2011 Raya Goodies - Part 2

Just to make Mamba more stealthier during Hari Raya I bought these Rays Extended Nuts. And it's in black.

Cost:
1. RM450 - Online.

Wheel Bearings and Such

It's time of the year again for the much waiting long festive leave. Before I could go back to JB in peace, I discovered that something is not right with the front wheel arrangement. There was this humming sound coming from in front and it gets louder and annoying after a while. Not wanting my long journey to be disrupted, I went to my trusted mechanic John to get it checked..

After a brief 5 mins checking, it turns out my front right wheel bearing has gone. The left side is also heading the same way as the other, just matter of time. I bet the bearings were never changed before. Furthermore 6mm spacers I use might hasten the lifespan of the bearings. Either way I decided it's best if both sides are changed..

Knuckle being taken out and sent to machine shop for pressing to remove and install the bearings.

Looks really old here.

Mamba helpless on the jack.

I also took the liberty to change the oils for Mamba. This time I had to settle with Cusco oil (5W-40) as the Greddy F4 Pro is no longer in production. It's kinda funny how this motor oil is being produced and distributed and discontinued by the big brands; firs it was Blitz, then it was replaced by Greddy. Now both are no longer available. The other thing that puzzled me was there's another version of Cusco engine oil that has 'low friction formula'. The cans look the same but price is different by RM100. Hmm....

The 2 years + old Trust Airinx filter is due for replacement and it was being replaced with the authentic HKS 3 layer super filter.

Latest engine shot of Black Mamba. It is still showroom-condition clean.....hehehehe..



Costs:

1. Cusco engine oil = RM150/can (4 liters) – N1 Racing, Sunway
2. Redline LWSP gear oil = RM55/bottle (2 bottles) – N1 Racing, Sunway
3. HKS Super Filter = RM100 - N1 Racing, Sunway
4. OEM Honda front wheel bearings = RM200/side (both left & right changed)
5. Labor by Hiper Racing = +-RM200

Kumho-nized, again!

Woot woot! How are you guys doing? Hope everyone are still on the right path of building and modding your ride. It's like what, more than a year since I last change my tires. As you can see from the pic below, the tires have gone through few track days and countless long distance travel and obviously no longer safe to use! Since Kumho Ecsta XS KU36 is the most affordable and bang-for-the-buck performance tires, it has become my choice once again.

Ouh ya..I've also dropped the rear lower by few mm's to make the car height looks 'equal' front and back. No fender rubbing issues with the 225s as I've rolled the rear fenders few months back! Just need to sort out the front camber to give Mamba the perfect grip. It's gonna be a tough job to have the perfect handling setting with McPherson's strut system. Believe me.

Pricewise is not much different than the last time I change, only RM10 cheaper per piece. However it took me almost two month to go this shop after ordering it coz I was dead busy with work. Haha. Nothing else was changed on Mamba except for the regular periodic maintenance. Money is an issue at the present moment but come next month, a customised header and some handling stuff will be added on to the car. Stay tuned!

Rollin'

Happy new year peeps! I have been pretty busy with work this month but managed to arrange my time to fix some stuffs on Black Mamba. Last couple of weeks I installed a set of 6.5mm spacers to make the stance go wider on my car. It looks pretty ganas but however due to lack of negative camber at the back, the tires were scraping the fender arch. Argh!

Before the arch starts to eat my tires, I had to list out the possible solution for this. So after talking to some friends, the cheapest and fastest solution than changing to adjustable rear camber kit would be rolling the fender arch. Knowing that some of my friends had done this before, I went to Craftmotorsport in Sunway to settle this issue. Took Ah Loon less than an hour to get the fender rolled with the, um, fender roller. Problem solved with just RM100+!

If you want to get your fender rolled nicely, get it done with the fender roller. The conventional method of knocking the fender like pissed-off Thor is just too primitive in 2011 and can cause damage to the bodywork if it's not done properly. With this fender rolling, just a little bit of gentle knocking needed to bend the fender then it's all good for rolling. The paint might chip off a bit on the inside but was later covered with anti-rust spray.

Where: Craftmotorsport, Sunway - http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=t.698732602#!/CraftMotorsport

Cost: RM1XX. Discuss with Ah Loon.

Back To Black!

Sold of my Advan RZ last Saturday and temporarily replaced Mamba's shoes with matte 17" SSR Type-F. Not quite the right spec that I wanted but this will do for now. Wedding's 20 days away! :D

By the way what do you guys think of Enkei PF01? The design looks kinda like a cross breed between Advan RZ and Work Emotion. Too bad there ain't no 17 x 8JJ available..

Advan RZ + Kumho Ecsta XS = WIN!

I truly love and admire the legendary Enkei RPF1. Had no issues with the wheels on Black Mamba except for some comments saying it look more like 16s on the DC5. It didn't bug me, well, it did, a little but coudln't think of what to change as most Japan 17 inches wheels with 8 inches width will burn a big hole in my account. And to get the super rare RPF1 with 17 x 8 inches and +45 offset in Malaysia is as good as finding a 1991 CR-X halfcut with 10,000km mileage. Since Adlan has not yet sold his K24 EP3, I offered him to swap wheels with his Advan RZ plus some cash. He agreed, and we set a date to meet in Sunway for the swap. :)

Black Mamba's final moment with the RPF1. Adlan smiling at the back.

I also had no intention of changing the tires as I believe my RS Sport can still serve me for another month or so. But I was proved wrong when I found out two of the tires have only 10-20% thread left! Considering the fact that tires are the foundation of maximizing a car's fun factor and due to safety, I felt it's high time for me to change. So we walked around Sunway and checked out couple of places for Eagle RS Sport, in which the price has ridiculously gone up from RM450 to RM630-650 a piece. Although I'm frustrated with the new price, I still had the gut to ask for the new Yokohama Advan Neova AD08. It would be uber-cool to have both Advans in the form of tires and wheels on Black Mamba..but that dream was once again shattered when the price for 205/45/17 is already at RM750 a piece. You can do the math for 225/45/17. The last on my list was the Federal 595RS-R which the preferred size was also unavailable in Sunway.

Not wanting to wait any further, I gave the green light to the workers at Kin Alignment to wrap the Advan RZ with brand new Kumho Ecsta XS KU36 tires. With a higher rating than the AD08 and a price cheaper than RS Sport, it's the best choice for me at RM500 a piece. Although the thread pattern allow only front-back rotation, the design has already won it's place in my heart.

Took me a while to feel the new tires on the wider Advan RZ. Drove around Sunway and Subang for 30mins and as soon as I hit LDP, the rain came. Perfect time to test the tires on the wet. The Ecsta has already proved it's worthiness as I drove through Penchala Link and took the long S-corner entering Duke. Level of grip in wet seems better than the RS Sport and at 80kmh it keeps on biting till the end of the long corner. I also noticed that the thread grooves are much deeper, which assisted the higher level of wet grip. The next day I drove back to East Coast through Karak and all I can say the tires brought endless smile on my face. I couldn't push the car much harder due to the fact that my right side hydro mount has broken for the 3rd time in 13 months! *&!@#^*!. Nevertheless the ride was smooth and much silent than the RS Sport. The harder sidewalls on Ecsta also helped reducing the understeer and it didn't show any sign of tiredness on any type of corners. Play with your throttle and you'll be slicing the corners like a hot knife on a butter. I will write another review once I hit the track soon..In the meantime to those who seeks tire replacement, I highly recommend you to try this. It may take a while to accustom oneself with the non-Japanese brand, but I can assure you the Ecstas are worth swiping your card with. Hahaha..

Adlan's EP3 with the RPF1. Nampak kecik la Lan...hahaha.

Gangsterer than before hehe.

Newly painted ass!

The Darkside - Part II

Okay, finally I managed to gather the pics for this post. This favourite wheels of mine were installed about two weeks ago at Era Maju in JB. To those who never heard of Era Maju - they're one of the most reputable and succesful tire shop in Johor. Being the authorized dealer for Toyo Tires, they also have vast choices of sport rims for Japanese and Continental cars.

I've been searching for the RPF1 since day one, but couldn't find the black version even in Singapore. So I went to Era Maju and found this set lying there for sometimes. It belongs to one of our local racer and the size is 17 x 7.5JJ with an offset of +48, perfect for my car. After discussing for few times, the owner decided to part with it and I waited no longer to ask Era Maju for a color change. The color of choice is matte black, pretty similar to the SSR Type-F. For the wheel change, I re-use the RS Sport tires as it is still good for another track day or so (No excuse to change brand new tires haha).

Some of Era Maju's customers. Check out the intercooler on this E46.

A very nice 350Z with DAMD kit.

A lady is driving this. Those BBS are sick!

While waiting I heard loud rumble at the back of my car. It came from this yellow Porsche.

So here's the final result of the Darkside Part II project. Car was dirty as hell! Also check out the front Modulo bumper lip I installed the other day. Hehe.

After washing the car few hours ago... I've got the red Enkei decals being put on to give it a contrast to the black rims.

It's not that wide.....should have gone for 17 x 8JJ et+35 hahaha..

Black Mamba looking ferocious with new shoes...

Post Installation Comments:

1. The stance of a 7.5inchers doesn't look too agressive, especially from the back. Next wheel change its gonna be at least 8inches wide.

2. Perhaps I need to lower down the rear shocks. Car looks a bit high at the back.

3. Costs: Used Enkei RPF1 with new color - RM4,100; Brand new Modulo front lip from Honda Access - RM1,200

Visit Era Maju: http://eramaju.com.my/

Matte Black Enkei RPF1

This is my favourite wheel of all time - the Enkei RPF1 in matte black. I couldn't get the original black colored so I had to settle down with painting it the same as SSR Type-F. It has been a hectic month for me especially when year end is approaching. I just hope I could get the wheels to be installed in a week or so with other pending stuff(s) once I return back home.

I'll write more once it has slipped on Black Mamba.

Sticky Rubbers

I had couple of bad experiences running on the normal Falken Ziex 522 tires. Spun off twice at tight corners as the grip was very poor. Definitely not suitable for Black Mamba. So I decided to sell it off at a very good price and bought the Goodyear Eagle RS Sport for the replacement. And I've been smiling ever since....

Post Installation Comments:

1. Tires are very sticky due to its semi-slick compound and the performance on wet road is also surprisingly good. Now I have no second thoughts on attacking corners as it really grips hard, eventhough you're on the verge of understeering. LOL. I have tried numerous other high performance street tires before and this RS Sport will be on top of my two other favourites, Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 and Bridgestone Potenza RE01-R.

2. The downside of using this tires after 2 weeks is that the whining sound generated above 80kmh is pretty loud, just like of those real semi-slicks. And you might wanna let go the throttle if you see a puddle of water in front of you..

3. Costs: RM450/piece

4. Where: Various tire suppliers

5. Link: http://www.goodyear.com.sg/eagle_rs_sport.html

The Darkside - Part 1

Owning an Integra DC5 and modding it is a whole new league for me. I have to plan for all the mods as it is not as cheap as the Civics (cheap kah? hahah). I remember swapping/selling the 15s every time I feel like doing so with the EF. But with brand new 17inchers can fetch to 5-digit figure (and secondhand still, 30-40% lesser from the shelf price) I can foresee that getting either RPF1 or SSR Type-F can only be materialized many months from today. Furthermore, I have to save up for my upcoming Euro trip so this plan will be KIV.

Before. Fucking Ugly.

The best solution for now is to paint the current wheels to my color of choice - FLAT BLACK. The reasons for me getting flat blacks are only two :

1. It looks sinister

2. It wont look dirty. Unless someone put on kapur barus on it, yes.

So the chosen one for this job is a good friend of mine - Arn. Known him for many years since my EF days and so far the he's the only person I've known to be very 'artful' when it comes to automotive-related hobby. Being a perfectionist with less-shaky hands, he can actually hand-drawn, and hand-cut any kind of decals/stickers of his (and most of the time mine hahaha) choice. Just give him any logo, or pics and he can beat the crap out of the sticker-cutting machine in no time hahahah. And oh, he's good with spraypainting as well. If he's been given an airbrush gun, he can sketch Beavis & Butthead images on his Harley helmet with his eyes blindfolded while the other hand SMS-ing. That's how great he is.

Went to Miri for a week and left the car in his good hands. He enjoyed the car. But obviously not the work. It was raining torrentially last few weeks so the wheels did not actually dry up properly and there were lots of blisters on it. So Arn had to redo the spraypainting few times.

Lets see what's underneath the fenders: Oh look. Green thang. Its TEIN!

The blue thang is CUSCO 25mm Anti-Roll Bar.

The red thang is a BREMBO 4 Pot Caliper.

Taken off, washed and sandpapered it a bit.

Hey the width and offset is not that bad! (nak sedapkan hati)

This is how you spray the wheels, Arn-style. Tape me baby.

Wok with Arn.

Almost there..

Waiting for the sun to shine on me..

Post-spraypainting fitment. Already looking good.

The End Product. Brilliant.

By the way, 2 days after getting the car I scraped the front left wheel on a curb at One Utama. The next day, it looked like brand new again. Roadside touch-up. LOL.

If that happened to a Volk RE030 or CE28N, I'd be in tears for sure.