Volvo S40 BTCC

Volvo has always been active in the "racing" industry and has its name for producing really fast cars and not just safe. Most might think volvo are just cars for the old folks or a typical soccer mom, but only few knew the true potential of Volvo!

Volvo has been participating the British Touring Car Championship since ever since 1998. They started their flagship by using the 850r Estate. Imagine that, a typical wagon car that is tearing up the tarmac on the track. As they evolved, there was a point where they were using the S40 and wining the BTCC. Of course those S40 are T4 and mine is only a T3 but its the same base only different CC, Cylinders, and most importantly the T4 uses High Pressure Turbos and mine is just a low pressure turbo..well not for long at least.

Also not to mentioned they have dressed up the S40 stunningly sexy!!

Inspired by the decals on this BTCC model, i went ahead and ordered the 'S40' & 'Volvo' decal for myself. Tried my very best to interpret the size and font from this picture as closely as i could.

Now this is more of a trial actually to see the end results, so the quality on this decal are not he best but meant for some outdoor climate beating. 

Now what i should have done is gone to get a professional to get this on the car but i love DIY and this is just simple right..well not really. Ensuring that you follow the lines of the body is not easy heck its was hard! 

  
But after about a few hours, above is the end results...not too bad i would say. Does give 'i am not an uncle driving volvo' look to it.

Now if only the rims were bigger and the car was about an inch or so lower...then it would look and perform better at the curvy roads.

Double Layer Tinting

Not sure if its me or its just really hot these days. Since i was on a long leave (recovering from a motorbike accident), while having lunch i dropped by the accessory shop close by to my place just to check out on some things.

While i was there, few cars were getting their tint replaced for a better quality and darker ones as well. That is when it hit me, maybe another layer just to make it abit darker will improve the cabin temperature.

One thing went to another, and decided to go 70% darker on all 6 windows. Now i already have a very good tint stucked on it not too long ago, it was doing a good job, but due to its compliance of this country it only filters 50% of light. 50% might already sound like alot but in actually fact i feel almost all light goes through the screens.

This is what the 50% does...close to nothing right, just minor reflection

From the front...even in indoors you can see everything inside, imagine outside under the hot sun

Its a cheap tint where it only filters light, even so it claims to filter out alot more....

End results under the sun...ok i know this is abit too much

Sides, yeap its too dark..i know i know...but im loving it!! :)

After a few weeks of enjoying this deem cabin, i decided to remove the front piece. Most the light that comes in any car is actually from the front windscreen, not the sides or even the back. So by removing the front layer it allowed more light into the cabin and made the overall cabin brighter and not so catchy to the cops eyes.

130k Service..

I have been so busy lately and hardly had time for myself. With work and outside work stuff, things on the car has definitely got the e-breaks ON! Also on top of that, what ever extra cash i have is strictly for savings only as the wedding bells are not too far along and the bank balance arnt looking so good.

Even with all that back in Feb 2014, the moose was schedule to have its fluids change at 130 000 kilometers. Shocking i know as i actually clocked 30k so fast since i bought the car, considering that i usually use my bike for work and the car is only for the weekend.

I will usually bring the moose to my regular place in USJ, but ever since my last visit at MRZ for the wheel bearing replacement, im actually happy with his service. This guy is actually an ex-federal auto mechanic and an enthusiast to volvo cars. He definitely knows his way around the S40 in particular and has seen it all in Volvo cars.

This time, it was just a change of fluid with the regular Castrol EDGE TITANIUM 5W-40 SN. 5.5L needed to be filled into its oil tummy hence 2 bottles are required, lucky for me, i had balance from the previous service.

Also along with it was the OEM Oil Filter as well. The only thing i did like about the service is the fact that they sucked out all the oil as oppose to draining it out. Some may say its the same thing but to me, only by draining it out you will get all the old oil out.

As you can see, its a trusted place for S40 in particular.

Damage:

Oil: RM 200
Oil Filter: RM 40
Labor: RM 20 i think...