Monday, April 12, 2010

Proton Satria Neo R3 Lotus Racing Edition


Speak of the devil. Was just blogging about the "Proton Sembilu" the other day and was dreaming that some new "aggressive car" might come out in the future. Looks like R3 has pushed a step forward in building limited editions cars. I wished they made more Satria GTi R3 the last time so more of us can own it instead of converting a normal Satria GTi to the R3 version.

There are plenty of photos of this car online. Also plenty of supports and avid haters about this model. The usual thing from price comparison to comparison with VTECs *Laughed*.

When people start to compare brands like VTEC, Mugen made a FD2R RR Spec which is available in town at the moment re-conditioned, few limited edition in the world and cost RM3XX,XXX. Funny, i didnt see the long queue outside NAZA or the local jap importers. I thought these fanatics were do-or-die-must-buy-limited-edition-VTEC? Even the FD2Rs are so expensive yet you do not see the REAL ones plenty roaming around. Why is that? Typically an Asian person would buy a house than a car since real estate makes more money in the long run. But i thought limited edition VTEC was the T-Rex of VTEC? I still do not see people queuing for the brand new FD2Rs outside Honda showroom. If normal wage earners cant even pay for RM200k car, what then a brand new Mugen RR which is super special edition minus the whip cream?

If you are seeking for the ultimate ride, its either a "BULL" or a "HORSE", get what i mean? About time people these days have an open mind towards upgrades and enhancement. No doubt RM115k is expensive and yes i was shocked to see the price at first. But then again, u wouldnt want everyone to buy when its cheap and keep bumping into them all the time. That wouldnt be limited, it would be COMMON.

Prolly these sort of cars were meant for collectors and true enthusiats, sometimes the word LIMITED is being abused and also misunderstood. Collectors/Limited editions were meant to be kept stock if possible and the value would maintain or increase in time. Overseas drivers that owns a Satria GTi would love to have a piece of the R3 creation. All they can do is add and convert. If you have a Mugen RR and bolt a Hondata, and add/change other things, it will sound Mu-Hon which defeats the purpose of buying a limited edition car.

If R3 were to ask me if i had any cool ideas to make this car even better, i would say a 2 litre CPS engine and prolly more carbon stuffs like the side mirrors and etc. Embossing the car's manufacturing number would also be good on each carbon parts since car/parts theft issues are alarming in Malaysia.

Remember my blog about the Japanese student's Monster Satria GTi? He brought back to Japan and upgraded it to stage 3. He must be proud to have a Satria GTi, Malaysian made.

More photos and readings here:
http://paultan.org/2010/03/30/proton-satria-neo-r3-lotus-racing-145hp/

Sunday, April 11, 2010

North Latitude36 (Japan)

When i saw the coverages of this car online in the recent
TAS2010, fuck i think i want one too. After quite sometime
of looking too-many of too-clean and too-perfect refurbished
to factory spec CR-Xs from around the world, i started to get
a lil' bit boring and i dont care if you made a fortune selling to
the next person.

All i have to say North Latitude36 has a nice distinctive style.
There wasnt any thing wrong with the car, just a bit of
extremity and creativeness makes this car on my top favourite
car list. The extended front diffuser which was painted black,
that is nice. The VTEC turbo engine and the race style interior
is nice. Last but not least, the green Volk rims puts the cherry
on top of the cake. If it was 15" it would look tiny on a bright
white painted and kitted car. I think he's running on 17" which
helps a bit when u have too much power in the engine bay.

There are prolly bunch of haters for this sort of mods since they
already injected themselves with full dosage of jdm-clean-drug.
Automatically they block anything that does not resemble
their tastes and likings which doesnt come close to a stock factory
design. They may not be using Hasport mounts or having a perfect
Mugen EF-8 Pro2 kits, but they made it to TAS2010 which was a
privilage for oldschool cars to be there. I guess it doesnt take much
Engrish to tell the world what ure modding.

This sort of thing would prolly be the ONLY reason for me to buy
another CR-X. Other than that, i'll stick to an old family wagon
with problematic door speakers and bad wheel alignments.

North Latitude36 reminds me of Cybermotorsports Australia
but a subtle version.

Respect Nobu & North Latitude36.

North Latitude36, Japan
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/beans/web2/N36/36index.html

Cybermotorsports, Australia
http://www.cybermotorsports.com.au/













Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Jeff's New Toys

TIAL blowoff valve and HKS valve oil cap




Jeff's After The Repaint


I cant remember which Subaru model paint code i sms-ed to Jeff and here is the latest repainting and touch-up results. With all the stone chips, door dings and minor dents, Jeff decided to give another round of paint. The fiber hood has been fixed. The intercooler piping has been repainted black. All the car needs is a good round of polish and wax, hopefully.

(Photos has been taken using his NOKIA phone)