Haluu~!

I’ve never been to bookstore since 2 months ago. It was pretty hectic for me this 2 3 months. So yesterday I had some free time so I decided to go to bookstore. I went to Times Bookstore at Hartamas Shopping Centre. Although it’s quite a small one compared to other bookstore but I like going there. It’s nice and cozy. While I was searching for some leisure time readings, I found this book.

Sophie's World

Yup! This one is one of the bestsellers out there. I know this one is one heavy reading, but try it! It took me about a month to finish this book, although normally it’s only 2 weeks. Because I want to understand every detail the writer wrote in there. It’s about philosophy but in casual way.

You can read about it in here.

Sophie’s World

Where else can you find this book?

Here’s a list of bookstore where you can find this book.

1. Times Bookstores

times bookstores

- Pavillion KL

- Bangsar Shopping Centre

- CapSquare Centre

- Hartamas Shopping Centre

2. MPH Bookstores

mph bookstores

- Alpha Angle Shopping Centre, Bandar Baru Wangsa Maju

- Taman Tun Dr. Ismail

- Bangsar Village Shopping Centre

- BB Plaza, Bukit Bintang

- Great Eastern Mall, Jalan Ampang

- Mid Valley Megamall

- Jusco Taman Maluri Shopping Centre

3. Kinokuniya Bookstores

kinokuniya emporium

- Suria KLCC

Well, you can buy the book somewhere else that aren’t listed in here. Oh one more bookstores, a popular one. Popular Bookstores. Buy it! It worths your time.

See ya next entry! Daa~!

When you get older sometimes you forget your age! That’s a good thing if you want to remain young at heart!

I was driving down one of the highways the other day and finally noticed the speed limit! Was surprised to see that it said only 55mph. Most of the freeways around here is 75 mph.

What really hit me was that when I got to thinking about the speed, I also thought by gum that’s how old I am. Kind of like they say”Old as Dirt”. I don’t consider myself old, but guess you wake up one day and there it is.

I was thinking of those letters today, you know in the letter world, mph…mph
that stands for My Poor Hair. Yes, at my young age my hair alot of mornings looks like Phyllis Dillars hair. You can only say you get what you get. I’ll be Mrs. Santa Claus or Ms.Santa Claus come 21 more days but who’s counting! I will probably wake up and everyone of those hairs on my head will have arrived in the exact parking space they should be!

I’m hoping your Holidays are happy and wish all of you a Merry Christmas!

Mona

The Lamborghini Gallardo is already quite a beast. Underground racing decided it wasn’t enough. What did they decide to do? Drop two turbochargers in the back, squeeze out 1,500 hp and all of a sudden they’ve created a land rocket which tackles the quarter-mile in under 10 seconds at a speed of over 160 mph. WOW!

Alright, here is the second part of the blog about signs. This will finish them up for this time at least until I find more that I can share with everyone. Have fun!

Please comment I would love the feedback

If it is not in use, then why is it there?

if there is a sign, is there not already a problem?

invisible what? People?

hahaha wow

where are we not supposed to swim?

where am I supposed to park my flying car?

what to say about this one...?

100...mph?

to..ease congestion?

keep left...when there is a huge hole there?

have fun with this one

hahaha wow

evil construction workers..

even though this is not a sign, it is still amazing

how do I get in?

better hope it is not to serious

I am glad they made it plain

watch out for those dangerous gravestones

All customer complaints should be taken care of this way

I hope they have a cell phone

Thanks to whoever made this bilboard

poor cockroaches...:(

what is this gate guarding?!

does this guy still have his job?

bummer, I wanted to cross when cars were moving

does the local trafic have flying cars?

only in America

but...I don't speak dog!

but I already gave my arm and leg last time I got gas!

can buggies go 55?

fine failure

This weekend I headed over to the NEC in Birmingham for the big annual Classic Car Show.  Not only was the NEC a mere 1/2 hour drive from my place, but there was also the promise of a hang out with the boys and girls from Retro Ford.  We have a little history, so it’s always good to catch up!

The show was pretty cool, though I didn’t spend long walking round and taking pics;  mainly because I was hanging around on the stand  talking crap or catching up with people!

I have seriously been lusting after ‘Rods recently…anyone got a ‘29 Model A knocking about?

This K12 was a demo car for a Lotus specialist..no, really. It was running a 300 bhp step-cam motor out of a Sunbeam !  Now may be a good time to out myself as someone who thinks these K12s have real potential.

Alpina 5 was one of my “cars of the show” needed decking until the crossmember fell off though.

I was also in love with this:

The MPH show was on at the same time and once in, you could walk through into the hall where it was all happening.  It was cool to check out a few moderns.

Citroen DS 11MY

Big thanks to the crew for keeping me fed, drunk and giving me somewhere to sleep!

Book published: 2009

It *is* about time.

Lexus LF-A

Big news in the auto industry from the “Land of the Rising Sun.” Toyota has unveiled the production version of their long awaited supercar from their Lexus brand called the LF-A. The LF-A is powered by a high-revving 4.8-litre V-10 that cranks around 552bhp at 8700rpm and 354 lb-ft at 6800rpm. It takes 3.7 seconds to reach the 62mph mark – 0.2 more than the famed Nissan GT-R. Did I mention high revving? It’s capable of up to 9000rpm, and according to Chris Chilton of CAR Magazine the “noise” is incredible.

Disappointments? There are some big disappointments. First off, Toyota opted not to go with a dual-clutch system that is popular in many of today’s high-end performance cars (VW has them in some mass consumer cars even!). It’s been several years since dual-clutch systems have been around and there is no argument that the benefits outweigh the negatives. Another disappointment is that for all the aluminum and carbon fibre that was used in the car it is still porkier than one would expect weighing in at 1480kg. My personal disappointment of the LF-A is the interior trim of the car. Yes it looks definitely like the high materials that Lexus uses in their cars, but that’s about it. Don’t get me wrong Lexus is high quality, but for a supercar I’m expecting something different – something exotic. The biggest disappointment? The cost. So I personally was never a prospective buyer from a financial standpoint, but at £325,000 the price scares even the rich. Even Toyota acknowledged they would be losing money on everyone sold…

And that’s the problem, Toyota has touted the LF-A to compete against Ferrari and Lamborghini but it only competes with them in price. Ferrari’s new 458 and McLaren’s MP4-12C are nearly half the price of the LF-A. In fact it doesn’t even seem to compete against Porsche or even Nissan’s spectacular GT-R. If I had the money, LF-A would be on the short list.

Not convinced? CAR Magazine agree with me. Car & Drive disagree with me. You decide.

The Misconception: If only you could get around those slowpokes on the highway, you could save so much time.

The Truth: Speeding doesn’t save enough time to matter unless you are traveling long distances.

You have been on both sides of this situation.

Either you have tailgated someone for miles until they finally moved over so you could zoom past them, or you’ve been passed by someone who seemed like they were in a hurry to meet their doom.

The difference between riding a bicycle to work and driving a car are obvious. Hurtling along at 80 mph vs. squeaking by at 10 does indeed showcase quite a time savings.

But you are not so smart once you get up to high speeds because the time saved going 60 vs. 70 is minuscule.

Let’s say you are traveling a distance of 20 miles. Let’s assume there is nothing on the road to get in your way. The time saved going 70 miles and hour vs. 60 is less than three minutes.

Of course, once you factor in other vehicles in your way, traffic lights and other conditions which slow you down, the time saved can drop to seconds.

Even if you are going on a long trip, say 100 miles, and you really speed, say 90 mph, the time saved vs. going 60 mph is only 33 minutes.

More gas, endangering yourself and others, stressing out your car – and all you get is an extra episode of “The Office.”

To get those extra 33 minutes, you have to maintain constant speed and never get bogged down – which rarely happens.

Here’s a speed calculator you can use to see for yourself: Link

Also, at high speeds, fuel economy plummets.

The federal government calculations say you can add 24 cents per 5 mph over 60. So, at 80 mph you are losing $1-a-gallon.

When it comes to speeding, you are not so smart.

Lotus Exige Scura

The engineering gurus at Lotus are set to unveil their latest lightweight machine at the Tokyo Motor Show. Dubbed the Lotus Exige Scura and dressed in all black, this car weighs only 925kg (about 2040 lbs) and packs a supercharged 257bhp capable of revving to 8000rpm. Figures? 60mph comes in at 4.1 seconds and keeps on screaming to a hair above 150mph. Other tech bits in this car is that it comes with a launch control system (seen on many of today’s high performance cars like the Nissan GT-R), in-car adjustable traction control, and two-way adjustable Ohlins dampers. The best bit? It’s exclusivity – only 35 will be sold for £45,000 each.

Credits to CAR Magazine for the pictures. Also check out their Performance Car of the Year 2009 on newsstands!

McLaren knows that if it wants to compete against the likes of Lamborghini and Ferrari, it will have to create variants to keep its MP4-12C fresh.

The addition of a convertible version will diversify the McLaren customer portfolio adding the extra needed flavor for those who want the McLaren but want to be clearly seen driving it. McLaren engineers believe that the car should have a lightweight folding rooftop, made either from carbon fiber or aluminum, instead of using a traditional soft top like the rest of its competition. The car will retain its scissor doors even though most convertible versions usually swap to the conventional type. Even more importantly, the convertible will retain the expected top speed of 200 mph. Yikes!

[Source: Edmunds]

Doesn’t Amazon.com have a technology like that it sells to vendors? Since Popular is spreading its wings (gosh, don’t remind me of the awful LimKokWing ads) across Asia, high time for them to think about using an online, real-time inventory. Customers can pre-book what’s going to be published, get early bird discounts. MPH has something like that; they email me but I mostly ignore them. Must be multiple bad experiences IRL one too many times. I usually don’t ignore online marketing; reduces my friction when shopping.

After the excitement of acquiring my new cycle computer yesterday, I installed it in the evening and that means from now on when I do my proper training rides I can not only bore you with maps and gradients, but also speeds. 

There it is, look: just next to my light.

Of course I’ve not done another training ride since last night, so all I can do is really bore you with the fact that my ride to work this morning was 1.8 miles, with an average speed of 12.1 mph and a top speed of 19.2 mph. Assuming I’ve got the thing set up correctly, that is.

I titled this post Nikola’s Newest Incarnation to tip my hat toward old Nikola Tesla, who changed all our lives, and to pull out a terrible pun. See, this is about the upstart automobile manufacturer Tesla Motors (hence the Nikola). And since they build cars… Incarnation = in”car”nation. Get it? (I told you it was terrible.)

Anyway, I got in a discussion about cars and MPGs with a few family members and, amid talk of dismal hybrids and costly conversions, I suddenly remembered a bright spot in the world of automotive technology: Tesla Motors. Or rather, I remembered rumors of their exciting (but expensive) Roadster that had raised eyebrows a few months ago. To refresh our memories, the Roadster is a two-seater sports car with acceleration to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds with a top speed of 125 mph (electronically limited) and maximum 248 horsepower at 6,000 to 8,000 rpm (it redlines at 14,000 rpm). It has a range of over 200 miles on a single charge and can re-charge in three and a half hours with the high power connector (also from Tesla). It’s just over nine and a half feet long and six feet wide, has independent front and rear suspension, a clean and uncluttered interior, all the amenities one expects in a car (air-conditioning, power windows and doors, spiffy stereo system, cruise control, etc.), and – most importantly for a sports car – is a convertible. For an electric car, it’s pretty impressive.

But when I visited Tesla’s homepage to check the specs I discovered a more interesting feature: three new models. Okay, one’s not exactly “new” since deliveries are already being made but it was new to me. So, first up, the Roadster Sport, a beefier (288 horsepower), faster (0 to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds) and more performance-minded car with, unfortunately, a price tag to match ($121,000). The other two are sedans, the Model S and Model S Signature (which is presumably a slightly beefier version of the former, as with the Roadster and Roadster Sport), scheduled for delivery next year.

So let’s run the new specs. The Model S can go 160 miles on a charge or, if you want to upgrade, 230 miles … or if you want to upgrade more, 300 miles. It can charge to 80% capacity in 45 minutes, accomodate 5 adults and two children, and goes from 0 to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds with a maximum speed of 120 mph (also electronically limited). It has a small rear hatchback for storage, as well as a full trunk under the hood (Volkswagen, eat your heart out). The rear seats fold flat to increase storage area if needed and it can purportedly haul a 50″ flatscreen TV or a full set of drums. The base model comes with all the usual amenities (like the Roadster) as well as a 17″ touchscreen with in-car 3G connectivity. I’m no techie but that sounds pretty cool. It costs about $4 to fully charge the battery pack, which has an estimated life span of five to seven years (although it noted ten years was not uncommon with proper maintanence). Best of all, it starts under $50,000.

Although all of Tesla’s products are out of reach for many Americans at this point, I think the progress they’ve made is huge. And if these are any indication, the electric car may not be just an idealistic dream for much longer.

To find out more, visit the Tesla Motors homepage.

All photos courtesy of Tesla Motors.

As promised, today, Mclaren’s new creation; the MP4-12C was unveiled. The new supercar is built around a carbon fiber chassis, called a Carbon Monocell. The MP4 in the car’s name actually stands for the chassis designation of all of Mclaren’s Formula 1 cars since 81′. The 4 in the name stands for Mclaren’s 4th project, the 12 for the Formula 1 company’s performance index and the C for Carbon.It may just be me but I think a slightly more catchy name could be in order.

Now to the numbers. The 3.8L V8 Twin Turbo officially produces about 600hp and 80% of the torque is waiting for you once it reads 2000rpm in the odometer. There hasn’t been any lap times as of yet but they say it can reach past 200mph. Sounds pretty damn good if they are actually serious. You’ll be shifting from gear to gear with a seven speed SSG gearbox. (Seamless shift dual clutch gearbox) One of the best features is the driver’s ability to prepare the next gear by half pressing the paddle to help slingshot the 12C into high speeds.

We should be expecting about 1000 unites to be made by the time we hit 2011. A nice chunk of that will be headed to the U.S.

The rest of my thoughts: I must admit now seeing the official MP4-12C I am quite impressed with it’s looks, but it is still missing something to me. In terms of performance, 200mph+ sounds fantastic to me not to mention the high horsepower, immediate torque delivery, and bulletproof gearbox. Only time will tell if this new exotic competitor will be a hit or bust but I will say this, they’ve got my attention.

As promised earlier, some official pictures!

Jay Leno Shows us around Mclaren and takes a look at the 12C. Enjoy!