Category Archives: Life Style

MMU DCM Drift Challenge, MITC Malacca Carpark 11-12th April 2009

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Having competed in the inaugural MMU DCM Drift Challenge in 2006 but  having to miss the following year’s event, it was good to be back for the 2009’s edition. With Cheaka and I now being supported by Goodyear Malaysia and  with the addition of  Jenshen to our competing Sync Optima/WHAT Team , we felt confident and knew for sure we would have a smashing weekend!!

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We always have a good time when we go to Malacca; the people here are  friendly and the food the  is to die for!! Joe Han and Tina were  the perfect guides and brought us to some of the best eatery in  the historic city!!

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I would strongly recommend the Lycee and Dragon fruit juice whenever you go down to Jonker street!!!

Competition Day

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Cheaka,  on a combination of Goodyear  RS Sports and Revspecs,went  strong throughout the event. She did exceptionally well  during  qualifying ,which was in the wet, where she qualified 14th out of 24 participants. She got a free pass to top 16 when Ivan Lau from Team Bridgestone had some  mechanical trouble but narrowly lost out during the top 8  tandem drift battle against the much more experienced Tan Hang Eng!!



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Jenshen, sporting a newly acquired  ‘black out ‘ motif on his drift machine did well by advancing to top 16 by winning his first tandem battle !!  I expect his performance will improve even further with a new engine and a few modifications in the chassis department that we have planned.

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I surprised everyone, including myself by winning the event after a tough close fight with Bridgestone’s  Tan Tat Wei during the finals. We both went on to two reruns until Tat Wei miscalculated my entry speed while I was leading and T boned me!! Other notable experience was when going against Indonesian drift sensation, Ray ,during the top 8 tandem battle. We had two reruns , where one I had misjudged his path when he saved ‘an almost spin’ and got back on line while I was diving in! The result was a smashed custom made rear bumper on Rays car while I suffered side ‘B’ panel damage!! ‘Minta maaf ‘bang”

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I would have to credit my win to the exceptional performance of the Goodyear tyres , a combination of Goodyear RS sports in front  and t Revspecs at the rear. These tires held on really well as I had only used only one pair on the rear for qualifying and tandem.This amounted to 24 runs, which includes 3 practices runs, 2 qualifying runs and 19 warm up and tandem runs!!

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My part sponsor , team mechanic and friend, Ah Leong (above, far right) had not failed us throughout the event!. Not only had he ensured that everything went smoothly , but he was experienced enough to come well prepared went it didn’t!  Thanks buddy!

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RESULTS

1st place ARIFF JOHANIS AHMAD (GOODYEAR SYNC OPTIMA)

2nd place TAN TAT WEI ( BRIDGESTONE)

3rd place Mr K ( ACE Suspension)

8th place AZRINA JANE ABDULLAH ( GOODYEAR SYNC OPTIMA)

Of course there’s no other way to end the day other then fill our stomach up with good Malacca food.. Gebeh, founder and owner of Tonka exhaust brought Team Bridgestone and us to this famous ‘Satay Celup” joint down town.

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Please stay tune for more pictures from the event!!

Drifting in Japan: Hiro, my hero

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Cheaka and I were in Autopolis in late 2005 while working with AFOS. Located on a  mountain top , in the middle of Aso Kujiyu National Park, Autopolis was bulit on one of the most remote places in Japan. The closes village to the track is called Kamitsue which is located at the foot of the hill. It takes about 45 mins of normal driving pace to negotiate the twisty road up to the track . This is where Hiro is from. He works at the track and everyday he commutes to the track and back on his trusty ole Hatchiroku.

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His ride was as basic as it comes; bone stock 4 AGE 16v engine with an exception of a  pod filter , TRD shocks with a 1.5 way LSD on a 4.7 final drive.

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There used to be a J Blood rear bumper lip there once…

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With matching front bumper..a stock bumper will do for now 🙂

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The interior was stripped to the minimum  for lightness.

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Hiro has been drifting for over ten years, staying so close to such awesome roads , it doesn’t suprises me but what got  me was  that he has never once competed in a drift competition and is not intending to in the future. To him, drifting is a personal thing and he has nothing to prove by joining competitions. He told me that in the earlier years ,he use to meet up with other drifters at the entrance of the track every night and go down hill drifting but now drifting has become such a normality  that it isn’t such an ‘occasion’ whenever  he does it . He does it all the time  ..

Well he did take me for a ride that night. He picked me up from the hotel and we took a slow drive up hill. Being almost stock,  the AE86 was a tad  underpowered to be drifted up hill but I suspect, also,  the reason being he didnt bother to do it was  it might be  considered too easy for someone with his skills and experience. He didnt exactly say this as he just said the it was not ‘exciting’. Anyway when we reached the top, he did a quick figure 8 to warm up the tyres and proceeded to attack the course.  He knows the roads like the back of his hand..his entry speed into the blind corners were suicidal.It was  full throttle all the way, mostly on third and fourth gear. Hardly using the handbrake, Hiro drifted all the corners like he had a death wish. The authorities had placed rubber batons on the center of the roads on certain corners, making the road  narrower  in order to discourage  drifting but this had no effect on him; he just simply drifted  through them . What was impressive was the speed that he was doing it at. I have to admit he did sacred the sh#*t out of me at the beginning but towards the end I was just awe struck. So much so that I didn’t take any pictures that night.’ Besides it was just  too dark’  is my consolation :p

Anyway, the trip had totally changed my perspective on drifting as my only exposure to drifting outside Malaysia was what we see  only on the DVDs we get here..I knew there was more to drifting then doing a rodeo!!! 🙂

Sepang Track Day: 1/2/2009

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After being inspired by Leon’s in car video of a recent track day, we decided to round the guys up and give it a go. Mind you, its been 4 years since I’ve been in Sepang grip driving and thought it would be a refreshing change. So, Ryuk1d, Ivan, Leon, Khong,Melvin, mike xtreme ,Cheaka and I got there to find the pits packed with cars!!

I took the first few laps easy with an over inflated rear tyre, trying to relearn the track before going all out. One benefit I found out about bringing your car out on the track is all the short comings of your ride becomes obvious. My lack of braking power was the most prominent out of the list though it never got worse or face  any fade.( It was  just crap throughout :))  Next was  the escalating oil tempt; an oil cooler is a definite must as I was hitting temperatures above 140. The water tempt was good, hovering between 90 and 98, but it was the oil temperature that had forced me to limit my runs to only three laps before having to pit in. Next was my  belt  slipping problem, it was most apparent when  hitting high revs. The funny thing is , I had not noticed this problem while drifting  which I suspect  is due to excessive tyre noise ( either that or I am an idiot 😀 )

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There was a really nice AE86 parked at the rear of the pit that day which so happens to belong to mike xtreme’s friend..Really love the rims!!

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14 x 7.5j offset -7 !!! niceee……

I didnt take much photos but promise will do on the next track day!! we will keep you posted