Nissan GTR vs. Kancil, anyone?
Cars.
The moment this word is mentioned, you can count on each and every person who actually lives, has a job, and is able to drive in the 21st century to start thinking to his or herself about the productions of cars that are "in style". Especially in the class of people that are within the metrosexual "groopies", they will surely head for the latest edition of the irreproacheable Toyota Vios or the new, snazzy hybrid Honda Civic that is not only a performance car, but also comes in with a brand new hybrid engine that can run on petroleum and also natural gas. For much esteemed feul economy, no thanks to the rise in local feul prices by 30%, one would surely be gauging their eyes out on the new revamped model of the Honda City (it was revamped because the previous one had large similarities with the looks of a frog. No offense to Honda fans out there, but it's the truth). Of course, there are also the MPVs that range from the powerful just-in Nissan Serena 2.0 (mind you, the horsepower of a car doesn't really rely on it's cc displacement, it's the technology used) to the Honda CRV.
Oh yeah, I'm forgetting the local cars. To you car jokeys out there, personally the best local car you could get is the Satria GTi. A reminder though, the models of GTi are currently sold out and not in production anymore. Though, if you don't mind a lightweight, stable, fast (of course it wont be as fast as a ferrari. It's only 1.3cc! what do you expect?), but two seater car you could always go for the Proton Satria. Another economical car would be the Proton Wira, which has managed to hold onto its most economical wise and stable car in the sedan production line of Proton cars. Other cars that the Proton line would offer would be the Proton Iswara (seriously side-kick version of the original Proton Saga), Proton Waja, Proton Putra, Proton Perdana, Proton Gen2 and Proton Perdana Executive. The Proton Iswara is a unfortunate let-down compared to its ancestor, the Proton Saga. Firstly, the engine is far from the original power, stability and endurance that the Proton Saga offerred. Probably because the Saga used engine parts imported from Japan and from the reputable Mitsubishi company. The Waja would be a car worth buying for its performance, though personally its feul economy is a draw back. It takes in almost 2 times the amount of a Wira (on the road experience). The Gen2, don't even get me started. Firstly, it has a massive blind spot on in the rear-view mirrors. Secondly, if you ever unfortunately purchase the 1.3 cc CamPro engine, the pick-up is absolutely horrendous. If you have even one passenger and you're going up the hill, you can start to imagine crawling. If you do want to buy a Gen2, I sincerely encourage you to get the 1.6cc CamPro. The Perdana comes in 2.0 cc engines or even V6 engines. The V6 is more feul economical for one, and the Perdana Executive comes with a 2.2cc displacement and also a limosine version, if you're in for the style.
The Perodua manufactoring line is also doing well in the local scene. Seriously, recent charts have shown that it has out-performed Proton. Amazing? I think not. Reasons: 1. they offer better safety gadjets; 2. they offer a much better interior (which Proton is trying to fight back with the recent launch of the Proton Satria Neo. It's impressive and worth taking note of); 3. they offer cheaper cars for better quality. The only thing is that Perodua prefers to produce more of the MPV line of cars rather than the sedan. Though, I doubt that the Kancil can be counted as a sedan, right? I mean, I have to squeeze into the driver's seat! If you were to put 4 people in there...
Though after saying all that, let me tell you a story about local cars. One fine evening, I was listening to a radio advertisement. It was advertising a brand new car of unidentified nature, until the end that is. It was really very attractive and worth listening to - until the end. The moment the word "Proton" popped in, I just went "oh"...
I'll tell you guys another story. The local car industry is years, maybe decades away in technology when compared to the United States. Of course, those guys are talking Mc Laren, Ferrari, Lexus and Chrysler. Okay, you can't compare to them. But why? Just think, why?
Firstly, we don't really have customer satisfaction here. Okay there is till a certain extent, but not as much as you get there. For one, their cars are dirt cheap. You can get a Toyota Corrola for US 2000. Great! Oh yeah, before I go into that, I'll introduce you to another famous word among car enthusiasts.
Skyline
Before you go and faint, I'll tell you another word, the Nissan GTR Skyline 35. Its factory tuned production model brings a 270 hp (horsepower) with a turbo and it's a 4-wheel-drive, and as the Americans put it "it's a freakin' Skyline!". Wait, don't faint just yet. In the next year, Nissan is going to launch a road-worthy model of the Nissan Skyline GTR that could put it off the charts of being just a "sedan". That would mean you could get rid of the word "Skyline" because it's already come to a class of it's own. In fact, Nissan Skyline has already won 29 JGPR (The leading Japan car racing league) in a row, with 29 out of 29 wins, they have already made a GP just for the Nissan Skylines. But this new car, which is expected to carry on the legacy and even push it to further performance, due year 2007, is the Nissan GTR. Now you can faint.
The thing is, everyone thinks that the US might be the hub of import cars for these high performance cars like the Mitsubitshi Lancer Evo (Lance and Lance Evo are totally different - coz one is 160 bhp and the other is 270 bhp), Subaru Impressa WRX STi, Honda 2000 series, Mazda rx-8 (include rx-7, rx-6, rx-5...you get the idea), Nissan Sylvia, Toyota Supra and the infamous Nissan Skyline-35 (Just made liable for on-the-road use in the US). Every car enthusiast in the US would want their hands on one of these exotic, killer imports from Japan. They just started cranking on their newly imported Skyline-35s and matching up Evos and STis. It's just starting to get wild in the States. But it's not the Wild Wild West with horses and guns anymore, it's the time for roadsters with their state-of-the-art racers ready at the metal. With performance enhancing modifications from top tuners like Recaro, it's a race for the best. Though these cars are not meant for the casual driver, possessing one of these beauties would give onlookers anywhere the envy of their lives. These cars are made for three reasons only: speed, skill, performance.
However, after you've calmed down from the hype of these performance cars in the US that were imported from Japan, just sit down and think for a moment. These cars were imported from Japan! The land of the rising sun - Japan. If you haven't recently watched The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, you better watch it and educate yourself. From now on, think, breath and know that the US might be the hub for really fast cars like the Ferrari (if you tell me you don't know what a Ferrari is...) and devilish Lambo (don't know this either? you got to be kidding me), but the real and true hub for Modifications is the one and only Japan. Don't believe me? I'll give you one example: You know from reading this that a factory tuned Skyline is 270 hp, and perhaps you have heard that they Skyline can manage up to above 600 hp without any interior modification. But did you know that with proper modifications, a Skyline can go up to 1000hp? Modifications like these are first and foremost made in Japan. Imagine the jockeys in the US have just got their hands on the Skyline, but even they can tell you that the Japanese have been working on the Skyline modifications since 1975. Even the Americans, with all their gung-ho attitude about almost everything else, will bow down to the Japanese when it comes to cars and modifications. Quote: "We are still decades away from the Japanese in car technology. It's like them saying this is for Hiroshima and they slap us in the face with a freakin' Skyline at our front doors. It's a freakin' Skyline!"
After reading this, if you still think you can strut your stuff with that Proton of your's, just think again. We're already off the map of the Americans, and now you found out even the Americans are just a spec compared to the Japanese too. Not so great now, are we?
PS: I'm not comparing people. I'm comparing cars. Look it up.
2 comments:
guess who i am? i have a Gen 2 that has 1.3 cc Campro engine. i have given u lifts home in tat car.
hahahahhaa, no offense taken and meant =)
nice post
ps. gen 2 1.3cc really sucks. buy myvi instead
Wahahah.....yeah of course I know who you are....
NGETI!!! wahahhahah!
Yaya, don't buy gen2 1.3cc.....the 1.6cc one at least is better.
but jet, wouldn't it be nice if you were to get your hands on a Nissan Skyline GTR instead? ;)
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