red springs....

looks dirty from the rigours of daily motoring...

however they are worth every penny if you need improved road-holding and a good 15 to 20 cm drop ....

with the proliferation in these Taiwanese products at such a price bracket, the Japanese have been facing a tough time ......

for the price-conscious motorists, every dollar counts........

Stiffer

After close to 2 months, i've decided to add on 2 clicks for the front dampers in the car to make it stiffer... To my surprise, the ride height today was exactly the same as day 1 and the alignment is still ok so no adjustment was needed for the dampers...

I will be able to know the difference for the new settings when I take the usual roads on the way to work tomorrow morning...

cosworth in singapore....

there's a new tuning shop in singapore: spark motorsports.......... which is joint venture between comfortdelgro and LTM.....

i am abit tempted to go take a look but oh it's at senoko... YES SENOKO!!... which is many many miles away from town...... gosh ....TOOOOOOO FAR for just a check-it-out trip.......

anyway i think most of the things are not for me...... the goodies are mainly for evo and wrx/sti.......

ok i should save the fuel for this haha.....

what do u want..???

sometimes i dun quite understand myself......

and right now i have to ask myself, what do i want..???

errr.... i think my current possible wish list is not too long...

car

kw variant 2 coilover suspension $2700... or

tein superstreet coilover suspension $1850......

maybe fujitsubo exhaust system maybe S$1100..??

audio system

TAOC audio rack x 2 about S$3000

a new DAC maybe $2500

some acoustic revive accessories maybe S$1000

a new turntable $3000 (seriously optional)

watch

nothing at the moment ...

cos i have another "almost-impossible" wish list for that haha

so what should i get first..???

going all the way..???

now that the KW is here at a super attractive deal ... well should i forget about gab, HKS and tein.... ??

the latter 3 are all below S$2,000 while the KW is materially more expensive...... however i have reliable reports and feedback that KW is worth paying for....

if i am driving an evo i should not hesitate at all..... but for a midpriced saloon car with a little sporty aspiration, is it worth the effort and investment to put in one of the BEST suspension systems available on the market..???

hmmmm.... more thinking is needed....

some teins

i had to rush out of the house this afternoon cos when hunger hits me, i just to have to find food at double-quick time...!! haha couldnt resist when the feeling came.....

but of cos the next question is what to have for lunch....... hmmm and to make things difficult for myself, i'd decided not to have anything that's near my place cos i am kinda sick of eating at the very few food stores in the neighbourhood.....

sooooo i gotta summon some ounces of brain juice to think through the possibilites.... in the end i was back at bedok south for the fishball mee done in traditional teochew style........ YUMMY...!!

since i was in the area, i also dropped by ST powered to check out the tein super street coilover suspension........ the price? about S$1852 with installation, alignment and GST.....

sounds good huh.....

suspension systems for cy4a....

just gotta the news from my friend that the tein ss system for lancer is $1850, excluding installation.......

i guess everything could add up to $2000 by the time the kit is up the car and proper alignment is done...

however, if your wallet is deep enough, it's good news to know that there is a kit from kw as well....... estimated price? errr.... how about S$2600???

the backup plan is to fall on gab......... but from what i know, it's out of stock....... whether it's due to overwhelming response or low production numbers, no one can tell me.....

next alternative..??? BC from taiwan at about S$1500 including installation......

hmmmm........ what should you do???

no compromise 2 - federal ss 595

after using it for more than 3000 km, this should be a timely update on the performance for the federal ss 595 UHP tyres......

only last week when i was sending my friend to work early one morning, he said "why is your engine so noisy?"....... so i told him nah nah, that's not the engine he was hearing, IT'S THE TYRES..!! and he was astonished to find out that the 4 pieces of rubber were the culprit..... so you like a quiet ride then stay away from the ss 595..... cos it will drive you nuts...... especially on the highway where it will just ROAR away, haha....

in life, there's always a trade-off.......... if you lust for grip and performance, then throw away all notions of comfort and low-noise..... however, if you want good performance at a ridiculous price (especially for budget conscious ppl) then you ought to try the ss 595..... i have read comments that the evo 595 is far quieter on the move but i cant give you an answer cos i have yet to try that...... next time maybe....

one really needs to try hard to unsettle the ss 595 .... and right now, its limit is beyond the car's........ the suspension system usually gives in far earlier than the tyres....... an aftermarket coilover suspension would be a good complement for the ss 595...... only then can the driver push the limits further....... just to see which will give up first........ i.e. the suspension, the tyres, the car or most importantly, the driver.... haha..... in most cases, i think the driver will find his limits sooner than the rest.......

inflated to 34 psi, the ss 595 is a thoroughly competent tyres for the driver who demands grip, feedback and consistent performance both wet and dry....... i am sure there are better tyres than this but i think these are surely far more expensive than the made-in-taiwan federal ss 595..... at below S$200 each for 225/45-18, they are the definitely high up in the VFM stakes.....

i do hope they last more than 30,000 km....... so i am keeping my fingers crossed......

more strength..!

perhaps you have run out of ideas or accessories for the car.... but dun fret, cusco is here to save you from retail-depression........

most ppl would not hesitate to install a strut bar for the front tower...... from what i see, the rear tower bar is a less popular option... maybe it's more expensive or most ppl think that the front is more crucial for a front-wheel driven car.... 

no matter what's your choice, the cucso rear tower with its signature blue colour is definitely a delicious accessory to behold..... one may even be tempted to open the boot more often to admire the new purchase.... haha

after stiffening the rear tower, pls do not neglect the lower braces.... you wouldnt wanna have a weak link the system do you...?

the last item is reserved for the ultimate in overkill, TIE EVERYTHING THATS LOOSE TOGETHERRRRRRRRRR...!!

i seriously wonder how it helps in the handling......... and not to forget at what price haha.... 

checking things up...

in all it was a reasonable day at work.......... still have a lot to do but no matter how one try, there is no way to finish all of it...... so why not take one step at a time ...

instead of going home to slack, after work i went over to sin ming industrial estate to check out D2 coilovers.... 

it didnt take me long to find blk 14..... from the quality of the printed advertisements, i'd expected to see a cleaner and more professional-looking place but well, this is singapore haha..... as in workshops are seldom neat and tidy......

in the flesh (or metal), the D2 stuff looks pretty good......... with all the aluminium parts finished in purple...... the collars are well made and seem tough and durable....

so just to make things short, they have 3 versions available:

metallic pillow mount 

rubber mount

rubber coated pillow mount

according to the ppl there, D2 coilovers can be easily serviced and parts replaced....... that's surely a good thing....

well even if you add a pair of rear camber arms, it will come to less than S$2000.........

ok... just KIV for the moment..... i keep telling myself i shall not rush into any purchase now.... haha

a new standard?

the taiwanese are really getting very ATAS with their stuff .... look at the new products from STD....!

dun they look impressive...??? one can easily tell that the finishing is refined and polished.....

from the company URL, there wasnt a hint of its origin ..... but of cos with google and internet, it was confirmed that STD is taiwanese.......

go go come on..!

in a very short while we will get to know if ferrari is indeed back.....

with a new aerodynamic package and more improvements for the F60, both scarlet cars did look so much better during qualifying yesterday.... pity that raikkonen was kept in the garage and thus out did not even manage to get to Q2 ......

the brawns and red bulls are still pretty fast but if massa can stay out longer during the first stint, there's a good chance for a podium finish....

nowadays there is less guesswork involved as the FIA release the car weights after each qualifying session...... we can all try to be a race engineer during the weekend...... haha....

go massa go!......

pure class for wheels

this is by far, one of the most pleasing wheels i have seen recently....... and for a set of japanese wheels, the price is very reasonable............ if my budget was bigger, i'd surely grab this......

patience my friend......

other than the regular taiwanese options like D2, BC, tomei, k sports............ we now have gab suspension for the lancer ex........!

yahoooooooooooooo!!!

best of all, i think the price could be extremelyyyyyyy reasonable...... even better if the installation is done in JB.....

suddenly i am tempted all over again haha.......... oh come on!

an improvement.....

down from below, it quality of the parts look pretty promising........ do note the anti-roll bar that comes standard with the car....

anyway if shocks and springs are replaced, handling and comfort will move up a big step...... which is why ppl are willing to spend the money.....

lower and lower....

saw this on a forum..........

and this is how it looks with a lowering spring kit............... which is a much much cheaper option that a set of coilover suspension........

i like it...... i mean the look...

as for megan coilovers, the "after" effect is also addictive....... as shown below

more megan

so the benefit of sleeping early = able to wake up early......... probably i am tuned in to the daily routine and my body clock also responded in the same way....

oh just found out........ from a fren who is in USA that megan racing is more like a budget brand over there.....

maybe tein is the most suitable of all the limited choices out there........

no idea.... coilovers

no idea what is megan racing......... are they big in the USA....???

looks good and delicious..............

i wonder....

really wonder how good are the hotbits coilovers ..............

for rm2500..... they are very affordable...... and also very close to the price of the tomei (made in taiwan) coilovers

so made in taiwan vs made in malaysia......

which is better..??