BMW Idea

Since I viewed the 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, I have been constantly thinking about the downpayment and loan issue. I have been thinking a lot and I definitely do not want to be burdened by a car loan because of these simple reasons: 1. Most of the great JDMs are older than 2005. 2. Any car older than 2005 will not be able to get a loan or have a short loan period. 3. Those newer are just too expensive. So, I came up with a plan to get an old and cheap car but with the potential of being a project car. That is when I was reminded of this interesting idea that was once very very popular. Getting an old BMW and put in a Japanese sports car engine. You get the style and luxury of a Continental car but with the reliability of a Japanese engine. We all know BMW engines are great but it is not easy to maintain one. So with this combination, you would get the best of both world.

E46 3 Series Coupe with CSL front bumper

I have always eyed the BMW E46 3-series especially the 2 door coupe variants. It also helps that these E46s are made in the year circa 2000 and market is of abundance of them. I could easily get a E46 for around RM 25,000 but you would need to fork out more at around RM 40,000 for a 2 door variant. I have already picked a color and the exterior enhancement that I would love. It would either be blue or grey with a M3 CSL front bumper paired with a SRS or M Sports rear bumper with dual exhaust. Put on a nice set of Breyton rims and lower with a M Sports suspension set, it will be great. On the inside, I will have a black interior with silver trimmings, a M Sport 3 spoke steering wheel with control buttons and replace the original audio player with a touch screen just to modernize the inside. Also, I would finally have a reason to take my beautiful alcantara Recaro SR6 seat out of my room and into a car. It would be just like the good old days.

SRS rear bumper with dual exhaust

M Sport rear bumper with dual exhaust

Now that the BMW side of the idea is done, it is time for the Toyota half. You might not be aware of it but transplanting Japanese engines into a European car has always been a popular thing in Malaysia. You will see some 1980s Mercedes Benz or early Jaguars with Japanese engines under the hood. It is popular because of the saying that Japanese engines are more reliable and cheaper to maintain. For the BMW, Toyota's 3 liter 2JZ-GTE and 2.5 liter 1JZ-GTE engines are the chosen one with the 1JZ being the more popular one. I started looking up for parts, engine, manual transmission and the list of mods that would go well with the project. I thought I found the perfect project to satisfy my budget and the need for speed. You could see me going online searching every day especially for a suitable and cheap project car but there was none. I told myself I need to wait. Condition is not important because it is more critical to get one as close as possible to what I want to reduce the amount needed to spend on the project.

Black interior with aluminum trim equipped with M Sport steering wheel and touch screen 

Then that fateful day came when I was chatting with a good friend of mine and told him about my BMW idea. He told me it was impossible and I was surprised to hear that. I asked him why and he told me that the government changed its rules and now it is impossible to endorse a BMW with a Toyota engine. This was a recent change from 3 years ago and I went to check. Indeed it was true and with the new ruling, it is only possible to change engine that belongs to the same brand and an increase of capacity by 25% only. Saddened by this new revelation, I felt that my project ended before it even could start. I quickly thought of another alternative and that is to buy a BMW already endorsed with a Toyota engine. It would definitely take away the fun of modding but it will save a lot of time. So, I began looking for such a car and I was disappointed. Not only were such cars rarely found in the market, even if you do find one it most probably would be 4 doors with automatic transmission and be more expensive than what I could afford to pay for. I could only curse my luck in this matter. In the end, I am forced to wait and plan more in order to fulfill my needs of a having sports car. I need a manual coupe variant and I will not give up !!! Or until I find another more feasible project. :)

1JZ-GTE sitting cozily in a BMW. Prefer the VVT-i model

Its back

It has been a little over 2 years since my Celica was sold. I was glad that the car remains in the Celica Club but to my knowledge, the new owner stays in another state and most likely attends only big events. Since it is still in the club, I could sometime see photos of it and keep track on its updates. There was an last year and I had the chance to come upon the above photo on the club's Facebook page. I thought of posting this just for the sake of reminiscing.

In my opinion, I am glad that the new owner remains the original and rare Thunder Grey color and there is no change to body kit. If you look closely, the new owner installed the same 4 pot brakes I used to have from 6th generation Celica GT-4 model. It is not so obvious because it is grey in color but I obviously prefer gold color because when I had the car, the brakes were gold. He asked me to sell the brakes back to him but we could not agree with the price. When it comes to the decals, I feel it is a personal preference. Some part of it I like some part I do not like. Interior wise, I have no idea whether anything have been changed.

That's it from me. Tell me what you think about the new look on my previous ride in the comment section. Sorry it is such a short post especially since the long hiatus from me. As you know I drive a regular sedan now. So, there will be almost no stories to post but I will come by once in a while if anything catch my attention. Ciao for now.

Dream Car Expo 2015

One week before Christmas, there was an expo in Mid Valleys called the Dream Car Expo 2015. I think it was the last car related event before the year ends and I have been to the last Dream Car Expo in 2014. Let me say that this is not exactly what I would consider as an Expo and the "Dream Car" term is quite misleading. I remembered my first visit in 2014, I had expectations but I was soon disappointed and I even went there on the sole purpose of going to the expo. It was just a small hall filled with your regular every day cars that you can view just by going to any showrooms of each brands. I soon realized the purpose of this Expo and it is to help folks who wanted to purchase a car and get some good deals and maybe freebies on that day. I think calling this expo a sales event for every brand would be much more accurate. So you would most likely ask, why was I there again in 2015 ?

Well, this time I did not go there on purpose but I had to do some last minute Christmas present. I thought since I was already there, I might as well take a look at this year's expo. I went without any expectation but I was shocked, surprised to see something I did not expected. I was greeted by a bright red Audi R8 at the entrance. You would have thought it was the 2nd generation R8 that was said to launch soon and it was because Audi participated in the Expo. As you can see from the photo below, it is the 1st generation V10 R8. I found out that this supercar was brought in by a company that sells reconditioned and used cars.

The same company also brought along a BMW i3 and its written on a paper on the windscreen, "1st in Malaysia". BMW Malaysia happens to only sell the i8 here and so this company might be right about this unit being the first but is it really the only one here ? I definitely do not like the i3 but being curious what kind of car is this electric vehicle and decided to take a look. On the outside, I have to say it is butt ugly. Definitely, you can never ever get me to buy this car, much less see me drive in it especially with that price.  However, I do have to say that the suicide doors are awesome. 

Time to head inside the cabin to see what it looks like because this is the first i-series car of BMW that I am in and I was curious to see how futuristic it would look like. When I finally got in, I had mixed feelings. Sure, there are some cool future elements like the blue accent on the steering wheel (Tron inspired maybe ?) but it sure is boring like how all BMW interiors are (no offense here). After a minute the exciting parts get drowned by the "simple" elements of the cabin. 

Next, I found a sports car that makes regular appearances in many car related shows in Malaysia, the Subaru BRZ. This is a car that I both like and hate at the same time but I have met the BRZ almost every time I go to a car show. If you are happy to see the BRZ, you should thank Subaru for officially selling the car here. Nothing much to talk about it because the BRZ has made it into some of my posts in 2015 and I believe every time I see the BRZ it is the same car. You usually have showroom unit but are you interested in this event unit ? If Subaru is selling it cheap, I might just take up on that offer. 

After some exciting entries, I began to walk around and realize that although this year's expo has the same theme but there are some new cars that was only made available in 2015 that I have yet seen on the road such as the Chevrolet Malibu, the new Peugeot 308 THP and the MK7 Volkswagen Golf R caught my attention as well. I am not a fan of Golfs (GTi and R too) but I liked the fact that Golf Rs are AWD with a 2 liter turbo engine. The MK6 models had nice Recaro seats but I was disappointed to find out that the MK7 does not  have Recaros. 

The expo only took 15 minutes of my time (some of it was to wait so I can sit inside the car) but this year I walked out with some nice photos. Definitely did not expect these cars to show up and this shows that maybe I should check out the expo every since it is free admission and you will never know what would be on display the next year. So, see you again in 2016.

Merry Christmas !!

Merry Christmas to all my readers and hope you received lots of presents and have a great celebration.

Thanks for supporting and visiting this blog. 

MX-5

Over the weekend there was an auto show, organized by a local newspaper and the Malaysian Automotive Institute. It created quite a hype by promoting that there would be 150 exhibitors with various talks and test drive happening. There were news about the event on the social network and my girlfriend (yes, my girlfriend is into cars like me) told me that the new Mazda MX-5 and Subaru BRZ was on display. I have seen the BRZ on display a few times but since it was only released this year, I was more interested to see the Mazda MX-5 in the flesh. We all know that the 4th generation MX-5 raised a few debates mainly due to its engine size and power output. Before I make my stand on this, let me tell you about my day at the auto show. The Mazda stand seems to be the main attraction because it was located in the middle of the hall and just beyond the main doors. I have to say it is definitely the biggest both by one single brand alone. At the Mazda area, there were the Mazda 2 in both sedan and hatchback variant, the Mazda CX-5 and Mazda 6 in its facelift glory, the soon to be launched Mazda CX-3 (with velvet rope barrier) and the main attraction, the new Mazda MX-5 right in the middle of the stand on its own pedestal, all dressed in the special and might I say awesome, Soul Red color.

I went face to face with the MX-5 and it looks as if I was having a "who has the smaller eyes" competition as it has a small headlight design. I then walk to the rear with my finger following the lines of the car. Then, I saw the second thing that I dislike about the exterior, the rear lights. Can't they do a better job than this ? Although everyone thinks it is a handsome car but in my opinion, the Kodou design could be better translated into the MX-5. Next, I noticed something. I expected it to be kept away from the public as it is new and expensive but instead, the soft top was down, windows were down and doors unlock for the public to take a sit inside. Quickly I jumped into the cockpit (did not literally jump in though) to try and get the feeling of driving in the MX-5. The first impression that I get is how tight the cockpit feels like. My thighs easily hit the walls, my legs seems cramp and we all know the seats are already touching the back wall in a 2 seater and not much adjustments could be made. You know I like the Kodou design language and the new interiors especially since I myself drives a Mazda 6 but I am not entirely in love with the MX-5's interior design.

I am disappointed that a sports car that is sold much more expensive than the Mazda 6 has interior cues from the cheaper models. The MX-5 shares the same air-cond dials and air-cond vents as the Mazda 2, took the tachometer with digital display from Mazda 3 but instead of showing speed, the digital screen will display the gear that the car is in for AT models. You will also find shared elements on all models such as the MZD-Connect screen that looks like an iPad stuck to the dashboard (with covers for more expensive models), the control buttons next to the hand brake and the throttle controller below the gear shifter for AT models. I am supportive if car makers want to make gadgets or technology breakthrough a standard across all models such as the MZD system, throttle controller, i-Stop, i-Eloop, RVM and many more in Mazda's case but if you would like to take design cues from other models, please take it from a higher level model instead. The Mazda 6 and CX-5 have far more designs that could be taken instead from Mazda 2. Also do not get me started on why did Mazda not give the MX-5 a Head Up Display (HUD) unit that even Mazda 3 has it ?

Seems like there are many parts of the interior that I do not like but I do love the steering wheel which is a unique design only for the MX-5. It is smaller in size for easy maneuver and thin spokes that is very sporty. I like the one in Mazda 6 and CX-5 but always wanted something smaller and this is perfect. I also like the gear shifter particular the AT ones because from far it looks like a manual shifter. As you know, Mazda is changing the AT shifter from gate shift design back to the old straight design but by adding a cover that makes it look modern and straight types require a release button on the gear knob. We have seen many location of the release button and I was finding the one on the MX-5. It is well placed and I wanted to press it but was stop by the guy guarding the car. You let people in but they can't press a button ? I think my girlfriend was offended and we left. Now, I am going to be brief on where I stand on MX-5. The MX-5 have always been a lightweight, driver focused sports car since the first NA model. It is because of its lightweight, it can go fast even with a small engine. So, it seems befitting that it has a small engine with decent power output. The MX-5 is no GT-R or RX-7 and so does not need massive horsepower. I am glad that it still follows the idea of a Jinba Ittai and lets the driver focus on the drive instead. Absolutely no need for extra power here.

Korean Patriotism

I live in Malaysia and we have our own car brand and manufacturing sites. This year is the 30th anniversary but unlike many other car brands, its products are still not up to expectation. Often countries with their own national car brand would increase taxes on imported cars to protect its national brand which causes a huge difference in price. Thus, its citizen are mainly forced to purchase its national car especially for the low and middle class people. In Malaysia, its citizens purchase with a hatred and hope to survive and be financially able to upgrade and its founder, chairman and former Prime Minister often call its citizen as ungrateful and unappreciative of the national carmaker. He would make an example of the Korean brand Hyundai which flourish very well until achieving good international sales and credits this success to its supportive citizens. We have always thought that the Koreans are really supportive and that is why 97% of the cars on the road are Korean brand such as Hyundai, Kia, Daewoo and Samsung.

However, after talking with some Koreans and visiting Korea on 2 different trips, I realize that patriotism is not the reason. What is happening in Malaysia is also the case in Korea. Koreans have no choice but to buy Korean brands when other choices are too expensive because of high taxes to even consider. I was told by a Korean acquaintance that she hated Korean cars and if she could afford it, she would never buy a Korean car. I guess that is very true because in recent years, I started to notice imports, mainly European begin to fill up the streets of Seoul. It used to be only for the rich but it is either people are getting richer or its getting cheaper to purchase an import. Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen seems to be the popular choice but of course Mercedes Benz and BMW have their own market share. It really is a different sight to behold. So, no more stereotyping and I definitely hope that my national carmaker's chairman would stop using Korea's car history and situation as an example and give me cheaper cars. Please, I beg of you !!!

Korean Trend

During the first week of September, I was once again in the land of Kimchi. The only car that remains on my to see list is still the Hyundai Genesis Coupe because it is the only proper sports car, not bad looking and most importantly, not available in Malaysia. I did managed to spot a few and one with aftermarket bumper and Brembo brakes in the front. I liked the 2.0 Turbo variant but it seems that they cancelled it just last year and now only the 3.8 V6 variant is available now.

While I was in Seoul, I noticed that there is an increase of hybrid cars roaming the streets, especially the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. I have known that they do have hybrid models and Hyundai was developing Hydrogen technology with their Hyundai Tucson but I did not expect the awareness has increased to this extent. I thought it would be like in Malaysia, where sales would not be high.

Another trend would be the diesel trend that is hot in Europe. I felt the rising of this trend because of all the Volkswagen Golf that I saw while I was traveling was the GTD variant. For those who are not familiar with the GTD or you are situated in a country where it is not available, it is the Golf's diesel variant's fastest model. Much like a GTi but with a diesel engine. On the exterior it looks the same everywhere with the GTi except the exhaust tip where the GTi have 2 exhaust but GTD has a single twin tip design and different rim designs (I prefer the GTD ones). Both spots a turbocharged engine but the GTD has 36 hp lesser than its cousin but has an extra 30 Nm of torque (depending on market). I would have thought the GTi would be more popular due to its power and driving feel but many GTDs were roaming the streets of Seoul.

GTi (Left) vs GTD (Right)

GTD (Left) vs GTi (Right)