Monday, September 14, 2009

Unsung Heroes

On the Dash-Board, we leave nothing from the motoring world aside, thus we give our new collumn on "Unsung Heroes". Over here we take a look at cars that would make most of you go "Goodness who drives those things anymore??" when someone actually does. Those "things" to our eyes seem somewhat different compared to the automotive sight of a layman. I see an '85 Nissan Sunny on the road and I go "Man that's a tank! It still runs after 20 odd years!". To get from 1 point to another is what a car is all about in daily terms. These cars do just that and to top it off they come with air-conditioning for those who can't take the heat (me included), rear seats to haul 3 small rear-ends and a boot with sufficient space to store a spare person! There you go, anything else you need from your car? But... yes there always is a but isn't there? BUT, there is the question about comfort. Truth hurts because these "Unsung Heroes" can provide you with everything except (in most of cases) comfort.

      Let's look at the costs' point of view. These heroes are usually of Japanese origin which translates to reliability, reliability and yes... reliability. I bought myself a Nissan Sunny 150Y(not the usual 130Y, this comes with a 1.5 litre engine) about a year ago. Cost me RM3500 and repairs were approximately RM1000 and the car was perfect there after apart from minor clutch glitches. All in all, RM4500. Fuel economy? With one full tank of fuel which costs RM50, the car will run a fortnight before its next refill. Economic crisis? Get yourself a Sunny.

     Now the car doesn't look that great I admit it, but you cannot complain as you are paying for the car the equivalent value of fuel for a Hummer! The drive is not as bad as you think and its engine hasn't lost its horses as you might assume. Yes, old cars do have sudden tantrums at which your car would stop moving without warning (or you just stepped on the brakes instead of the one on the right). If your case isn't the latter then just get out, pop the hood and act as if you are meddling something until your mechanic arrives. Easy aint it? These oldies aren't perfect but they deserve much better than what they get. However, there are a few rules to follow if you own an old car:

1) Never intend to transport a dying person to a hospital in it as it may decide to take a nap halfway.

 2) Never intend to transport a dying person to a hospital in it as the ride may kill him.

3) Never intend to transport a dying person.....

.... well you get the picture, it all involves a dying person. Well that's why man created the ambulance for God's sake! Now to the pros:

1) You can park your car anywhere without worrying of it being stolen.

2) You don't have to worry if anyone nicked the back of your car accidentally....it wouldn't make a    difference.

3) If you lost your keys, you still can use a knife.

You see? Can you do that with your Mercedes or BMW? Every car has it's pros and cons no matter how comical they may seem. If you love cars, you just have to love them all. Drive an oldie one day for it is quite fun I guarantee that.

     That's that and we'll  bring you more stories and possibly test-drives on Unsung Heroes only here on The Dash-Board. Next time you see an old cars, remember one thing, it has lived longer serving its driver than yours ever would. As the saying goes, Old Is Gold. Cheers.

-RVD-

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Why I Cant Sell My Kia For A Good Price



    I went to a car dealership once and when I asked them how much they are willing to accept my dads Kia Carens for, they said 20k.the shitty part is we bought the car for almost 100 only less then 5 years ago. Even a 15 year old Honda costs more. Well that’s the case for a Carens, the salesman said if you want to sell a Spectra "you better just keep it la boss, no point selling".

    So this begs the question why. Why does the Kia mark have such a bad resale value? Well firstly to me Kia's are not badly made like some might claim it to be. For instance the Carens is quite spacious and comfortable inside. But the engine is SCREWED UP...it takes as much petrol as a tank. And to those who need a picture, my brother and I once went to Bangsar. We poured rm 10 worth of petrol and mind you Bangsar is like 15 minutes away from my place. The petrol only lasted for about quarter the way after Bangsar. A MYVi could probably do 2 trips on rm10. So we can safely conclude that Kia's don’t have the best engine management system in terms of fuel.
    Further (well this might not be entirely Kia's fault) but other car manufacturers such as Naza have come out with models that look exactly like the Kia models for example the Naza Citra which looks entirely like the Kia Carens.However I’m not saying that there has been a classic case of as in Malaysian terms"ciplaking" due to the fact that there may have been deals made between Naza and Kia. The Naza Citra cost about 80k as compared to the Kia at almost 95k at the time. So who in the right mind would opt for the Kia when the Naza offers a better 2.0 engine and better gadgets like a DVD player compared to the sluggish 1.8 engine offered by the folks at Kia.
    I’m not against Kia in anyway but I’m just giving the review of one of the cars that Kia sells based on my own experiences with the car. And if you are saying that maybe the problems that I have highlighted only applies to the Carens, I would happily refer you to a friend who drives the Kia Spectra and who is not a happy camper and just waiting to get rid of it. So the folks at Kia may want to take note...You are doing a beautiful job with the cars but the engine is something that you have to look into.

JEREMY VINESH

Monday, September 7, 2009

The Prancing Horse

This piece is dedicated to all die-hard fans of Ferrari and avid followers of their racing division, Scuderia Ferrari.


You are stuck in traffic and your son looks out through the rear passenger window and spots a sweet Beemer. He’d probably go “Mom, look at that car!” Now let’s rewind and reset.


You are stuck in traffic and your son looks out through the rear passenger window and spots a sweet, red, road hugging coupe. He’d definitely go “MOM THAT’S A FERRARI!” Yes, there are cars and then there are Ferraris. The craze for the Prancing Horse began with the 125s racecar, built by Enzo Ferrari Himself, which was the first to be called a Ferrari and to carry the “Cavallino Rampante” or The Prancing Horse as we call it, proudly on its nose back in 1947. 63 years later, the craze has aged like fine wine and Ferrari occupies the throne in the automotive world, christened “King of All Cars”.

The “Cavallino Rampante” has a history of its own however. In 1923, Enzo Ferrari met with Countess Paolina, mother of the late Italian Air Force ace Francesco Baracca after winning a race at the Savio track in Ravenna. She asked Enzo Ferrari to use the “Prancing Horse” on his cars as it brought good luck. The original prancing horse was painted on Francesco Baracca’s airplane which perished in combat. Today, the prancing horse is one of the most distinguished emblems in the world, let alone among automotive giants.

Ferrari has come a long way since then, having the epitome of automotive technologies without losing its attributes. Speed, handling and noise… that is not all that makes up a Ferrari.

You are sitting in a Lamborghini or an Aston Martin if that is all you get my friend.

Sum it all up with flair, rich racing history and curvaceous Italian looks… you get a Ferrari.

-rvd-

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Judge a car based on its intended purpose....

  As was noted by the ice breaker, we appreciate the very machine that your car truly is. I may be biased and envious but a Ferrari or an Aston Martin isn’t something that you give to your child that just had their 17th birthday who can’t park the car to save their life.
  Having said that, as some of us might have seen on a certain show a group of auto journalist slammed economical cars like the Proton Satria Neo, Perodua MYVi and such. with all due respect to those journalist, they are judging those cars based on the same standards that they would expect of a Ferrari or a Bentley and not for what those cars truly are which is a car for a man on the street and was only meant to get a person from point A to point B.


According to them the Perodua MYVi has "breaks that are rubbish and the ride is rubbish", they also complained about the plastic dashboard and lining and said that this is a car that you drive with a long face. However I drive that car quite a lot and to me it’s a pretty good car for a man on the street. The car doesn’t drink much fuel, has the gadgets that a normal person would need and is relatively comfortable. I know I am not alone when I say that the Perodua MYVi is quite a good car to own given that its price is low and IT’S ECONOMICAL which the same reason it was built for is and it caters to the economically conscious segment of society.

Hence as I said with all due respect, you can’t judge an economical car on the same standard that you would judge a luxury sedan or a super car, so perhaps the journalist may want to exercise come leniency when they judge future cars of the same category.

JEREMY VINESH

Ice-Breaker

 A trip to a stall just a minute's walk away would take ten... why? You look for your keys, lock the doors, get seated and belted, reverse, shut the gates and drive to that very stall. You get back, lock up and get inside, leaving the car out of your mind until a time for its need arises.  Here however, we leave no room for cars being taken for granted. No car that's analysed by our eyes and mind goes unappreciated or disrespected. No... we love cars here and we (AutoBros) bring you the Dash-Board, THE spot for latest automotive news, our own test-drive reviews, car comparisons, what's hot in the automotive world and of course, motorbabes. All posts will be signed off by our "professional car lovers": Jeremy, Pravin, Ravind, Yukesan. Support us as we hope to be the Malaysian versions of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. With that, we give you The Dash-Board!