Vorsprung durch Technik

Something not Japanese this time, but this is a car that most gentlemen would love to have in their garage. This Audi RS4 has a place in my heart (Fuh) since the B5 model came out in year 2000. Needless to say more, check out the video below and listen to the majestic sound of its 4.2L V8 engine.

The B7 RS4 Avant would be suitable to carry your 4 kids to school on weekdays and to the track on the weekend. Mummy can rest at home, let daddy do the 'driver' job.

If you have that extra dough, you can always transform it to this and be the first in Malaysia to use flared fenders and GT wing on an RS4. Hahaha.

Nightkids

I was supposed to merge this post with Jai's EF B18C Type-R maiden Sepang run, but I still couldn't upload his video on Youtube. Sorry Jai, you have to wait for the next post. LOL.

Again, I went to SIC on the night of 16th with the boys (it was Scooby nite!). No Black Mamba in action this time as I am having a little bit of problem with my TEIN front shock. Having the vidcam brought along, I managed to capture the moments in both Fadhil's and Bocai's Scoobies as well as Adlan's K24 EP3.

My butt experience in the Imprezas (Fadhil's Type-RA particularly) was something rather new to me. Never before I sat in an all time, all wheel drive car with torque boosting more than 35kg/m! Fadhil seemed like an experienced all-round driver - throwing the car at each turn and made it glide nicely out of the apex. I felt a bit uneasy being a passenger as the way to handle it is different than those FF cars. It needs a little bit of 'taming' to be done at each corners whereas FF cars are much more straight forward. Hit the brakes, dip the throttle, drop the gear, enter your line and full throttle. That is on a FF car of course. Do that on a Scooby and you'll get the car spinning!

Bocai on the other hand, was struggling throughout the nite. With a heavier car (Full ChargeSpeed wide bodykit) and street tires, he endured the night the hard way through the gravel and grass. Lots of understeering involved. Haha. One thing I respect about the fella is that his determination is on top of everything. We did a non-stop 12 laps and I could say his driving method improved at each lap.

Adlan's EP3 will need no further explanation. Just look at how torquey the car is and the badass-ness of the K screaming in the vid. He spun off at T2 as the tires were, err, 'cold'. Hahaha. Nevertheless, I learned a lot from a seasoned driver like him and that will help me become a 'casually serious track driver'. Or is it 'seriously casual'? Hahaha..

Enjoy the vids!

Bocai



Fadhil



Adlan



APD's 700hp Widebody Supra - This car was doing more than 250kmh on the straight!

OEM Door Visors

I have been drooling for cars with door visors (or some people call wind deflectors) since I was in high school. Don't ask me why. It's just that to me the car would look 'gonjeng' without it (S2000 is exceptional, coz you can't put a door visor on convertibles). So when I got my EF some 7 years ago, the first thing I hunted was the visors and I got it dirt cheap for about RM40. Recently I saw someone was selling the EF visors for RM300, and it is cracked. Crazy. Well, considering Password:JDM is selling those for USD230, I think the RM300 is fair enough.

Since Black Mamba is not equipped with the visors, I slowly looked for this and managed to grab it at a very good price. Condition-wise, it's perfect and the clips are complete. Apart from making the car exterior looks 'complete', the visors serve its purpose for a smoker like me. Now I can smoke happily during the rain without having to worry the water dripping on my door panels. Heheh.

Installation took less than 15 mins. All you need to have is a super strong double-sided tape (Thanks to Mivek for the advise on getting RM5 Japanese tape at Daiso The Curve), and a cool place for you to work.

Before


After

Cost: RM250 (Used. Brand new will be between RM500-550 @ Exceptional Glenmarie)

Civic EK 3.2

What would you do when you see this car at the back of you on the highway?

a) Run for your life

b) Pee in your pants

c) Make way for him to pass

d) Pray that God will give another 2.5L on your engine a.s.a.p

e) All of the above

A 3.2 litre J32 engine on an EK is not a child's play. Either you're insane or the 2.7 litre stroked-up K24 is not enough for you. But this dude from Canada has made this conversion looks clean and mean.

I strongly agree what Mr. Mivek said about this EK - "PLUS Highway Killer". Ha haha ha. I'm dedicating this post to our friends at EK Division. Ciao.

"More cubic inches = More power"

Skunk2 K-series Pro Series Intake

It is official. After years of speculations and rumours Skunk2 has finally announced the much anticipated Pro Series Intake Manifold for the K-Series. As claimed by S2, this thing should be better than those OEM RRC/RBC intakes from Civic Type-R FD2 and Accord Euro-R CL7(definitely way much better than EP3 and DC5 for sure!) I'm not sure when this thing will arrive at N1 Racing or Pentagon, but price is expected to be at pre-RM2,000 mark (RRC/RBC is sold at around RM1,100 not inclusive of TB adapter). Let's see what S2 has to say about this product:

Skunk2’s Pro Series Intake Manifold for Honda’s K-series has arrived. Skunk2 engineers looked to the popular ’06+ Civic Si’s RBC intake manifold for inspiration and went back to the drawing board. Skunk2’s Pro Series Intake Manifold for Honda’s K-series features a larger plenum and shorter, oversized runners when compared to the RBC, and is cast with thicker wall material, leaving room for further porting for high-horsepower applications. Instead of producing a manifold with a significantly oversized plenum and excessively short runners that would sacrifice mid-range power, the Pro Series manifold was designed for the “street enthusiast” who wants more power but doesn’t want to sacrifice mid-range performance to get it. The results are improved airflow, an enhanced venturi effect, and both mid-range and top-end power gains.

Skunk2’s all-new, cast-aluminum Pro Series Intake Manifold for Honda’s K-series is a direct-fit replacement for all K20/K24 engines thanks to its unique, patent-pending water neck design and throttle body flange, which is compatible with OEM throttle bodies as well as those as large as 76mm (’06+ Civic Si requires adapter, sold separately). The special water neck design eliminates the cutting that would otherwise be involved with some RBC applications (remaining applications require special 1.0 x 11.5-inch NPT plug, sold separately), and the supplied thermal-insulated intake manifold gasket makes for a truly bolt-on installation (no drilling or modifying required). Pro Series manifolds also incorporate an angled-runner design, which allows for ample hood clearance on ’88-’00 Civics and ’90-’01 Integras with K-series engine swaps, as well as additional core support clearance on ’02-’05 Civic Sis.

Pro Series Intake Manifolds offer horsepower and torque gains greater than the popular RBC manifold but without compromising mid-range power output. The design incorporates runners that are similar in length to the RBC’s but with larger bores, a special tapered design, as well as a larger, tapered plenum that together preserve mid-range power but increase and accelerate airflow to allow for significant top-end power gains. Pro Series Intake Manifold runner exits are also machined and hand-finished to best match the cylinder head’s ports. Skunk2’s Pro Series Intake Manifold’s shape and design also increases wave scavenging effects at the engine’s ideal operating range, which allow for a broad increase in usable power. Skunk2 is a familiar name in the intake manifold business, with more than 10 years of experience designing, testing, and building them. Similar to OEM manifolds, Skunk2’s Pro Series Intake Manifolds are shell-molded and CNC-machined for superior strength, a precise fit, and a high-quality finish. Each manifold is molded with smooth transitions from the throttle body opening to the plenum to the runners with clean parting lines for an optimal finish, both inside and out.

Skunk2 K20/K24 Pro Series Intake Manifolds will be available soon at a retail price of $449.99.

FEATURES:

Increased Mid-Range and Top-End HP and Torque

Unique Water Neck Adapter Eliminates Cutting

70mm Throttle Body Bore Compatible With Up To 76mm Throttle Bodies

Thermal-Insulated Gasket IncludedNo Throttle Body Adapter Required

Angled Design for K-Swap Hood Clearance

High-Grade, 356-Aluminum ConstructionOEM-Quality, Shell-Molded Casting

Skunk2 Nameplate

Vacuum-Tested for Quality

OEM Sensor Provisions

And the latest news that came up is that the guys at Skunk2 disbanded the K-series 'composite intake manifold' project and went with this conventional, aluminium version instead due to the fact that the proposed 'glass-filled composite' manufacturing process is not proven in the industry. Lucky that they still have Dr. Charles. Heheh...

Visit Skunk2 blog for updates and mind-blowing photos: http://cms.skunk2.com/c/36/Skunk-Blog/

Sleepless in Sepang

Ah, I'm back again in the office. Feeling a bit cranky now since I was in Sepang last nite for the MME practice session. Black Mamba also unpreparedly had a little taste of night racing for couple of laps. Heheh. Since my night driving judgement isn't that good, it would be great to have night vision goggle together with some Hella spotlights ready before venturing into night-time racing. I might be exaggerating but the truth is, if you're a first timer, chances for you to overshoot or miss your cornering entry point are very high. I remember the track layout, every turn etc but the darkness gave me hesitation on when to turn the steering.

Nevertheless, after a few laps I almost got used to it and cruised around happily. Few good things about night racing are: The cool breezy air will contribute a breathier engine, thus better accelaration. Tires will not wear out as fast as daytime racing (not to Fadhil tho, he must have been wanking himself with his new Scooby STi V9 Spec C Type-RA until the RE070 split into two.) And yes, my water temperature also didn't pass the 100°C mark after 5 laps, unlike day time.

Oh well, I didn't manage to take pics etc but surely Elaine will be posting some on her blog soon. It was a great night out with lots of exotic cars practicing (Lotus Exige and Porsche GT3 Cup S to name a few) and thanks to the boys (Bocai/Rafie from APD with their widebodied Scooby V9 - will write about APD soon, Yan with his FD2R, and Fadhil with his V9 Type RA) for being so cool to whack SIC at night.

Rome

The last piece of my Euro puzzle. Roamed the Roman city for couple of days and finally I got to experience what Dan Brown went through in making one of the best historical thriller book , Angels & Demons. It's fictional, yes. But surely Dan has been using both sides of his brain to decipher what Bernini was doing some 500 years ago. Ha ha ha.

P/S: Dan Brown's latest book - The Lost Symbol is scheduled to be released in September. You can make online booking now.

Grrr! Hahah.