Happy 25th Anniversary, Proton!

PROTON celebrated its 25th Anniversary yesterday with a grand Gala Dinner held in Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. I was fortunate enough to be invited for the event and are thankful to be remembered as part of the pioneering few that kick started official PROTON car clubs.

As a Malaysian, PROTON plays a big part in ones life. I bet almost every Malaysian have owned a Proton at some stage in life. It is inevitable. For those who have not owned a PROTON before, you might be the 'lucky' few or perhaps the 'unlucky' few. :)

My family was an early adopter of PROTON. My mom had a 1986 Proton Saga and it had served the household well. My first Proton was a 1994 Proton Wira 1.5GLi. It was the early version where it ran on carburetor instead of EFi. Back then I was still a very young chap with little or no money BUT interest in cars is already building up strong. With limited funds and limited knowledge about engines, I succumbed to simply mods like Bosch Super 4 spark plugs and Hot Bits spark plug cables which I thought would make the car super duper powerful. Guess not. Hahaha

It was at this time also I ran a K&N filter which gives out a nice throaty roar on throttle. But I must say the thing that most people remember about the car was the noisy exhaust. You can hear me coming a couple a blocks away! And it was a DTM style muffler. Hahahahaha

Everything else remains stock but I recall keeping a set of 15" Enkei RP01 (Made in Japan) for over a year in my store room as I have no money to buy 15" tyres. The Enkei were graciously 'donated' by my uncle off his car. :)

I had to potter around with the stock 13" wheels though as the Enkei never did find its home on the Wira until today. LOL

After that my 2nd Proton came into the picture and that changed my life forever. The Proton Perdana V6 was a lovely car and via that car and via the inception of the V•Sixers: Perdana V6 Club, I have made a lot of friends and together we have had countless fun times together. From interstate and intercountry drives to track days and autokhana competitions. Those were the days.

Ahhh........such memories.

Coming back to the gala dinner, the guests were treated by two of Malaysia's most talented singers, Zainal Abidin and Sheila Majid! I was mesmerized when both of them sang duet to "Ikhlas Tapi Jauh" accompanied only by electric violin and guiter. It was simply super awesome!

After some speeches by YBhg Dato' Mohd Nadzmi Mohd. Salleh, Chairman of PROTON and YAB Dato' Seri Mohd. Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia, the 25th Anniversary Special Edition PROTONs were unveiled by YBhg Dato' Hj. Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohammed Tahir, Group Managing Director of PROTON.

Only 25 units of these special edition PROTON will be produced per model, the Proton Exora 25th Anniversary Edition, Proton Persona 25th Anniversary Edition and Proton Saga 25th Anniversary Edition. Interesting way to celebrate.

Pic 1: Proton Emas - front view

What really got me excited was the opportunity to touch and feel Malaysia’s first global car, the Proton Emas. Emas, an acronym for Eco Mobility Advance Solution, was designed in collaboration with acclaimed Italian design house Italdesign Giugiaro. Production is scheduled to be by 2012.

The Proton Emas was first unveiled during the 2010 Geneva Motor Show in March. Having the chance to view it up close is amazing. I am amazed by the lighting system and overall interior space given that it is afterall a small car. Hope to see it on the roads 2 years from today.

I wish all the best to PROTON.

A journey that has been the nation's pride,
A dream fueled by passion, and
A vision towards another 25 years of progress.

Pic 2: Interesting interior

Pic 3: Proton Emas - rear view

And thank you for the memento. I am sure I will have a wonderful time reading the 25th Anniversary Commenorative Book, "A Saga: Proton's 25 year story".

Pic 4: A Saga: Proton's 25 year story


Pic 5: The past 3 Presidents of the V•Sixers: Perdana V6 Club


Pic 6: Those are very interesting integrated headlights and signal lights


Pic 7: Not sure what technology is this but it lights up as the rear lights


Pic 8: 18" wheels shod in Pirelli P Zero 215/45/18


Pic 9: Doubt this will make it into production. Too bulky power window control


Pic 10: Another interior shot

Video: IMPUL Showroom In Japan

I think by now, a lot of my readers know that I'm a big fan of IMPUL. :)

IMPUL is probably most famous for its racing car, CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R. Who can forget the iconic blue BNR32 that dominated the Japan Grand Touring Car Championship?

Founded on 1980 by Nissan's legendary factory driver Kazuyoshi Hoshino, IMPUL exclusively produces aftermarket parts for Nissan cars, and runs a motorsports team "Hoshino Racing" for Super GT and Formula races in Japan.

Achievements of Hoshino is historic. Having himself as a driver, he won JGTC (ex SuperGT) series championship 3 years in a row from 1993 through 1995. Seen on the below video, the 1:4 scale miniature racing car of R32 Nissan GT-R was a gift from Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's President, praising Hoshino's contribution to Nissan and Japanese motorsports.

I am still mighty pleased when he signed my Kyosho 1:18 scale model of the BNR32 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R in 2008. Pics can be seen here. :)

Check out the below video of a tour around the IMPUL showroom in Japan.

Transfăgărăşan in Romania

Pic 1: Transfăgărăşan

Just watched the 1st episode of Season 14 of Top Gear and they in it was a drive to Transfăgărăşan in Romania in a Ferrari California, Lamborghini Gallardo and an Aston Martin DBS. Transfăgărăşan what?!?

Transfăgărăşan is the highest and most dramatic paved road in Romania. Initially built as a strategic military route, the 90 km of twists and turns run North to South across the tallest sections of the Carpathian Mountains. The road was constructed between 1970 and 1974 and has claimed to have taken six thousands ton of dynamite to make it and 40 lives were lost in its construction.

Anyway, I find this episode mighty entertaining and the roads were just simply superb. How come we don't have these kind of crazy roads here. Hmmmm.....

Btw, Top Gear reckon that Transfăgărăşan is better than the Stelvio Pass!

Pic 2: Transfăgărăşan

Here's the segment extracted from Top Gear.

..... and some behind the scenes footage during the filming.

Bumped into a Ferrari F430

What do you do when you encounter a Ferrari F430 on the twisty mountain roads? Try to keep up of course!! *grins*

I bumped into a Ferrari F430 on the roads heading to Gohtong Jaya and had a bit of fun tailing it. Needless to say, the F430 is freaking fast! Well it does have a 4,300cc V8 under it's hood pumping out 483hp at 8500 rpm and 465 Nm of torque at 5250 rpm. Yikes!!!

But what impresses me the most is the gear changes. Ferrari's F1 gearbox for the F430 is a gem. It changes the cog so freaking fast and instantaneous (150 milliseconds to be exact)! Makes perfect sense. Why spend idle time changing gear while you can be constantly accelerating? I was losing ground each time I shift up or down. Dang it!

Check out the below video of my run-in with the F430. I was short-shifting at 5,000rpm as this drive was my shakedown run after the completion of my Stage II mods. :)

2010 Autobacs Super GT Rd. 4 Race Results!!

Fierce battle ends with 1-2 finish for GT-R teams!

The SUPER GT INTERNATIONAL SERIES IN MALAYSIA, Round 4 of the 2010 AUTOBACS SUPER GT in Sepang International Circuit ended with good results! 27,500 spectators cheered to the 1-2 finish of the mighty Nissan GT-Rs!!

The GT500 class winner was the pole-starting CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R driven by Tsugio Matsuda and Ronnie Quintarelli for their first victory of the season. Second place went to the MOTUL AUTECH GT-R, giving the Nissan GT-R a 1-2 finish.

Pic 1: CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R

Starting from the pole position, Matsuda in the CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R managed to stay ahead of his Honda HSV-010GT pursuers and remain in the lead until he made his pit stop at the end of lap 25.

After that, the RAYBRIG HSV-010 and MOTUL AUTECH GT-R moved ahead for a while, until the RAYBRIG and MOTUL cars collided and that accident helped the CALSONIC take the lead again with 10 laps remaining in the race. From that point on, Quintarelli managed to keep that lead to the finish and claim the team's first win since the final round of the 2008 season.

Pic 2: MOTUL AUTECH GT-R

In the GT300 class race, the M7 MUTIARA MOTORS AMEMIYA SGC7 came from 2nd position on the class starting grid to grab the win. This was the fifth win for the AMEMIYA RACING team here at Sepang in the ten GT races held here.

Pic 3: M7 MUTIARA MOTORS AMEMIYA SGC 7

========= Winner Comments ========

No.12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R [GT500]
Tsugio Matsuda: “There were some uncertain factors in today's race, so I am really happy that we won. I am glad that I was able to do my job of getting a good start and then turning the wheel over to Ronnie (for the second half) in first position. Although, if I had been able to give him a bit more of a margin over the cars behind, it would have made his job easier…. Things had gone well most of the way, but near the end, the Honda machine with their advantage in tire wear rate began to close the gap. Still, Ronnie was able to get to the checkered in 1st place for us. So, this win belongs not just to me but to Ronnie and to Manager Hoshino and the team who gave us a chance to run winter tests despite the tight finances, and to the people at NISMO who supplied us with this new engine and the people at Bridgestone and everyone else involved."

Ronnie Quintarelli: “I thought I could get past car No. 100 but I was beginning to lose tire grip at that point and that kept me from running at the pace I wanted. But I kept pushing, knowing that this was the key point in the race. (When No. 100 collided with another machine) I thought that there was a possibility of it happening, so I had kept a space open on the inside. But I still don't know what happened to him. To tell the truth, I didn't think we were going to win, but when I started my stint I found that neither No. 100 nor No. 23 had gotten as far ahead as I thought they would, so I kept pushing to try to catch them. Then they collided with each other. The last ten laps after that were very long for me. So much happened out there that I still can't believe that we really won. Tsugio and the team all worked very hard. Nothing can beat this feeling of having won."

No.7 M7 MUTIARA MOTORS AMEMIYA SGC 7 [GT300]
Nobuteru Taniguchi: “Our team's main sponsor is a Malaysian company, so several of the country's VIPs were at the pre-race party, and we wanted to win this race, so there was a lot of pressure. That makes me all the more happy that we won this race. Or strategy had been that we wouldn't change tires if we were in the lead. The tires that the engineers chose for us were exceptionally good."

Ryo Orime: “Our Malaysian sponsor MUTIARA MOTORS came out to give us their support this weekend, so I am very happy that we were able to give them this victory in return. Taniguchi-san pushed hard and brought the car back in 1st place with a lead, so things were relatively easy for me. But trouble developed in the suspensions in the last seven laps, so I had to avoid the curbing and that slowed my pace by almost 2 seconds per lap. Actually, it was a miracle that I was able to make it to the finish."

RACE QUEENS
So where's the race queen pictures? Hmmmmm.........
I think I'll reserve that for another post entry. :)

Pic 4: ISHIMATSU Kosei RUNNUP PORSCHE

Pic 5: M7 MUTIARA MOTORS AMEMIYA SGC 7

Pic 6: COROLLA Axio apr GT

Pic 7: ZENT CERUMO SC430

Pic 8: KEIHIN HSV-010

Pic 9: CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R

Pic 10: MOTUL AUTECH GT-R

Pic 11: CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R

Pic 12: ZENT CERUMO SC430

Pic 13: M7 MUTIARA MOTORS AMEMIYA SGC 7

Pic 14: MACH GOGOGO SHAKEN408R

Pic 15: EVANGELION RT TEST TYPE-01 apr COROLLA

Pic 16: PETRONAS TOM'S SC430

Pic 17: EVANGELION RT TEST TYPE-01 apr COROLLA

Pic 18: WedsSport IS350

Pic 19: HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R

Pic 20: CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R

Pic 21: COROLLA Axio apr GT

Skyline Club Gathering - 19th June 2010

Pic 1: The ones that were on time

In a somewhat period that seemed like ages, the Malaysian Skyline Club finally had a gathering that involves everyone and that is really newsworthy. All in I think were close to 50 cars that turned up. Mostly were R34s but there were a smattering of R32s and a couple of R33s. Two units of R35s also joined in the fun. I wish there were the older R31 or even the R30 around. Now that would be superb. Even more so if a certain owner were to bring out his KPCG10. :P

Pic 2: Some butt shots


Pic 2: More butt shots

The gathering was great!!! Kudos to Azmir for organizing this event. Was good to meet up with the owners and also getting to know new friends. I reckon the best way to showcase the cars that came that day is via a video of the attendees. There are a couple of cars not in the video as they arrived after I filmed it. Sorry guys...

Btw, there are a lot of cars that many (me included) have not seen before. Wonder where those guys lurk .... hehehe

Am keeping this post short as nothing really happened. The owners gathered, we had a photoshoot, mingle around and chit chat before groups of owners starts to make a move. Remember to check out the video below. :)

Sneak Peek: 2010 Autobacs Super GT Rd. 4

I'm sure plenty of you guys are very excited about the 2010 Autobacs Super GT Rd. 4 this coming weekend. Holding its own weight amidst the frenzy of the World Cup 2010, the Super GT is here at the hottest round of the series. Some teams even installed air-conditioning in their vehicles last year. Yes, that is something that is virtually unheard of in the world of motorsports. I'm sure more teams will do the same this year round. :P

Anyway. as a teaser to the race this weekend, below are some sneak pics......

Pic 1: PETRONAS TOM'S SC430


Pic 2: NAC EISEICOM LMP Ferrari


Pic 3: RIRE Lamborghini RG-3


Pic 4: JLOC Lamborghini RG-3


Pic 5: M7 MUTIARA MOTORS AMEMIYA SGC 7


Pic 6: Volk Racing wheels for the picking


Pic 7: EVANGELION RT TEST TYPE-01 apr COROLLA & COROLLA Axio apr GT


Pic 8: Wheels of the EVANGELION RT TEST TYPE-01 apr


Pic 9: ARTA Garaiya


Pic 10: ARTA Garaiya


Pic 11: Weider HSV-010


Pic 12: Interesting rear wing of the Weider HSV-010


Pic 13: Weider HSV-010


Pic 14: KEIHIN HSV-010


Pic 15: WedsSport IS350


Pic 16: DENSO DUNLOP SARD SC430


Pic 17: ZENT CERUMO SC430