Wednesday 30 March 2011

The Stuff of Legends: Jason's Driftmaster S13

If you hang out in the automotive world, you'll mostly find two types of cars. The first types are show queens, perfect looking cars, not a scratch on their thousand-dollar paint job, with nice and shiny parts under the hood and perfect upholstery inside. These cars are the stuff dreams are made of, but to me, they lack something. That something is what the second type of cars have: a history. Scratched paint, cracked bodykits, used up leather on the steering wheel, the side of the seat peeling off due to too many in and outs, dirty engine bays, and, very often, half of the driver's life thrown in the raw, gutted rear are part of the things that give such cars a Soul. 
This is what makes a car priceless, especially to the owner who, when looking at a taped up part of a bumper, can remember how and when it happened.
Cars like these are not to be featured in an empty place or closed road; they belong on the open road, mixed in the crowd. That's where they "grew up" and this is also where they will die.
This S13 is such a car. Her story begins three years ago, when Jason bought this second hand 200SX after his desire to learn drifting won him over. Choosing the S13 for its low price, abundant aftermarket support and overall affinity with drifting, Jason asked Perfect Power Performance at Autobay Kaki Bukit to help him with the build, and about half a year later, this drift car was born. 
With the support of GT Radial for the tyres, Jason then started learning how to drift and ever since that time, has been spotted training and competing at many events in Malaysia and Singapore, racing under the colors of his very own Team Driftmasters.
His first donuts in January 2008 in Kulai Malaysia have seen him improve his control on his trustworthy S13 and this Nissan has seen, over the last two years, the asphalt of over 15 events, ranging from drift demos such as the Asia Auto Salon 2009, to major drifting events like Formula Drift Singapore 2010 and the Mettle Games 2010. 


Over the months and events, Jason has managed to get a good series of sponsors for his 200SX too, continuing his partnership with GT Radial, but also getting endorsed by LiquiMoly Singapore, DOTZ Wheels Asia Pacific, GEN Concepts, Oakley, Asia Apparels and Red Bull Singapore, with the Wings Team. 

Sadly, after all this fame and events, pride and hardships, this S13 is nearing the end of her life, and is due to be scrapped soon, due to Singapore laws. Her chassis is tired and softened due to the strain of this very demanding motorsport, her body is cracked and scratched, riveted and taped up, holes are appearing all over the undercarriage, preyed on by rust, but when you sit in the passenger seat, with Jason at the wheel, none of these matter, this car gives it all, and will continue to do so until the day she has to be taken off the road. And when that day will come, just by looking at this car and all her imperfections, you'll know that she took her owner for one hell of a ride. That, to me, is the Stuff of Legends.
Now, to all the show queens (and their owners) out there, stop boasting, and give this S13 the respect she deserves.














Friday 25 March 2011

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Wednesday 23 March 2011

Japan Relief Bumper Decals

Dear readers,

A friend of mine is making these Japan Relief bumper decals for the recent disaster that struck Japan. 
Decals are selling for S$10 a piece, all proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross.

The decal comes in two colors and two colors only, size is 300mm x 120mm.


If you are interested, either drop me a message through the side "contact me" box, and I will forward to him or you can email him directly at iamrandyf@gmail.com.

Thank you for supporting Japan, together we can make a difference!

SingTel's 2011 Formula One Sponsorship Press Conference

On Tuesday 22nd of March, SingTel, the main sponsor of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix, organized a press conference to let us in on the new and exciting upcoming features that come along 2011's race.

The brains behind this year's amazing F1 entertainment.
With the aim of making the Formula One experience more than just a race to attend to, SingTel is introducing a series of "firsts" under the tag line of "Fast is Amazing", which will bring the racing spirit everywhere in Singapore thanks to F1 simulators challenges, but also other types of "races" centered around Singapore's daily activities, such as the fastest durian eater, the fastest SMS typer and eight other "disciplines". These contests' winning results will then be submitted for the Guinness World Records with the aim of making Singapore the Fastest Nation on Earth.

"During this Formula One season, we want Singaporeans to feel the race action both on and off the track," said SingTel's CEO Singapore, Mr Allen Lew.

The activities and contests organized by SingTel will take place around Singapore, every race week ends, which will see the races broadcasting live via SingTel's mio TV at selected Kopitiam, Harry's bars, and shopping malls, in full HD and for a first in Singapore, in 3D. Celebrities will also be joining the live screenings and join the "Fast is Amazing" campaign by creating their personal records along with the audience.

SingTel will also be putting us, spectators, in the driver's seat with six in-car cameras that will be mounted on six different cars, giving us the opportunity to see the race from the driver's point of view.
The races can be seen live on three ESPN STAR Sports channels exclusive to SingTel:
Mio TV chennel 115, the online ESPN player and Mobile ESPN on mobile phones and devices.

For F1 Die Hards and all racing enthusiasts in Singapore, SingTel will be touring the island with custom built F1 race simulators, built with a technology similar as the ones used by the professional F1 drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button to train, which allow you to race on the Singapore GP track, feel the bumps in the road, the acceleration and braking of the F1 car you will be driving. Everyone is encouraged to sign up and try to post their best timing to win a replica of the Singapore F1 GP trophy!

To make things even more exiting, SingTel will be organizing a 24 hours Simulator Race where the 40 top timers on the simulator will be pitted around the clock in eight teams of five. The winning team will be declared Singapore's fastest team, be rewarded free tickets to the race and the chance to meet one of the F1 drivers and even compete against him on the simulator!

In addition to all this, SingTel, in association with Singapore Motor Sports Association, is preparing Singapore's next generation of racing talent by sponsoring 30 students to learn and practice the fundamentals of racing with go-karts, and build a solid base for a future professional racing career and represent Singapore in motorsports events across the globe in years to come.
SingTel will be keeping a close watch on 12 to 15 years old contestants during the F1 simulator tryouts that will tour the island during the F1 season and select the top 30 of them to be eligible for the sponsorship. SingTel will offer a free Go-Karting track day to the three top ranking students and their schools.

Of course, racing is but one part of the sport, and having a good physical endurance is a key element in the victory of drivers, so SingTel will be sponsoring this year's Tri-Factor Triathlon, a sports event that combines swimming, biking, running and triathlon.

As if it wasn't enough, SingTel is also launching an interactive smart phone app, which gives the latest F1 news, team information, events calendar, but also find and support the candidates who take part in the "races" around Singapore.

All of these features are also on SingTel's brand new interactive online portal at www.singtel.com/f1, where users can also vote for their favourite SingTel Grid Girls, who will be shortlisted and selected by local celebrities.

Last but no least, SingTel will also be introducing the Formula One Fantasy game on the online portal, which gives everyone the opportunity to build and manage his or her own F1 racing team and come up with winning strategies to dominate other racing teams.

Well, dear readers, if some of you were complaining about not having enough presents, SingTel is here this year with enough goodies to satisfy even the most demanding ones of us! Make sure to check out the portal at www.singtel.com/f1 to enjoy the most of this new experience!

Special thanks to Shane, Robin and all the team at Ogilvy PR Worldwide for your support!

Thursday 17 March 2011

Gymkhana GRID

Most of you have seen those three amazing gymkhana videos where Ken Block slides, spins and does more mind-blowing things with his Monster Energy Drink Subaru Impreza STI and Ford Fiesta.
With over 70 million views, these viral videos have been one of the greatest motorsports videos on the Net. If you are one of the few who haven't seen them, here they are. If you have already seen them, it never hurts to see these amazing videos one more time:

Gymkhana Practice -



Gymkhana 2, the Infomercial -



Gymkhana 3, Ultimate Playground -



Well it so happens that the king of the gymkhana felt a little bit alone in his motorsport and decided to launch Gymkhana GRID, in December 2010.
Gymkhana GRID was founded by Christopher Willard (the co-founder of the Redline Time Attack Series) and with Ken Block in to design the track, the rules and regulations and promote the sport, we can expect nothing less than a new motorsport discipline that is planned to grow the way Formula Drift has.

Gymkhana GRID is open to all types of RWD and AWD cars, and for the launch event, the Gymkhana GRID Ken Block Invitational that took place on December 3rd and 4th 2010, some of the greatest motorsports drivers were invited to compete against Ken Block himself, such as rally drivers like Dave Mira and pro drifters like Vaughn Grittin Jr, Daijiro Yoshihara and Tanner Foust.
To promote the Gymkhana GRID Ken Block Invitational, a rather fun video was released on the net, giving a first view of what's to expect, along with featured drivers (excluding Travis Pastrana because he moved to NASCAR, as teased about in the video).




The concept of Gymkhana GRID is Close to Formula Drift as it sees competitors running in duo around a "small size" course. The limitation in size of the course is practical as spectators can see most, if not all, of the action from any place around the track. The competitors are pitted against each other in two rounds, once again like Formula Drift. But that's where the similarities stop. In Gymkhana GRID, the drivers compete against the clock and are not sharing the same track, but are competing on "mirror" courses that not only require driving skills, but also a lot of mental work on the drivers as they must compete both in precision but also in speed.

The layout, designed by Ken Block, includes a high speed start, figure eights, boxed donuts, and a lot of power sliding.

The Gymkhana GRID Ken Block Invitational's final round saw Ken Block and Tanner Foust going head-to-head in similar 600+hp, AWD Ford Fiesta, and even though Ken Block blazed around the course, Tanner Foust showed superior car control skills and won both rounds to claim the first ever Gymkhana GRID trophy.
Here's the final round of AWD Gymkhana GRID pitting Ken Block and Tanner Foust -



Who said Ken Block, the founder of this motorsport, would have an easy win?

Saturday 12 March 2011

Where is the automotive market heading?


Looking at the current automobile market and its eco-trends, we can wonder how the automotive world is going to evolve in the upcoming years.

The past few years have already seen a shift in trends and tendencies on the automobile manufacturers’ side, where more and more hybrid concepts are featured in auto shows and steadily making their way to production. Some models, such as the Honda CR-Z don't even offer the option of having a regular gasoline only power plant, and tuning companies are now working on developing new options for modifying hybrids.

These tendencies are not just a temporary fashion trend, but a real industry shift, and while Honda's Prius endured a lot of teasing when it was first launched, the recent decision by Mitsubishi about putting an end to the Evolution version of the Lancer in order to be more in line with their new eco-friendly image is taken as a grim forecast of things to come for petrol heads around the world.

Taking a step back from this very recent news, it was actually a decision that we could have seen coming: in 2005, Mitsubishi had opted out of the WRC Rally Championship, which lead to last year’s decision to put an end to Ralliart (in April 2010). The next logical step was indeed to kill the Evo.

It's not just about the loss of an iconic sports car model, it's the hard reality kick in the face fact that the Japanese manufacturer is ready to drop its spearhead product in the motorsports industry in favor of eco-friendliness, disregarding all the motor heads out there. Now this is just one model and one brand, but what if others follow?

Well, the trend has already started, with Honda for example, who never came up with a successor to the NSX after ending this mythical car in 2005, and that decided to end the production of the S2000 in 2009, without offering a new model to replace it. There are rumors of a next generation S2000 out there, but nothing has ever been confirmed by the manufacturer.

Imagine the end of the Nissan Z, Impreza STI, Focus RS, who knows, even BMW M series, etc. Where will that leave us enthusiasts?

That's where the manufacturers pop their heads in the room with a big smile while waving a big "performance hybrid" flag.

Really? How can that even be possible?

Try whacking a hybrid vehicle around a track and you'll notice that the electric engine doesn't kick in once, and the gas consumption will be as bad if not worse than a normal gasoline car for much lower performance.
Some will argue by citing Tesla's all electric Roadster. Point given that the performance of this ride is quite impressive: doing 0-100kph in 3.7 seconds, but as much as 393km on a single charge is remarkable considering it's a performance electric vehicle, the recharging times are just plain scary. Imagine a future electric version of the 24 hours of le Mans, starring 8 hours of driving and 16 hours of recharging, or the next Formula 1 championship, in silence with barely the sound of the tyres on the asphalt, with Duracell stickers replacing Shell's and batteries replacing the fuel in the pits.

What a funny future we're heading in, and as much as we want to prevent the sweet sound of a V8, a blow off valve, the adrenaline rush increasing along with the melody of the exhaust as the RPM dance to the red line from disappearing, there is unfortunately nothing we can do against this trend but accept it and try to find a way to keep our passion alive in the new generation green vehicles.

What do you guys think? Feel free to comment on this post and share your thoughts about the current and future automobile market around the World!

Monday 7 March 2011

BMW.SG meet up - Sunday 27th February 2011 - Part 2



The last BMW.SG (http://www.bmw-sg.com/) meetup had quite a good turnout, as you may have seen in the part 1 article, but there was more than just BMWs at this meetup: as mentioned in the first article, the beamers' close neighbor, the Mercedes from SGMERC (http://www.bmw-sg.com/), were also meeting up at the same place, turning this casual meetup into a German fest.
Models from all trims and ages gathered up, from the latest E and S class to a very classic 280 SLC, which is a real gem to see!















The cake was then topped with a nice cherry when a couple of Lamborghinis, Porsches and even an Aston Martin V8 Vantage joined the gathering, and the mood was really set for afternoon full of car goodness.
In the exotic club was a Singapore Limited Edition Lamborghini Gallardo, with its sweet carbon fiber additions (side skirts, rear hood, rear diffuser, inside door panels and more), a Gallardo Superleggera, a Porsche Boxster Spyder and two 911, complete with 8 year old model!


















Another outstanding car was the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, a rare piece, handmade in UK, with its sporty twin stacked exhausts.
















Once again, special thanks to Joseph from J's Artworks and Eric for letting me in on the meet up as well as everybody from BMW.SG!