well, I have contacted TeamES Malaysia's rep here bro mwtang and he has agreed to put the post up on thier site. I think 30 ES now shud be no problem ba...

it could also become an interesting photoshoot opportunity... how intersting. my only hope now is that many Singaporean bros do drive up, even if not to track, just to go meet up with our Malaysian counterparts...

must try to make this dream a reality... else it's gonna be a colossal flop for all to laugh at us... truely jiao kia who think they got a team... but only a cyberteam... all air... nothing real...


dream on.... Turtle...

yet to firm up with a date. likely in the first 2 weeks of april. also depends on track avialability, and who to front the money first... if we want to collect in advance - who is the treasurer, etc.

am now looking at available dates, can anyone help to source for someone to front the RM$9000?

it shud be able to recover since Team ES Malaysia also invited to the ES track day... but as in all, we need people to commit. all wan to do cinema style buy one hour before hand... very very hard la... nobody commit den we do this for fun lor ... another cyberkok talk.. where all the money is in the arse, not the mouth...


i will be ready with RM$300 to deposit into treasurer's account in December 31 2006. anyone to open a joint acct for this?
we need to be transparant, not another JudeTan...


any interest gotten or leftover money will be given back to members la.

The Turtle was taken out for a short family holiday last week... I made reservations at the Equatorial on Cameron Highlands and planned for a 4 to 5 day trip with family.

I hope that one day, Team ES Singapore can go as a group for holiday with their respective families. It will be a grand drive up the mountain. I wonder if any Team ES members are keen on such a trip... hmmm something to ponder and voice out... maybe Genting Highlands might be more interesting to them... all gamblers...

well.... Cameron also can ma... bring own mahjong table and mahjong set up... hahahaha... play until no day no night....


anyway, car was prepared... huh? must prepare one meh? always prepared! na... prior, i had taken out my spare wheel OMG... the rubber so sticky and got white white fungus on it some more... sigh... so ok lor brush it down and kiwi the rubber to make sure supple and oiled... and properly inflated to 420 kpa...

and checked that my tool kit and car jack were all present and in working condition... and of course, steering lock and key available.

Side note on steering lock... I hate those stick types that push against the steering wheel but leave the centre area bare... i can remove your steering wheel with a screw driver and a size 14 bolt wrench! so when you buy a steering lock, make sure you lock out access to removing your steering wheel!! or else follow Mr Bean's method... take out the whole steering wheel!! sigh... stupidity cannot be cured... all bluffing yourself...


anyway, loaded up luggage... and electric steamboat-cooker and extension powercords haha we planning on doing our own steamboat there... clothings, jackets - yeah Cameron will be much cooler 15degrees at night... colder than your coldest aircon hahaha... and off we went.

The journey up to Cameron will take about 550km chicken feed for our fuel efficient ES Civic. Even with full load in the boot, 3 adults and 1 kid, we reached the hotel and the fuel reserve light did not even light up. in fact, the indicator showed 1/8 tank remaining!!

Toll from JB causeway to Cameron was around RM$60 so make sure your TnG card is sufficiently filled, else can go in cannot come out hahaha... the highway I mean...

TnG has improved their top-up facilities, that they have a 'Tambah Nilai' sign in some of their toll stations for you to top up as you pass by instead of having to go into their top up kiosk after the toll booths... so topping up was a breeze.

to be contd...

The Turtle was taken out for a short family holiday last week... I made reservations at the Equatorial on Cameron Highlands and planned for a 4 to 5 day trip with family.

I hope that one day, Team ES Singapore can go as a group for holiday with their respective families. It will be a grand drive up the mountain. I wonder if any Team ES members are keen on such a trip... hmmm something to ponder and voice out... maybe Genting Highlands might be more interesting to them... all gamblers...

well.... Cameron also can ma... bring own mahjong table and mahjong set up... hahahaha... play until no day no night....


anyway, car was prepared... huh? must prepare one meh? always prepared! na... prior, i had taken out my spare wheel OMG... the rubber so sticky and got white white fungus on it some more... sigh... so ok lor brush it down and kiwi the rubber to make sure supple and oiled... and properly inflated to 420 kpa...

and checked that my tool kit and car jack were all present and in working condition... and of course, steering lock and key available.

Side note on steering lock... I hate those stick types that push against the steering wheel but leave the centre area bare... i can remove your steering wheel with a screw driver and a size 14 bolt wrench! so when you buy a steering lock, make sure you lock out access to removing your steering wheel!! or else follow Mr Bean's method... take out the whole steering wheel!! sigh... stupidity cannot be cured... all bluffing yourself...


anyway, loaded up luggage... and electric steamboat-cooker and extension powercords haha we planning on doing our own steamboat there... clothings, jackets - yeah Cameron will be much cooler 15degrees at night... colder than your coldest aircon hahaha... and off we went.

The journey up to Cameron will take about 550km chicken feed for our fuel efficient ES Civic. Even with full load in the boot, 3 adults and 1 kid, we reached the hotel and the fuel reserve light did not even light up. in fact, the indicator showed 1/8 tank remaining!!

Toll from JB causeway to Cameron was around RM$60 so make sure your TnG card is sufficiently filled, else can go in cannot come out hahaha... the highway I mean...

TnG has improved their top-up facilities, that they have a 'Tambah Nilai' sign in some of their toll stations for you to top up as you pass by instead of having to go into their top up kiosk after the toll booths... so topping up was a breeze.

to be contd...

We left for the Woodlands causeway checkpoint at 5.30 am... reach the CP at 5.45...Kao... Singapore Side JAM!! damn... only 2 lanes were open... and all just park there on the road lor... bloody crawling.

luckily at 6.00 am, the lanes opened two more... and suddenly, we were MOVING! KNS... must wait till 6.00 am shift den open more lanes... .
Efficient wor...

Malaysian side totally no problem... just drive up to the kiosk, stamp passport, and pay toll, and pass... no hassle... they really freed up their customs ... it's easier to get into Malaysia than going home... in Singapore, of course, they check everything... from bubble gum to cigarettes... dunno if they know how to identify TNT and Uranium or not leh... but bubble gum and cigarettes, sure kena one...


anyway, stopped in JB for nice breakfast, and top up fuel - haha Malaysia's Shell has 'upgraded' their VPower fuel to VPower Racing... must try their new fuel see whether same as local fuel or not... my car fully loaded leh... see the suspension... eh? like did not drop much leh... Those Eibach ProKit Springs really worth their money leh... I'd thought with such a full load on a lowered car... sure scrape all the humps in the JB customs leow... but it never hit a single hump... wa... fantastic!!


So breakfast was at this busy corner coffee shop, wanton mee and char siew mee... was very nice... as was the teh tarik... chinese coffee shop...

we finish breakfast, and set off for the NS highway.

being KS, i drove at speed limit most of the way, and when can see infinity, sped up to 120kmh, or higher if many were going high speed (follow traffic speed ma - dun road hog...) and luckily i kept to speed limits... at the road block to pull over those caught speeding, we passed safely... phew...) Also thanks to the oncoming traffic across the road flashing their high beams at us - warning us that there was speed trap in operations that they saw on our side of the road... so the lot of us guai guai travelled at a sedate 110 kmh for the next 10 km before kena road block... heng ah... safe...

there was this malaysian BMW zoom past us during our 'slow drive' after the warning flashes, kena pull over by the road block police officers... hahaha... I guess they have money to contribute lor...


to be continued...

The drive up Cameron Highlands from the foothills was quiet and not filled with cars as it sometimes is. worse...buses and lorries going at 10kmh...

so my drive up was quite fast, averaging 50kmh or more...

family inside so cannot go TDF... too damn fast hahahaha...

but there was this van in front of me doing 35kmh... and taking the racing line no less... while i was trying to overtake him... apparantly, he did not check his rear mirrors for the longest time when I was hanging back, waiting for my opportunity... so when i moved to pass, he suddenly turned out too (there was a bloody slow vios in front driven by a young malay lady... yeah... 35kmh) and started to 'overtake' the vios at 37kmh...

i had to swerve to be safe, and luckily, it was uphill, and my brakes quite good... no e-stop but youknow what i mean lor... close shave... i din even bother to horn la... just fall back and wait again... but he knew i was there leow... becos he 'jumped' to see my car almost beside him after he swerve out... without warning.


so at the next available opening, i horned him and flash my lights before going forward... on 1st gear hahaha, and both the vios and van vanished forever from my rear mirror ( i was doing 60 to 65 then... even my passengers were quiet i.e. no disapproval of my speed) we were going SO DAMN SLOW for almost 10 minutes!!


to be continued...

The air was cool, 18 degrees C... nice and breezy at nite... fantastic for me... Car leh... Turtle had to do a bit more time to warm up during morning starts... lucky i did not do the throttle bypass...

Anyway, went to the Boh Palas Gardens to tour the plantation. Quite an interesting drive further UP the mountain!! but the damn road had so many high humps... and me with full load - 3 adults and 1 pre teenager... and on lowered springs... I was cussing all the way...

but ... the Eibachs... they did not bottom out! And they did not scrape the humps!!!!! went tru all quite smoothly!! albeit a tad slow when crossing humps... must have crossed 20 or so humps going up there...

the view, magnificent!

the rest of the trip, equally enjoyable.


The way home was down the other side for a short lunch at Ipoh...

and driving home after lunch... well, just open up becos the roads were so deserted... dunno why... it was a Tuesday, and school term was still on in Malaysia... must be the reason... the only place heavy traffic was roadworks on some stretches, and in the KL area...

we left Ipoh at around 1.45pm, drove 500+km and reached JB at 7.00pm

re-topped petrol and crossed home after a short dinner.

the tyres held up well after the repatch of the puncture... but it was always a spectre at the back of my mind on stretched where speeds invariably went up to dangerous levels...

Finally got sick of my limited performance Greddy Full Function Auto Timer. Not meant for our cars la... boring sia... 11 functions only use 2 or 3...

so, off to GT Auto for the popular pen-lite Apexi timer. traded in the greddy which he took... and cleaned up the wiring in the dashboard...

hmmm... dun quite like the bright light in the instrument cluster... will have to relocate soon.


but function wise, very very happy with this timer... and can arm the alarm while car is still counting down... no issue... just great.

finally changed my rims and tyres... they were getting... unsuitable... i needed to downsize to 15 inch to use the tyres i want, and not pay too much more...

wanted the Toyo Proxies R1Rs... but my good friend din have them... he offered me the Falken RT615s... not bad price i suppose...

looked at the traction rating ... it's A
looked at the temperature rating it's also A
looked at the wear rate number - 200

normal tyres wear rate is 380 to 460...

i was instantly reminded of the other 200 rating tyre i'd seen and driven and smiled non stop for an hour... the Continental Contisport Contact 2... those tyres were sticky! and so are the 615s... ok lor... jiak!

said my goodbyes to the very very nice rims... i bot... original RPF01... with the centre cap some more... but i guess it needed to make way for the 15 inch rims... this time, replicas... can't afford the originals... TE37 lookalikes... quite light too... ok la... it's the tyres that count now... no longer interested in the 'bling' factor...


after scrubbing in... about 300 km... went for a sprint with a good friend... first try, let go at 2,500 rpm... he was faster...
2nd try let go at 4,000 rpm... hey! no wheel spin! you know what that means?? haha... was quicker to the top speed by more than 2 car lengths... interesting... what grippy tyres can do... ok ok... the tuner also need to be praised... he really brought my piggyback and car to life...


overall look to the car... I'd say... nice...

in the course of the past weeks, a few things happened... first during a dark and cloudy nite on the expressway, my front wheel hit a piece of brick/log fallen from some truck (used to chock up the wheel if on a slope and loading things) saw it coming but going too fast, and too poor visibility in advance to take evasive action... loud crack sound as i hit.. and steering became vibratory at highway speeds...

damn... i tot the alignment had gone... later discover that the wheel was dented! damn it... new rims!!!!! it's beyond repair this one... so had to order in a new replacement. and just before track day too... double damn... there goes the run up to Sepang on 30th...


and opportunity came to get 15 inch rpf... and so i did... hahaha almost without hesitation... i know i can sell off the TE37 replicas easily... as soon as i got the replacement rim (it would be MINT condition...) shucks!


haha so now, back on RPF01 rims... and yes, compared to the TE37 replicas... they are much lighter... my friend at the shop took out the bathroomscale and popped the rim on... too light la... so he put two on... haha better... the TE37 replicas was less than 12 kg just a little more than 11kg ... so it's around 5.5kg each. The RPFs? a pair of them weighed less than 9kg... er... yeah... I knew those rims are light... but wow... to see it with my own eyes... hmmm... nice indeed...


one more thing i discovered... The SMT6 has a second map... and can be switched... haha... nice... now I can have a conservative tuning for normal road drivings/NS highway driving, and a more aggressive map for short sprints and light tracking... have to monitor the oil/water temperatures carefully here of course... it tends to run hotter than normal by around 5-10 degrees ... still within normal range ba... even for oil temp... less than 80 degrees there... and water around 85 degrees...

the meters may be inaccurate in the exact temp, but i just need to monitor the 'normal' and the heightened to know they do run hotter... and keep a lookout if they go up by a lot during track... to rest and cool it down...

damn this rainy weather... it's causing havoc on the car... especially when it has to brave tru flooded roads... and flooded sections of the highway... no hydroplaning, but the sound of charging water on the lower chasis is quite irritating, and have to keep 110% alert for immediate action to counter loss of traction, or grip...

Just did own polish today too... just a quick job of .. you guessed it! Turtle WAX!!! hahaha... just to replace that which was washed off in all the days running tru the heavy rains...

Shud be OK ba...


end for now...

It's been a week since the last blog entry... suffice it to say, nothing significant happened... or did it??

Friday saw a huge turnout at the Punggol 600s Kopitiam for Team ES meetup... where brudders regular and new turned up for a chit chat session, and grew into a part 2 at Changi Village and an exciting drive home. Turtle wasn't part of part 2... had to leave by 10.45 to bring food home to wifey...


Saturday was more exciting... Had to play taxi for wifey to the airport in the morning and back again in the evening... the much planned and anticipated PG trip vapourised...


Met Jolvin for the first time on Saturday... does a bang-up job on my car... but the excitement was when a 'neighbour' came back and wanted to park his usual spot but didn't dare say it openly becos it is public car park... so he said, car park is for parking car... hahahahah... read full story in the road story folder... damn...


Turns out the PG trip that did not happen was a blessing in disguise... the track never opened that night. A few brudders went in on their own to discover that sad news... and had to settle for a bit of street racing onthe way back... turned out to be an all night affair for one of the brudders... suffice it to say... the law bumped into him... but no worries, everyone's safe home.


Sunday was even more eventful. Actually, the event started on Saturday...

I played consultant to a brudder on some mods... over the phone... and walla... Sunday came problems!! so i had to go connect the tested and tried sources who CAN solve the problem... and after being a good husband to cook, clean and be with family the whole day, move out to help solve the problem... and solve my own outstandings as well...

My projects were completed well... took long enough... cleaning them visors off the foam mounting tapes were hell... so now it's up... so are the switches and relocation of the NA timer...

Had the luck to get a set of Hot Bits Coilovers... but one rear coil is leaking a little... anyway i will bring the whole lot to speedworks JB to get it revalved and swapped in if possible this week...

or next...

anyway, the brudder's problem couldn't be fixed after 3 hours of tuning... wow... I tot tune until fly leow... the look on the Master's face... was worth the trip, and the wait... and the attitude, priceless. Managed to eliminate the base car's problem and narrow it to connection problem... you see... having too sophisticted a system to mate with a less sophisticted system requires downstepping a little from the 'superior' setup...

Anyway, that theory will be tested tonite... Alas, i dun think i will be there to see it... but I will sms to kapo the outcome...


YAWN..... so sleepy today... had less than 2 hours sleep becos of being 'concerned' - concerned becos i recommended, and things din go as expected... at least now it's being properly addressed...

another week has passed.... started a sister blog so much of the happenings were recorded there... like having a second child in the family leh...

all eyes focus on the new baby and the Turtle was left alone in the weekend. not to worry... I'd bot it suspensions, steering wheel, etc suspensions waiting for servicing before install...

but that one got to go into Johor Jaya area... will prolly do that after pay day, and after CNY ba... unless strike lottery...

damn...

CNY is coming already and we have yet to do spring cleaning at home... damn... even the Christmas Tree is still up wif all the lights ! it's the 60th day of Christmas already for goodness sake... hahaha...no la.... not that long... but it's way past the 12th day by a month leow... hahaha... tonite must take it down by hook and crook ...

The Turtle is doing well... now less stressed, and becos travelling less, less fuel is consumed...
but office hours sucks... what takes 20 minutes in the evening wud take 45 minutes and above during office 'rush hour'...


got to watch the tyre pressure tho... park at one spot for too long, tyre pressure will be affected.

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Turtle came down with an interesting bug recently. The Air-bag warning light came on and stayed on....

I was worried if the DC5 steering was having problems... and dismantled it to double check, as well as the fuse for the airbag...

Installed the original steering... still same problem...

couldn't find the damn fuse from under the steering column! the mess of wires down there... damn... got to go find Ah Tiong leow...

Right about then, a thread from SHC came up - same problem... stock steering some more... haha so I asked bro andyfung who replied that he has the diagnostic tool to check... went to his workshop... wow... nice and professional... another place to go to for help leow...

his man (same name as me well, same one of the characters of our chinese name la) was MOST helpful... did the diagnostic... and identified the problem. Could be expensive to fix if car is out of warranty! Not the steering wheel ... phew... else my DC5 wheel out the windown leow... and not the fuse...

so ...

Called the Jln A Ibrahim KM workshop Mr Wong... told him my problem...
since my car only serviced there a few weeks ago... after full diagnostics no problem... went down, did the diagnostics officially, and identify the same problem... he is a good one this Mr Wong... helping me to claim warranty... but no parts available in Sgp... ordering from Japan... he will call me to go replace when it arrives in Sgp.

now driving around with the airbag warning light on... hahaha Mr Wong told me 'safe' - SRS won't anyhow deploy one... i was worried suddenly get punched in the face for nothing.....

for the record, it wasn't the driver side system malfunction...it's the passenger side... hahaha how come? I tot I too heavy cause damage to the driver side system... no... it's the driver's side airbag system detected a malfunction.

Let's see how it goes when parts come in. Looking forward...

.

Damn... come across a nice proposition ... Tien Monoflex shocks...

Turtle... you want these?

.........

damn...