27-02-2008 US rear looks better ?

One man's meat is another's poison.

26-02-2008 Recaro SP-X

Dream Seat ! If you are a Recaro seat fan, this is one seat you must add to your collection !

21-02-2008 TMAP take over import of Toyota cars from Toyota Tsusho

A report by ST senior correspondent Christopher Tan says that Toyota Motor Asia Pacific will take over the role of importing cars from Japan from April 2008.



In the past trading house Toyota Tsusho has been handling imports from Japan and TMAP is only responsible for the Thailand-built cars.



Significantly, Borneo Motors has also announced that the Toyota Wish will be launched in the same month.



If there is any sign that life is getting harder for the PIs, this is the first one.



If PI's find it hard to get Toyotas to sell, I think naturally they are going to focus more on Honda.



More later.

17-02-2008 Parallel Imports Singapore Inc.

DB8, EK9, DC2, DC5, CL7(R), SE3P may not mean much but to me, JDM cars always had a certain attraction.

It is like eating ramen in Japan, nothing beats getting a taste of the real thing.

And this I think is how Parallel Imports have revolutionarized car ownership in Singapore.

As the possibly the largest market outside the US, the Japanese market is filled with a myriads of models to entice Japanese people to buy into the brand.  The diversity and the mystery that shrouds the Japanese culture and its people are also responsible for the interesting offerings from all Japanese manufacturers.

In Singapore, the de-regulation of personal imports has certainly created a new trend - before a spanking new model is introduced by a local distributor, a Japanese model would certainly be available already for months.  Which makes you wonder why distributors take longer to launch the same model.

The Toyota Wish and the 2007 Honda Stream are good examples.  Even after more than 10,000 Toyota Wish is sold by PIs, the official Borneo Motors import has yet to make its showroom appearance.  PIs sold more than 3000 Honda Stream before Kah Motor could show it in its showroom.

The 2008 Honda Fit arrived in Singapore at the end of 2007.  The official Honda Jazz will make showroom appearance only in May 2008.

Earlier availability is perhaps a clear advantage now.  Most importantly however, I think significantly consumers now have a choice - in the past if the official distributor did not carry a particular model, getting it is next to impossible.

In a free economy, choice is a very important element to sustain freedom in the movement of goods and services.

17-02-2008 Timeless Honda CR-X

16-02-2008 Creating my own preferred gear ratios

Looking at the ratios of the various Honda K-engines, it is quite clear that there are lots of OEM ratio for u to mix and match if u are adventurous.

Let's start with the original ratios of the FN2.

1st Gear: 3.266
2nd Gear : 2.130
3rd Gear : 1.517
4th Gear : 1.147
5th Gear : 0.921
6th Gear : 0.738
Finda Drive : 5.062
LSD, not equipped.

Looking at my new acquired JDM EP3 gearbox,

1st Gear: 3.266
2nd Gear : 2.130
3rd Gear : 1.517
4th Gear : 1.212
5th Gear : 0.971
6th Gear : 0.780
Finda Drive : 4.784
LSD, equipped.

To get more boil but losing some speed in the process, I will swop in 4th gear and 5th gear.  The LSD goes over as well for better cornering traction.

And how about swopping in 6th gear from the FG2 gearbox to get good cruising fuel economy?

Will these ratios work for me when I am all done? Hmmmm... we shall see.

1st Gear: 3.266
2nd Gear : 2.130
3rd Gear : 1.517
4th Gear : 1.212
5th Gear : 0.971
6th Gear : 0.659
Finda Drive : 5.062
LSD, equipped.

16-02-2008 Honda K series Gear Ratios COOL!

15-02-2008 This lot is taken !

You know how precious HDB open air car park lots are when you come and visit me in Bishan.

Last night, I met the most unreasonable neighbour that I have.

Spotting an empty lot #221, I quickly reversed my car.

A petite size human being was standing in the middle of the lot and when I asked him what he is doing there. He looked at me doggedly and said "This lot is taken!"

What ensued just showed me how fragile Singaporeans are..... to be continued.