the group eventually split into 2. Nevertheless, there's not much drama as all managed to remain not too far off from each other.

Some portions of the Kuala Kubu Bharu and Frasiers Hill route were kinda slippery. There were some patches that are wet, some corners with sand and lots of fallen debris on the road (leaves and small branches). One of us went sideways 90 degrees but luckily enough no harm was done. Another one got a 'lil bit of a scrape that tore away a small portion of the front bumper and dented the front fender. Nothing was wrong mechanically and thankful the driver was ok and was in full spirit too I must add.

Pic 2: Parked at The Gap

We went up to Frasiers Hill for breakfast before heading back down and towards Bentong town via Raub. It's my first time going through these roads. The route was magnificent. The twisty bit was just as fun as the road leading to The Gap. Simply marvellous. It has very minimal traffic and cool lush greenery on both sides of the road. Awesome indeed!

Pic 3: Stopped for refueling at Raub

Pic 4: Mun Kit eyeing the ice cream man. Hungry for ice cream??

Upon reaching Bukit Tinggi via Karak Expressway, we stopped at the Rabbit Park for a breather. We had a pleasant surprise too as a helicopter was landing and we saw Tan Sri Dato Seri Vincent Tan alighting and went off in a Hyundai Santa Fe 2.4 GLS (SM).

All in the total distance travelled is around 220km of pure twisty roads. We set off at 7:30am and ended the drive around 2:30pm. The drive was truly enjoyable and am glad to meet a few more like minded individuals who enjoys driving as well.

Till the next drive..........

Video 1: A short video clip in Ulu Yam

Pic 5: The cars next to the helipad at Bukit Tinggi

Pic 6: The cars next to the helipad at Bukit Tinggi

Pic 7: Catching a breather at Bukit Tinggi

Pic 8: Real driving and virtual driving?? (At Bukit Tinggi Rabbit Park)

Pic 9: Helicopter landing