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This thing about driving? 26 Sep 2015 12:59 PM (9 years ago)

Driving...
What is it that allures us to it?
Magnetize us to it?
Gravitate us to it?

Is it the speed?
The freedom?
Or just the sensation of danger?

Driving for me has always been a fascination, both safely on the road and when driving at speeds...
Especially driving at speeds...

The realm you enter when you drive at speeds, that which you cannot logically explain... like another world, just you and your car...
You and the car... the car no longer becomes just a tool, it becomes your friend, it becomes your extension, it becomes part of you.
You communicate with it, caress it, and convince it to join the journey together...
When you are in such realm... it is the most wonderful feeling in the world.

Aryton Senna seems to be very good at philosophically explaining this sensation of driving;
"That day I suddenly realized, I was no longer driving consciously and I was in a different dimension from here. The circuit for me was a tunnel which I was just going... going, going... and I realized I was well beyond my conscious understanding..."


Exploring the limits, the limits of grip, the limits of speed, especially the limit of our own limitation.
When everything 'clicks', you notice it by then... how the world around you changes, how things changes around you and the car.
You can feel your own heart beat, you can feel everything around you with uncanny clarity, you can listen to even the slightest echo of your soul.

Ari Vatanen can sums up driving pretty much poetically :
"When the driving is going really well, it flows like a dance.
I almost gets goosebumps while driving... in the same way when I'm listening to the Finlandia Hymm and getting goosebumps.
I get that same feeling while driving, when it's flowing like a dance and it almost feels like I'm not sitting in the car myself anymore, everything happens subconsciously."


Such things cannot be understood by those who never felt it, the love of the cars, the love of the character of the cars, the love of driving the cars.

In some way, for me maybe driving is just a means... a means to escape my own reality and into another world, even for just a moment....

This article is just a sudden whim of mine to try to explain this illogical issue in our lives as car enthusiast, and I know... only another car enthusiast can understand what I mean.

Beside, this is a good reason to post MOAR Group B videos :P


And a driving article would never be complete without Ari Vatanen's beautiful "Climb Dance" :)

A dangerous encounter 6 Aug 2015 11:47 PM (9 years ago)

12th July 2015 turns out to be a night to be remembered ;)

No, we're not dead yet :P
Occasionally we do crawl out from our grave and update this dying blog and then return back to whence we came, something just refuses to die out :P

Although we have not been very active these past years, sometimes magical things happens late at night in our dreary everyday life in this banana republic blessed by unknown donors :P

Nonna is fresh out of the woodwork, with a new pumping heart and slick new looks we decided to take her out for some refreshing soul searching drive from time to time :)

So we were out and about that lonely night of the 12th, as usual we went to our normal haunts... Tekali Touge, and Nonna is proving to be quite a Touge monster, just in her 2nd time flexing in Tekali she has already cracked Katyusha's record on the trail o.O

Although Katyusha herself is still in the woodwork for major modifications, Nonna has broken her time set by 6 seconds >.<

Purpose built, street spec touge machine... even her scary stiff hard suspension has been tweaked and are more accommodating for the bumpy back roads that make up our night life :)

But the night just gets more interesting, picked up a call... another late nighter is up and about as well, brandishing his own purpose built street spec wangan weapon :)

Introducing Nonna :) 6 Oct 2014 9:22 AM (10 years ago)

This is no news anymore, well to us anyways since we've been having her since June but we were to lazy to update anything on this blog xD
But here's the big news... we have ourselves a new Battle Gear :D

The great Malaysian dream xD 2 May 2014 11:48 PM (10 years ago)

Well we've finally done it, last April we participated in our very first Time Attack event outside of our imaginary world (/・・)ノ
The Zero To Hundred Time To Attack at our very own 'Sipang' international circuit ♪(┌・。・)┌


As usual our morning start late.... quite late, that we almost missed the registration time （*/∇＼*）
But fate would have us participate it so... whether its a good thing or bad, we still don't have a clue...

I was still suffering from jet lag, Keisuke still had to do his Sugar Rush Deliveries and Katyusha is still suffering with some kind of electrical gremlin that just shorted her Twin Spark relay, right after her Dyno test o.O as well as some other light bulbs with it xD

La Drive Episode 2 20 Apr 2014 4:05 AM (11 years ago)

La Polar Opposite :)

Another La Drive video since I have been too bored xD
This is just another one of those videos that have nothing to show other than the joy of driving a performance machine in the tight winding confines of the Touge :P

Why polar opposite you say? Well it draws a comparison between a normal run of the mill Honda City and a highly strung, adrenaline inducing, tantrum prone Katyusha (ノ*゜▽゜*)

Both are machines that share the same purpose... beast of burdens to transport us from point A to point B...
But how they serve their purpose is what differentiate these 2 machines.... each on one end of the spectrum, one is an appliance while another produce excitement, awe and awesomeness to stratospheric level!! (๑>ᴗ<๑)

Track day bro! 22 Feb 2014 10:12 AM (11 years ago)

Yes, that cool words we enthusiast like to mention around to the common mortals...
Why do you buy that car? Why do you make that car that way? Why do you do that to the car?
The common questions common mortals tend to ask and it's just a simple answer... track day bro! xD
That and if our car starts breaking down or making weird noises.... BECAUSE RACE CAR!!!! :P

The past 8th February there was a track day at our local track "Sipang" international circuit held by ignition.my... personally I don't think the track day was a reasonable rate, but then again with all the price hikes going around in our glorious country... compared to others, RM330 per session of 2 hours is possibly the most reasonably deal one can find around here... the progress of the 3rd world country FTW!! ;)

As much as I like tearing down the touge at absurd speed (well we like to think we're going at absurd speed :P), going to the track once in a while to polish our skills and sharpen our driving technique is a must if we're seriously considering on pushing the car and ourselves to the limit.
And doing it safely in the confine of the track is the best, safest and legal way without getting shout at and curses for our next 7 generations by random people >.<

So our good lady Katyusha had her first taste of the track at the ignition.my track day session, but prior to her track test I was itching to test her where she truly belongs first... the touge.

Our first shake down was at the famous Bukit Putus... since Keisuke is at his in laws in Senawang, I figured why not I pay him a visit, pick him up and head to the local touge :)
Bukit Putus is a prime example of a great touge road, since there is the main highway bypassing it, it is relatively empty, riddled with hairpins and great long corners :)
The road surface is not bad either, although Katyusha is no longer running on her Aragosta suspension, which apparently was leaking, we track her up with a Tein adjustables... which was a good choice as well :)
Uphill Katyusha just ate the corners, with a naughty oversteer on the exit... she was running like a dime on the uphill.
But apparently we found out she was understeering like a pig on the downhill, most particularly the hairpins and heavy braking corners... at first we thought her front suspension setup maybe too soft for downhill run, but then after looking up our video run we were able to pinpoint the culprit... it was US!!!! T.T

After 2 years hiatus from the touge, or any spirited driving for that matter... my skills has become rather dull...
I didn't noticed it while driving the car, but looking at it from the outside my driving style has become extremely twitchy and looks rusty as well.
The movement of the car was not fluid at all, in fact it look like I was controlling her with a keyboard o.O sudden movements here and there, no wonder the weight balance is off.
And downhill run, keeping the weight balance is of the utmost importance... so that's why she was understeering like a pig :P we were just too rough...
Another thing we found out during the shakedown was that her cooling was inefficient.... T.T
After several runs the engine and the clutch would overheat... before we were using a Mercedez Benz cooling fan, good enough to keep her cool... but it had a faulty relay (which failed when Keisuke was driving her and had a hilarious experience with the overheating 13B xD), which meant we had to change it to a cheap ebay fan T.T
Who would have thought even Zee Germans would have build quality issues :P
But I guess we're not alone in that respect like here xD

So before going for the track day I know I had better polish my driving technique again, so night after night I went with Katyusha to our old hunting ground... the Tekali Touge ;)
At first I was very intimidated by the experience of driving her at speed at pitch black twisting road... but I was only able to make 2 or 3 runs before she overheated and had to wait for her to cool down.
The 2nd night we went out to Tekali, I had more confident and the OS Giken gear box with its close gear ratios are just a perfect match for the twisty road of Tekali, we can just maintain between 3rd and 4th gear... the sweet spot for the H-pattern gear, only shifting up to 5th on the long straights.
I was 30sec faster than my first night with Katyusha and I was pushing Katyusha up to the point where she even can't finish a whole run proper... she would overheat just going through the uphill run o.O
But at least I was driving her smoothly now, I can brake her properly up to the point of standing on the brakes on the downhill run without having anymore understeer issues at corner entry... the car movement has become fluid again and I felt connected to the car again ^^
Keisuke was just still searching for his lost confidence after his disastrous experience with our old lady Kate... which I can't blame him neither do I have any advice for him other than just to continue practicing the touge run again and again until he eventually does finds his balls confidence again :P
Because he does has the skills, no doubt about that....

So it suddenly dawned on us that Katyusha might possibly not even have the cooling capabilities to even finish a single lap at "Sipang"   >.<  But it is too late to do anything by now, we wrap out our night and went off to bed with the track day on our mind...

Come 8th Feb, track day time :D
I was feeling rather confident I wasn't going to mess up anyone's track day session by running into them or spinning out of control because of my poor driving technique, those nights at the touge and countless of hours of GT6 sessions help boosting that confidence :P
We had a lap time target in mind... 2:35 was our target, which I think is quite possible given Katyusha's performance.

As usual we woke up late, have all kind of excuses to miss the safety briefing at 12:30hrs... and just made it in time at the track for the session at 13:00 hrs xD
But it was already not looking good for Katyusha, her clutch started overheating even before going out for the lap... I had to start her in 2nd gear o.O
I drove the out lap as slowly as I could while warming up the tires, and took the longest run for the main straights to try to get at least 1 decent lap time....
First corner came racing from the horizon and I braked hard just before the 100m mark, passed a Porsche Caymen at the inside and buried the throttle through the 2nd corner overtaking a Civic Type R on the exit...
So far Katyusha is behaving like a peach... her handling is sublime!
We came racing towards the 3rd corner, a 90deg right hander... I braked hard just before the 50m mark, the brake feel is also top notch... turn in and slide her out a bit at the corner exit...
Her back end feels planted going through the high speed left and right hander (I like to think it's becoz of the of OP GT wing and rear diffuser, but it might be just becoz of us using better tires :P), my right foot planted onto the floor breathing down a track ready Ford Focus...
I outbraked him coming into the double right hander, but he would not give ground and maintain the outside line... which forced me to try to maintain the tighter inside line >.<
Coming out the 2nd right hander we were abreast with the Focus, but we managed to out brake him coming to the left hairpin, which Katyusha happily kicked out her back end like signalling to the Ford Focus that he just got owned (which we like to think it was a tense battle, but most likely the Ford driver just let us amateur through bloating our own ego xD).
Unfortunately I peeked a little at the temperature gauge and it was already pointing north to the H sign... uh oh not a good sign o.O
Her little 13B rotary is already dangerously overheating, taking the next right hander I was having problem shifting her into gear as well.... her clutch was also dangerously overheated >.<

I was contemplating in my mind at the time, should I cancel this run and slow down or should I continue to press on just a little more to try to get a lap time?
Coming into the last corner before the back straight my concentration was already in a mess... should I try to drop the gear from 4th to 3rd taking the corner? My instincts tells me that I should take the corner in 3rd, but my consciousness is questioning whether is it even possible to downshift to 3rd with the overheating clutch?
I decided to try my luck taking the corner in 4th but the decision was made too slow and too late, the tight exit meant I took the corner too fast and we oversteered into the gravel at the corner exit T.T
And then the Ford Focus overtook us seeing us beached at the corner exit :P
I was just trying to hide myself into the gravel being invisible with the sheer force of will at that moment xD

Apparently because we were beached precariously close to the corner exit right after the apex, the safety car came out and the track was red flagged :P
We shut down the whole track for 2 full lap until they can pull us out of our misery xD
2 unsuspecting cars that were going full throttle despite the warning of the red lights almost ran into us because they were taking the corner at full speed :P
So much for not ruining anyone's track day session xD

Eventually we were pulled out of our shame and misery and limped back into the pits... Katyusha was overheating dangerously and spewing vapour out of her vented bonnet, we were leaving traces of our injury by dropping along all those gravel picked up by our OP rear diffuser, we couldn't even change gear and everyone had that funny look when they were looking at us when we passed them in the pits, possibly because of Katyusha's race car looks but abysmal performance so far T.T
We quietly shouted deep in the depth of our timid heart... BECAUSE RACE CAR!!!! xD

We had to eventually pushed her into the small dark corner of the pit lane out of sight of the laughing eyes because she could no longer engage any gear and had to cool her down somehow... the engine bay was so hot that the cheap ebay fan motor even stopped functioning, her radiator overflow tank cap had blown off and hot vapour was pouring out of it >.<
Eventually we were able to cool her down, the fan started again and the temperature starts dropping. By the time she was cooled and her clutch was able to engage gears again our track day session was over xD
We were quite disappointed by her cooling issues (as you can tell from the looks Keisuke has :P) we drove her home and sent her for treatment at Hau's place... which we later found out the engine overheated so badly the engine block warped, the apex seal was bend and the clutch was finished T.T
Below is the track day vid I made, we were only able to clock a time of 2:14 before I eventually spun at the last corner before the back straight T.T
I'm a FAILURE!!! T.T

I had to go for my out station work again, so Katyusha is back at the shed to be mended hopefully by the time I can get my days off again... and for Kate, although there hasn't been any progress for her lately, but this is what we have in mind for her ;)
A 12,000rpm twin Webber 13B screamer :D

Why not...? 21 Jan 2014 12:25 PM (11 years ago)

Wow... I haven't written anything like almost forever :p wow... just wow...

Well, i've been busy, that's my excuse and i'm sticking to my story :p (seems like a dead giveaway of being the other way around and just being sheer lazy X-p)

Anyway, apart from just being lazy (oppss.. there goes the excuse :p) Katyusha have been under the 'work in progress' category for, how long was it...? 2 years? and suprise suprise she still is :p so if my first story doesn't stick, that's my second fall back position >:-p

Anyway, i'm writing this not because of the excuses i'm making up along the way (there goes the entire defensive positions :p) but because THERE'S ACTUAL SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT XD

Katyusha despite being a 'work in progress' have finally reached the stage where she's actually drivable :p she WAS previously drivable already when Ryousuke came back some months ago, but we were still ironing out handling and teething issues so there wasn't anything to really write about (other than perhaps Ryousuke's epic La Drive video :p)

We apparently found out that Katyusha had a faulty steering rack. That caused quite a whole lot of problems especially to me with my self esteem being so low and skills rusted ten times over. I, not surprisingly, actually forgot how to feel 'connected' to the car and the last time we drove (when we did the La Drive video), I was actually more scared than excited driving Katyusha..

It made me questioned the very reason why I love this crazy hobby. I wasn't enjoying touge drives anymore O.O among the reasons (if I can still be considered credible enough to still give excuses :p) is that I no longer feel connected to the wheel and I can't seem to place Katyusha accurately on the road as I wanted to.

That took away any notion of control and I was feeling like a passenger with Katyusha actually on the wheel. A very dangerous position when the driver himself doesn't feel in control :p

Secondly was because of the sheer speed Katyusha could carry through the corners. Granted, I haven't driven in anger through the touge for quite a while, so my sense of speed have somewhat been rather negatively amplified by my poor experience, but more so because Ryosuke after what we experienced with Kate, decided never again to skimp on tyres and bought for Katyusha the best his wallet can come up with :p semi-slick Hankook S3... if i remember it correctly (given my rather poor performance of sticking to my excuses, I myself would rather doubt that correctness :p)

So, bottom line, touge is no longer fun. Age is creeping up on me and it's blunting my reflexes, and my youthful courage and enthusiasm have finally deserted me, setting me on the path of being a disillusioned, cynical, grumpy old man who finally saw the big slap reality was giving him in the face mid-way in his life :p

Then last week I got Katyusha back home. She's a beauty.. A thing of art.. if there's anything that man ever made perfect, is the automotive design that can evoke such emotions.. :P

Anyway, enough being poetic. It's bad enough that I'm being a cynical grumpy realist defeatist, but put poetry in there and you can get 'Hamlet' and 'Romeo and Juliet' kind of stories all over again.. nothing but beautiful misery :p

Well, there was Katyusha, just sitting there at home being pretty (which she was pretty good at, I must admit :p) and who am I to resist such temptation being the typical easily tempted fool I am :p

So I had a rather irresistible urge to drive her... My first attempt was actually through Genting Sempah, but that night it rained and that basically scared the crap out of me :p so we were more like crawling through the touge rather than actually trying to find back the 'fun' in it... when I said we, I mean me and my friend Afiq, who's also partly responsible for my rather resurgent quest to rekindle my love for the touge :p




(Our first attempt through Sempah... that's the culprit!!! GET HIM LADS!!! X-P)


Anyway, the first trip was rather a disaster :p but the second trip... the second trip is what this post is all about (FINALLY!!! X-p)

I somehow managed to bring Katyusha to the office, and my plan was, since I'd be staying back to finish off some work, why don't I go for a drive first to spice up the night X-p


To cut things short, after office hours, I drove Katyusha through some slightly loose rush hour traffic to Afiq's house to pick him up. His brother (Ayip) somehow manage to tag along as well :-p and as we contemplated on where we should go, ominous black clouds heavily pregnant with the seeds of rain hung over the mountains that holds the touge hallowed ground of Genting Sempah.

We ran through our options:
1) Sempah would seem to be ready to be soaked in a deluge, if that happens, then events of the first trip would only repeat itself i.e. my rather miniscule balls would manifest itself in full glory X-(

2) Kuala Klawang would be nice but then it's the evening rush hour... going through the Ampang traffic with Katyusha is not really a pleasant way to start things off

And as we try to think of some other options, Afiq suggested Fraser Hill.. It's pretty far, the touge at the 'Gap' would be rather terrifying, and so... WHY NOT!!! X-p

That evening I just felt like I want to drive... just drive... just enjoy the driving.. to anywhere, at any distance... just, why not? why not? :-p

So then we all unanimously decided to say WHY NOT X-p and not care of the distance we would have to go through, nor the traffic, nor the weather, nor anything really... :p who cares about Katyusha's erratic idling, who cares about Katyusha's unstable engine timing which sometimes causes her engine to stall by just clutching in, who cares about Katyusha's thirsty habits, who cares about Katyusha's unrealiable starter to crank the engine, who cares about the fact since we're hauling 3 people, we have to stuff Afiq in the back and pretend he has no legs X-p Damn it all and JUST GO!!! X-D because WHY NOT?!! :-p WHY NOT!!!! X-D

And thus we start... our epic trip.. just the 3 of us.. heading to one of the most dangerous touge that I know of.. knowing full well that I am broke and only my debt with my credit card can satiate Katyusha's rather expensive thirsty habit.. and pretending Afiq has no legs :-p

We manage to get into MRR2 without much of a hitch, and made the mistake of going through Batu Cave rather than bypassing it... Apparently Thaipusam is just around the corner so Batu Cave is a beehive of activity with pedestrians swarming the streets... no matter.. I'm sure stressing my left leg clutching in and out of Katyusha's semi-racing clutch in bumper-to-bumper crawl is less painful than pretending to have no legs X-p maybe...

We eventually got through and got to the Petronas just before the Ulu Yam touge close to 8 pm. Made a quick stop for prayers, have some guy check out Katyusha, and embarrassingly try to crank her engine as her starter decided to act up just when someone is ogling her :-p well, that's actually an anti-theft feature and not a defect X-p why you say? BECAUSE RACE CAR!!!! X-P

Anyway, after a lot of du'a, we manage to get her engine running :p and off we go into the breach!! X-D first up, the Ulu Yam touge... It's an uphill drive so it's not that challenging. This time, rather than trying to feel the limit of Katyusha, I instead tried to feel MY own limit. "Know yourself and know your enemy and you need not worry the result of a thousand battle" says Sun Tzu. With that in mind, I decided to try to go slow, and slowly up the tempo gradually. Go only up to the speed I'm comfortable with rather than the speed I'm trying to cope with.

With super sticky tyres, superb suspension and set up (Ryosuke had Katyusha corner balanced the last time around) and with the steering rack fixed, I felt something which I haven't felt in a very long time. FULL CONTROL. I can finally accurately place Katyusha on the road where I wanted her, turned in the way I wanted to, accelerate out the way I needed her to.

And before I know it, the corners that I thought and previously felt tight through the Ulu Yam touge suddenly felt rather mild and hardly challenging. Before I know it, the touge was over and we were passing through the dam behind slow traffic.

I managed to squeeze out a few more fun moments through the touge before reaching Ulu Yam and it suddenly felt like Ulu Yam is an easy and rather mild twisty stretch of road. Granted, like I said, I didn't really drove fast, so I was probably going through the touge more slowly than I should but hey what the heck, I was enjoying myself :-p

We couldn't really know how fast we were going because Katyusha also had a rather shitty dash cluster illumination that couldn't illuminate it's own face in broad daylight :p I just had to guess our rev from the general position of the tachometer needle and I have no idea what speeds I was going. It was probably fast if compared with the casual family sedan like my daily beater Honda City, but compared to real enthusiast standards, it was probably rather shameful :-p

Anyway, we reached Ulu Yam and Afiq suggested another touge route bypassing Batang Kali. When we got to that route, we got stuck behind a Honda Civic FD2r with Type-r badges. I suppose he's a poser but for ego sake, I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and consider his car a genuine type-r :-p

He was driving rather slowly that even a motorcycle overtook us, so the first opportunity to overtake came and I grabbed it. He suddenly picked up pace and tried to keep up with me, I knew this for a fact (eventhough I can't determine our speed :-p) because we then overtook the same motorcycle that overtook us earlier.

So IT IS ON!!! X-D COME AT ME BRO!!! Sadly it wasn't really a pedal-to-the-metal let's-go-crazy kind of affair :-p it's still the same let's-go-slow-and-see-how-fast-we-can-increase-speed kind of thing :-p but significantly more so as I increase the tempo rather dramatically to try to see if I can actually outrun this type-r (wannabe maybe :-p)

The highlight of the moment came when we approached a rather sharp almost 90 degrees left turn, the road was tight, but despite so, I hit the brakes as hard as I felt necessary. I can safely say that with the brakes and the tyres, my braking was far from the threshold, but it was enough to quickly scrub off the speed and allowed me to confidently take the turn.

That feeling of full control, that connection to the car, the feel of the road, the adrenalin pumping through my system, all those reminded me why I love the touge, why I was crazy about it, and why it's turning me crazy again :-p

Needless to say, I manage to 'titik' the type-r (wannabe... maybe :-p) rather ruthlessly X-p things went on rather undramatically and we reached Kuala Kubu Bharu where we had dinner.


We ate western dishes at a Mamak restaurant. My experience so far with Mamak western dishes is that they have all been bad. It's rather safe to say that this mamak IS NO EXCEPTION X-p

So after the dreadful dinner, we continued on our journey. Reached the touge leading up to the notorious 'GAP'. I was simply driving through as comfortably as I dared and so there was nothing dramatic :-p the car, the tyres, the suspension, the steering, they were all superb and gave me complete control. I just simply twisted left and right and felt like I was driving in GT6 X-p

The road was unfortunately really bad at certain places and with springs as hard as Katyusha's, your spine is inadvertently made part of the suspension system X-p

The road conditions did caused one dramatic moment. As I was turning into a right turn hairpin, the road turned bad and basically had a speed bump in mid corner X-( it caused Katyusha to skip and since it was a right hairpin and I was driving within the lanes, there's not much room for run off. So Katyusha skipped to the edge of the road, knowing I needed full braking capabilities of Katyusha to save the situation, I straightened out and dug in the brakes and fortunately manage to stop Katyusha just as her left front tyres touched the grass :-p

It was a pretty close call since a ravine is just off the edge of the road so it could have turned out pretty badly, but like I said, a combination of rather wimpy slow drive, great brakes and sticky tyres, the situation didn't turned for the worst. I would have like to say because of my God-like skills but that would just be as glaring as my excuses :-p fortunately I wasn't trying to push the limits of Katyusha, simply said.

We finally reached the 'Gap' just as a Hyundai Starex reached it as well. Since the 'Gap' was really tight and twisty, I didn't intend to try to 'attack' it but rather cruise our way to the top, and with the Starex leading the way, we can at least know how tight the corner turns.

But then the Starex started to pull away (!!!! WHAT???!!! a Starex was able to pull away from you in the Touge???!!!! O.O yes, sadly I was THAT slow X-p) which made me realize that I couldn't follow the Starex if I just continue to cruise... I needed to 'attack' so to say :-p (getting serious in the touge just because of a Starex....? I hope you're kidding.... >.>)

Anyway, after much consternation, I finally manage to catch up to the Starex and suddenly, as the road turn a bit wide into a corner, the Starex gave a signal and pulled over the side letting me pass. I suppose he had found Katyusha's lights to be really annoying and after realizing that he couldn't leave me behind, he decided to quickly let me pass.

All is good and well, but that means that he had taken the assumption that I am seriously 'attacking' the touge, which I was actually not and just wanted to have him lit up the way :-p but because of that impression, social conventions compel me to follow through my representation to the Starex and thus this 'forces' me to continue my attack on the 'Gap' X-p which was horrifying to be honest :-p

Katyusha nevertheless didn't disappoint and we manage to reach the top without wrecking ourselves :-p needless to say, our first order of business: find a toilet X-p we literally crapped ourselves X-p




Then it was a matter of taking as many breathtaking pictures as possible :-p like this retarded red suns pose picture X-p






Ok, that may be a bad example, but surely these pictures are breathtaking :-p










We finally made our way back, and due to several factors, we decided to drive through the highway, so we got up to Tanjung Malim and drove back to KL.

 Katyusha's cooling system is apparently not made to withstand extended periods of high speed drive, so we had to take it rather easy through the highway. We nevertheless made it home in one piece (if not I wouldn't be writing this now would I :-p) and that night will forever be etched in my memory as one of the greatest piece of driving experience I had, simply because it rekindled my burning passion for touge again :-p



So whenever we're in the dumps, always ask why not X-p (now that is a rather stupid conclusion :-p)

Drive safe ;-)

Go Karts, Time Attack & Katyusha La DRIVE :) 7 Dec 2013 11:46 AM (11 years ago)

Hohoho it seems like this blog is becoming dead in the water xD

But our lives hasn't been as stagnant as this blog :P we've been having quite some flurry of activities... its only our indolence has been having such a vice grip on our lives that the blog remain.... stagnant xD

First up just as I returned back from duties we were able to arrange a Ego Boosting GoKart race among us RedSuns crew :P

This video sums up our exciting GoKart race... mainly just between me and Keisuke xD
Since we had Karts almost equal in power, our battles were intense and we were just imagining that we were Gilles Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux at France GP 1979 :P

Then we had that amazing Time Attack Session :)

Supercars were aplenty during the day, a track spec McLaren MP4-12C :)
With its flared nostrils giving it quite a presence of awe among us mere mortals >.<

Tracks, Go Karts and Belly Buttons... 18 Jun 2013 10:14 AM (11 years ago)

Well it has been quite sometime anything has been updated around here... here's another short update of what we have been doing for the past months or so :P

Last weekend (9th June), Hau finished rebuilding William's Time Attack FD3S... now the car is pumping out 455hp on the wheel.

Updates of our boring life… 16 Apr 2013 12:47 AM (12 years ago)

 

While we were busy prepping up Kate, the Garage Champion is also busy being kitted up to aim for that top step  :)


The owner is certainly not pulling any more punches, hopefully he can be the fastest in his category for the next Time Attack event :)




 

Life n so on... 2 Jan 2013 5:52 PM (12 years ago)

It seems time is moving really slowly now... without me noticing much, year 2012 has just ended.
Now its a new year... a new beginning... 2013 hopefully will be a better year than 2012 ^^

So what has been happening since our last adventure at Sepang... it seems we have been bitten by the time attack bug as well as our mechanic Hau :P
The side effect is that it accelerated our plan to revive our Old Lady Kate...

Suddenly things started moving very fast for her... and that would also mean our wallets are going dry rather quickly xD

Sepang Time To Attack 19 Dec 2012 8:47 AM (12 years ago)

Well I've finally found the time to sit and write down our first time attack experience last 16th Dec.

Our day started rather early, I was already at the workshop at 8am to help Hau load up the 2 time attack machines...

Zero To Hundred Time To Attack 16 Dec 2012 9:40 AM (12 years ago)

 December 16th 2012, a date that will live in infamy :D

We were expected to participate in the Time Attack event at Sepang... unfortunately fate has it otherwise.
We were planning of joining the Time Attack with Hau's FD3S Time Attack Machine, but administratively and some funny twist of fate we were unable to attack Sepang with the FD3S >.<

Before I can go into details of how our day turned out, some sneak peak of how Trouble is coming along... she is almost near completion, a monster in the making :D

The road to perdition... 30 May 2012 11:26 AM (12 years ago)

Even though our progress has been very slow at best, but it seems our "Mech" Hau wants nothing short of perfect...

He has impeccably re-treaded all the screw holes in the chassis and will be replacing them with new screws, he has cleaned and re-sprayed the entire front axle that you can see from the pic above makes it look like brand spanking new o.O
All the main bushings has been changed to new Super Pro Racing Bushings as well :P

The rear axle will also receive the same treatment as the front, except that we're waiting for the arrival of a new 2 way Cusco LSD to make the rear end complete^^

But the main goliath of our journey back to the lion's den is the completion of Kate's engine^^
This heart of the beast has new anodized pulleys and belts as well as....
Our new Techtronic Turbo.... all that we need for her new heart now is the missing intercooler and oil cooler that we left back at Tekali a few months back :P

She's also lacking the anti-roll bars... the stock anti-roll bars are just too thin and unfortunately Kate's previous anti-roll bar has been damaged and bent from our last adventure :(
Buying new sets cost a whopper so we're still on a look out for some bargained price item :P

It seems Trouble may not be complete by the time my days off is up, but we're just making sure that everything is done right the first time around... although we had all kind of planned event participation with her it seems we won't be meeting the deadline after all :P

Anyhow, these are just small updates of our small progress on getting back to the touge trail with some sideshow in our life ;)

Countdown to infinity.... 18 May 2012 3:21 AM (12 years ago)

It seems the preparation for Trouble is moving slower than expected...

While we were hoping to prep her for the coming Time Attack event this coming weekend, it seems with her current schedule that seems to be an impossibility now...

She has just gone through one of the most extreme chassis treatment we've done so far... even far more extreme with what Kate had in the past...

We sent her to where they make Formula D chassis... with competition grade stitch welding...

With her chassis finally done, we will be putting her through an extreme make over that would make even Kate seem like mild.... but Kate is leaving her legacy with Trouble... her 300hp heart will make through the surgery table with a few change in configuration... mainly the turbo....

We're changing her turbo to a smaller Turbonetic turbo... hopefully with the smaller turbine we can eliminate that slight turbo lag in those tight twisty section where Kate had in the past.... with our power cap at 300hp we hope this turbo won't have any issue in power delivery ^^

Suspension is still the original HKS adjustable and the brakes are also stock issue... the previous brake set from Kate seems too extreme for street use... we would need extremely grippy tires to cope with her excessive stopping power and since there is no brake electronic aids with these babies makes them kinda tricky to handle under braking >.<

So hopefully with the stock rotors we can make some slight changes in the braking department... mainly just to improve the braking feel... since the stopping power proves to be too much for street use, we'll just leave Kate with her brake shoes :P


Hopefully we can finish with Trouble in the coming week or so and start working on Kate, we're planning of putting Kate through the same chassis treatment Trouble gone through... but our wallet will decide on that :P

Trouble first shake down... 16 Mar 2012 5:53 PM (13 years ago)

I finally got around to finish up the vid of our first shake down the other night...


Since I'll be heading back to where I belong, we'll be sending her to have some further upgrade... hopefully in another 6-9 weeks I'll be back and she'll be ready for more action :D

Trouble is a friend :) 14 Mar 2012 12:39 PM (13 years ago)

Well finally the long wait is almost over \(^o^)/
Yesterday I've received a new present.... a matter of fact, a new Battle Gear :D

Since fixing Kate seems to be a very long and slow process, while in search of parts we stumble upon a deal that we cannot resist :P

But before going into further detail of what we've stumble upon, I'll try to summarize what has been happening in our lives for these past months^^

Life waiting at the fast lane.... 30 Dec 2011 5:52 AM (13 years ago)

A certain famous figure once quote... "Life is racing. Anything before or after is just waiting"

How that turn out to be quite true... unfortunately, if you're not a filthy rich capitalist or a superstar you'll find out that your life will turn out be a lot of waiting....

Ever since Old Kate has made the kiss of death at the touge side wall, we've been slowly trying to rebuild her.... its taking quite some time since I need the dough and I want to fix her right the first time now...

So what have our life as an adrenaline junkie turn out to be while all this waiting... we find another channel to feel that rush xD



I went for bungie jumping ^^
and having new toys at home :D
Of course being a severe A junkie, me and Hanz have to get our shot from somewhere extreme....
We're getting our shots from half the wheels now, since my 4 wheels are still in the work shed and Hanz's just simply became obsolete :P
But my bike being abit older than Hanz R1, I had to send it for some maintenance and tuning before trying my luck with her :P

 Stripping the new baby and making sure everything is clean and top notch....
 Prepping her for her dyno test...
 Tuning at work... we were able to squeze 149 WHP with 100 Nm of twist... I think that is enough for little me :P

Having our first 2 wheel trip... the trip is not all rosy and adventurist as I was expecting... it was more of crushed testicles, smelly pits, can't feel my fingers and hip turned into smithereens xD

From the other side of the moon... 28 Oct 2011 7:51 PM (13 years ago)

Yeah this is another really late post, coz my internet connection around the kingdom of heaven here is just so slow... So I do apologize for this belated report :P

Anyway, it is no longer a news about our recent crash at the touge, but I'll try to re-iterate the events from my experience... And try to retrace the events that culminated with that crash....

And besides, I have nothing better to do :P

This rivalry between Keisuke and Hanz probably started from a year ago, before we can dispose Hanz at the touge without breaking a sweat... But with his immense talent, I noticed how fast he was learning and then we were caught in a race against time to prep Kate for the coming storm...

At the time, Kate was a rickety old rusting bucket, her chassis would buckle, twist and roll under the load we exert on her at the touge, so trying to control her at the limit was becoming a handful...

With Hanz Neo commanding a 200kg weight advantage against us, with his tricked out Neo and RE-01 rubber, the odds was stacked against us...

And then the inevitable happened, Keisuke was ignominously and thoroughly beaten at our home course >.<

The uphill section was not much different since Kate still had around 40-50hp advantage against Hanz Neo, but the downhill became a slaughter fest... Hanz has taken his first scalp :P

He was mulling the idea of battling me next and his domination of Tekali touge would be complete, but luckily for me, Kate's mending period was over.... From now on was performance enhancement, we were finally starting from ground zero after 3 long years of ownership :P

The first issue we addressed was the banana chassis, we immediately slap in a 10 point roll cage and the result became immediately obvious...

The chassis maladies was no longer a problem, but I know to go against Hanz Neo we would need more than a strenghten chassis, we would need the rubber shoes to match the level of grip he have in command at the touge, no more cheap-o 2nd hand tires... we were pulling off all the stops!

But then tragedy struck, Keisuke crashed at Tekali.... Luckily no one was hurt, but Keisuke emerged from the incident a shattered man.... His self confidence reached a new nadir point.... And we were back to mending Kate again...

And it seems the misfortune happened both ways, Hanz also had a road accident... Rolled his Neo and totaled it to kingdom come....

So for both of us, we were back at the drawing board :P

For us, since Kate had to go through a thorough overhaul, we also decided to give her a massive upgrade... Hanz was not far behind the idea as well, he bought a new Neo CPS and had it undergo the same mods as his previous Neo and more, with the Neo CPS being a better baseline model its potential at the touge became leap and bound better than before...

For Kate, it took us almost a year to have her in running condition and having her suspension properly set up, with a pair of semi slicks up front we were able to harness her new 300hp heart with confidence^^

Her handling became so crisp she was like a big go-kart, shakedowns after shakedowns she was finally ready for an assault at Tekali :)

Unfortunately there was one more event that have a hand on what happened that night, our track day at Kg Gajah....

During that exciting day, our semi slicks expired and out of deperation we had to change it with a cheap Korean tires... It was the widest tires we could find there to fit our extra large wheels :P

Those Korean tires have just enough grip on the street, but when subjected to the rigours of the winding touge the tires were wanting at best :(

Kate became sluggish and slow to respond to any minute steering adjustment, compounding the problem was that the tires would easily lock up under heavy braking, especially the front left tyre... With a bent wheel well, remnant from the last crash.... the suspension geometry became awkward, the front left tire has less grip than the right and would easily lock up....

And when the front left lock up, Kate's handling would just be unresponsive... I had my worries about them tires but my pocket was not really in a position to changed the tires immediately, we had to make do with what we had...

That night was our last hurrah, before I return back to my working world we would flirt one more time with danger at our favourite hole ^^

We first had a solo run each, and it seems that our average speed around the course has increased tremendously that we were both scared out of our wits with each of our runs...

Then we met up with Hanz and he was also shaking for some touge action so off we sped off for our 2nd round of touge ecstasy...

The first battle was me against Hanz, but due to the initial uphill section the power difference was too much that the battle was over just after the first corner >.<

So we divided the course into uphill and downhill section... I waited for Hanz at the peak and once he was back at my heels we sped off for the downhill battle ^^

The night was cold and damp, the grip level was very low... It was so bad that during my downhill battle with Hanz the left front tire locked up on several occasions... Seeing how bad the situation was I decided not to explore my upper limit but just keep Hanz at bay, he was holding on admirebly... A stubborn defiance against the much more powerful Kate...

Only becoz of Hanz driving skill he was able to salvage some challenge in the Neo, once the downhill run was over his heart rate was pumping furiously with adrenaline...

The next round Keisuke took the wheel and off we went for the return leg...

The uphill battle was a no brainer, and for the downhill... Since the return run comprises more high speed corners Hanz werent able to make up the grounds, even though he pushed right to the edge, his efforts was just too little to make any difference... Only with a sudden fog blanketing the touge near the finish line that Keisuke had to slow down which alowed Hanz to catch up..

But that night everyone was pushing periliously close to the edge, and with Hanz proposing to Keisuke that the next battle will be their rematch Keisuke was all fired up, his long awaited rematch....

Since it is no longer fair to run the whole course they decided to only do the downhill leg.... So slowly they climbed to the peak for the starting line and once they reached it Keisuke burst into the night!

Initially he was holding his cool... Then when the course becomes tighter Keisuke tried to up his pace, I noticed his line was becoming messy and then reaching that fateful left hander Keisuke locked the front left wheel... As we were going through the corner Keisuke was taking longer than expected to unlock his wheel.... He has just jumped over the limit of his car control, Kate was no longer in his command.... That must have been the longest few seconds in my entire life... Everything was becoming slow motion up to the point that I thought Keisuke may have been able to save the situation, I thought he had shed enough speed to avert the incoming catastrophy... But that sense of slowness was just an illusion... Kate hit the ditch barrier at such force that send the rock barriers over her nose o.O

She nose dive into the mountain and did not stop for another 5 metres plummeting her head at the mountain side....

Once she stopped my first thought was to get out of the car in case she caught fire, once Keisuke was out as well we knew everyone was ok....

But no matter how much I tried to show Keisuke that the crash no big deal, I can see it in his eyes a fire has just went out...

For me coming to the touge, we are mentally prepared that we will likely have an accident,becoz the nature of motorsport is dangerous in its own right...

Combine it with public road, the hazards are unimaginable... Luckily we were the only casualty that night, no one else was involved.... Taka and Jasril from touge G helped us secure a tow truck and riding with Hanz we towed her to our mechanic shop for that long lonely night....

Kate has once again passed her zenith.... We have to go through the phase of mending her, but for me the hardest would be to mend Keisuke's broken spirit...
And that night even Hanz Neo suffered.... Hanz pushed his Neo so hard that we found out his fuel hose burst.... o.O
Luckily his engine did not catch fire....

The vid below was a compulation of our touge action that night, its just the second part becoz the vid for the first part got corrupted and I was too lazy to fix it :P

http://youtu.be/keTd1-rPWRo

Not again.... 5 Oct 2011 6:26 AM (13 years ago)

Well, I suppose it's no new news that we've, i mean specifically I, had again crashed our good old lady Kate... :-(

And from the looks of things, it'll probably take some time before Old Kate would be up and running again...

Why and how did it occur? Unlike my previous misadventure, this time I'll try to reiterate what happened that fateful night, so that we all might take stock of this rather unfortunate event, that hopefully, we will grow the wiser out of all this sadness...

It began, as always, rather slowly... Ryousuke had been making a lot of pretty lonely touge runs while I was getting myself lost at Miri and Brunei over the weekend. The excitement of Bukit Putus was still thick in the air. I was craving for one last hurrah with Ryousuke, before he would venture out into the world again. So thus, such was how fertile the ground was that led to the culmination of the excitement that burst into flames.

I came back from work as always, excited like a lost puppy that has just found its owner. To add to the fuel, that evening I had a rather agreeable run in the monster GTR of my greatly respected boss. My spirit was high. I was gearing for an all night party with Old Kate at our favourite dancing floor.

Ryousuke and I thus went out, not looking for a crowd, just wanted Hanz as company. Hanz is always an agreeable company, and besides, I missed him. Haven't seen him for so long. Unfortunately Hanz couldn't make it at that time. So it was just us two.

It rained that evening, so the Touge was a little damp. But things were clearing up, and so we made our run. An initial sweep, and it was a-go. It was a really dark night, with the clouds covering the moon, the only guiding light was Old Kate's rather unreliable headlights. But it's not a situation we haven't faced before. And so we took the plunge, and Ryousuke blasted through the touge.

It scared the heck out of me. I was so scared, that when I drove, i was paralysed by fear, and could hardly hustle Old Kate through the touge at any dramatic pace. The shot of adrenaline wasn't enough to overcome the fear, and at the end of my run, my neck hurts from all the paralysing fear rather than any great lateral Gs.

We had enough, I couldn't bear another run riding shotgun with Ryousuke, nor was he willing to go another run with me (despite running more slowly than him, about 2 seconds off... yup, we timed our run that night). And so we went off, almost calling it a night. As we were heading back, we discussed each others different driving style, Ryousuke being very aggressive, holding tightly to Kate's rein, not giving Kate any space to go adrift. While I was more subtle, letting Kate wander off a bit at the exits, and only holding on when Kate was going a bit too astray. Ryousuke's driving was on the point of violent and precise, while mine was like on rails, and seemingly gliding around. I took Ryousuke's comments in mind, thinking I may need to be more assertive with Kate.

But the night was just starting for Hanz, and he invited us for a drink at some luxurious hole in KL. We came, had a few chat, a few drinks, met up with some great folks (even a professional driver from Singapore O.O) and watched two of the most desirable cars drive away, an Audi R8 and a brand new GTR. Things were looking good.

With Hanz around, we were pumped up for another go at the Touge. Mostly because now we can ride shotgun in Hanz's superbly stable Neo, and not the terrifying Kate.

When we got there, Ryousuke led the run uphill. Kate having so much power at tap, blasted away from Hanz's view. Such was the difference now. Even with all the skills and talent Hanz could muster, it could not bridge the power gap Kate now commands.

When we reached the downhill point, Ryousuke slowed down and waited for Hanz. And that was the start of one of the most greatest and dramatic downhill duel run I have ever witnessed. Ryousuke gave it all, locking the left wheels occasionally. But Hanz gave some more. He would deftly oversteer his Neo in the turns, adjusting its trajectory, and slammed the throttle until the exit.

Ryousuke was able to get away, but not by a really great margin. Such was Hanz's superb knife edge skills.

At the end of the run, Ryousuke and Hanz both complained how slippery the touge was. Hanz said he had never felt his Neo 'floating' like that. Partly because of the immense speed he was taking the corners, and partly maybe because the road was actually slippery. But still, that didn't stopped us anyway.

We switched drivers. I took the helm of Kate and Ryousuke rode shotgun with Hanz. As usual, the uphill run was a walk in the park. Hanz simply cannot catch up, for the simple fact that Kate's massive power gave it unrivaled exit speeds. As I went, Ryousuke's comments lingered, and I tried to be a little more aggressive with Kate.

I waited for Hanz at the downhill, and once he arrived, sped off. Since the downhill of the return run is basically a high speed course, Hanz also couldn't keep up simply because of Kate's pedal to the metal power. But nearing the end, as the course turns tighter, a very heavy fog slumped over the touge which forced me to slow down so much, that Hanz caught up.

Regardless, I wasn't as fast as Ryousuke, but it was tacitly clear, Hanz could not keep up on the downhill return run. Despite Hanz being faster on the tighter turns, the fact that the earlier high speed portion gave so much of an advantage, the tight sections was too late and too few to give Hanz much advantage over us. That observation also lingered at the back of my mind.

Then, while contemplating to call it a night, i don't remember who came up with the idea, but we decided to have a rematch of my ignominious defeat at Hanz's Neo a long while back. Since it is unfair to incorporate the uphill run, we decided just to fight it off at the downhill section.

We then slowly climbed to the peak. I was afraid, afraid of losing control. Losing control of Kate, losing control of myself, all mixed up to swell and swerve in my stomach. The road was getting damp, the night was cold, surface temperature was dropping, and many thoughts lingering in the background. Despite it all, we took the plunge, not knowing that we won't be surfacing again that night.

At first it was going great. I didn't want to gamble on the entry, braked pretty early and heavily, took the turns gingerly, and maximise Kate's superior accelerating ability on the exits. Hanz was falling behind, very slowly.

I realized Hanz dropping behind, but as the course turns tighter, Hanz was holding his ground, and even sometimes making up the distance. I felt I needed to extend the gap, if I want to survive Hanz's slaughter at the very tight last portion of the downhill course, and those lingering thoughts came to fore.

Hanz took everything he got to keep up, going at the very knife-edge of limits, and sometimes went over it. A total of 3 times actually. But in all 3 times, he was able to keep things together, and continue the fight. Thank God nothing ever happened to him. God smiles generously on Hanz, and his skills make sure those smiles didn't go to waste.

As for myself, I tried to up the ante. I tried to push the entry a bit more, squeeze the exit that bit of fraction faster. But the increase speed was scrambling my on-rail, gliding rhythm. It was messing with my lines. I couldn't place Kate where I wanted her before the turn catches us. Each successive corner forced me to be more forceful on Kate, each time breaking my rhythm.

And the eventful corner came up. It was a long right hander, that turns tighter, then a slight left and right kink, and another long left hander that exits quite tightly. I messed up on the first long right hander, took another line that made me exit the turn faster, but not able to properly set Kate up for the coming left and right kink. The left and right was a mess, and before I could gather Kate up, the long left hander came.

Hanz in the meanwhile, was falling behind, my increase pace pressured him to push it further. And the 3 incidents came, and he was finally about to give up, thinking after that long left hander, I would leave him too far back to make up the distance, and so resigned to take it easy afterwards.

I came upon the left hander, braked Kate a little early, trying to scrub off all those excess speed Kate was carrying. Her left front tyre locked up, that achille's heel of Kate. That messed up left wheel well, that also messed up the suspension's geometry. All that adds up to a very sluggish left turn and very easy to lock up left wheel.

Her left wheel locked up, I eases off the brakes, but the wheel was still locked. The left wheel lock up was so bad, that we need to almost, if not entirely, lift off the brakes to cure it. Ryousuke was able to cure this by his highly refined cadence braking technique. I on the other hand, had emphasized threshold braking too greatly that I neglected practicing any other techniques.

I lifted off a bit more, the wheel still remained locked up. The corner was turning in, and the ditch and mountain side was coming at a more alarming rate. We still had quite a long way to go, so I didn't really panic and thought I could remedy the situation. Release the lock and turn Kate in, so I thought.

Again I lifted off a bit more, but the wheel remained locked up. The ditch and mountain side was now too close for comfort. Out of sheer instinct, I began to try to turn Kate in by turning the wheel. Thus shaving more traction from the tyres, making it more harder to unlock the wheels.

I lifted off a bit more and the wheel was still locked up. Kate wouldn't turn, I was suffering from a very bad case of understeer, the kind Ryousuke suffered at Kg. Gajah. It was getting too late to save the situation. I bailed out from the race, saving Kate was more important than continuing the race.

I straightened out, and dig in the brakes, trying to scrub off as much speed as possible. Trying to stop before we hit the fast looming mountain side. At the least, trying to minimize the damage should Kate nose dive into the ditch or the mountain side.

Now both tyres locked up and it was too late to try to save the situation. Instead of trying to cure the lock, I instinctively dig in the brakes even further, making saving the dire situation now impossible.

The ditch came up, Kate smashed through the low stone wall bordering the ditch, flying the stones up and over Kate. Kate was going too fast and flew over the ditch, nose dived into the mountain side, and became lodged in the dew ridden soil of the mountain side.

It was all in slow-mo, and I could hardly believe it when it happened. The misery of it all was then upon us, I had failed. I failed to properly gauge my ability and Kate's capability, I failed to quickly remedy the locked wheel, and finally failed to save the situation all together.

The fact that the air was damp, the surface temperature was low, giving quite low traction to Kate, using cheap korean wheels upfront, not having actually familiarized myself with Kate's braking limits, was no excuse for my catastrophic failure. It was a simple matter of lapse of concentration, a re-emerging self-damaging confidence, a burning desire to win, an insatiable lust to redeem one's pride and a disregard for safety, all culminated in the great disaster that has finally fallen again upon our weary shoulders.

Kate was again the victim of my incompetence. Kate, and Ryousuke's wallet. Though I am now more financially empowered, but I cannot dream of mustering the financial power to again bring Kate to her feet. I have failed catastrophically. I cannot even own up to my mistake, I cannot even at the very least muster all my financial ability to fix Kate, as I have a family, and they have their rights over me. I wanted to start a saving, and give my lovely wife the things she deserve, the things that I up till now could not give her. And to my little bundle of joy, how i wish I could lavishly spend upon thee. But now, I am tied up. My debts are unpaid, and now, even more have come to lay claim. Just as I was about to claw myself up from the depth of poverty, now I am plunged even deeper into it. All these facts lay heavy on me and I cannot but reflect, reflect and reflect again. My personal safety was never my concern, but the aftermath, the emotional and financial aftermath, can break one's spirit.

There was a time,
When the world was at my feet...


There was a time,When youth played in the gardens of my sleep...


But the world has awaken me,
My youth has deserted me,
Darkness now looms over me,
And this pit now conquers me...


My failings and failures,
My disappointment and blunders,
Let it all pass,
But yet it claws upon my wretched path...


One cannot but reflect...

P.s: I would like to take this opportunity to thank Taka and Jasril from Touge-G for their indispensable help in our time of need as well as Hanz, for everything you've done to help us and stick it out that night. Thanks a million. Only Allah could repay the help and kindness you've all given us that unfortunate night. God bless you all.

Bukit Putus Track Day 30 Sep 2011 10:54 PM (13 years ago)

I guess this is old news by now but what the heck =.=

Last weekend Keisuke and I went to our first sanctioned event outside of the tracks xD
Although its no time attack competition but nevertheless it is a sanctioned events held at the confines of the touge organized by Wheelspin Motorsport^^

How much better can it get? no cops to bugger us, no incoming traffic to worry about... but the touge roads all just for us to reach for the sky ;)

The night before the track day I went over and stay overnight at Keisuke's in laws place in Senawang, our plan was to go there early and have fun all day... unfortunately our plan went AWOL :P

We see our first daylight at half past 9 in the morning o.O getting ready and having breakfast eats up the minutes to 10 o'clock :P
We thought we have missed the registration time for the event and we were having doubts as to whether to join them or not... but we figured since we're here... why not give it a shot^^

So after breakfast off we went to Bukit Putus... once we're there our self esteem took another death blow >.<

Track cars and semi pro drivers everywhere o.O

We were starting to think to ourselves... why the heck we came all the way here to get our ass kicked? xD
We quietly hid Kate behind one of the tow trucks and try to blend in with the crowds :P
While trying to blend in we met our friends from Touge G who was there since last night having some midnight BBQ at the peak^^

We were still having doubts as to register ourselves but after some persuasion from Taka (or maybe some encouragements ;) we decided to gung ho... ditch our stupid self esteem and go all guns blazing^^

We registered 2 drivers and as we were filling up the indemnity form they were already about to start the recce >.<
They hurriedly register us and off we went joining the convoy for the recce... behind the last safety car :P

Obviously being among beat up Rally Cars and local enthusiast car... Kate stood up like a sore thumb o.O

She was getting far more attention than any of me and Keisuke was comfortable with :P


After the recce we made it downhill and line up at the start line for our first heat^^
The marshal was quite surprised we didnt bring any helmet with us :P
We completely forgot xD
Having always doing illegal touge runs... never before it cross our mind to have a helmet at the touge :P
But the marshal was being nice and he let us do the first heat even without our helmet :P
So Keisuke was at the wheel and jump off the starting line with all 300 horses spinning the rear wheel^^

It must be a sight to behold, with Keisuke riding her all the way to the rev limiter, popping up flames and crackling with all 300hp, screaming away in an angry banshee scream... it must probably be like witnessing a Group B monster off the line :P


But then again, the road was so slippery due to the previous night rain... slippery and greasy to be exact... we could hardly put the power down and the wheels would just slip.... we can't even properly heat up the tires and were lacking in grip all the way to the top... not to mention it was the first time any of us test our fate there at Bukit Putus so Keisuke wasnt really going all balls out up the hill >.<

But nevertheless we were starting to get the rhythm of the touge, so we headed back down and patiently wait for our next heat... unfortunately when it was our turn the marshal had decided it was too risky to let us run without any safety helmets so they had us turn around from the starting line and get ourselves a couple of helmet before we can continue xD

So we ignominiously turn around and scamper away from the crowd back to Senawang :P
Since it was almost lunch break so we had our lunch at Keisuke's in-laws place and went off to find ourselves a pair of helmets >.<

Luckily we bought a second hand helmet worth RM20 from the local bike shop, although it's not Sirim approve it doesnt matter for us as long as its dirt cheap >.<

Once we arrived back at Bukit Putus we were greeted with a host of supercars o.O
The crowd just gets bigger >.<
And the beautiful F20 engine AE86 already had an accident and was missing its front bumper... it was a grim premonition for us o.O

If the AE86 could lose control up there at the touge... what are our chances of not facing the same fate? >.<

That thought linger in my mind as I prepared to make my launch.... I have to admit my launch was not a perfect one... although must be very crowd friendly since I made quite a smoke spectacle :P

The first half going uphill I was being cautious, not even going into 3rd gear since I was still assessing the road conditions and getting the rhythm right, but once I was getting my confidence we hit higher gear^^

I was controlling the slides to a minimum trying to extract that extra speed out of the corners... the sound Kate made at the hills must be heard to believe^^
She was popping up flames and screeching the tires to the excitement of the crowd^^
The second half of my run was sheer adrenaline fun^^ we forgot about our inferiority complex and even sometimes bordering on dangerous since this was still my first hot lap up Bukit Putus >.<

But all good things must come to an end and we parked up the peak... once our adrenaline settles down we were split whether to make a huge turn around using the highway or just make the downhill turn when the next stream of participants started arriving... the AE86, some wira rally cars and Daihatsu....

As we saw everyone lining up for the downhill we just decided to join in the crowd :P
But our confidence level was top notch at the time we decided to please the crowds lining up the road going downhill.... once we see a hairpin corner with clear exit we burn the rubber and make a simple power over drift ^^

The next heat Keisuke was at the wheel again, but this time we had made a new friend who is a rally co-driver and driving a 1.3 Daihatsu rally car... which we've decided to make a 2 car run up the hill^^

This was getting exciting... a touge battle with our talent the limit, Keisuke was getting pumped up^^

After being properly beaten at Kg. Gajah last time around this time we're concentrating on keeping our heads cool when the action gets hot... so Keisuke jumps off the starting line with the launch precision that never ceases to amaze me and with so much power difference the battle is probably over just after the starting line >.<

Keisuke made such a healthy lead that he never really saw whats the distance between him and our new friend up the back...
And Keisuke being far more comfortable with Kate than he was in the morning started to drift her through the tight turns....

Seeing how excited the crowd was, Keisuke was getting excited as well... he started drifting at all the corners >.<
Even up to the point where we were sliding outward towards the guard rail but Keisuke would just continue the drift without any worries ^^

It was sheer fun!!! Once we reached the peak his time was somewhat off my time by around 2 seconds probably but he was having so much fun that he commented afterwards "I know its not fast... but I was just riding the crowd"^^

Unfortunately that was our last run of the day... Keisuke made our traditional power over drift around the corners with crowd just to please them one last time^^

Once we're back down... we say our goodbyes and off we went our separate ways... I dropped off Keisuke at Senawang and headed back to KL with a happy grin and satisfaction of a fun filled day at that tight winding Bukit Putus Touge^^

Keisuke did took a video recording of my run up the hill but unfortunately we ran out of memory to record Keisuke's run... and since the camera belongs to his inlaws... we forgot to take the video as well xD
So hopefully we'll get the video in the future ;)

ps : pictures are courtesy of Taka, Allen Aznan and Mohd Shahjehan Maamin

Kg. Gajah Trackday 18 Sep 2011 1:48 PM (13 years ago)

Its been awhile since our last activities... but lately we have been tracking Old Kate more than usual...

At first, Keisuke drove her in anger at Sepang... she has quite a pace now... considering her abnormal shoe size and considerable number of ponies under her hood... with such a high speed track like Sepang power difference would be very much obvious.

Then as I just came back, the very next day we track her at another track day... this time organized by Team Taugeh 1Malaysia (kinda funny name IMO :P) and its held way up north at Dato' Sagor Track... cheap ol track.. just to our liking^^

Our trip started early in the morning as we don't want to be late for track action xD
And since the rest of the Team Taugeh 1Malaysia was staying overnight at a nearby chalet... going to Kg. Gajah from KL to arrive there early in the morning seems like a herculean task from our perspective o.O

But for the first time in our history... our dust off was on time^^ only we had to do an unscheduled stop because we haven't checked the engine oil or any fluid for that matter ever since Keisuke abused her at Sepang last weekend... and because I had such limited time to prepare for the road trip cum track day... I wasnt able to secure any spare tire to bring along as well xD
We were going there with no preparation whatsoever and driven by sheer faith only that nothing would go wrong^^

Luckily I was able to procure a GPS for our trip... or any of our future trip :D so finding the Dato' Sagor track was nothing monumental of an achievement :P

Upon reaching there, we thought we had missed the opening salvo... but despite the fact our starting point was 150km away, we were the first to arrive at the track xD

After waiting for some time the main calvary of the Team Taugeh 1Malaysia arrived... and then it dawned on us... they're a league entirely above us>.<

The precipituous peaks 27 Aug 2011 2:43 PM (13 years ago)

Before the Ramadhan, and before sending Kate again to the workshop :-p I managed to squeeze one last hurrah from Kate X-p

We were finally able to visit the infamous Genting Sempah touge, where Touge G had made it their home :-p and so what better guide to show us the way than the landlords themselves X-p or in this case, touge-lords X-p

And better still, Hanz was able to come along ^^ at the least, if i am to be left behind, I'll still have his company X-p bcoz Hanz never leads on a new route, so if i am to fall behind, i'll be holding him back }:-) hoho..

Anyway, as usual, we were late... :-p even after quite a spirited wangan drive through MMR2 :-p

Well, fortunately we were not the last to arrive X-p they all gathered at the hallowed grounds of the 'Touge Bistro" :-p

After the arrival of the legendary Datsun 120Y, we finally headed off :-)

There was quite a number of us, I didn't really count (not really good at it anyway :-p) but it's safe to say that there were probably about 10 or more cars in our group...

Before we really took off, there was the ritual visit to the nearest gas station X-p






After quite a futile attempt to get the broken down car running (and after posing quite a nuisance to the visitors of the station as we were clogging up the space :-p) we finally decided that resistance is futile, and abandoned the car to her gravely fate X-p


And finally headed off... :-p

After going through the highway and trunk roads (and some villages as well :-p) we finally reached the start of the infamous Genting Sempah touge...







Kate being the overwhelming monster that she is, makes the event not really a test of her limits, but reconnaissance of the touge itself :-p

To be fair, the Touge G and gang are superb drivers. Having been in this dangerous hobby as long or probably even longer than ourselves, they are good at attacking the touge as any other serious enthusiast...

However, limited by the power of their ride, and further compounded by the fact that it's a hill climb, they're not really going at speeds that would challenge the limits of Kate's new breast implants and her monstrous new stilettos X-p Kate has SO much grip nowadays, that the speed needed to really make Kate work for those expensive plastic surgeries and stilettos are in the region where my balls don't dare to venture :-p

So it was quite a cruise ride for me ^^ following the Datsun 120Y while enjoying some cowboy country music X-p But i have to hand it to the legendary 120Y, he hardly brake into the corners (up to the point that i thought his brake lights were broken :-p) and took the turns so violently, that his inner front wheel tyres are always up in the air X-p I suppose he's really suffering from roll steer, but heck, it looks cool X-p

Hanz not wanting to spoil his paintjob (as usual) didn't want to follow behind Kate... Being rather infamous for throwing chips of stones to any spirited suitors X-p so he decided to follow the Proton Saga of a fellow enthusiast by the calling of 'Botak' (for obvious reasons :-p)

The touge of Genting Sempah is always a series of turns on a rather tight narrow road... It becomes tighter whenever we crosses a bridge.. :-p interspersed with a few really steep and tight hairpins... If not for following the 120Y, I suppose I would be making my acquaintance with a few trees at the bottom of the dark abyss of Genting Sempah in more than a few places X-p

Being rather steep in the climb at some places makes following the 120Y even more of a breeze :-p Kate being overwhelmingly powerful.. however, at the turns, and even some tight turns, the 120Y dives in like a kamikaze dive bomber without any braking, that even i didn't dare to go so gung-ho that i would slightly tap the brakes X-p (more to make sure that it's still there than to really kill the speed :-p) but Kate's new stilettos are very reassuring X-)

The touge was made even more treacherous by the fact that that is the common route of plying lorries O.O and massive Lori Balaks!! getting caught between the long drop and a squeezing Lori Balak in a tight hairpin is not my idea of fun :-p

The almost sheer vertical wall makes almost every turn a blind corner... So i suppose it's bordering on being suicidally crazy cutting corners like nobody's business.. :-p it seems the touge is also the usual route of the local villagers (like 'duh...' X-p) so we almost nearly hit an oncoming motorcyclist X-(

We reached a right-hander, and the cliff wall was so close to the road, that there's hardly any space with the road... the 120Y dived in, and was about to exit the turn, when suddenly a motorcyclist showed up (I suppose he was also speeding through considering how fast we suddenly came upon each other X-p) I was in the middle of the turn when he suddenly whizzed by :-p the speed he was going was so fast, that i wasn't able to react at all to his sudden passing X-p Thank goodness it's a habit of mine not to cut corners to the limit in a blind turn, so when
he passed by, there's quite a considerable space between me and the cliff road...

His meeting up with Botak is another story X-p Botak was cutting corners to the absolute limit, with no space at all between the tarmac and the little space of grass and the cliff wall... O.O quite a recipe for disaster... Luckily the motorcyclist himself was quite an accomplished rider X-p he was able to drive through that very little space (running on the grass i suppose :-p) with extraordinary precision X-p his face was so close to the cliff wall, that Hanz said he saw the motorcyclist holding the cliff wall with his hands in trying to keep the fine balance of hitting a car or the wall X-p truly a situation of being stuck between a rock and a really hard place X-p luckily he could still stay on the 'between' path :-p my hats off to that great 'Rossi' ^^ (of whom i will call him such as forth :-p not that i know him anyway X-p)

After a while, as we were nearing the end, Botak began to drop behind... Not really sure why, but Hanz said Botak lost his usual pace (he usually could keep up with Kate and the 120Y) that forced Hanz to finally overtook Botak... Hanz's ego now doing the thinking (as usual X-p), he tried to close the gap which Kate and 120Y had built :-p

But not being familiar with the road (since it's our first time) Hanz misjudge a hairpin and ran on the grass at the exit X-p again thank goodness that nothing untoward happened :-p

The 120Y i suppose being very familiar with the road and traffic, overtook the lorries we came across very quickly (and dare i say, almost at the point of being reckless X-p) I wasn't so exuberant about it as he was :-p

When we came upon a lorry at a blind turn, the 120Y overtook the lorry without any hesitation... Me being jaded by the motorcyclist event, couldn't really muster the balls and faith to commit to such a kamikaze move X-p and decided to settle behind the lorry until i know there is a clear road before me...

So the corner turned around VERY slowly X-p that when we finally cleared it and the lorry, the 120Y was no longer in sight X-p and it was at this time that Hanz finally manage to come up to Kate :-p

A few metres down the road, we came across another lorry X-p after making sure that there's no traffic coming up, we then overtook the lorry... and came into a highway (I suppose that's why the 120Y dived ahead of the lorry almost suicidally... he knew that there would not be any incoming traffic i suppose :-p)

The 120Y was no where in sight, and to make matters worst, the road turned into a downhill course X-( Still being traumatized by the experience, decided to take the course very gently :-p and braking at the slightest hint of the road turning into a corner X-p the fact that there was an open gutter right beside the road is not really comforting X-p

But that was the last stretch and we finally hit the end when we came upon the Genting Sempah R&R area :-) Because Hanz had some appointment with some friends, we decided to forgo the downhill attack (which i think it's just crazy X-p) and went back through the Karak highway... Hanz being extremely fast and crazy at the Karak Highway, that he went through it at 200++ Kph O.O not really having the balls to follow, he naturally left me behind :-p

Then it was a long night of shisha hopping and boasting X-p haha... anyway, it was a great drive all in all :-) the Touge G and gang truly are crazy enthusiasts X-p I suppose if we went for the downhill attack, i would be more than sweating trying to keep up :-p considering how crazy these fellows are X-p

Anyway, here's a compilation of the vid ^^ it's my first time using a software i am entirely unfamiliar :-p not that i ever made any good vids in the first place X-p it's not as poetic as Ryosuke's vids, nor as epic as Takashi's, but still, at least it's a vid X-p

(note: pictures courtesy of Takashi of Touge G :-)



Till next time ^^

Shakedown at Kuala Klawang 27 Aug 2011 1:58 PM (13 years ago)

Well, finally the holiday season is upon us ^^ and i could at last find the time to write something up :-p haha...

Anyway, when I first took up Kate from the workshop, I had taken Kate for a shakedown with Richard and co... :-p from what i gathered, it seems that we got the muscle, but not the brain X-p We finally got a car that could compete with Richard's monstrous Scooby, but unfortunately, not the balls nor skills to compete with the man himself :-p haha..

Anyway, I'm not here to talk about that shakedown, it'll have to wait... Haven't completed the vid on it yet X-p haha.. anyway, Takashi from Touge G did a vid on the 2nd shakedown and it's pretty epic :-p i enjoyed watching it and is really honoured to put this up here for the viewing pleasure of our spamming readers X-p

The basics of Braking 17 Aug 2011 9:02 AM (13 years ago)

Ahh... I haven't written anything in eons... X-p

I do have a lot of materials to write upon, since we were brimming with activities the last time Ryosuke came back from war-torn Iraq :-p but i haven't found the time to divest the necessary creative juices to actually pen any worth mentioning literary pieces :-p

Anyway, what I am about to post is not about our recent activities.. :-p that'll have to wait, since i am still trying to find the time (and correct software) to come up with a nicely composed video collection ^^ maybe not as poetic as the videos edited by Ryosuke, but at the least something worth spending the next 5 minutes of one's life... :-p

I have always been thinking about braking techniques... I have read many articles on it, from cadence braking, to full-lock braking, to threshold braking etc... However, I have come across something so basic, that i feel it's fundamental to read and reflect before one tries any of those advanced braking techniques.. which unfortunately we did not practice as we had immediately jumped to trying it :-p a trial and error way of doing things, one finally learn something, but at quite an atrocious cost X-p

We have always instinctively known this basic concept of braking (and i am sure many are) however, this article, i believe, is great in the sense that it is able to articulate on that basic concept so well :-)

After so long driving at the touge, I notice that one of the most important aspects of driving technique is, for want of any better word, 'weight management' :-p and i am not particularly referring to my growing waistline (which is, quite frankly, also a cause of alarm X-p) but to the understanding and manipulation of the dynamics of the car and its shifting weight... this is particularly so when driven at the limit, and even more so in a downhill run... with an oversteer happy rear wheel car :-p

Aryton Senna was famous for being uncannily good at knowing where the 'grip' is...
and to me, Weight management is the holy grail of controlling when and where the 'grip' of the car is... by manipulating the weight of the car, one can control how much grip goes to which wheel and etc... of course i am not here to talk about weight management (considering my not so graceful growing physique, i certainly am not the most appropriate person to talk about it :-p) but about braking...

One of the most basic and important technique in this 'weight management' concept is braking... proper braking helps the car to settle in on its suspension, to take a 'set' (as they would call it) before turning in... more advanced drivers would do 'trail braking' by braking deep in the turn, manipulating the weight of the car using the brakes rather than the throttle (which is, speaking from experience, a really difficult feat to accomplish...)

Braking, if done properly, is not only to 'slow down' the car, but make the car take the turn faster... Jackie Stewart (particularly famous for being a super-smooth driver) used to say that his advantage over his opponents is how he 'eases' off the brakes... thus, eventhough braking is the most fundamental aspect of driving, mastering it can be considered one of the most difficult (for me at the least :-p)

Well, enough with my rant... This article was found at http://www.racingschools.com/drivingtips.php, a really good site to check out :-)

"BRAKING - Slow It

Virtually all of the braking that a race car driver does is done in preparation for or in conjunction with cornering. One of the first lessons that every racer must learn is that the most efficient way to slow a car is in a straight line, with the car's weight evenly distributed side-to-side. The "standard" turn on a race course is made under power, with all slowing having been done before the car is turned.

In the last article I noted that braking transfers weight from the rear of the car to the front, and that your braking system is designed to accommodate this. Cornering transfers weight from one side of the car to the other -- from the inside to the outside of the cornering direction. The braking system is not, with rare exceptions, designed to adapt to this weight transfer. The driver has to adapt instead.

Any time we turn our car's steering wheel we compromise braking efficiency. When we turn left, for example, some of the car's weight transfers to the right side; the left side of the car gets lighter. If we brake (or, for that matter, even slow down) at the same time, the car's weight is transferred forward as well. Now the car is unbalanced; the braking and tire adhesion forces on all four corners of the car are different. In all likelihood, each of the four wheels is either bearing too much weight to brake efficiently or too little weight to stick to the pavement optimally.

At the very least this condition will make the car uncomfortable for its passengers and difficult to steer. At the worst, it can cause the driver to lose control of the car entirely. The solution? For comfort or for safety, whenever possible, don't brake and turn your car at the same time. If you have to do so, be aware that it will neither brake nor turn as well as it would if you were doing one at a time.

While absolutely correct braking and cornering may not be a matter of safety at street driving speeds, they can be a matter of increased comfort. Next time you drive on the street try slowing down for corners before you turn the steering wheel to negotiate them. Turn at a constant (but not too fast) speed, and as you start out of the turn, accelerate gently. If that's different from the way you usually drive, you'll feel the difference immediately and so will your passengers.

The same braking technique will make driving a curvy road much easier: concentrate on slowing down for each corner while the steering wheel is straight. If the corners are esses, slow during that brief time when the wheels are straight as you turn from one direction to the other. Do this as smoothly as possible. Accelerate lightly coming out of the corner. Assuming you've judged your cornering speed correctly, slowing in a straight line and not braking while turning will make a dramatic difference in the ease and comfort with which your car negotiates a curvy road. And it will let you make better time without having to drive any harder.

Ideally all braking should be done before the wheel is turned for a corner. At the very least, 70% of your car's braking should be done before turning, and all of it should be completed by one-quarter of the way into the turn.

The cornering/braking tradeoff is dramatically illustrated in a highway emergency situation we've all seen or experienced. The car in front of you stops abruptly. You brake as hard as possible and swerve into the breakdown lane simultaneously. If you're lucky, this works, but it's only because you weren't stopping as quickly as you could have. If you're less lucky, you're suddenly sliding sideways toward the car you'd hoped to avoid or you're in a spin.

That shouldn't be a surprise now that you know your car can't brake and turn optimally at the same time. If you've mastered the technique of "instantly" squeezing your brakes to the limit, you'll brake at the limit first, then ease off your braking slightly to turn to the side; or, if getting out of the lane is more critical, brake lightly to preserve turning capability.

Copyright © 1998 by Tim Moser of Silhouette Racing. All rights reserved.


BRAKING - Stop It

Of all the skills that a race car driver must master to go quickly around a road or street course, none is more complex or more critical than braking. In fact, braking is important enough and complicated enough to discuss that I plan to devote two of these articles to it, and I'll do a third article, later in the series, on the unique characteristics of antilock braking systems (ABS).

No racing skill is harder to execute perfectly or to learn than is slowing a race car at the limits of its braking performance. It occurs dozens of times each lap on the race track. Slow down too much, too slowly or too soon and you've lost critical lap time; slow down too little, too quickly or too late and you've lost your race car or more.

There are three factors that make braking so complex. First, virtually all braking during a race is done at the absolute limits of the car's performance -- at the limit of the brakes' ability to convert the car's kinetic energy into thermal energy and/or at the limit of the tires' ability to adhere to the track surface. Second, the car's braking characteristics are never the same for two stops in a row. Third, the act of braking induces changes in the race car's posture, its weight distribution and its handling characteristics, all of which make braking more difficult and complicated.

Because race braking is done "at the edge," race car drivers have plenty of opportunity to experience and to practice braking for maximum performance. The everyday driver rarely experiences braking at the limits. When we do, it's an emergency, and one for which too few of us are prepared. I'd like to see every driver have the chance to practice braking at least twice a year, coming to a full stop as fast as possible, without skidding, from 30, 45 and 60 miles per hour. If all of us knew exactly what that feels like and how much time and distance it takes, the streets and highways would be safer places to drive.

There's a television commercial on these days that says something to the effect that your brakes stop your wheels; your tires stop your car. That's actually a profound statement, for all that it's technically flawed. Tire characteristics such as pressure and tread depth have a direct impact on a car's ability to stop. Race cars are checked for tire pressure and condition dozens of times during a race or practice session. Do you know the ideal tire pressure for your passenger car? Do you know how to measure it? What's the tire pressure of your car right this very minute? If you can't answer these three questions, you are in increased danger of not stopping in time when you need to. Tire pressures should be checked every time you put gas in your tank, and you should take a conscious look at the tread on your tires every time you get into your car.

When you step on your car's brakes, whether gently or firmly, some of your car's weight transfers from the rear of the car to the front. You experience this in the front end's dipping down. Your front brakes and tires experience it by having to do more of the work of slowing. That's why your front brakes are probably larger than your rear brakes and why they will probably need maintenance before the rear ones will. Weight transfer happens as a result of the laws of physics and your car is designed to accommodate it.

However, if you "grenade" your brakes -- if you stomp on them -- it is possible, even likely, that your more powerful front brakes will lock before that weight transfer occurs. Your tires will be skidding well before your brakes have dissipated any energy, and most of your braking effectiveness will be lost. The race car driver learns, and every passenger car driver should learn, to squeeze the brakes on (rapidly) rather than to stamp or slam them on, and to maintain pedal pressure right at the brakes' limits. The panicky "Oh no....STOMP!" stop has no place on a track and no place on the streets or highways; when it occurs either place it's likely as a prelude to a crash.

Copyright © 1998 by Tim Moser of Silhouette Racing. All rights reserved."

Though ABS is not really relevant to Old Kate (being stripped of that system long ago :-p), however, for the benefit of modern day drivers, i suppose there's no harm done in posting an extra article on ABS braking ^^

"ANTI-LOCK BRAKING

In my first braking article, earlier in this series, I promised a separate article on antilock braking systems (ABS). A recent report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has raised questions about the effectiveness of antilock brakes and prompts me to follow up with this article.

Strictly speaking, antilock braking isn't a racing technique, since most race cars don't utilize antilock braking. There are two primary reasons for this: 1) It isn't entirely clear that antilock braking will reduce stopping distance for the skilled driver; and 2) Antilock brakes add system complexity, cost and weight to the race car, the disadvantages of which outweigh any possible advantages.

The IIHS report, issued December 10, 1996, notes that in single-vehicle accidents, cars with antilock brakes are as much as 44% more likely to produce fatalities than are cars without the antilock system. While the Institute declines to give a reason for this, it seems to me that the reason is simple and obvious. I don't believe that it indicates that antilock brakes are ineffective or dangerous in and of themselves. The problem is that stopping with antilock brakes, in an emergency situation, requires an entirely different braking technique than the one used with conventional brakes, and virtually no drivers have had or taken the opportunity to learn this new technique.

Different ABS systems work and react differently under extreme braking. While they all prevent the brakes from locking up, many of them generate pedal feedback -- pulses or bumps -- when they're working. They may seem to be pumping themselves; they may alternate between feeling firm and feeling soft; they may feel as though the pedal is going to the floor. The instinctive reaction for most drivers when they feel this strange brake pedal action is to reduce brake pressure, which deactivates the ABS, increases stopping distance and can actually cause a loss of control by upsetting the car's balance.

I said earlier that it isn't entirely clear that ABS will reduce stopping distance for the race car driver. It is very clear that it will reduce stopping distance for the everyday driver -- except perhaps in loose gravel or loose snow -- but that's not its primary purpose. The primary function of ABS is to enable the driver to steer the car while braking at maximum effectiveness. But steering in an emergency stop is itself a new technique. Abrupt or severe steering movements under these conditions will, again, unbalance the car and may cause a loss of control.

If you have a car with ABS you must learn to use it. ABS works and works well when you apply maximum braking pressure and HOLD it. DO NOT pump or ease off on ABS brakes in an emergency braking situation, no matter what they seem to be doing. If you steer while in an ABS stop, do it smoothly, but don't, under any circumstances, release or lighten your pressure on the brake pedal until your car is stopped completely. None of the above, by the way, applies to pickup trucks with rear ABS only, which should be driven as though they have no ABS at all.

It behooves every driver of an ABS-equipped car to unlearn his or her old braking habits and to learn the new ones that work with ABS. To do that, take your car to a safe location such as a completely empty and obstacle-free parking lot or a completely unoccupied street, preferably when the pavement is wet, and practice hard braking. Don't "slam" on your brakes, but press firmly, as hard as you can, with the force that would definitely lock up conventional brakes. Start at 15 - 20 mph and try to lock the brakes up while driving in a straight line. Your tires may screech or even skid or slide momentarily, but they should not lock up. If you can lock your brakes up, your ABS is not functioning properly. Stop your practice immediately and get your brakes checked and repaired.

No matter what the car or the brake pedal does in this practice, don't let up the braking pressure. Get used to what your ABS feels like when it's working; then do the same thing from 30 - 35 mph. At each speed, once you are comfortable with the feel of the car in a straight line, practice turning smoothly but positively while under maximum braking. Repeat this exercise several times, particularly at the higher speed, until you are completely comfortable with the way your car will react to a maximum braking situation and are confident that it won't surprise you.

ABS technology is expensive, and the more expensive the car the better the quality of the ABS system it is likely to have. There is a world of difference between, say, the ABS in a relatively low-cost Chevrolet and a top-of-the-line Mercedes. Both, however, require learning new driving habits.

Learn your car's ABS braking, what it feels like in your car and how it's different from what you have learned in the past. It is an exercise that can save your life in an emergency.

Copyright © 1998 by Tim Moser of Silhouette Racing. All rights reserved."

Anyway, hopefully this article helps refreshes my memory on proper driving technique ^^ sometimes we get lost in the minute details of trying to push the limit even further, that we stray from the most basic of concepts :-)

After a hiatus of driving on the limit for so long (due to that rather unfortunate accident :-p) driving fast again feels pretty much alien to me, and I do feel that I have to re-learn everything again, from the ground up X-p that crash really shattered everything inside of me :-p from my self-confidence, to my courage and even to my understanding of the most basic of concepts... It's great to finally able to drive again ^^ but the dread is still hanging over every turn :-p

Ryousuke is certainly over it (as is his post earlier), but i still got quite a hill to climb X-( well then, nothing wrong with a spirited hill-climb attack then X-p haha... Until then, drive safe ^^ one hardcore touge enthusiast once said (whom shall not be named for security purposes :-p) "drive safe, not slow... but safe" :-)