Occasional visits to my friend's workshop to lepak-lepak always turns out to be a memory-MB consuming one. I just couldn't resist snapping away (photos) when i'm around mean fast rides ~ enthusiasm gets the better of me... it always feels great hanging out with guys sharing the same passion for fast cars =)

Brothers in Arms *just the cars, not the owners*

Remember the race-prepped CRX?

A purist JDM ride, all ready for some tarmac ripping action anytime now...

On the right (closer) ~ a newer Honda brethen; is also a monster, but of a different kind


Sporting a fully pimped exterior & an ultra low stance *so low that even ants might have problem crawling underneath it! =p*

I'm not a big fan of aftermarket head/tail-lights, but this ultra cool LED rear blinkies get my 2thumbs up! =)

notice that slithering python underneath... still at an NA friendly piping size of 2.5" ~ very garang sounding



neat & functional interior
& the best part of it...

OMFG! It's powered by a H22A! Want that gut wrenching torque without resorting to turbocharging? Go get a 210bhp 2.2l H22A DOHC VTEC powerplant from a Prelude & pluck it into a compact 1.6 Civic EG hatchback chassis. Imagine the power-to-weight ratio... its acceleration must be nothing short of brutal. This is one crazy conversion first pionereed by the displacement crazy americans... hardly road legal one, that is. How well the compact chassis copes with that massive powerplant? i wonder. I'm sure matching the gear ratios to make the most out of the useable power band is going to be anything but easy... though, i'd still be excited to get a ride in either one of these rides. This monster still gets upstaged by the smaller & much lighter 1.6l CRX sibling, i heard...

Jase's Tea Room @ Premier 101 ~ a new found watering hole in town

It's always great to have a good coffee joint closer to home...


it's got a warm & relaxing ambience with a classy feel to it ^_^

& it feels so cozy here ~ mrtoilet well on his way to cloud9 already...

I shall be dreaming about her tonight....

Scattered beads ~ this is no 3-hour-long post, but this bead necklace i've been wearing & has never left my neck (except for the time when i when wakeboarding), suddenly came undone & got scattered all over the floor during my routine workout session earlier tonight. Any significance ~ this incident?
sheesh... i'm getting quite superstitiously paranoid these days... side effects from consuming too much nitro-tech? =p
*sub-par photography skills again, i know... damn... i so wanna get a DSLR... *

Pixes from an outing quite sometime ago...

the Prophecy...

~ me no read chinese... anybody care to enlighten me? =p

*ps my photography skills suck.. i know... or rather, blame it on my hp cam; it's only mediocre at best xp*

15 days & counting down...







~ been counting down since just passed half-century mark in eagerness & the anticipation just keeps pilling up in momentum; how i wish i can fast-forward to 2 weeks from now! *it's been more than half-a-year since my last vacation, dammit!* All i can do now is just keep drooling over other people's photos... & hope that some good samaritan would be kind enough to lend me a DSLR so i can shoot like a pro, too... =p *fat chance*

Initial D 4th Stage ~ just recently completed watching the whole series... this is one anime series that only the motoring savvy lot would have better appreciation for; it's all about cars & touge battles ~ heavy on driving techniques & psycho-analytical tactics. Thick generic plot, extensive character development & humour elements ~ this series has little of. Putting those aside, the animation graphics detailing, color scheme & the CG effects are realistically superb; definitely a huge leap of improvement from the ealier stage installments. The best part are the sound clips of the cars; from the N/A twincam 4AGEs, VTECs, turbocharged REs to the mighty inline-6 GTRs ~ they all sounded distinctive from one another, realistic to each specific vehicle & engine. That is sweet sound of music to my ears (wished they would tweak up the volume of the revving engines a bit more). And then there's the up-tempo Engrish Eurobeat tunes which, builds up the tension & hype for the racing scenes. The movement & handling dynamics of the cars, down to how the swerve over each corner & ride over each bump are realistically potrayed, save from some ridiculous feats by the legendary AE86 i.e. over-the-open-gutter run in the early races (you got to be kidding me! though from physics' standpoint, theoretically possible).

Not suprising as the production is supervised by non other than the real oldman Drift King himself after all. * i have to see him pull off that over-the-open-gutter run in the Hot Version touge battles, yet*

The opening theme of 4th Stage: Dogfight by MOVE, the beat is just so catchy...


Project D's Keisuke Takahashi (Madza Rx-7 FD3S) Vs Purple Shadow's Kouzo 'God Foot' Hoshino (Nissan Skyline GTR V-Spec II Nur')

This ranks as my favourit-est battle of 'em all ~ intense & a mind-blowing climax!


Project D's Takumi Fujiwara (Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno GT-Apex) Vs Todo Juku's Tomoyuki Tachi (Honda Civic Type R - EK9)
deus ex machina for

Takumi... somehow the pro lost by sheer bad luck. That indigenous no-headlight run of his was just absolutely crazy!

Project D's Takumi Fujiwara (Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno GT-Apex) Vs Purple Shadow's Dr. Toshiya 'God Hand' Joushima (Honda S2000 Type V)

Battle finale.... 'nuff said.

I wonder if a 5th Stage would be in the pipeline?

Oops, i did it again...

only realized it upon leaving gym after workout session.... mai~@#!$%^*!!! Supposed to fill her up since yesterday but being me, i just like to procrastinate... resulting in me having to risk dying from starvation after a tiring, muscle numbing workout coz.... i can't drive home in time for dinner with an empty tank!! I'd been confident on how many km~s to push for, before filling up ~ after my near-miss some moons ago... roughly 50km~s to last on the reserve fuel, after the empty indicator lights up. But this time, i'd barely gone 30km~s when it lighted up... how come??? come to think of it, i've been quite heavy footed lately... especially since i've installed the new toys... =p

Luckily snoopy was around to give me a lift to the nearest gas station to tapau some petrol. Yups, that tong on loan from the kind folks of the Shell station along Rock Road for a deposit of 5 bucks ~ & good to store up 4-litres vehicle-life-giving-portion... enough for me to retrive my car from a mere 3km~s away =)

this would be the day i switched to using Shell for a change... *been a loyal fan of the green-blue brand all these while... better mileage? we'll see..*

I'll remember to buy those numbers (TOTO) tomorrow.... hehe =p

Why aren't you growing... (thanks for sharing, mate)

1. You overtrain and under eat. These are listed as the main primary reason because they go hand in hand and BOTH must be balanced or you can forget growth. The most perfect training regimen will fail miserably if diet is not there to support it. And conversely, the most perfect diet will be wasted if the trainee is doing more workload than they can recover from—most do WAY too much! ~ that sounds very much like me... -_-

2. The training workload is not varied. Doing the exact same lift the same way stops being productive for most trainees within 3-6 weeks. Once the body has adapted to the loading it must be changed if you are to continue to force the body to adapt. ~ when running out of new routines to shock-and-awe, go ask louis or chris...

3. Too much focus on isolation exercises, not enough compound work. You can do all the “small” lifts until you are blue in the face, but until you are moving big poundage’s in the big lifts you will remain small. Which brings up point #4.

4. You MUST squat and deadlift if you are going to reach your bodies growth potential. Think it through. Doing squats or deads activates 70-85% of the bodies overall musculature in one move. Doing a set of curls maybe 3-5%. Which sends a big signal that the body better get better at synthesizing protein and better at handling the need to grow as a unit? You will NEVER reach your potential without doing the squats and deads. ~ to think that i've been neglecting the mother of all workout til now... -_-

5. You constantly fluctuate between lifts that have bad carry-over. Here is an example: I have seen many times, and one I have done myself. The trainee burns out on benching and decides to do Hammer Strength Benches for a change. He makes the switch and is jazzed. His Hammer press is going up every week and he is stoked. After a time he has added 50 lbs to his Hammer bench and decides to go back and hit the bench, only to find it’s up a whole 10 lbs!!!!!
That doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with Hammer Benches. It just means that the lifts are dissimilar enough that an increase in one may not necessarily help increase the lift on another. Use of stabilizers and inter and intra-muscular coordination are two primary reasons, along with neural recruitment pattern gains that don’t apply well to the other lift.

6. You don’t know when to de-load/cruise , or take time off. NO ONES body takes a constant pounding of hard training without periods of active or full rest recovery. Until you learn how and when to don this your training will never be optimal ~ timing is the key...

7. Your micro-nutrient support SUCKS! I can’t count the number of guys I have seen trying to build great physiques taking a “one a day” vitamin and thinking they have it covered. If you want great things out of your body, you need to put great fuel in it ~ great 'fuel' does not come in the convenient form of a 'one a day' pill...

8. You train with the intensity of a arthritic old lady. Nuff said. ~ well, sometimes... when motivation runs dry...

9. You have no clearly defined goals. Most people just “lift to get bigger”, and while this is a fine goal, not having and strength related goals will kill your progress in the long run. Your primary goal should be getting stronger on the big lifts on a CONSTANT basis. Setting short and long-term strength goals and achieving them is what equals a big strong trainee in the long run ~ my other non-work-related MBO... other than hunting for a steady

10. You are inconsistent. Getting excited about your training and killing yourself in the gym only to burn out and few weeks later and miss a bunch of sessions ends up being 1 step forward, 3/4 steps backward for many trainees. Getting and staying consistent and racking up sustainable gains over the long-term is what it’s about ~ this is where most people fall short... got to drum this point into my head & keep going forth =)

22 days & counting down to The much anticipated Phuket trip; i'm working my butt off getting into shape with my 6P-6W (6-pack in 6 weeks) program which, sadly has yet to yield enough result. Proper diet is turning out be the most difficult part of it all... -_-

Project Civic ~ Part II: The Driving Impression *continued*

Done with the installation of the coilovers, now comes the part where i hand over my car keys to my trusty tuner pal & jump into the passenger seat. He then turned to me & said, 'This is THE way to drive a car with a coilover setup...' ~ then, off we took, like a bat straight out of hell. My car's handling characteristics never felt this good ~ So sharp & so responsive it corners like a rollercoaster on tracks! Feel the G-force effect as you corner hard & hear the tires squeal for traction as you power out of a corner. Superb, addictive & somewhat orgasmic... I wasn't sure what to feel ~ thrilled or terrified, by ther first corner, my knuckles already went white from gripping the handles too hard. That's what it feels like, pushing for greater driving limits. Sugoi driving skills. *acquired from years of meticulous training from mat rempit days to street racing & on to the tracks & dragstrip*
Riding around down town going full throttle 60% of the time & shifting at redline, in lunch-hour traffic is by no means a nifty feat... & boy, does he corner hard... i ain't looking at the speedometer, just to keep my sanity in check.
When he corners hard you really feel the G-force hitting you ~ like a smack right in the face. I just love how he uses the momentum of the car to throw it into the bend, negotiates thru the corner with minimal steer and goes full throttle on the exit. That's high level driving ~ the braking, downshift, & acceleration timing has to be right, steering input precise & a high enough corner entry speed. Oh boy, i'm wish i can drive like that.. i want more!
Back to the upgrade review ~ enough said on the performance, it just bumps up the handling to a whole new level. Makes anyone feel like a superhero behind the wheels (very subjective to individual driving skills though =p)
On normal driving, it seems to handle the mild undulations on our potholled & precarious roads just well enough, for me. I'm really don't mind sacrificing a bit of comfort for better handling. *warning: not everyone shares the same idea of 'a little bit of comfort'*
After meddling around with few more test runs, i've decided to stick on the following settings:
1) Ride height - Front ~ less than 1 finger wheel gap (1.8" to .21" drop from stock); Rear ~ 1+1/2 finger wheel gap (1.5" to 1.8" drop); no inner fender scrapping occurance observed during hard cornering
2) Damping setting - Front ~ 40% maximum stiffness (6 clicks clockwise from softest setting); Rear ~ 30% maximum stiffness
Currently still under self-evaluation, so proper wheel alignment not done yet...*due to financial shortcomings, sponsors most welcomed =p*

Damage: RM???? (an arm & a leg... 98,000JPY ~ brand new, mine's a recond set) *will stir a lot of controversy & accusations that i'm very loaded, when i'm really not =(

Verdict: Best solution for your handling woes. *i swear by it* So motorheads, if you haven't got one yet... how can you not have one???! mrtoilet, this is sound investment for your Project Neo... =)

Oh yes, this is going to be yet another *oh-yawn-boring* post, especially to the non-motoring inclined readers (gals) on wife-on-wheels… =p

Project Civic ~ Part II: Sorting out the Footwork

Being one who enjoys occasional bursts of wild spirited driving, the next most sensible approach for this project would be to upgrade the suspension system. The best bet would be to go for the crème of the crop of suspension setups: fully adjustable coilovers

Pros: height adjustable to get that dropped look with decent ride, decent compromise between comfort & performance, reduced body roll, improved handling & suspension response & can have damper adjustability

Cons: requires maintenance & stiffer ride over rough roads, not forgetting darn expensive.

Tada! My ride gets a set of fully adjustable coilovers, finally! =)

CST Zero-1 dampers ~ the name CST stands for Circuit Spec Tune. Circuit + Spec makes it sound like a bone jarringly harsh ride… & ordinary daily driving over our common pot-holed & precarious roads is going to be a nightmare!! Oh, boy what have I gotten into?

Being a relatively lesser known Japanese brand (at least on our shores), I’d been having problem sourcing for the details & spec of the dampers. All I could dig up was this:

Duno what the hell it means…

Well, it looks like a short strut monotube design to me...

- 15-way adjustable dampening setting (coz can turn 15 clicks on the dial knob; turn clockwise to stiffen)

- full shock height adjustability of 200mm front & rear (can drop it like it's hot til tires tuck in or in hokkien we say kap-lin)

- matching springs with rates of 12kg/mm (F) & 8kg/mm(R) (stiff like a fully erected c**ck! =p)

Test Drive ~ I GOT BLOWN AWAY.... to be continued

*still lost for words (in a thrilling way) to describe...*

* yet to start with the continuation but someone's yawning already... -_- *

13~Second Car
This is an old school EF7 CRX on a diet...


At most, it probably weighs just a few feathers heavier than a Kancil

sporting much sought after super lightweight Wedsport rims on fours & wrapped with Toyo semi-slicks on the front *for serious tire burnout fun w/o breaking a sweat!*

boasts a spartan interior complete with roll cage & bucket seats with full harness *i had a hardtime just getting in & out of it*


function over style *no creature comfort features at all...takde aircon, takde player, takde power window, takde power steering.. *

i just dig the tricked out push-start button! =D

a custom tangki minyak in the progress of getting fixed unto the car *half a crate of Tiger beer would fill it up nicely*

Powered by a NA tune B16 engine, it is claimed to have clocked a 13-ish second quatermile run (0-400m). That's probably no more than a second slower than a stock Porshe 911 Turbo ~ by no means an impressive feat for a puny 1.6l normal aspirated engine. Yup, that's somebody my engine will grow up to be, someday =p