Thursday 26 May 2011

Saving for Upgrade

There are a few things I want to do to my Lion. But they need $$.
:(
So I need some planning to prepare for the upgrades.

By CNY 2012, I plan to have few things done.
  1. K&N drop in filtet                               (RM 250)
  2. Boron Nitride on strategic places         (RM 400)
  3. Front Brake disc and pad                    (RM 800)
  4. Change front 2 tyres                            (RM 1000)
Oh my....these are just few basic things I need/want to do. These are excluding those normal wear and tear parts I will be replacing along the way. Sweat. Not to mention those schedule servicing.
:(

Woah.......
Ok, lets stop at 4 first. I think should be able to be done. Coincidentally, I listed them according to their priority. XD

I think tats fate then. Eh, ngam ngam notice they increase in price too. Sweat

Saturday 21 May 2011

First Modification - Tinting and Sound Insulation

The first thing I did with my Lion was sending it to an accessory shop, which happen to be nearby Menara Nasim where I picked it up.
I did my 3M Crystalline Premium Series Tint there for RM 1800. It was:-
  • Crystalline 60 for the front windscreen
  • Crystalline 50 for the windows
  • Crystalline 40 for the rear
  • No tinting for the moonroof as it is rather pointless and I done want to reduce the VLT  
I am not sure if it is the car colour, or its because of the tint. The white Lion is not as hot as the old black Saga after a period of parking under the hot sun. I can still feel the heat though. Is Malaysia weather that bad? I will need more experience with other brands of window tint to compare how good the 3M tint really is.

The second thing I did, in that same shop was some basic sound insulation. I was there only for doors insulation. As I will be beside the doors (as well as the passengers), I thought it will be prudent to reduce noises from the doors first. To everyone's surprise (after removing the door panels), there are already existing 3M Acoustic Insulation Solutions (NVH) in place. 


Luckily I didnt plan to install the same thing in. I did the GSI sound proofing on four of the Lion's doors to compliment the 3M insulation (also doors). They cost me RM 680. Desmond, the owner of the shop poisoned me to get 2 extra treatments done. One was to also insulate underneath the back seat cushions. Apparently noise vibrates through the huge empty column there. I did a small comparison on the before and after insulation, and the difference is obvious. The hall-like echo-ish noise was eliminated. There was another area that I treated but I forgot which area was it. =_='
They cost me additional several hundreds more bucks.....The chamness.


The only comparison I was able to make was the back insulation. For the doors, I didnt have enough mileage to make a fair comment. However, after the whole process, the Lion is very very serene to drive. Even in traffic jams, I enjoy sitting inside the car. There is virtually no noise coming from outside, even when the motorcycle pass through when I am stuck in the jam. I still can hear vehicle honks and those super loud modified motorcycle noise though. But then again, you cant really expect a total sound proof. That will make the car too dangerous to drive.

Overall, these "modifications" worth their while. Very fun, serene, and enjoyable ride.

Tuesday 10 May 2011

Kelawang Drive, 13th February 2011

Some Peugeot kakis were organising a mountain drive along to Kelawang through Hulu Langat. Luckily I was back in KL for the holidays. Ngam ngam can squeeze in. I have never join any kind of drive before. This is a good chance to get to know some ppl who drive similar cars as me. Felt a bit intimidated to join though; as this is my first time driving the Lion for a mountain drive. Not familiar with the handling AND the roads. Might not be able to keep up with the rest. Furthermore, my Lion was having this to speed problem. The others were saying the Pug can go beyond 200kmph with ease. Mine was having difficulty to reach even 180kmph. The sad.....

Anyway, I made it to our meeting point in Ampang. Was not having enough sleep the previous night; celebrating a friend's buttday. I was the 4th person/car to arrive. Two 308 Turbos and a 308 GT was already there. Shortly, a sexy open top 207cc came, and also a 306gti6. The sexiest car was the most underpowered, while the least sexy car was the most powerful car that day. The irony.


We stopped at the kaki bukit of "Look Out Point" in Hulu Langat. I am familiar with this stretch, so its not much of an issue. The powerful gti leads the way while Im at the 2nd spot. After lepaking, we made our move for the warm up drive before the real kelawang drive.


We stopped again at a few places as two more kakis were supposed to join us. We did some mental warm up at the end of the Hulu Langat drive before tackling Kelawang. I have never drove here before. Chamness. I can see a lot of monkeys at the side and middle of the road. Dunno will langgar a few of them or not. This seems to be a rarely used road. Less traffic.

The first part, we couldn't really speed, as there are still spots of residential and commercial areas along the road. Small towns/kampungs actually. After we passed them, the action begins.
It was a fun ride. Not much traffic. Quite a number of corners and bends. And the never-fail-to-impress Lion. Thumbs up.

We stopped by Kelawang for breakfast. Did some ice breaking and chit chat. Friendly guys and girls. Another 308 Turbo and a skillful Satria join us. They missed the rendezvous at Hulu Langat earlier. Soon, we head off towards Lekas, to go back KL.


The ride to Lekas is a bit more challenging as traffic is more. The corners are still there. The overtaking of vehicles are now more dangerous too. I almost make a mistake when trying to overtake another car. Somehow I didnt see the incoming vehicle from the opposite direction. A near miss I can say. Phew!!! Still dont know how I can miss seeing that. I think I was too focused looking further upfront. =_="
Another near miss is when I oversteer at one of the corners. The rear wheel almost hit the grasses/earth at the curb. Oversteering a FD car. Sweat.......

Overall, it was a fun drive. And at least I can learn more about the car characteristic and handling. Another thumbs up. Additional good news is that my Lion can finally break the 200kmph with breeze. Yeah!!! Perhaps from the ECU reset. No wonder I can catch up with the rest. Yay!!!






Saturday 7 May 2011

A Lion's Journey

I have seen interesting and informative blogs on their car. I can extract a lot of information from them. A very big thank you to all of you.
I am trying to log down my own journey, from a very noob perspective, and hopefully can be developed into a more mature past time.

The 308 THP is my very 1st non-national car. Some might say I am wasting money, but the little bit of cumulative joy I gained is what makes me feel alive. Its what living all about.
I am currently away, only able to visit my Lion every now and then. But the time with it, are happy times.

The only downpart is my brother had to bang it because of his driving attitude. The front bumper clip was broken and not fixed since then. It was only weeks after I got the Lion from the warehouse.
The even more sad part is within a week, another major crash to my Lion by the same brother because of the same reason, the driving attitude. The conti tyre burst from the impact and god knows what is the long term effect to the chassis. Both are not unavoidable accidents. That is the frustrating part.

Another bad decision I made was to subscribe to Cars International. A 3 year subscription, so I predict 3 years of frustrations. On the first day itself, the dial/button from the auto-cruise arm fell off. It was never retrieved as I only found out later. WTF!!!!! Luckily it is a rarely used function. But the so very young Lion has already have so many defects due to negligence from other parties other than me. Ugh......
To make things worse, Cars international doesnt really do a good job in washing and detailing of the car. You can find unwashed places all over the Lion. This is the same for all the outlets. I have tried many of them. i guess this is the price to pay for subscribing to a franchise. Should have just gone for any reputable standalone car-wash outlets, while getting hands on once in a while to enhance my detailing knowledge.

Bad things aside. It is a very wonderful car to drive. I used to be content with my previous ride. A car is used to bring you from A to B correct? The trusty Iswara did handle the job perfectly all these years. But the Lion added sheer joy to it.