Driver, codename: HHF

Status: A beleaguered racing driver.

Strengths: Self motivated, driven with passion. A super fit fast driver and knows it.
One of the nicest people in paddock because of his 'humanly' ways in a
hard racing world. An adaptable man who you can talk about almost anything.

Weaknesses: Self motivated so its easier to get demotivated as well. Lacks the crucial funds,
sponsorship lost recently and having difficulties in funding because of his age.
With his current situation, it's virtually impossible for him get a race in future.
However he himself and other faithful fans pray to see him racing again one day.

One medal or no medals at all this year.

Less than 3 weeks before the 300 laps Endurance Race and I still haven't prepared for the grueling race. At the moment I'm down with cold so basic workouts can't be done. This year I will be driving for the Alien team again. Hopefully we'll managed to get up a notch after a decent 2nd place in a very very wet condition. Let me tell you something if it rains in Shah Alam track, when it rains, it pours like hell! last year's race was not with karts, we were on jet skis :P . However it turned out to be one of the memorable races of the year. All the drama, excitement, laughter and all of kinds of incidents even a wet F1 race didn't have :-) .

This year we will be more prepared, hungry, and commited for the race. Please do support us if you all wanted to come. The race will be at Shah Alam Karting Track in 11th December and would commence at 11.am til 300 laps are done. Oh don't forget to bring your umbrella, it might be very wet or very sunny ;-)

Ford Fiesta Test + Lotus Elise S Test = A Broken Alfa :(

Hi everyone I hope you all had nice weekend. It's been a mixed weekend for me for so many reasons. I tested the new Ford Fiesta, tested the Lotus Elise S again and I almost test the safety features of the Alfa Romeo :S .

So the Ford Fiesta, how does it feel to drive it? Own it? Trash it? Take old people with it?
First of all, I'm dissapointed with the interior. It lacks the sense of occasion, there's too much cheap plastics to start with. PVC steering which you would found in taxis, old cars etc even the other competitors' steering feels better. However, if you specced for the high line the interior gets a bit better apart from the gearbox which doesn't get the Auto/Manual shift gate like the European Fiestas. As for the exterior, all of them scored full marks for their looks and presence. It's bold without trying too hard. The sleek lines, squat position made it look like its not a Rm80k car. I drove the 1.6 Sedan Auto and the 1.4 Manual. Surprisingly, I found that the manual feels so much better drive. It feels quick, gearchange was easy and the clutch is very light so it's sort of start-stop traffic friendly. The 1.6 Sedan however is a different story, the lack of Auto/manual shift gate proved to be costly. the gear change was too sensitive, put your foot down even slightly, it'll drop quickly and the revs will frantically go up hence the engine noise at the highway. It's like sneaking around a lion, it'll hear you even you make a slight noise. As for handling, it gets better. Whichever the versions, the car will point wherever you go, hard to understeer it and of course you can't go wrong with it because of the traction control keeps you in check. Another drawbacks for the car was the lack of airbags in the car. Only one airbag for the driver. As you know most of the car manufacturers put at least 2 airbags for the car. Well at least the car scored full marks for the Euro Ncap tests. The price will start from RM71k, RM76k and Rm81k for the 1.4 Manual, 1.6 Sedan and 1.6 Hatchback respectively. The specs of the car might be lacking but once you drive it and own it, you'll be forgetting the shortfalls of the car.

After the test I went to Lotus showroom to tryout the Evora. On the way, I suffered somewhat a disease that soon proved almost costing my health. It's the Alfa 156 GTA I drove and the brakes failed at 140 km/h. I escaped unharmed though I'm shaken a little bit(James Bond would be peeing in his pants if he had the same situation) I found out that the right lower arm was not tighten correctly hence the ringing sound I heard most of the time + violent juddery braking = A shaken car enthusiast. However, I made it to the showroom in one piece. Another setback followed, the Evora was not available for testing so I had to settle down by testing the Elise, again. It's not a bad thing :) the great looks, handling, price and maintainence. It's my dream car!
It's a great consolation after having a bad day at the office. Soon after that they promised to ready the Evora for testing next time, The Alfa would be fixed in no time and the Fiesta would be booked by a lot of Malaysians, why fret about my almost bad weekend and a so-so review about the Fiesta?

All in short, the Fiesta is a good car money can buy. With it's looks and price, it'll be a welcoming havoc to supermini car market. An Alfa or any car needs to be checked correctly otherwise any loose parts would be proved costly to your cars or even lives. The Lotus' pure driving machine proves there's no need to fear about what's happening now in car market(DSGs,PCPs,ABSs,DCT,ESP,TCT,EBD,DTC,DSC,BLIS,LIPS,SIPS,FRT,SIR,CATS,
ERT,PSM,PASM,IAM,TIR,ED,OFT,HIS) with its no nonsense content in the car just steering, aircon, radio and most of all a MANUAL TRANSMISSION.

See you next post,
Hanif.

The 1st Post.

Hi everyone welcome to Cars and Rants page! Here I'll talk about the things I love most! Cars new or old and rants( not just the bad ones, it could be about the places I've experienced e.g food, travel etc) Pretty much everything.

First, let me introduce myself. My name is Hanif Che Din, I'm from KL Malaysia, most people call me 'nip', some people call me 'nipo', random people call me 'nipples' which I don't fancy you calling me that and only one call me 'sayang' which of course my beloved wife :-). My ultimate dream goal would be to become a racing driver or a test driver. Well I was on my way to that career albeit cut short :/ but oh well I'll get it one day hopefully. I have lots of interest, cars, food, cooking, architectures, engineering, gardens, arts and so on. I pretty much can do a lot of things but just not good at it in somme things.

This month is going a busy month with test drives, races, wedding and hillclimb. I'll write up about it soon. Let's hope this post won't be the last post or having to wait for a year for another post.

Hanif