Is time to change the brake pad for my 'Peugeot 308 Turbo' again!!! Front brake pad can last only around 40,000++km and the rear pad can last up till around 80,000++km!!! This is the fastest wearing brake pad car that I've ever drove... Not forgetting the disc rotor!!! The front need replacement real soon...

This time round, I didn't opt to use back original brake pad from 'Peugeot'... Since the original one wears out easily, I decided to give some other brand a try and not forgetting saving some hard earned cash as well... 'Valeo' is one of the biggest OE manufacturer around so I presume that the quality is on par with the original one... 

After bedding in the brake pad, I'm amaze with the stopping power from the new 'Valeo' brake pad... The brake quality is actually on par with the original one and the best part is both front and back 'Valeo' brake pad cost less than the front original brake pad alone!!! Crazy right but is true... The only drawback is the spongy feel of the brake pedal... But this occur even when I use the original brake pad... The only thing I can do to eliminate this is change to steel braided hose... But let's just wait till the warranty period is over!!! 

Finally!!! After all these months of torture, I'm happy to announce that our beloved 'Pug' is back to it's healthy state... No more 'Depollution System Faulty' error message and the engine check light is off for good!!!

But how long can this last??? This is the BIG question that keeps lingering in my mind... This problem exist since June and this is an on and off kind of problem... Whenever we sent our car in for diagnosis, they managed to solve this problem... But after a while (the longest is around 1 week time), the problem came back and it is really frustrating... So I'm really keeping my finger cross and hopefully they solved the problem once and for all!!!

 Technician diagnosing our car... 

I can't remember how many turbo solenoid and dump valves they have change... At least 3 for each if I'm not mistaken... After sending our car in for two weeks, the technician can't seems to solve the problem as well... Before this, they have diagnosed the car and told me that the turbo is faulty and it need to be replace... I'm more than happy to hear this because judging from the turbo, it is indeed in a very bad state as I can see oil covering the turbo... So we took our car back and waited patiently for the turbo to arrive... 

Finally when the turbo arrived, we made an appointment and send our car in and I was greeted with all sorts of nonsense... The service advisor said they need to re-diagnose the car before they can start changing any parts... This is really stupid as they have all the records saying that our turbo is faulty... Why do they need to start doing this all over again... The first time they diagnose they change the dump valves but the problem still exist... Then they diagnose again and this time the error code shows that the turbo solenoid is faulty and they change the solenoid again!!! But still they can't solve the problem... 

So my darling cannot 'tahan' anymore and called them almost everyday talking from the service advisor to the manager in charge... In the end they decided to change the turbo as they believe that the turbo is indeed faulty!!! If they change it in the beginning, it will save us at least one and a half weeks of our time... But looking at the bright side, at least we got a new turbo and the irritating error message code is finally off!!! Luckily they managed to solve our car this time because I'm thinking of writing a complain letter to 'Peugeot France' and told them how incompetent 'Nasim' is!!! I guess this letter will have to wait!!! 

Woo hoo another 'Lotus' for me to test drive... This time is non other than the famous 'Lotus Elise S'!!! The 'Lotus Elise' is a car that change the rules on low kerb weight sports car... With a bonded extruded aluminium chassis and a body made from fiberglass, the 'Lotus Elise' managed to keep weight as minimal as possible... This is a 'Lotus' so obviously the handling is what made this car so special and it won numerous awards for its handling ability... Some even called the 'Elise' as a overgrown go-kart!!!

The 'Lotus Elise S' that I'm testing is actually a second generation of 'Lotus Elise'... Much nicer to look at and definitely a little bit more habitable... 

 'S'

In terms of looks, the 'Elise' is a much better looking car as compared to the 'Lotus Evora IPS' that I had the privileged of testing a few weeks ago... It looks more butch although it is not as wide as the 'Evora IPS'... Overall it just looks meaner compare to the 'Evora IPS' which in my opinion is a very docile looking car whereas the 'Elise S' looks more like a track day refugee to me...

Much bigger air intake as compare to the first generation of 'Elise'...

 Very nice looking rear light arrangement... 

The whole backside is so much nicer compared to the 'Evora IPS'!!! Nice looking diffuser that managed to make the car so much meaner...

Puny twin exit exhaust... Although it is much smaller compare to the one found on the 'Evora IPS', the sound that it makes will actually made the 'Evora IPS' weep in terror!!! 

 In order to keep weight to the bare minimum, everything is manually operated including the side mirror...

If you are looking for a comfortable car, you can forget about the 'Elise S'... No creature comfort or whatsoever... There is no power steering here and this is a manual only car... You get a very basic sound system and a very basic air conditioning... When they first launch the 'Lotus Elise', air conditioning is an optional item!!! But in Malaysia, all Lotus car came equip with air conditioning... 

As you can see from the picture above, there is no carpeting to cover up the aluminium chassis and you can forget about sound deadening!!! None at all... When you depress the clutch, you will hear a metallic clank because there is nothing to stop the clutch pedal from hitting the chassis... Not even a rubber stopper!!! 

If you are a lady and you own a 'lotus Elise S', you can start throwing away all your skirts... I mean all of it because you can't wear it when you drive the 'Elise S'... You can actually wear if you don't mind those awkward upskirt moment happening!!! Getting into this car require some dexterity and if you are a plus size people, you can also forget about this car... Once you manage to get in, try getting out!!! Much harder if you are not use to it... But luckily I have years of experience climbing in and out from full bucket seat!!! 

Once your in the car, the car feels really claustrophobic and the view out is something I need to get use to... 

 The gear change is really nice... One of the best manual that I've ever tried... 

Front twin pot brake is more than enough to stop this car... The 'Elise S' weight only 895kg!!! My 'FrankenBenz' is around one tonne heavier!!!

The 'Elise S' uses a 1.8 liter four banger from 'Toyota' with VVT-i that can be found on cars like 'Toyota Celica' and also 'Toyota Wish'!!! The engine produces around 140bhp and 170Nm of torque... Very small numbers but on an 'Elise S', this means that the car is capable of sprinting from 0 - 100km/h in a mere 5.8 seconds!!!

If you are going on a road trip, you can also forget about this car because the maximum allowable mass in the luggage compartment is not more than 50kg!!!

Just look at the space they provide for your luggage!!! I don't blame them because this car is not designed for carrying things!!! It is design to devour the roads!!! That is the main purpose of this car!!!

Once you drove the 'Elise S', the driving experience will stuck in your mind for days and even weeks for my case!!! I'm still thinking about it till now!!! This is the most raw car that I've ever driven... Something like a track car if you must know... Once on the move, you can actually feels all the road imperfection with your butt and your hand... You will feel every surface and camber changes!!! The steering is full of feel and there is absolutely no slack at all... The steering is also very direct and quick...  

The driving experience is completely different compare to the 'Evora IPS'!!! The 'Elise S' is very noisy and when you hit 100km/h, you can actually forget about talking to your occupant... Road noise, engine noise, induction and also exhaust noise to be precise!!! Actually can but you will need to shout... So you know why they install a very normal sound system in this car... And when you are gunning this car, the induction sound is really intoxicating!!! You will purposely change down a gear just to hear the induction noise... I can't imagine if this car came equip with individual throttle bodies!!! 

The ride is firmer compare to the 'Evora IPS' and definitely not as comfortable... But who cares about comfort when you are in a car like this... In my opinion, few car come close to the 'Elise S' ability in terms of handling and bringing joy to the driver... For me, this is the car that I will choose over the 'Evora IPS'... I really won't mind driving it everyday but I know a lot of people bought the 'Elise S' as their weekend car... But I guess I can live with it in a daily basis... I really hope more car manufacturers can come out with cars like this... Very basic without all the electronic to spoil the driving experience...

If I struck lottery one day, I know what car I'm getting for myself and it definitely won't stay standard for long!!! In fact, I already came out with a list of modification that I'm planning to do to it...

Do you know which is the most FUCKED UP car service centre in 'Kuala Lumpur' and 'Selangor'??? Don't worry as I got the answer!!! Please don't be surprise if I tell you that it is not 'Proton' although the company starts with the letter 'P' as well... Yup that's right is 'Peugeot's' service centre (not all 'Peugeot' service centre!!!)...

This time I will be more specified about the name of the service centre... It is 'Kheng Soon Service Sdn Bhd' located at 'Jalan Chan Sow Lin'... There is valid reason for me to criticize this particular service centre... If you read my previous blog post regarding my '308 Turbo', I'm very sure you know that I'm facing some problems with parts availability... Well the good news is the part that I'm waiting for have arrived (panoramic roof blind)... Yesterday, one of the service advisor from this shitty service centre called me and informed me that the part that I'm waiting for had arrived and I can go over to their place this morning in order to get it fix... So both of us are damn happy because without the blind, we are basically sun tanning in the car and not forgetting looking like a complete idiot driving without the blind in our 'Malaysian' weather...

So I reached there around 10.00am and happily greet one of the service advisor... But the word that came out from his mouth shocked me!!! He said I didn't have any appointment with them and I was told to go home instead!!! I was like WTF is going on here... You guys asked me to drop by this morning but suddenly you told me that I wasn't supposed to be there... Frankly speaking, I wanted to kick myself in the butt because I forgot to ask who am I talking to yesterday!!! If I got his name, I'm very sure I can screwed him 'kao kao'!!!

This is not the first time these things happen... In fact a few months ago, my '308 Turbo' decided to have a flat battery (this is the second time)... As I usually service my car at this bloody service centre, the first place I called to will be them... They told me that they have existing stock and I can sent my car over... So I arranged for a tow truck and before we starts our journey, I called them again to double confirm and this time they told me that they DON'T have any stock on hand... This happened on a Saturday and they are working half day... And to make matter worse, the tow truck reached our place around 11 something and they are closing at 12 something... So I got no choice but to call 'Glenmarie' service centre... Luckily they allow us to drop our car and they are willing to wait for us... So do you know why I'm so pissed off at them??? Because I got screwed not once but twice by the very same service centre call 'Kheng Soon'...

Moral of the story is, please know who you are talking to when dealing with scums like these because they are damn good 'Tai Chi' player... They just push everything off like this didn't even happen!!!

Two weeks ago, I had the privileged to test drive one of the latest car from 'Lotus'... The 'Evora IPS'... 'Lotus' is a company that specializes in light weight sports and GT car which emphasize more in handling and balance rather than outright performance... If you are power hungry, you can basically forget about 'Lotus' because most of their car is not really that powerful...

So what does 'IPS' stands for??? 'IPS' stands for 'Intelligent Precision Shift' which in layman terms, automatic gearbox!!! This is the only 'Evora' that comes with an automatic gearbox... All the other variants comes with a manual gearbox including the more powerful 'S' model that comes with a supercharger to boost up the horsepower and torque... Essentially the 'IPS' model is the same as the lower model that comes equip with manual gearbox... 

If looks is what you are after, I'm very sure that the 'Evora' will stir things up a bit... Not the prettiest but definitely able to turn a few heads... For me, 'Exige' looks much better!!! The 'Evora' looks more grown up and more suitable for mature people... 

Only 'Evora' lettering... 'IPS' no where to be seen...

L     O     T     U     S

Centrally mounted twin exhaust that looks menacing but fails to deliver!!! The engine sound is muted to a sense that it sounds just like any sedan you found on our roads... Really disappointed with these pipes!!! If I own this 'Evora', the first thing that I'm going to change is definitely the exhaust...

Currently, 'Lotus' uses 'Toyota' engine in all their cars so obviously the same goes for the 'Evora'... The 'Evora IPS' uses a 3.5 liter naturally aspirated engine from the 'Toyota Camry'... Power is rated at 276bhp and torque at 350Nm... Coincidentally, the rated power is the same as my 'FrankenBenz' equip 'Toyota 1JZ-GTE' engine!!! 276bhp with a slightly higher torque at 363Nm...  

Unfortunately, the 'Evora' is much faster in terms of acceleration because of the weight difference between my 'FrankenBenz' and the 'Evora'... The weight of the 'Evora' is around 1382kg whereas my 'FrankenBenz' weights in at around 1890kg!!! That's more than 500kg difference!!! So my 'FrankenBenz' will definitely won't be able to outrun an 'Evora' in a sprint competition!!!   

The 'Evora' uses a four pot caliper setup on the front and rear which is more than capable of stopping the car thanks to the light weight design of the car... So now you know why racing cars strip out all the unnecessary things that will add in more weight to the car... The lighter the car, the better it will perform!!! This theory doesn't applies to acceleration and stopping of the car... It affects the handling as well... A lighter car will definitely out handle a much heavier car!!! 

 Forged alloy!!! Stronger yet lighter!!!

Very nice interior but fit and finish can be improve... At this price range, the fit and finish is not up to par in my opinion... The 'Evora' is basically a 2 seater although it is actually a 2 + 2 seater... The reason for this is because the rear seat is a joke!!! Normally I like to call these seat as 'DOG seat' but the rear seat of the 'Evora' is not even eligible for the title!!! Even children won't be able to get comfortable in... Credits to my darling as she manage to squeeze herself in!!! 

 How I wish this key belongs to me!!!

So how does this thing goes??? Here's some of my thoughts after driving it... The acceleration is definitely much better compare to my 'FrankenBenz'... You can really feels the G force when you are accelerating!!! But I believe the 'Evora' won't be able to outrun an 'E36 BMW' with '1JZ-GTE' up front because the weight difference is not significant... 

For me, a 'Lotus' car is not about outright speed or how many seconds it will take to hit 100km/h (if you need to know, around 5.2 seconds to 100km/h)... It is the handling that is important... People buy 'Lotus' because of its ability to out handle almost every car on the road... I'm really impress with the handling of the 'Evora IPS'... Although this is a sports GT, the ride is almost limousine like!!! The suspension is taut but definitely not hard and the ride is magic carpet smooth!!! Virtually no roll at all when you attack the corner... I really can't explain how they manage to do this... Normally if you want to eliminate roll, you need to compromise on ride comfort... The car will be hard and bouncing everywhere... If you want comfort, the car will roll when you attack a corner and the ride will definitely be boat like!!! How on earth they manage to do this is beyond me!!! Besides that, the car feels really direct and the steering is really slack free... Turn the steering 1mm and the wheels will follow exactly!!! Car is very neutral without the feeling of understeer or oversteer... Or maybe I didn't push the car hard enough??? So now you know why 'Proton' cars handle so well!!!

Surprisingly, the automatic gearbox does not hamper the performance... The shift is not the fastest but it is definitely fuss free and the +/- paddle is a joy to use... In full auto mode, the car drives just like any other auto car... What I really like about the 'Evora IPS' is when you are using the paddle for gear changing, it will not change gear for you even when you hit the rev limiter... This is what I like on an auto car with manual override... 

Once you are gunning for it, the engine note turns up a notch and this is a much welcome thing if you ask me... Too quiet during idling!!! The power delivery is typical naturally aspirated with the powerband at a much higher RPM... But with 350Nm, the 'Evora IPS' is rather happy to cruise along even at 2,000 RPM... You don't have to change down a gear if you don't wish to as the amount of torque is able to propel the car forward... For me, change down is a must when you are in the mood as the engine note intensified and the car lunges forward with much more enthusiasm... 

Overall I'm really happy to be able to test drive the car... But I really wish to take it up 'Genting' in order to fully appreciate the handling of the car... Thanks to my uncle for making my dream comes true!!!

I pride myself to be a very loyal person... This does not only applies to those I love but things as well... If I like the particular brand, I will stick to it... I will not change even when the products are inferior compare to others found on the market... Besides that, I will try to defend it if someone tries to talk bad about it... That's how far I will go when I'm in love with the brand!!!

Take 'Sony' for example... I like the brand a lot... So you can see that I'm using their DSLR... Same goes for my LCD TV and some other appliances... So those brand that I love, you are in luck!!! But there are times that I dislike the brand and this is really bad because once I dislike the brand, that's it... That's the end of our relationship... I'm those love it or hate it kind of guy... Seldom in between... 

So looking at the title, I'm very sure you know what this blog post is all about... Yeap that's right... I'm boycotting a particular brand... Wanna know which brand and thing that I'm talking about??? It is non other than our beloved 'Pug'... I'm really sick of it... Please don't get me wrong... It is an awesome car but those in-charge of bringing in the car is the one to blame... If you follow my blog, you will know that our '308 Turbo' is giving us lots of problems (universally known that 308 Turbo have lots of problems)... The latest one is the canvas that cover the panoramic roof decides to play hide and seek with us... Disappearing for no reason... Ask the service center and they said the canvas 'koyak'!!! WTH... 

Problems are frustrating but you know what beats it??? When there is no replacement parts in Malaysia!!! When there is something wrong with my 'Pug', the only thing that I hear coming out from the service center is "need to diagnose it first"... Ok, no problem with that... The next thing they said will be need to change certain part... Again no problem with that... The following thing that they said is the one I hated most... "No parts... Need to order from France and the waiting time will be no less than 3 weeks!!!"... 

If you ask me, it just don't make any business sense... 'Nasim' which is a subsidiary of 'Naza' is selling 'Peugeot' like hot cakes now but what about after sales service??? None if you ask me... Everything also need to wait... I'm very sure they know about the common problems found on the 308 Turbo but why can't they just bring in some spare parts just in case??? Always asking the customers to wait is a BIG no no if you ask me and I know a lot of people are getting frustrated with 'Peugeot' now and 'Nasim' you better do something about it before you lose all your existing and potential customers... And you know what, if someone ask me whether is it wise to buy 'Peugeot', I will ask them to look away in order to avoid any hassle in the near future... 

After using the 'Peugeot' for 2 years, I'm on the verge of giving up on the car... Again not because of the problems that it makes but the people in- charge of bringing in the cars that are to blame... Shame on you 'Nasim'... 

p.s. I'm still waiting for my fucking turbocharger to arrive!!!