New Technology

Back then in the 80s to the 2000 era, it used to be just manual and automatic transmissions. However as technology becomes more advanced, new development was made. The result is the dual-clutch gearbox among many other new inventions or innovations. There are different variants (wet vs dry) and different names from different brands such as the DSG from Volkswagen. I have not driven one yet but I have heard various stories especially from Volkswagen owners all over the Internet. I remember watching 2 videos that compared manual and dual-clutch variant of the same car. It really tells a lot about the difference and what the still new dual-clutch gearbox can do.  Really an eye-opener.

Video #1 for Volkswagen Golf GTI MK5

Video #2 for Mitsubishi Evolution Lancer X  (Time 35:33).

If you have watched the videos like I did, you will realize why it is the trend of the new automotive world where supercars, sportscars and even your everyday cars are using dual-clutches. I am sure you could look it up on the Internet for the benefits of this transmission. So, I am not going to give you an elaborate introduction on this great invention. The only thing about it that catches my attention is the fact it is faster than the traditional manual gearbox. That is until my friend bought a Nissan GT-R R35 that uses a 6-speed Dual-clutch transmission. Since his graduation, I seldom see him because of his work but one day I was visiting his house and talked about his GT-R. He surprised me by telling me he has not driven the GT-R for 2 weeks and the cause is none other than the transmission.

GT-R Dual Clutch Gearbox

According to him, one piece of clutch is for the 1st, 3rd and 5th gear while the other clutch is for the 2nd, 4th and 6th gear. It so happens that one of his clutch is burned and needs to be replace. He could not do it for 2 weeks mainly due to work but also because he could not drive as the gears won't shift. My main concern besides the troublesome feature is the price. One piece of clutch for his GT-R cost about RM 15,000 and when you replace one, it is better to replace the other one too because it is most likely quite thin. I am not sure whether it is just the GT-R or that every clutch for dual-clutch transmissions are that expensive. That is the price for new inventions. I might as well drive a traditional manual car or perhaps leave the expensive toys to the more financially able crowd. Nevertheless, a great invention.

A Different Upgrade

Some of the frequent visitors of my blog would have realized but for those less frequent readers, there is not a single post on this blog except for one that I remember mentioning about audio related upgrades. The one entry would be about the touch screen installed on the Celica. The main reason for my lack of writing in this department is because not only am I not a fan of it, I actually dislike it. Mainly because of the lack of advantage that I can see from such upgrades. Nevertheless, this is the first time and hopefully the last (keeping fingers crossed). 

So, if you remember from a recent blog entry regarding the trusty, old Toyota Vios in my house has been deemed necessary for much needed make over. The paint job and fix up were just part one to the plan. My sister, the current driver, apparently is a fan of bass songs that requires good speakers to have that surround sounds and also all the modern input sources such as USB and Bluetooth connectivity. I do have to admit that an entertainment system on a B-Segment car would be very basic especially back in 2003 when it was first launched. After 7 years, the speakers are bound to sound worst than when it was new and certainly CD was the only option needed. 

Hence, the need to bring this car's entertainment into the year 2014. In between the trips to and fro the workshop, the Vios was bought to this accessory shop. First a touch screen with CD/DVD, Bluetooth, USB, AUX and radio function. Next up, the front 4 speakers were replaced with some German made speakers while the 2 on the rear with Japanese made speakers and that is about it since it did not have much to begin with. Last but not least, a new rear view camera for reverse is installed. It is possible only now thanks to the nice touch screen. Now it can go really loud sounding just like a cinema with surround sound and definitely can hear every bass note now. 

Bad Decision ?

After 2 weeks, I finally got the call that the Toyota Vios is done. It includes paint, exchange of broken parts and some chassis related tweaking. As usual, I hope to just go collect the car and pay and be done with it but it never is that simple. The first time I took it back, there were complains regarding several gaps. Mainly gaps between the front hood, the front bumper and front lights. At the rear, when the boot is closed, the gap it has with rear bumper not even. So, I had to send the Vios back to the workshop for another round of tweaking and I got another call in 3 days. I was worried when I went over to collect the Vios so I examined it and realized very minimal work was done. I came to think that it is the best they could do with a damaged front and the fact that they replaced the rear bumper with an O.E.M. or what they call a replica. I am glad my parents accept my conclusion but come tomorrow I was told that they are sending the Vios back for paint touch up. I do not know how many times must the Vios go in and out of the workshop until they are satisfied.

I would say this is an outcome from a bad decision from my father. Before this makeover was given the green light, prices were asked and it was up to my father to decided. He was busy and did not want to give any concern and so he let one of my colleague to decide. It was decided to be done by an insurance claim workshop and that is worst kind of workshop ever. I do not know about other countries but if your car is in an insurance claim workshop, there are certain things you can assure you will receive. For part replacements, you will get replicas/fakes or used parts. For mechanical repair, you won't be able to find anything wrong until you are a distance away from the workshop and have signed the release documents. For paint jobs, you will get cheap paint or bad painters. In a way, I have to say I expected the outcome because it was sent to this workshop. If it were a real paint shop, the paint will turn out beautifully but the damaged parts and chassis tweaking would be impossible. Should have sent to 2 places.

p.s. I could not get any photos because of the frequent trips to the workshop and I was heavily ill.

Make over

Readers that have frequented this blog would have known about a Toyota Vios that is in my family from the few post I wrote about it here. The Toyota Vios was made in 2006, bought in 2007 and it stayed on with family for 7 years. It is now driven by my sister, the 3rd owner/driver. After it was handed down to my brother, he messed it up and when you think things could not get worst, my sister messed it up even more. Ever since when my brother was still the driver, I have been suggesting to restore the Vios especially in the paint department but it was ignored maybe because it was just a paint problem. However, my sister made it above that state and it could not be ignored anymore. Even the car key is in such a horrible state. So, it was decided and time to send it for a make over. Here are some photos of the overall damage on the car before sending it away. I am sure you can understand the need for such move after seeing these photos. 

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.