It's Online

A few months after my Celica was brought to my father's friend place, his friend finally managed to sell the Celica. However instead of getting a nice price for a rare, late facelift model, he sold it to a dealer. Selling to a dealer means losing at least 30% from its market value which is less desirable. As a guy who has a new car, any amount I could get back is better than none but as a guy that loves the car, it is just sad. I was told that it was a hard sell because of the unpopularity of the Celica and it was the last resort to sell to a dealer.  This morning I saw the online ad for my Celica and I was shocked at the price it is being sold now. I heard from my father that it was sold for RM 4X,000 to the dealer and the dealer is selling it at RM 68,999 (bought recond RM14X,000). This is the difference in price that I mentioned and I was reading the spec listed. One item which I did not mod was on the list and one item was damaged but never replaced. In addition, it was owned by a company and driven by the director's son. Not owned by a director as listed on the ad and the first line is already a lie. Will they get away with it ?
However, I do love the photos listed on the ad and I have included those photos and the link to the ad in this post. Enjoy the photos and here is the link "Celica Online Ad".

Seeing the ad means it has really come to an end between me and my Celica. Soon I would call it the one I used to have instead of my Celica after the exchange of ownership papers. I wonder what I would feel if I ever see this Celica with its new owner on the road. 

The Next Level

The Honda world-famous "Type R" models are nicknamed "Turbo-Killers" for a reason and that reason, in my opinion, is that these are the most powerful Naturally Aspirated (NA). Its i-VTEC engine (V-TEC in the past) is a high revving, high power engine with high torque at your disposal. The specialty lies in the lift system that gives a boost of power in the powerband. It started with the NSX Type R (NA1) up to the latest Civic Type R (FD2R) which are all very fast to say the least. Although the NSX was an MR sports car, most Type R models are FWD and were at first laughed at by other car makers. Soon, the Type Rs proved themselves that Front Wheel NA cars can be fast and catch up with Turbocharged sports car. My first car was not a Type R but it was a close copy of it.

In 1999, Toyota noticed Honda's increasing market share in sports car and based their next Celica on the popular Integra Type R (DC2) in order to compete. Toyota replaced the most powerful variant of the Celica from the GT4's Turbo AWD setup with the 7th generation Celica (ZZT231) by favoring a new high rev NA engine and FWD setup. On paper, DC2 and ZZT231 have a lot of similarities. They both have 1.8L high rev engine, similar horsepower and torque, FWD setup and most importantly, the lift system. Thus, driving the ZZT231 Celica gave me the experience of almost driving the most powerful NA sports car. I gain the knowledge of how FWD handles and how to get the most out of the high rev engine and its lift system. Now, having experienced the best in NA engines, I think I should move on to the next level.

Humans are bound to be curious about something new or different. In this situation, I am no different. I have thought of trying new variants of sports cars. For my next sports car, I would definitely like a Turbo car. It does not matter whether it will be an RWD or an AWD because both would be something new to experience. Having said that, I actually have a little experience of driving a Turbo RWD car. My dad's Mercedes Benz E200 CGI has a 1.8L Turbo engine and is an RWD. That is why maybe I am a bit heading towards the AWD area and I have one particular model in my mind that fits the budget and has the heritage. The GT-R, Evolution Lancer and Impreza are a few examples of Japanese Turbo AWD models that are available and my bias is the Subaru Impreza. I have not narrowed down which model I might purchase but any will do. The Boxer engine, the 6-speed manual gearbox, 280 bhp and the bass tone exhaust. The thought of these features already makes me feel all excited.  That would be the next level for me.

Auto Cruise

The Auto Cruise or Cruise Control is not a new invention and have been available in cars since the 1950s but not all cars have it. It used to be a luxurious gadget for all the big brands and now it finds itself in almost all kinds of car. I knew about the existence and an idea of what it could do but I have never needed it. So, it was not a big deal for me until I started driving the Mazda 6. The Cruise Control comes as a standard and as a car-nut, I fiddled with it some times. I was impressed from the first time I tried the Cruise Control and I started to see why people especially in Europe love the Cruise Control. Being able to maintain a certain speed without the hassle of keeping the throttle steady and most importantly lower fuel consumption. I already know the Sky-Activ engines are good with fuel economy  and so the Cruise Control should be a very good compliment to it.

One day I had to make a trip down south to a state called Malacca and its around 148 kilometers from my house. Being confident with the Mazda 6's fuel efficiency and wanting to get every kilometers out of a full tank of petrol, I left home with only 1 bar of fuel left on the indicator. I figured with Cruise Control I could get quite a distance before I need to pump petrol and there would be petrol stations along the highway to Malacca. In addition, all new high tech cars are equipped with an indicator of remaining distance you could travel based on current petrol level. I started my journey with full confidence and with my 2 important tools, I was all set. I set my Cruise Control for about 110 km/h and although the indicator displayed I could only go for 18 kilometers but I already drove for almost 35 kilometers, which boost my confidence. 

Soon I reached the zero mark and have no bar left on the fuel gauge. I started to calculate that the full fuel tank can hold 60 liters and I usually only pump 53 liters. So, there should be 7 liters for me to use after I reached the zero mark but just to be safe I lowered the Cruise Control speed to 85 km/h and waited for the next petrol station to appear. However, soon I noticed something was amiss. The highway was passing by mountains and that is a sign where no petrol station will appear and I worried. My worries increased and started to panic. I put the speed to 70 km/h, rolling along the highway and started praying. I really did pray and I turned off the radio and air-cons with my window down. The thoughts of being stranded on the highway crossed my mind several times. After 53 meters of rolling at 70 km/h, I finally found a petrol station by a rest stop. 

It was a risky thing to do I would say. I miscalculated and thought that there would be more petrol stations along the way. However, I did proved that it is in fact that the Mazda 6 is very fuel economical especially with the Cruise Control. I truly think the Cruise Control is a marvel and a useful gadget but I won't be using it much though. On the way back from Malacca, I hit the highway with the Cruise Control at 140 km/h and I arrived back in KL in no time with great mileage. It was a blast and I have learned my lesson. The next time I have to travel far, I will start my journey with a full tank.