A Tale of Two Tyres

The rear tyres were looking a tad lower over the weekend, so we drove over to the nearby Petronas to pump in some fresh air. Lo and behold, quite by chance, we discovered that there was a screw sticking out in one of the tyres. So I suspected that we could have pricked the rear tyres as we always drive along the road shared by all those construction lorries plying the route to and fro the new palace at Hartamas.  

Anyway, a trip to the tyre shop was in the plan for the week and as I was driving my own car until today, the Forte could only roll into the tyre shop for the small job today.

A worker greeted me with a smile as I alighted from the Forte. After I explained my predicament and showed him the screw, he put on a make-believe (ala Sony) frown and told me that we needed to replace the rear tyres. But being the generous mood that he was in today, he would make me a deal and allow a trade-in of both the rear tyres at a good price.

I smiled a little, knowing full well that he was taking me for a ride. Perhaps it was due to the current Barang Naik economy- the chap must be thinking that if the politicians can take us all for a ride, he might as well just learn a trick or two from these leaders.

I then asked if I can't just swap one of the tyres with the brand new spare in the boot. And I explained that I would rather repair the puncture as the tyres still have 80% thread left.

The chap then put on a professional face and explained to me on the dynamics of a brand new tyre as opposed to a punctured-before tyre. Midway thru the explanation, I asked if AL was around. He looked perplexed and asked if I knew the boss. I replied in the affirmative and told him that I had been servicing my cars, except for the Forte, at their workshop for a while now. I further gathered that he must be new as I have not seen him before.

The chap's face turned crimson red as he explained that he was just giving me a standard sales talk and meant no harm. He then just quickly asked if I like to get the puncture fixed and proceeded along.

I asked if the tyres would still be usable given that he had alarmed me so earlier; and he replied that he thought I was a one-off customer so might as well he gave me the sales pitch.

Thank goodness it was me whom went there and not my more innocent Sharlotte. At the end of the day, the cost was a mere RM5; compared to what would have easily been hundreds. Man...

Proton Inspira hits Malaysian roads

Driving on the Malaysian roads these days, you would have seen a few Proton Inspira with their beaming owners at the steering looking like they just won the jackpot. And one can't blame them really- for from what I have heard from some of 'em owners, the Inspira is truly worth its monies asked and moreover, whether we like it or not, is the improved version of the more dated (but original inspiration) Lancer GT.

The first batch is literally a Japan CBU product, so feel free to drool from 'em pictures below from the Inspira Club Malaysia.

Looks like 'em smart guys got it! (though I'm quite sure that a few Mitsubishi Lancer GT owners may not agree with the statement...)

Fuel Consumption Report

One of the questions that I got the most from fellow readers vide e-mail was regarding the fuel consumption of the Forte. Well, generally, I think that the Forte's fuel consumption has been acceptable. In any case, fuel consumption almost inevitably depends on one's right foot- and if you almost always put pedal to metal, it is undoubtedly that you would face more litres of petrol per km for every given travel.

Well, the Forte's ain't no Prius; but it ain't no Hummer either. When we first got the Forte, the fuel consumption were running between 11 - 15 litres per km. Yup, pretty staggering; but I believe that that has to do with the tight engine more than anything else. As the mileage increases, the fuel consumption began decreasing steadily.

Bearing in mind that the Forte was mainly Sharlotte's runabout around town, the current readings have been mainly between 7.3 - 8.0 litres per km. I don't know about you but going by my books, these readings show that the Forte is a pretty frugal runabout whom sips petrol very sparingly.

 

And that has got to be good news, especially when our beloved government kept increasing the prices of the petrol ever so often over these last few weeks. Viva Forte!

Car of The Year 2010

COTY 2010 Category Winners

1 - Entry Level Car
Hyundai i10 (1.25 Kappa)

2 - Compact Car
Ford Fiesta - (Hatchback/Sedan)

3 - Family Car
Kia Forte

4 - Executive Car 
Hyundai Sonata

5 - Premium Executive Car (below RM300,000)
Volkswagen Passat CC

6 – Premium Executive Car (above RM300,000)
Mercedes-Benz E-Class (E200 CGI)

7 - Limousine
Jaguar XJ

8 - Performance Car (below RM300,000)
Volkswagen Golf GTi Mk6

9 - Premium Coupe/Cabriolet
Audi A5 Coupe

10 – Compact MPV (Below RM150,000)
Perodua Alza

11 – Large MPV
Ssangyong Stavic

12 - SUV (Below RM200,000)
Hyundai Tucson (2.4 L)

13 – Premium SUV
Mazda CX-7

14 - SUV (RM280,000 - RM350,000)
Mitsubishi Pajero

15 - SUV (RM350,000 and above)
Porsche Cayenne (S Hybrid)

16 - Pickup Truck (4x4)
Isuzu D-Max 2.5 Super Common Rail

17 - Pickup Truck (4x2)
Ford Ranger Double Cab 4x2 XL

Overall Car of the Year 2010 – Volkswagen Passat CC

Best Design Award – Volkswagen Passat CC

KFSX : So give yourself a pat if you happened to have any of the cars in the above stable, for you have demonstrated that you have the taste and penchant for good rides!

NST's CBT @ 12th December 2010 :)

WHICH is a better buy, the Persona Elegance H-line or Kia Forte EX, in terms of resale value and maintenance? I am interested in the Forte. - 012-5472419

ANSWER:
I would lean towards the Forte for its good looks and asking price. Features are better and the build quality and engineering put into this car is much better over previous Kia products. Resale value is very hard to say for now as I have only seen one used Forte  selling for just  RM8,000 below the new price and it was sold the same afternoon it was advertised.

Friendly Run : Forte SX, Lancer GT and 147 Selespeed

Arses of the World Unite!

Okay, so the day haven't exactly been the best of days... we had an appointment at a private hospital for a medical check-up and the arsely insurance customer services completely screwed us left, right and centre with the guarantee letter; leaving us waiting for 3.5 hours at the hospital while our appointment time was slipping by.

F1 means fast and efficient! Yeah, right!

Man, the insurance company may have been an internationally-acclaimed company (with F1 participation even!) but with "assets" in the form of selected customer services personnel (like the En Azrul whom was screwing up the process left, right and centre) today, I am so not going to promote this company no more in front of my peers. In fact, I dare say that this company sucked big time!

Thank goodness we met a really nice doctor; and I was so frustrated that I wanted to just pay for the check-up vide my own funds (for goodness sake, it was just a mere RM160- surely the premium payable to the company was many times over this palpable amount so much so that the insurance company should have just used its common sense instead of making us wait 3.5 hours and making all types of excuses before finally accepting its responsibilites- after the clinics were closed, that was!). The doctor stayed back beyond the 5.00 pm closing time and we saw her at 5.45 pm.

Aslan was not pleased to be associated with this insurance company's company today!

And after we left, there was still a Chinese couple waiting in the admission room for the same insurance company to issue the guarantee letter for her check-up. Man, this company has just about the most horrendous customer services I have ever faced! So much for Aslan (the lion, that was) then!

4.5 hours later, we came out from the hospital and ventured out for dinner- bearing in mind that I have not had a proper lunch even. Since we were in no mood to cook after having lost our appetite from the horrendous customer services, we went for a take-away. Sharlotte wanted her Sub of the Day; but as there were none that we know of around the area, we had to give it a miss.

Nice view!

After packing dinner, we ventured on Jalan Damansara and after a bit of driving, there was an evident nice bassy thump of exhaust note behind our Forte. A glimpse at the rear view mirror produced a pearl white 147 with an Autodelta bodykit (if I wasn't mistaken) tailgating dangerously close.

Before the Inspira, there was the Lancer GT draft!

Now, I always had a soft spot for Alfas and Fiats; so I shifted aside to let the 147 pass by. As soon as the 147 passed, there was a black Lancer GT sticking to my rear dangerously close. It seemed that both gentlemen were in a spot of fun trying to outgun each other on the mildly-congested road. I looked at Sharlotte if we could join in the fun and caught the twinkle in her eyes; so I knew I was spared for a lil' 15 mins of defensive driving learnt from all those courses.

Forte in the city!

Putting pedal to metal, there were soon 3 guys running by each other. The traffic was so-so so it was fairly easy playing just torque and not so much on top speed. With some skills wheeving to and fro the traffic, it wasn't long before all that could be seen from the 147 was its beautiful arse running off into the sunset; while the Lancer GT and I had each other for company. Both of us parted ways when he turned towards Federal Highway while I took the turning towards Mont Kiara.

It was just a friendly run, and it was good to lay off some of the frustrations faced from the stupid customer services faced earlier. Point to note? An 147, when well-maintained, still kicks ass and sure beats its modern counterparts not just in the stylishly Italian looks department.

Alfa Romeo sure knows how to make 'em cars. You rock!

 

Unluckily Lucky... (Sheesh)

Sunday, 21st November 2010 has just officially lapsed and boy, what a day it had been!

There were the good parts, the unlucky parts, and the unluckily lucky parts... phew!

The morning started fine enough with breakfast with the family at Solaris Mont Kiara. Then we decided to pop over to the Car Of The Year carnival (COTY) 2010 exhibition at Matrade, which was just a stone's throw away. Sharlotte drove her Forte over; but the parking was horrendously full with so many visitors. And if we parked further away, we could get a spot but that would meant walking quite a distance in the sun with lil' Alex in tow; so we vetoed the idea and decided to go home first and come back later.

La la la, perming my hair...

Reached home shortly and Sharlotte wanted to pop out for a hair rendezvous at the saloon. She's worked hard being a good mummy and while I have been trying hard to assist to the best of my capabilities; I thought that she deserved a pampering session as a treat to herself and get her mind off the baby for a good few hours. But the session turned out to be exceptionally long; and while I had no issues with that, the fact that she had told me nearly 2 hours earlier that she was almost done and would be home soon, had me worried sick that something could have happened. What's worse was I wasn't sure if I should call least that I distract her while she's driving (given that she's new to driving in Malaysia); and when I finally did and she didn't answered, that was quite the straw that broke the camel's back. 

She later came back home with newly permed hair and didn't understand why was I so worried. Man...

(Unlucky Part : I was worried sick.

  Lucky Part : Sharlotte was alright and had a pretty nice hairdo even.)

Then we went back to COTY 2010 and it was a good session looking through and trying the new cars. I'll be posting another article on the going-ons of the COTY 2010 hereafter.

After that, we drove to the Petronas petrol station at Sri Hartamas to fill up some gas and lo and behold, the battery decided to die after we have refueled. The petrol attendants could not spare a battery to jump-start the car; although they were willing to sell me brand new NS60 ones. And the printed RRP said RM450, which was very steep even for maintenance-free battery. Haggled a bit and settled the change for RM238. 

Free advert spot for this chap as he sells the same, original Century MF battery at just RM155! I paid RM238 at Petronas Sri Hartamas!

If Sharlotte and Alex was not in the car with me, I would have waited for the auto assist people to help out as the market charges for Century NS60 revolves around RM150-RM170. But with a toddler on board, time was a luxury that I do not have then; hence the daylight robbery scenario. The car started like a charm after that though!

(Unlucky Part : The battery died and needed replacement.

  Lucky Part : The battery died when we were at a petrol station, which was selling car batteries. And it is a sure start on a Monday workday morning.)

The EG6 bumper with Mugen skirt needs attention...

Then drove over to Solaris Mont Kiara for dinner and after dinner, we proceeded back to the car. A bloke was trying to park his SUV into the spot in front of our car and although there was more than ample space (plus the fact that his Hyundai Sante Fe had reverse sensors), his SUV nevertheless reversed into my front bumper. 

I was like, "Man, this sucks!" and motioned for him to alight to look at the damage. The old bloke feigned ignorance and we have to go through the motion of haggling for compensation. As I wasn't a big fan of going to Datuk Bandar to make the police report, I accepted a token sum of RM80 to fix up the damages. Nothing too fancy, but the bumper and skirts would have to be re-aligned, repaired and re-sprayed. And the no. plate needs a replacement, so we are probably looking at about a couple of hundred's worth of damages hereabouts.

(Unlucky Part : The front bumper got banged.

  Lucky Part : We were in my older car and not Sharlotte's new Forte. And thank goodness that we witnessed the bloke reversing into our bumper; or it would have been all out of own pockets then.)

So now that Sunday's over, let's hope that the rest of the week will work like a charm. Crossing my fingers...