Daily Travelling + Cost + Time - Using Kipper

Good Morning World Wide Web....

I actually begin to think that maybe my daily travelling could be optimized to save travelling cost and time at the same time. 

In a nut shell everyday travelling are as follows:

From Kajang -> to Subang Airport -> Taman TAR Ampang -> Back to Kajang

Now this roughly counts to about 150-200 km's a day and i do spend a lot of time on the road.
About 2 years ago being very fed up with traffic, i made an impulsive decision to purchase a bike,  thought it will be the best remedy to save time and money.

The reliable Kipper

So for weekdays its always Mr. Kipper (KRR Ninja 150se) that takes me around, but Kipper being a performance bike in its own class it is also expensive to maintain, seeing that my objective of going with 2 wheels is to save cost. 

So with Kipper, i take about an 1 hour to reach office, another hour to reach Ampang and another hour or so to reach home. I am giving the time some buffer as i have to take count traffic condition as well. The bike cant cut trough traffic that easily considering its size and my safety to do so. So average lets say 2.5 hours in travelling a day.

Now on the cost, a week i might say RM 60 in fuel and every two weeks or so ill need to top up the 2T oil. Now for 2T oil some people use cheaper ones but i choose to use a bit on the high end as i believe by giving Kipper the best he will also return the favor. So roughly in a month it boils down to +- RM300 (Fuel + 2T).

Now in terms of service, i usually service Kipper every 3000km even the recommendation is 4000km.

So lets say 150km a day which means in a week 750km and in a month its 3000km. So every month i will need to service Kipper.

Now servicing kipper is never a fixed price as there will always be different wear and tear parts to be changed, like chain, break pads etc. Ill just set a rough estimate of RM150 a month.

So in conclusion for my daily travelling with Kipper in a month:

Total cost: RM 300 + RM 150 = RM 450
Total time: 2.5h x 5 weekdays = 12.5h x 4 weeks = 50 Hours ( 2 days and 2 hours)

Need to think how i can save more time and money...there must be a more effective way :)

Vandalized replacement and new carpets!!

From my previous post you can see that my car actually got vandalized and they bent the automatic antenna to 90 degrees. Yes i am aware that this means less drag but lets not go there :p

So after a lunch date with my beloved darling, i headed to an Accessory shop in Bandar Seri Alam, Masai. To my surprise there are quite a few big shops there.

So went in one of the guys came and saw the damage and showed to 2 different automatic antenna's. 1 with a small motor that cost RM180 and another with a bigger motor that cost RM200.

I told my self with this car i want to do it right this time so i went for the one with the bigger motor but got it for RM 260.

Picture is just a sample

Installation being carried out

Installation was a breeze as everything is already there, and after a few minutes..tadaaa

This time i choose to tilt it abit hehe...

While waiting for the installation to complete, the store manager was abit too friendly with me and managed to brain wash me to install some carpets in the car. I already had the idea to install them but was reserving my cash for the gasket replacement. One thing went to another, and carpets were installed.

This is Malaysian made, no smell, thicker and with bottom grips so it does not move. What sold me what its thickness as when i installed similar carpet to my old car, there were very thin and always moved around. Now with this, its not a problem.

Cost:

Automatic Antenna: RM 260
Carpet: RM 190

Total: RM 470

Thats it...no more spending money!!!

Weekend Trip to JB

Im actually in a distance relationship, and yes she lives and works in JB. Which means very often trip to down south. 

The past weekend i made an impulsive decision to visit my girl as its been almost a month since we meet. She being a Journalist for one of the major newspaper publication in Malaysia, and now being GE13, she has been so busy and all her leaves has been frozen. 

Actually i really feel bad for her as she works really hard to the publication, worst than graveyard hours, yet she still finds the time to call me, and for her family as well, but none for herself.

So i thought it will be a good idea to visit her and also show her my new car!

Left around 4ish with a full tank of petrol, being a good boy on the road i was driving at the legal speed of 110km/h, soon after passing Malacca i got bored...so what else, time to see what this car can do with 160whp!

The car handles well at high speed, braking is superb, but i must say the tires are not at its best condition. Currently equipped with Michelin Pilot Sport 3, which are good tires for normal driving but not the best for performance. Still using its stock 16" Volvo rims wrapped with 205/55R16 W(270km/h). Well the tires are actually worn out abit but still good.

Managed to push the car up to 220km/h without even flooring the pedal. Amazing! and even at that speed the car still has power to push itself. Even at that speeds with just a little touch on the paddle and the speed climbs.

Well i did not push it another more than than as its still running on stock suspension which are leaking by the way.

In terms of fuel, well driving at a constant speed of 170 - 220 km/h iv used of 3/4 of the fuel, which is ok considering the speed that i was travelling.

I stayed over night at a hotel in Masai - Pearl White Hotel, which is a normal hotel but clean and nice.

In the morning woke up had my shower, and was getting ready to have fetch my girl for breakfast, i came down to find my car got VANDALIZED!!!

 

Why the hell would anybody want to do this!! arghh

Anyway i got it replaced which i will blog about in another post.

After lunch i decided to head back to KL but this time with a fresh new full tank of petrol, i set the auto cruise to 110km/h. From JB i headed straight to Rawang to visit a friend and then to Kajang. 

With my good driving behavior i clocked 500km with just 30L of petrol. Now thats amazing.

Which means that i got 17km for every liter of petrol and in other words its about 15sen/km. Good or bad??? i think its good why?

I read a few forums about cars with very good fuel consumption, and i think the current winner out there is the Toyota Vios where people are claiming that its consumption is about 12-15km/l on highway driving.

So if i were to compare my S40 which is double the weight, 2000cc turbocharged while the vios is half the weight 1500cc na....you do the maths...walaaaaa my consumption is considered good!! 

CEL came back... sigh (First trip with the car Kajang -> Temerloh -> Palong ->Temerloh -> Kajang

The other day after picking up the from the dealership, the car went for a full service and got the CEL checked and cleared.

2 air intake hoses were replaced. On the way back on that same day the CEL came back on which means another visit to Wynn again.

The following day i went back to Wynn and checked the codes and it showed the same error (i cant remember what error exactly). So this time he cleaned the front O2 sensor as he said this sort of error could mean many things and i have to be patient about it.

I was like ok i just hope its was because of the dirty O2 sensor. So he cleaned the sensor and as usual took it for a test run did some high revs and the CEL never came back on.

That weekend i drove from KL to Termerloh to N.Sembilan (Palong), then back to Temerloh and KL. A total of 600km +-.

http://goo.gl/maps/PTr1H

With 4 people in the car, it performed well but unfortunately on the way back to Temerloh the dam CEL came back on. This time i was pissed off already arghhhh.

So on Monday 22/04/2013, after work i took it back to Wynn to check as i was worried as it could be a different error or a different malfunction. 

This time i think Wynn also got pissed off already with this CEL. So this round he brought out the "big guns". Well he connected the car's ECU to his laptop and ran a full diagnostic.

 

After a few clicks on his laptop, his conclusion is that the intake gasket on the turbo needs to be replaced.

Sample of the gasket - image is not mine

Apparently the gasket is not expensive but to actually change it, the team at Wynn Auto will require a whole day, and this will set me back to RM500 ++. Hmmm...im really running out of cash at this point..but no choice.

So the plan is for me to get this done on the 04/05/2013, if nothing comes in between.

Fueling its belly

The first full tank...hehe :) 

The car has a huge 60 liters fuel tank which should set me back to about RM 120 for a full tank.

Lucky for me, the car is happy to receive Ron95 even with its turbo charged engine.

Skin Treatment

Now that the engine was taken cared, time to take care of its skin. I was running low on budget and decided to get a basic wash, polish, wax and leather cleaning. Did it at my normal car wash near my house.

Price breakdown:

1. Wash, polish and wax : RM120
2. Leather cleaning : RM80

Total: RM 200

Nothing to shout about with the final results as the products used was just normal stuff. This is just a temporary treatment so i know there is a layer of protection on her. The car is clean and sparkling. :)

The first service

As usual buying a used car comes with risk, so upon collecting the car the first stop was at the service center. With help from some friends from VECM, i was recommended to visit Wynn Auto in Subang.

The first drive was awesome, had a mix feeling of driving a really powerful car same time luxury. Car was silent over the road which made it even more comfortable.

As i was driving to the Service Center, i almost got a heart attach as the CEL (check engine light) came on when i was already about to reach the service center. A sudden panic attack, the 1st surprise.

So with help on some directions given by the workshop helper, i found the place in a breeze. The owner and also the chief mechanic (Wynn) was very friendly to me. Explained to him that i just bought the car and would want a full service a check done on it.

So the first thing he did was to run a diagnostic on the car and check the error code. I did not see what error code it was but he told me that its just a minor air leak and he will take car of it.

He replaced 2 air hoses just on top of the throttle body as he said this are the normal culprit.

Full inspection

Full inspection 

What was done:

1. Engine Oil - Castrol 5-40, 2 bottles, the engine needs 5.5L (RM 220 per bottle)
2. Volvo Original Oil Filter (RM45 - i think)
3. Volvo Original Spark Plugs (RM 225)
4. Gear Oil - Just a normal oil as i will change it again after 10,000 km, i an way im flushing the gear box (RM 150 - i think)
5. Driveshaft cover (driver side) (RM175)
6. Air filter
7. Coolant was drained out entirely and replaced with new Toyota Coolant 2 bottles (RM 45 each - this i felt was overpriced)

Total with labour - RM1300

What was discovered:

1. Steering rack cover needs to be replaced
2. Rear absorber shows sign of minor leak
3. Rear link rod bushing worn out
4. Aircond fan seems to be making a bit of unusual noise during initial start - reaching its life span maybe
5. Aircond needs to be serviced as well - no issues with the ac but better service

Belting and mounting was checked and in good condition - thank god as it would cost a bomb to replace.


Wynn took the car for a hard test drive and his comments was the car is in a very good condition, performance is good, no leaks, nor major damages. :)

All the above was done on 16/04/2013

Swedish Moose! S40 2.0T

So after viewing a S40, it was like love a first sight. The interior and exterior was just awesome. It does not look so "uncle-ish" which was a good thing. It had a bit of "sporty-ness" look to it. 

The Volvo S40 till date only has 2 generation. It is a compact executive car which is perfect for me. Mind you that i am 6 foot 2" and i fit perfectly fine in this fine machine.

Volvo introduced its first generation of S40 way back in 1995 and back then they produced 2 model which is the Saloon (S40) and a Versatility/Estate model (V50).

The first generation was produced from 1995 - 2004 and within this first generation they also produced Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 2.5 which was the final release before releasing the second generation which was from 2004 - 2012.

Phase 2 was released in 2004 with implementing a number of technical improvements like the engine management, extra safety feature, larger disk brakes, new suspension and steering, rear light cluster and some minor instruments.

In 2004, Phase 2.5 which was the final release prior to second generation, Volvo decided to uplift with some cosmetic upgrades, like side markers, remus exhaust and some other minor changes.

More information on this is easily obtainable via our best friend "Google".

So research was done, driving test passed, loan approved and BANG! im a proud owner of a 2004 S40 Ph 2.5 2.0T.

Did not manage to find the time for a proper photo session yet, so full pictures will have to wait.

The car is amazing and im so happy that i made this buy.

Hunt of a new(used) ride: A33/Airtrek/Perdana V6 and a surprise

I have decided that i will definitely be buying a new car and my B11 is up for sale.

After much consideration, my initial thoughts were:

1. Nissan Cefiro A32/33 - 2.0
2. Mitsubishi Airtrek Turbo
3. Proton Perdana V6 final version

I started doing some research and reading other blogs and forums on each cars for all the above 3 cars and here is what i gathered.

1. Nissan Cefiro A32 2.0

Looks - well the car in stock in surely not a head turner and nothing to shout about, but of course  its a good base for modification for looks. 

Here is a good example

Now the above is surely a good looking car but i would not want the car to go the that extent nor do i have the money to invest that much in it, but the option is there which i like.

Then i realised that A32 is actually old and whats the point of buying a really old car, then i looked at a never one which is A33.

Now A33 in terms of potential its still there but stock looking is really very uncle~ish

See what i mean, but its not of bad looks. So at this point this car seems like a good option. Displacement of choice would be 2000cc as anything above that would cost me a bomb for roadtax not to mention the petrol consumption. 

For engine vise, its a V6 so thats a good news there.

"This DOHC 24-valve 2.0 L (1,995 cc) V6 has bore and stroke dimensions of 76 mm and 73.3 mm respectively, along with a compression ratio ranging from 9.5 to 10.0:1. It produces 150 PS (110 kW; 150 hp) to 160 PS (120 kW; 160 hp) @6400 rpm and 137 to 145 lb·ft (186 to 197 N·m) @4400 rpm (lean burn)" - From wikipedia, not bad rite.

So the interior and exterior of the car is ok and the engine is good as well. So next thing was going around and looking for one to test drive. I started looking at Kajang, and found one that is complete looking and for a good price.

2. Airtrek Turbo

I always had an eye on this car but after reading some reviews on this car i concluded that its not practical for a daily driven car and maintenance will be too high. 

Why maintenance will high?
- AWD, which means higher petrol consumption - full tank can only go 300km with a light foot.
- Additional rear excel oil on top of the gear box oil
- Its advised to use only Ron97, some forum claims that there is no harm to Ron95 just louder knocking sound
- Additional driveshaft for the rear
- tyres will wear out faster due to AWD

There is also alot of pros to this car as well
- Practically an under tunes Evo 7.5
- AWD means better handling
- More cabin space
- Vast options for spare parts and performance parts.

Well the above is just the main stuff that i can remember. 

To conclude if you have the money than its an awesome ride!!! but sadly i dont :(

3. Perdana V6

This seemed like the best choice in terms of age and price. Based on my research, the last model of this V6 seemed to have the least issues but some may have a differing opinion.

A friend of mine actually has this last phase III model, and his advise to me is yes its a good but but make it a last choice as after it reaches 5 years old your wallet must be able to keep up with the wear and tear. Meaning after 5 years old the car will be falling apart and my plan was to buy a 5 year old one as there are many for sale and of course because of the full loan offers.

So i have been talking about getting a car for the past few months but no action until one day when i was having a casual chat with him about this, he suggested why not "this" car? Hmm i thought to my self yes thats surely an awesome car but always thought that its expensive and i will be afford to drive such a car.

What do you know....as im writing this journey, im already the proud owner of "that" car....

**next post ill write about the moose **hint

My first love from Japan - B11 CA16DE FOR SALE !!

I have always been a hardcore JDM lover. My first ride was passed on from my dad to me which was a 1992 Nissan Sunny that came with an E13 (1300cc) engine.

At a very young age a loved cars and performance, so when i first got the car to my hands i started all the "stupid" mods that i could think. I still remember somewhere in 2004 if im not mistake, the very fist thing i did was adding a Sony Amp to power the 4 speakers in the car. I was jumping with the new found loud sound that the crappy speakers could produce. 

Then slowly from there, i installed an open POD air filter with an air ram to the carb. Also started jumping as the air suction noise made me feel that the car has added at least 10hp!!!

From there on it went on and on and on, as i got older, mixing with other B11 owners i learnt more technical things about the car.

To skip everything in between as of to date (im currently selling my car) here are the details:

Engine:

Ca16de (Complete B12 halfcut transplant in 2011)

During transplant everything was opened up and replaced

Apexi open pod original

Fuel Regulator

Custom made driveshaft (Nov 2012)

New power steering pump

All beltings we changed during transplant

All rubber hoses for water was changed

Everything else remain in working condition

Transmission:

B12 gearbox from halfcut

Clutch plate was changed during halfcut

**In the midst of getting a semi racing clutch

Suspension, Brakes & Rims:

B12 front disc

EP92 Rear disc (Custom made bracket)

Custom made front adjustable absorbers by PRS (Still under warranty)

Custom made rear absorbers by PRS (Still under warranty)

New brake pump running on dot 4 (Nov 2012)

15” CR Kai Emotion – tires only 50% left needs to be changed

Exhaust:

Custom made stainless steel 4-1 (long) header by JFA Sunway (NOT mandrel bent)

Custom 2.2” from front to stainless steel midbox to rear muffle (4” new fiber – sounds amazing)

Body:

Front & Rear original b11 JDM bumper with chrome lining (front)

Front B11 lower lips (rare)

Front leprix grill (rare)

Rear Mitsubishi 172 boot lip (perfect fit)

Front lights were changes to glass one recently and installed with HID

Front fog laps installed with a separate switch

Custom horn

Interior:

Hobby semi bucket seat for driver & passenger

B12 full dashboard complete from halfcut

Deep dish steering

Volt, vacuum & water meter

L2s door armrest for the front with power window control

All 4 door rubbers and windows rubbers recently changed

A32 roof light

Black door mats all around were recently installed

In car entertainment:

Pioneer single din CD player

Front door component set (normal brand)

2 - 10” subwoofers

 Caliber 4 channel amp

Twister pre-amp

There are many more parts to be listed down and many DIYs and rare items as well. I have spent well over RM40k on mods. The car is amazing to drive, 0-180kmh in no time. Engine comes with variable valve that activates at 3800rpm and the fun begins from there on. At low rpm only its definitely a fuel save but after 3800rpm its just all fun.

Here are some random pictures that i have stored in my phone.

The car is installed with original B11 JDM bumpers, its looks abit like the taiwan bumpers but its not the same.

Auto Gauge water and vacuum meter, very important for any NA engine

Instrument cluster from the halfcut, everything works except the exhaust temp warning 

A/C controller, again everything works

The above was taken when i just changed the newly painted original JDM leprix grill. Yes its not a turbo, but the grill is just so dam good looking.

CA16DE, the heart of this B11. The engine is huge in size and power!

Custom made by PRS, adjustable coilovers.

Custom made from headers by JFA sunway 4-1 long!

Unfortunately its not the best option for me to keep 2 cars and 1 bike, so i have decided to let this one go. Its for sale for just RM8k. For details are available in mudah.com, just search B11 CA16DE.