volvo a new look ?

New S 60 glass center stack, with the power shift gear

Volvo, when someone hears about the name they will think that it is a ugly, boring, uncle looking and pathetic looking car. Well 10 years ago, yeah thats right. Volvo is a Sweedish auto maker that is probably the only one last surviving of its kind, Saab has unknown future but to be owned by someone, Koenigsagg if i spell it right has nothing to do with this segment, plus unless you are a fan of the Koenigs you probably never bothered Volvo, a Koenig super car cost 3 mil and more.

But things have change today in Volvo's design, making them one of the very sexy car to drive on the road, Somewhat evolve from the past and has come into the future.

The trusty old 240

Well, in the olden days, you wanna buy a safe car , buy Volvo, they are made with real metal, cause i remember in the days, ppl never die in Volvo, plus the 240 looks like a coffin, cantonese, Kun Choi che,,,, and so it does, if you ride in a 240, you are really driving a coffin....

Those were the days, boxy, boring, and ugly, girls hate them, and no one likes them, only those who bought them saw the 240 differently, The 240 has a legandary engine, until today, it still runs on the Malaysian roads, Plus it roars louder than the Merc old diesel engine,,, so like more garang the engine..... vrooonmmmmm like that,, then very powerful, at 2.4 l engine it is power...

Then came the 940 era and the 740 era, One thing i do respect a volvo car is that they top up with low compression turbo in assisting the power delievery. This is one way to improve power with a lower engine.... I think cars that come with low compression turbo are great buy cars,
like the Audi A4 1.8T, volvo s40 2.0T and so on and so on,,, mainly European cars.
It like getting 150 horses with a 1.8l engine. Its a bargain.

After the 740 and 940 came the S range which is the Sedan model, a new breed of Volvo is being born, and shapes started to evolve, The boxy ugly shape is no more there, but the coffin odd shape shape still remain in the modern or current design.
All new S80, Beautiful, can you imagine the changes it went though, But it has a dramatic change in shape and features, plus more added goodies into it, i was totally impressed with this model.
and then the future comes into Volvo, an all new outlook, with a different shape DNA all thanks to Steve Mattin, the lead designer of the new Volvo XC 60, S60 and probably this C30.

The powershift gear,
S60 all new one coming to you very soon.




XC 60, i saw one today, infact i dont see so many of them on the roads yet altought is about 6 momths since its launch here in Malaysia. But is sure look good when you see the real one

Well i will update more, cause im in a hurry to catch a plane to Langkawi, i will edit this more and tell you what is so exciting about Volvo, hang on there,,

What a wet road

Well these few days the weather is kind of dodgy, nice and shine in the morning, then thunder storms in the afternoon, sometimes freak storms in the evening, very common in PJ and Subang area. Yesterday while coming back from Melaka was no acception, somewhere along Rembau zone, the rain was freaky heavy. Before that i had a BMW 7 series tailing me that i let him over take me. What the heck he is driving a such an expensive car he should speed. Not long later as we all can see the difference in the horizon, heavy rain up ahead, and i was at about 120km/h all the cars slowed down, inlcuding a very lan see vios, wanna over take me and smoke me. Damm you vios, drive so fast when got no rain, when rain come you slow down like a pussy. Use Michelin PP2 tyre lah next time. Plus the stupid vios got no sense of cutting into the middle lane because he wanted to "pa lo" move aside lah. So i had to follow him. The rain was like kind of heavy, for me im using the proper equipment so i dont doubt my performance during rain.

The bus bang the side divider

So we all drove through the wet weather with caution. Then later when the weather clear up there we had a traffic jam. I was wondering there must be an accident. So the impatient BMW just now had slowed down also, but he kept eating left and right to squeeze, hey cannot see got jam ah, wait lah. If you can, fly loh, i dont mind. stupid driver.
So we went on and there you go as i mentioned an accident, this one the bus had passengers inside. Probably no one died but the people inside it had a nice spin off, forget to mention, busses are also annoying, they think they got a lot of power and control and see what happen. Bang goverment property. Later kena pay saman,
We got through the bus and then later not more than 100m a jam again ,this time some cars hit each other as you can see in the picture. So in raining days, make sure use Good tyres like michelin pp2 and dont compromise. Then if you have traction control use them it helps a lot. Also if you can change the wipers, as for me i just got them changed, so i have a clear view infront of me. Well 3 accidents in less than 3 km distance. What a day. The rain really put those lan see drivers to a good lesson.

Back to RON 97

Yeah, manage to finish my RON 95 that i pump the other day. Now i have finished using it. So i went to the nearest petrol station and got myself RON 97. What a relieve now, the car is back to it original state. Not a slow old car now, Pick up is so much better.

So those of you who think there is no difference. Either the car you are driving is very powerful and you dont feel the difference. Or you can tell the difference because you dont drive outstation.

Sonyman's 2009 Car Awards

So Car Bikes and Trucks (www.CBT.com.my)has announced the Peugeot 308 is the Overall car of 2009
I also would like to give my view about the cars this year that i have come across. Well of course mine has no physical awards to be given away, but for the fun of it lets have a view of what cars are available in Malaysia.

So what do you think is the best selling car of 2008? well the answer is very simple. Honda City, or Toyota Vios, both were winners, because both had great fuel efficiency, both were within RM 80k. Which most Malaysian would spend the money on. Why, probably that most Malaysian's buying price point. Malaysian Buy cars based on the price. Never on segment but always on the price. Sad Sad.
The most anticipated Car of 2009
Well the new city has a nice look unlike the old one, which was kind of weird. But anyhow it had oversell most cars in the market due to its, super efficient fuel features and great space. The nearest competitor was Vios, head to head, if you didnt buy the City, you would have bought the Vios, because you dont have a choice. If you hate both cars, prepare to spend more, or buy a P1.
When the new Vios came in, it was a little akward, due to the irregular design, the VIOS was called the Dugong. While everyone who hated the design, waited for the upcoming CITY. The Vios had improved the from the previous design, which was space, it had power, it was fast, and it was for the sales people the debate of which saved more fuel kept on. The old Vios lack the space, but it had the power, where the City Idsi model fail to deliever. Most op for VTEC engine.
Nissan too launch a mid segment model called the Latio, which had some nice toys packed into it. The Latio had the space, the luxury feeling but on the specification part, it lacks the upper limit BHP. meaning no power when you go untill certain speed. The lower torque had nice numbers. The Latio is responsive, and had nice interior. Nissan had shift their selling point into interior part of the car. If you buy the Latio, you didnt buy the looks but the luxury in the car.


So the latio as an option with a different taste. Next best option was Hyundai Elantra which was also fighting within price. You get a 2.0L with only RM93000, unfortunately, it didnt sell well. Notoriously Korean cars are not very much better than P1. So most Malaysian kept their money away from Korean made cars. Kia Spectra was not a good selling car as well, Kia kept a low profile. Till then the Malaysian roads were conquered by Vios and City.

Things start to change when the Kia forte made its appearance in America, It had a whole new look and packed with new engines. Very promising, and best of all it is in our shores, I personally loved this design, with its wonderful toys packed into it, plus the price point, at RM93800 that is a 2.0l engine, with all the features you expect in a car. The Kia Forte i forsee will be on the roads in increasing numbers by next year. Although the numbers will never beat the figures of Toyota and Honda, Malaysian are giving the Koreans a new hope in the price less than RM 100k segment. We cannot discuss on segment, as i was discussing just now, we discuss on price point, The perfect looking Forte had its first launch not took long ago and the booking numbers are rising every day, but of course it takes time for the car to prove itself how well made was it, It passed the first stage to impressed those who have felt the car and seen it, it had wowed me, and i have great respect for its designer. Peter Schreyer fomer audi designer. Good job Kia, keep the great design coming. Korean cars are notoriously famous for is poor engine, low quality plastics used, bad noise insulation. And espensive service and poor technical service from NAZA.
Hopefully the forte and NAZA reputation will improve proving that the Koreans too can help us Malaysian to enjoy our RIDE!!! hehe, i like the word.

New looks for Altis, somehow todays new design has the head light jutting out, Like the Camry, the Altis share the same kind of design, Frankly speaking, there isnt anything new between the new Altis and the old one. Almost the same in specifications, same old engine, and same old specifications, toyota just put a new body into the current Altis, thats why you dont see as many as the previous model. The New Altis has add on sequential gears, well like triptronic, still a 4 cyclinder engine with 4 gear auto, the City iVTEC has 5 gears.
Civic has no change since it launched, Only minor things like face lift, but it is still a great looking car untill today. Malaysian are still buying CIVIC because of its looks. Power and fuel efficiency. At least you get a 5 gear auto and a option of 2.0l if you are looking at this range. Within so many cars the Civic still rule the road, the Altis is just next to it.
Not forgetting Nissan with the Sylphy 2.0l Again with its price range at RM106,000. The Altis is at RM120,300 and you get a 1.8L engine but a bit more things packed into the car. Again Nissan had made the interior of the Sylphy very nice, spacious and nice toning colour, This impresses those who are looking at alternative. The Design, Sylphy share the same problem with the Latio. What is the problem with Nissan? Why the design of the cars are so weird. Come on Nissan, you can do better than that.

For the mid size most sexy looking car on the road, I give the awards to VOLVO S40 and the
Peugeot 407, European segment. The New VOLVO S40 has new improved lower specification engine. From a 2.4i engine now fitted with a 2.0L but with new Powershift as its new feature, the engine improves fuel efficiency, power shift is a twinclutch system. You dont loose power during gear shifting. the engine can be found on Mazda 3 and Ford Focus. As a parent company of VOLVO the new s 40 will share a lot of technology from the Focus. Design wise it is perfect for executive that just love nice sexy looking car. Especially this white one.

Peugeot 407 is also very very sexy. nothing much to update. but this car i was loving it a long time ago.
On the high range car segment. RM 150k and above. There is not much of a choice to choose. Accord, Camry and Mazda 6. Although there are some more cars in the market. but these 3 is what you see most on the road.


It is kind of hard to decide which is sexier. Of course the Mazda come with better quality because the car is CBU, fully imported. No Mazda is locally assemble. So i presume the quality of Mazda 6 is far better than Camry and Accord. The new Accord does look sexy, smart and elegant. The Camry on the other hand looks powerful, mascular, and meaty. The Mazda 6, is more like all the 2 cars, but very sleek and smooth, Zoom Zoom feeling. Of course which car would you choose. Depends on which fan are you, are you a Mazda Fan, Honda Hard core fan or a Camry fan, If you are neither, look somewhere else. You will find somthing. But if you still wanna go for the Jap's get the Mazda. 2.5l version.

New S80 SexyWhat Can i say, VOLVO again The new S80 does impressive things. Although Merc and BMW has it all, But Lets give VOLVO a chance to win something. It is not common on our Roads. You will see one or 2 on and off KL roads. When i do see one, i just keep staring at it. It is just so sexy.

This car debute in Iron Man

Well the Audi R8 i had the chance to Molest it externaly in NAZA world, It is a super car, in line with Porches and Ferari's also Lambogini's I just love Audi design and the R8 is just one super car that really makes a person get orgasm. Meaning having a ultimate feeling when looking and touching it. Well if thats satisfaction, what is coitus with your wife or lover? Hehe , man and their weird feelings towards cars and hifi. Churning out at 414BHP for the V8 version, the Audi R8 is sure a super fast car, at RM 799,999 in NAZA show room it is sure a great car to buy. But if you are really looking into this super car. Prepare to get deaf with the sound of the engine roaring at the back of you. On the other hand the Porsche Panamera i think is probably a more comfortable car to drive and ride in, Still the same BHP at 400 BHP but costing at about 1mil. This Panamera is a real family super car. Imagine you got 3 friends would wanna enjoy the ride in your Porsche. You can bring them along, its so nice, but if it were a 911 or a R8 you can only bring one.


SEXY SUV segment
On the SUV that is on the road, the most fantastic futuristic design is the VOLVO XC 60. With its most anticipated wait, this XC or cross country. New toys like the Auto city Braking. City speed detection. This feature will make sure you dont bang the person infront of you.


The Mazda CX9 is also one SUV that deserves the respect of a luxury SUV, at its price tag of 300k. It just feel very luxury seating inside the CX9, even the BMW X5 looses out on its luxury feel, Same goes with the Audi Q7. i wonder why you should pay so much for the SUV when you can get a CX9 at less then 300k. Sadly for companies like SAAB, this is one company that will be long gone. No more in existance. If no one aqquire the company soon. If GM cant find a buyer, they will scrap this company. So sad. I just wonder why companies do this. What will happen to the future models. This is a great car, but sadly, if no one takes it. it will be in the history books.
So what car i like

Well, the most sexy of all cars for my eyes would have to be the Audi A4 B8 model, the one with the LED lights. Is is just nice size, comes with selectable drive features. Very modern design. Packed with nice toys. Adaptive Cruise control, sensor for this and that. it seems kind of all in one package. Even the B7 model is so sexy. For this car i would aim at getting it in 5 years. By then cars will be different , more newer models will replace this one, but at least i get to drive the car i like and love so much.

What can i say this Audi A4 is breathless, and of course if i can i will drive one of these in the future.

RON 95 Why!!!!

Well, it is lunch time now, so i have just checked into the hotel in BP.

Waiting for time to pass so that the customers come back from their lunch.

Mean while just update somethings along. Journey was cool, only with a crazy big bus tailing me at the back all the way to BP.

After i overtake some lorries i zoom zoom into infinity and i dont see the bus anymore. Mana tahu, the bus also came straight on. Tailing me all the was to my destination. It was really fun but not as much fun when i was using RON 97.

I pump RON95 the last time i went to pick my wife up in the airport. Unfortunately the Petronas along the KLIA entrance dont have RON97, i think all Petronas has cut the RON97, so what the heck i tried, no choice what.

Well this is what happen with RON 95 on my 7 year old Waja Automatic, Mitsubishi engine. Well with ROM 97, i enjoy the ride, though it sucks all time, driving a P1 car. Since i'm driving it so my as well enjoy the ride. My Waja is a little different from the others, cause i had some small little improvement done on it.

So back to RON 95. Why does the gov. want us to use a less superior petrol only after so many years they introduce RON 97. RON 97 is just nice. For malaysian made cars. Especially Waja. Heavy body, low torque, low performance engine, 97 is perfect, not to say too powerful nor too little power. Just nice is the word to describe. V power is a little too volatile. you get boost, but no milage.

Now RON 95 on the other hand, you might not like it if you have not tried, especially if you drive a car mentioned above. Engine seems to be roaring a lot when over taking, and over taking is full of doubt because you are not sure is there enough power move the car faster. So thats bad.
In order to achieve the same speed at the same time. The way i drive with RON 95 cannot be achieve. Its like the car is back in the old days. I had to press so much more on the accelerator to get the same speed or pick up. SO I DOUBT i can get back the same milage with RON 95, Infact i will have more stress, hate the ride and waste more petrol and in the end, damage the engine.

See i dont see why This GOMEN will love us to use RON 95 and the minister said.
"Malaysian dont need RON 97, because it is too powerful..." Hmm what is his logic in saying that. Probably he should refrase the sentence to " Malaysian Dont deserve better Petrol because you are not paying premium for it. So We will only Provide you with RON 95. Like it or not you have no choice because you are in Malaysia" Dont you think the second sentence makes more sense.

Ya, but Malaysian Mentality, " what to do? it is like this mah, Hai ya, accept it loh" As usual our moto, Malaysia Tak Boleh... So use RON 97 although it is more expensive. And if you love your car, please do yourself a favour, life is too short. So dont waste your time. Enjoy the ride.

kia forte preview

The ugly and hated has answered with a wake up call, a beautiful looking car

First of all i have to apologize about the pictures, yes yes is it not clear and quality is like shit,
well i took them with a camera phone in my car on a brochure, ok, how come got no nice real pictures, because i was not allowed to take them yesterday, i could have a mental memory of the car but i cannot transfer them to show you into the blog

So i knew about this beauty about 3 days ago, Sunday night i read NST cars bikes and truck, just reading and i came across this Forte, well first look, hmm very man's car, Then next look, not bad ah the backside.
Then the third look, wah got very nice goodies, then I look some more, the dashboard also i think ok lah, very nice loh, Kia mah not Mercedes or BMW, or Lexus leh, so nothing there to compare loh, but it does look good,

so i gave the article a go, so i read and read and seems good, but one thing surprises me, the price point, well how much must you pay for a 2.0L car, i mean the cheapest i ever seen so far here is Sylphy which is at RM103,000.00 thats cheaper than Civic 2.0 and Altis, so this one hmm a whooping RM93,000.00 for a 2.0L where can it be man, how is it possible, by the looks of it, the car should be about 100k above, cause firstly it has plenty of goodies some of us like, which others never bothered to provide, namely Toyota, Honda and Nissan, which indirectly means UMW, Tan Chong and Honda Malaysia,

the car Comes with 1.6 EX, 1.6SX and 2.0SX we will talk about the main feature but will compare the 2.0L, thats the best they offer. If the best can beat others then it is a steal.

So what's up with the goodies, 2.0L thats not is it has keyless entry, remember last time i was talking about in Sylphy? the key that you keep in the pocket and then press a button on the door handle and whoa lah, the car door unlocks.
Next you have push Start Stop engine buttons, well i was told you can get these goodies fixed to any of your car for about RM300 all in total, somewhere in Sunway, but how come 100k cars never bother to have when it is only like Less than a RM1k to fix goodies, Malaysian's dont deserve this kind of goodies? I think we are exploited by the 3 major Japanese car maker besides our unational car. P1 and P2.

My friend argued with me yesterday, saying Korean, has lost the market, totally, since those days and people who owned Korean Cars, cursed they never bought one. I hope that is about to change and a new wave is coming soon.
Well i took the chance to sit into the car and molested this very pretty looking car as much as i can, i mean molesting it, pushing buttons, feeling the steering and pressing this and that, sitting on the seat, can you imagine what i was doing? dont imagine,

So whats up with it,
Interior, i would say, ok, looks pretty amazing, sporty, nice plastic that feels not plastic, very solid plastic, air cond is fully auto climatic control, means like a 100k car, Sylphy don't have, only Altis, Civic does. which i think good. 1 point given to Kia Forte,
Then there is this Triptonic gear shift. hmm ok, Altis has them, Civic has shifters, same concept, then Sylphy dont need them so neutral, no extra points earn or loss.

There is also a auto matic cromic rear mirror, which means when someone high light you at the back you press this button the mirror darkens, ok not important, but a good nice feature.

Also what kind of ICE they have, no specific brand, but it comes with 6 CD changer, Ipod connector, and a USB interface for your mp3, like honda City, so i think it is sufficient, enough to cater for your current needs.

on the Steering wheel, it has control buttons, didnt paid attention to what it can control but the button sure feel good,

then the seats are ok, normal, nothing special, 2.0L you get leather. 6 airbags and fully safety eqquiped, talking about safety features, the car comes with TCS, EBD, CSC, ABS, and i think there is one more, you know the term, traction control system, electronic brake distribution, bla bla bla, every should have one. Plus 1 point for a less than 100k car for Traction control,
talking about safety, it has a active headrest for whipsplash.

downside, the engine, dont know how will it perform, but its a new generation engine and with CVT transmission, i think it should be ok, plus how expensive would it be to buy spare parts and also how long can the car last, previous korean cars gave a whole lot of problems, i dont know but was told. We hope that this one doesnt fail us, giving us a new confidence. Used price for Korean cars in out market isnt really good also, if you are looking at selling it with making less losses, dont buy this, but a Japanese car,



So who is to buy this car? Hmm, younger ppl, those who just came out working, dont want to buy a P1 or P2 but want some goodies that comes along with it, this is a perfect one, First car, and a great car, my opinion is get the 1.6 SX or the 2.0SX version , it is more worth the money,

i love this car, though i havent driven one, but on its outlook it does look good, very catchy, but untill then i cannot judge is it for me, although the price fits nicely into my catagory,

till then more reports.

Nissan Sylphy 2.0

Yesterday was a really nice day, Me and my in laws, went down to Jalan Ipoh, Nissan show room to check out on the Nissan Sentra by right, and why where they looking at the Sentra, See my dad in law is looking for a new car, and they happen to find out that Nissan is giving a huge discount on the 2009 Nissan Sentra Sport model, about RM11k. Never know about the details. But i do know about a large discount on the Sentra Sport 1.6L that is about to go extinct very soon. By right it was my dad in law to buy the car, but the eldest son took the chance to grab it, well i personally think it is a good buy, only thing with Sentra, my dad owns one, a 1.8L leather interior, its really nice, but a little cramp in the rear seat. On the other hand, i took the chance to look at a couple of cars available in the show room.

since the day of its launch, i never got the chance to test drive a Sylphy 2.0, probably because of the new hot car everyone wants want, so at that time, no one bothered to let a young guy like me to take the car for a ride, now things are a little more cool down so well, they have the urge to sell and plus someone was buying a car, and thats where i took the chance to test drive this model which i longed to take it down on the road, ok, firstly talking about interior, it is super spacious, comparing to Sentra, and with its 500L boot capacity, i think it is a wonderful kind of family sedan, most importantly at 2.0L it will cost you arround RM106,000.00 after discount, price point between Honda and Toyota, Nissan probably is much cheaper, of course a cheaper car means you get less goodies that comes with it. The Singapore version would come with a Electric Seat with programmable function and also memory seating position for different keys, i presume thats the meaning from reading the website, and it has keyless Go entry, just like the 1.8L and 1.6L Latio and Latio Sport, means no need to fumble with keys when starting the engine and entering the car, just press buttons. A lot of premium cars has this kind of feature now adays,


looks wise, i leave it to you to judge, i personally dont think it look good, kind of old, and lady like car, but lets talk about the interior which i feel is much more comfortable than a lot of this C segment sedan in the market, firstly the space, it is huge, very huge, with my driving seat postion adjusted, the rear person presumebly my size could seat with no problem crossing legs, and reading news paper with ease, feels so much like a tau keh, seats are comfortable with nice fabric, leather is an option, add another RM2000.00. I felt that the finishing was perfect, with no sign of cheap plastics, everything feels very solid, nice to touch and feels it could last, like a premium car,
downside is, no steering wheel buttons to adjust audio control, 100k car no such feature ? No Xenon light, the Latio 1.8L has xenon headlight, and the center deck, hmm, king of weird design with a large hole in it, the hand brake or parking brake are nice, they are like on the padel floor, this gives more room design for the center deck, i personally feel, if a woman drives this car, ok nice and family like, but a man, the entire design concept of this car i think it was probably for a mid age lady who loves shopping, marketing and fetching children to and frow to school and tution. firstly is the gear, cool CVT system with Xtronic gear drive, no gear change, you can call it infinity number of gear, i never drove any car that is like this, it feels smooth all the way, according to the sales person, the car will feel acceleration all the way to 180km/h with no feeling of lag in gear change, it is drive by wire, and power on demand, some marketing terms i presume, let you figure it out, im no good at this, but still learning,
Consumption presumebly is at 16KM/L which is i think ok , normal, not very shining but just like any other car, althought i didnt get to drive on a highway, which i was looking forward to, but city driving this car is nice, you will feel it is very light, like drving a very luxiorious car, plus my mom in law didnt complain about the rear part after seating in the Sentra. Power on the low RPM, is good, responsive, press accelerator the car moves, no lag or drag, with 5 person on board, it just moves,

Conclusion is, if you like comfortable interior, nice finishing touch, no plastic feeling, and luxiourous feeling, you can consider this one, for its price point, i think they did it right, to segment their self properly in price point, altough they took out the goodies, but overall if you dont want those keyless thing and electronic seats, this car is fine, just for driving,
If you are looking at power, looks,features, control, and a lot of goodies, leave this out, test the other brands, then only if you cannot decide and thought of saving some money for future, consider this, or if you are buying for your wife to drive this is nice, she wont complain. i presume, and so does your kids, it easy to drive large boot space and very comfortable interior,

plus point : price, great interior finishing, Xtronic drive ( arguable), interior quality finishing, city driving, EBD, ABS, dual Airbag, super spacious boot and interior, parking brek, electric power steering, drive by wire,

downside : no traction control, No button control on steering, no triptronic shift, keyless go, Xenon lights, exterior looks( arguable), power on upper RPM, probably would not shine like Honda or Toyota, funny looking center console,