Saturday, March 30, 2013

Tony the Beemer

Text by: Ben Photos by: Ben & the POWAA Crew

"When life gives you a lemon, drift it!" It is by following these wise words that Darren, Glen and Kelvin (aka the POWAA Crew) decided to use their off-road, beat up E34 for sideways fun.


Rewinding the story to a few months earlier, the POWAA Crew was on an active hunt across the web in search of a suitable ride to start drifting in. After combing through many different overseas sites, it was a bright orange BMW 535i that not only caught their eyes, but was a perfect fit to their budget as well. A harrowing auction later, they found themselves arranging for their new toy to be shipped to sunny Singapore, while registering the car with the SMSA to import it as an off-road track car.


Flash forward a couple of months; the seabound beemer reached our sunny shores, and the POWAA Crew finally got to see their new possession in the metal. As it was taken out of the container, the E34 proudly displayed its stickered self with, amongst others, a big ‘Tony the Tiger’ taking its crowning spot right in the middle of its bright orange hood. Before we even knew it, we were already referring to the car as "Tony".


This particular E34 was born in 1988 (how’s that for auspicious?) and is powered by the Bavarian 3.5L M30 motor pushing 208hp and 305Nm of torque, which should be enough to start drifting with. For now, that is.


Their first inspection revealed... Well a lemon. A dirty and gritty orange lemon, but a lemon that could still run soundly, which was the most important, right?


So the self-dubbed Tony was taken back to Perfect Power, and the Crew started cleaning their German tiger. Off came the stickers , the wirings were simplified (read: about 4kg of redundant wiring was ripped out), the interior given a painful scrub down, and basic maintenance was given to the engine to make sure it could handle the abuse that the future had it store for it.


One undeniable fact about Tony is that he has one heck of a badass attitude, especially the fuel tank, which is made from a military-style jerrycan bolted in the boot!


With the new roll cage and the stripped-out interior, Tony is all business.


Tony was now ready for his first taste of the local asphalt. The Crew took it out during the Perfect Power Drift Rd. II for its first wheelspins , where Tony displayed his prowess and even managed to kill the British tyres it came with. The stock suspensions gave it a rather scary body roll, though, but this issue will be fixed soon.


Stay tuned as we'll be following Tony the Beemer in its drift endeavours across the island!
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Thursday, March 21, 2013

Memories of a Legend

Text by: Ben Photos by: Wikipedia

Today celebrates what would be Ayrton Senna’s 53rd birthday.

In my (and many other motorheads’) opinion, Senna was the greatest race car driver there was. He was fighting on the black top back when F1’s were manual and relatively devoid of safety equipmens (imagine shifting gears in an F1 at 300km/h).


Senna was known for his awfully quick times, especially on the wet, where he seemed to always find the areas with more grip. If you see videos of his races, you can clearly see his driving style, where he seemed to not just drive, but “dance” the F1 on the asphalt.

Aside from his outstanding driving skills, he was also renowned for his rivalry with French driver Alain Prost, and the unconventional ways in which he dealt with racing, whether it involved stopping F1 by the side to help a comrade in an accident in the middle of a race, or deliberately crashing his car into Alain Prosts' one to secure a Championship. "You must take the compromise to win, or else nothing. That means: you race or you do not," as he said in reply to the accusations pertaining this incident.

His grandeur did not limit itself on the track, and Senna also cared for the people of Brazil, his homeland, for which he contributed through charities. To Brazilian, Ayrton Senna was a national pride, an icon, and a role model.

I will always remember the 1st May 1994, 19 years ago, when I was at my grandparents’ watching the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix on TV. The race had already taken a bad turn when the day before, Australian driver Roland Ratzenberger died during the qualifying session when his front wing broke, sending his car into a concrete wall. Senna was deeply impacted by the death of Ratzenberger. On that same evening, Ayrton rallied some drivers to start a group to increase safety in F1.


The FIA decided not to call off the race, and I clearly recall the race day, when Ayrton Senna lost control of his F1 and left the track at full speed to hit a concrete wall. The race was immediately stopped, and the medical team extracted Senna out of the wreckage and applied initial treatment. He was then brought to hospital by helicopter, but passed away a few hours later.

The passing of Ayrton Senna was not only a tragedy for Formula 1 lovers, but was taken as a national tragedy by the people of Brazil, and the government declared three days of national mourning.

Following his and Ratzenberger’s deaths, many safety improvements were made to Formula 1, both in terms of car engineering and track layouts. To commemorate his passing, his sister, Vivianne Senna, set up the Instituto Ayrton Senna in his honor, a foundation which aims at offering children and teenagers from low-income backgrounds a change by giving them skills and opportunities to develop their full potential as adults.

In 2010, for Ayrton Senna's would be 50th birthday, Top Gear paid him an emotional tribute at the end of Season 15's Episode 5, and ESPN Films released the documentary film Senna, both of which I highly recommend you to watch fo have a full measure of just how great of a man he was.

I heard say that as long as you are remembered, you will be immortal. To me Ayrton Senna is part of those who is truly immortal. He is and always will be a source of inspiration to many of us out here, whether we are motorheads or not, and I just wanted to dedicate these lines to him, and to wish him a happy would-be 53rd birthday. 

"And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." Ayrton Senna
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Perfect Power Drift Rd. II

Text by: Ben Photos by: Ben

On the 10th of March, Perfect Power Pte Ltd was at it again with a second round of drifting.


After their First Round at Punggol Marina, this second edition saw the grounds of the Kranji Turf Club being covered in burnt rubber. For those of you who don't know, Perfect Power Pte Ltd is a garage the operates from #03-13 First East Centre on 10 Kaki Bukit Road 2, and now has expanded to No 1 Bukit Batok Crescent, #05-36 WCEGA Plaza to offer its top notch maintenance, tuning and modifying services to the West part of the island.


The first round's sponsors, DFM and Liqui Moly were back in the game too and contributed to making this event happen for the group of amateur and professional drifters that showed up to burn some rubber.


While the number of motorsports events in Singapore is rather small, it is good to see that some businesses still put down the money to make them happen, keeping the small community of motorheads alive on our shores.


What this small group of enthusiasts lacks in number, it makes it up in dedication, and the only thing that can keep these familiar faces from turning up is a broken differential and other similar mechanical issues.


Among the familiar cars was Sean's S13, the Chasing Chuki, which has now changed owners as Sean had to move overseas. Sure there are different hands behind the wheel, but the Chuki still smokes tyres as it there was no tomorrow!  


On this event, the drifting family officially gained one member in the form of an orange E34.
This car is rather special for POWAA Garage as it was bought by the POWAA Crew to make their hands on drifting.


Stay tuned as more on this bright orange tank is coming up soon! In the meantime, enjoy more pics of Perfect Power's Drift Rd. II!










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Friday, March 8, 2013

Racing Panda

Text by: Ben Photos by: Ben

Performance. Now that’s a word we often hear around here.

Horsepower, torque, ponies, Kilowatts, ft-lbs, oomph, kick-in-the-ass - we’ve heard it all, yet some people out there are not hunting for the highest numbers. People like Mr K., for example, whose passion for cars originally revolved around the seductive looks of sports cars. Like many of us, he grew up fascinated by legendary cars such as the Supra and the Celica GT4, although he was never much one for the literature. Knowing power numbers or what engine was tucked under the hood did not really matter; what counted was that they had to look fast.


It was only until years later, when he got behind the wheel of his first car, that he started to pay attention to what was happening under the hood, and truly brainstormed how to improve it. A stroke of fate landed him a chance at owning an SS-I Celica; though it was not a GT4, it shared the namesake, and so he got it without hesitation.


As many of us do when we get a second-hand car, Mr K. drove straight to the workshop and started sorting out the kinks and adding what he wanted. The necessary works encompassed new engine mounts and a full gearbox overhaul. Once the car was running smoothly, he turned to the aesthetics, which began with a Bomex body kit and a carbon fibre hood complemented with a brand new white paint job.


He further enhanced the looks with a set of flat bronze 17” RM 2766 MB A-Tech rims shod in Bridgestone S001. Peeking from behind the five spokes, is a set of VTTR Mini 6 pot brakes ensures that the Celica halts promptly when needed.


At the rear rests Mr K.’s favourite mod – an APR GTC 200 GT-wing. “I simply love it. There’s not much use for it, but it just looks gorgeous!” he states.


Mr K. decided to direct his build toward looks and handling, which led him to upgrade the stock suspensions to BC V1 Series. Killing two birds with one stone, this endowed for a better handling and a lower, better-looking ride.

His quest for better handling called for him to throw in a handful of bars to keep his chassis tight and sturdy. TRD catered to his needs with front and rear strut bars, with an anti-roll bar completing the set.


With the upgraded handling capabilities, the Celica could do with more power and Mr K. obliged, turning his attention to the engine bay for a tad more push. This resulted in the 1.8L four-banger receiving a velocity stack allowing for more air to get to the bored-out throttle body and, ultimately, pump out more power. He also threw in a Cusco oil catch tank to release the pressure in the crank case and ensure a better reliability of the Toyota motor.


The 1ZZ-FE powerplant’s exhaust gases are channelled out of the combustion chamber through a Super Dynamics 4-2-1 headers, before howling down the Apex’i N1 Exhaust that graces the rear diffuser of the Bomex body kit.


Inside, the red and black theme follows Mr K.’s simple-yet-classic philosophy, with the only changes made being the steering wheel to a MOMO Street Fighter, and the gear knob to an NRG full carbon one.


The finishing touch is given by an Apex’i RSM to give Mr K. a quick overview of his engine’s status at all times.


All in all, Mr K. kept his Racing Panda clean, peppering only simple enhancements that go with his style without being overly ostentatious. This just goes to show that you don’t need to be the fastest around to look good and enjoy your ride. As to what’s next in store for his Celica, Mr K. answers “it depends on my next pay cheque!”



Specs

Make
Toyota
Model
‘05 Celica SS-I
Engine
4-cylinders 1.8L
Transmission
5-Speed Manual
Drive Layout
FF


Modifications

Exterior
Body
Bomex Bodykit, APR GTC 200 GT-Wing, Carbon Fibre Hood

Interior
Steering Wheel
MOMO Street Fighter
Gear Knob
NRG Full Carbon
Other
Apex’i RSM

Engine
Intake
Velocity Stack, Big Bore Throttle Body
Exhaust
Super Dynamics 4-2-1 Headers, Apex’i N1 Exhaust
Other
Cusco Oil Catch Tank

Handling
Suspensions
BC V1 Series Coilovers
Wheels
RM 2766 MB A-Tech 17x8JJ 
Tyres
Bridgestone S001 225/45/17
Brakes
VTTR Mini 6 pot
Bars
TRD Front Strut Bar, TRD Anti-Roll Bar, TRD Rear Strut Bar


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Friday, March 1, 2013

Double Whammy! Sports Car Club - MercKakis Meets

Text by: Ben Photos by: Ben


If you head over to the Kallang Leisure Park carpark on the last Sunday of the month, you are sure to stumble into at least one car group meet up. This carpark is the rally point for many groups to gather and do the usual catching up, knowledge sharing and everything motorheads do when you put them in a room together.


The last Sunday of February had me head over to Kallang Leisure Park to meet with a couple of friends from the Sports Car Club. As I reached, I scanned the area for a group of people standing by their cars, chatting, and ended up parking with the guys from MercKaki.com.


The MercKakis are a spinoff of the Mercedes forum who decided to keep things simple and casual. They stick to meeting up every now and then and enjoy some fun outings around the island.


While the name clearly addresses Mercedes, the members do not all adorn the three-pointed star on their hood, and some members have moved on from the German brand and are now driving various rides, some sporting a growling feline...


Others a prancing horse...


Or other German crests.


While I was catching up with some long time friends from the MercKakis, the SCC members slowly drove in to assemble quite a crowd. 


The SCC is open to any and all cars, bringing together an eclectic gathering of BMW, Audi, Mercedes...


Daihatsu...

Volvo, VW...


Nissan...


Lambo, and more!


Well you get the idea, you name it, they probably have it!


Operating from their forum, www.sportscarclub.sg, they are a bunch of motorheads who unite regardless of the make or model they drive. 


What this leads to is a pool of people from different walks of life, who modify or not their rides, and who are all gathered around the same passion for all things on wheels.


With both clubs meeting at the same place and mixing up, the carpark became a real motorhead feast, and, as they say that images speak louder than words, I'll let the photos do the talking!









One last thing - where were you on that week end?

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