OK? or NG?

Can you spot the mistake on this Persona meter cluster?

Can or cannot?

You see now? Nampak tak?

Just some stuff I did to my car. Basics mods really nothing bombastic.

1. Pro1 Racing Muffler (installed on Merdeka Day .. :D)

2. Pivot Raizin VS

3. Blackened Headlamp Unit

Persona Envy

My buddy Incik Bob aka shazmn aka JenalMME took a few shots of the brand new Proton Persona Envy Concept car. Damn nice la wey this car… more pictures at Bob’s flickr album

Update: Proton Persona

This is and update to my previous post on the newly launched Proton Persona. Went to a dealer nearby my office after lunch today and I’m pretty impressed by this new model. There was a lot of improvement design-wise and it did address a few of the issues from the Gen.2.

The most obvious one is well the brown-beige colour scheme is replaced with black-grey similar to the Neo. Secondly, they added a glovebox which caused quite a stir in the “glovebox-less” Gen2 as well as the added coin box on the lower-left of the driver side. I’m not very fond of the position tho as you have to reach down to grab change for tolls. Alternative use - put your cigarettes there ^_^ .

This time around Proton did a good job of changing the door handles from the round thing to a more “normal” looking one as well as the door-lock button. Instead of the old stick that vibrates when you drive it is now a solid button similar to Wira’s (if I’m not mistaken). The handbrake handle is not the sword-handle anymore (no more hulu pedang Saber-Rider T_T ).

In addition to the improvements some might think that Proton did skimp on the interior styling particularly on the seats fabric and door-trim design. IMHO Gen2 and Satria Neo sports a more elegant design rather than the Persona but for the Persona it was a good decision. Making the door-trim a lot simpler than of its older brothers will address a lot of quality issues (i.e fitting, vibrations, lose ends etc). I cannot say much about the seats since I was not so impressed by the fabric quality, only the colours.

Overall, I’m on a neutral ground. There are things I like about the car as well as dislikes.

The return of “AE86″ - Toyota & FHI teaming up for target release 2010

Romour has it that Toyota and Fuji Heavy Industries is discussing the posibilities of reviving the classic Toyota AE86 model. Made popular with the drifting scene and the anime “Initial D”, this rear-wheel drive FR is often dubbed as Hachi-Roku, Japanese for Eight-Six.

Alex Nunez of Autoblog.com writes, quoting from Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper the revival of the AE86 is going to be jointly developed by Toyota and FHI. This 2-door hatchback is said to keep its Toyota badge while having a boxer engine; no more than 2.0 litre, from FHI as its powerplant. The new model is launch target is 2010 with a price tag of Y2,000,000 or RM62,000. Well, considering tax and all (if it ever gets into Malaysia, around RM100,000++). Talks between the two automotive giants will not begin until this Fall.

More at Autoblog.com…

Proton Persona

Proton revealed the latest of its line yesterday - Persona. In other words, the Gen2 Sedan. Priced in the range of RM44,999 and RM55,800 the new model runs on (sadly) the Campro powerplant not as the expected Campro CPS. I haven’t had the chance to see the actual car itself but from a few reviews I read Proton did a good job with this one. Although it seems that Proton is skimping at some features that should be considered “mandatory” (i.e. Rear brake discs, ABS, Airbags etc) this is a long overdue of the hype of Wira Replacement Model (WRM) which was a designation for the Proton Gen2 (hail the Gen2 !!!!).

Overall design is quite OK looking at how the Persona seems to be shifting towards a more exclusive range with the facelift of the front grill and rear trunk lid. I will reserve my comments on the interior until I have a first hand encounter. The wheels sports a different design from Gen2 (still running on 15″s) which is a nice touch of individuality although I still prefer the “bunga raya” rims tho.

My verdict on this new model? Who cares? Buy it if you like it. I’m a Gen2 driver biatch!!! ^_^

Power Ain't Cheap

Something interesting in the news today about car batteries. Price hike!! The Star online newspaper reports that it the price may go up to 20%. Luckily I already changed my battery about a month ago. Maintenance free..no need filling up just check the indicator window..and its lighter too!!. Costs a little bit more than the conventional car battery (about ~RM 30).

Apparently the price hike is due to raw material cost is going up ( and here I thought it’s because the gomen staff naik gaji hahaha). As the car battery is 70% made of lead, it’s affected by the cost increment of raw lead.

“ Chow said lead prices in July stood at US$3,000 per ton (RM10,440), compared with US$1,275 (RM4,437) per ton in February last year. “

So… change your battery soon!!! and Drive safely!!
Read Full Article from The Star Online

Voltage Stabilizers

Voltage stabilizers…recommended by many, used by many more. What are Voltage Stabilizers you ask? Ok for starters, its not cool to say “voltage stabilizer”… the lingo goes “VS” (or vee ess if you can’t read English letters ^_^ ). Secondly, it’s an add-on to your car.

Yes, your CAR. I’ve had people asking me “why do i need to stabilize the voltage in my car?” and “my battery still ok what? and even worse “my car have voltage aa??”. Let me enlighten you - yes your car do have voltage since it has an electrical system (unless you crank-start your car every morning and your In Car Entertainment (ICE) is your own voice singing Britney Spears tunes). Also, VS do effect your battery’s performance in which it stabilizes the system’s voltage by reducing fluctuations.

With that out of the way, let me tell you that this entry is basically a review..of VS of course. The one I’m using since June and still using. The brand you ask? PIVOT Raizin Hyper Voltage Stabilizer VS-1 (the one in the picture). After a damn easy installation using the very well designed and user-friendly manual, the changes I noticed are:

• Car starts easier in the morning (twist the key a lot less longer than before)
• Gear changes smoother - upshifts and downshifts (my car is a 4-speed auto)
• Small improvement of throttle response when the AC is on
• HUGE improvement in audio system- deeper bass, undistorted highs and clearer mid-range.
• Headlamps brighter now

So there’s quite some significant improvement. But it didn’t solve one thing that I would like to be improved - headlamps still flicker when the AC fan kicks in…dammit. Since its brighter now it becomes so obvious.

After all things considered, I do recommend the VS as an add-on to any engine bay. Even new cars. Its not that expensive, easy to install, and the improvements can be clearly seen. One tip tho.. before deciding on a particular VS, take a look at other brands as well..and ask current users what does it do to their rides.

Next on my list - Grounding Cables.