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Understanding the Off-Peak Car scheme

2008-12-18T15:19:00.001+08:00

The OPC (Off-Peak Car) scheme was introduced by the Singapore government to curb the amount of vehicles on the road during peak hours. For newly registered cars, there is an attractive upfront rebate of S$17,000 off the COE (Certificate of Entitlement) and ARF (Additional Registration Fee) in exchange for the reduced usage. There is also a S$800 discount per year from the normal car road tax, subject to a minimum road tax payment of S$50 a year. An OPC is marked by a red car plate to separate them from normal cars.

In the event that you wish to convert the OPC to a normal car, you would have to pay the government a pro-rated refund on the OPC rebate based on the number of years of COE left for the car.

Usage of OPC during restricted hours

A supplementary license has to be purchased for usage of OPC during restricted hours. The supplementary license can be bought during office hours from the following places:

- Automobile Association Of Singapore (Tel: 6333 8811)
• 336 River Valley Road
• 2 Kung Chong Road
- Any Singapore Post offices
• List of Singpost branches
- Land Transport Authority office (Tel: 1800 2255582)
• 10 Sin Ming Drive

Failure to display or usage of invalid supplementary license during restricted hours is a serious offence. Offenders can be fined up to S$20,000 and/or imprisoned up to 12 months.

New car collection checklist

2008-12-18T15:16:00.000+08:00

Collecting your new car soon? A car has thousands of components, and it will be impossible to check that all are in order. However, checking the important parts is essential for safety and ensures that you are not being short-changed.

The below guide serves as a checklist for you to examine your new vehicle.

* Download it here and bring it for your new car collection.

Do make sure that all the keys and remote controls are working. A key could cost up to $400 to replace. Locks

Keyless Entry (Lock and unlock using remote)
Manual Entry (Lock and unlock using key)
Master Lock
Individual Lock
Alarm
Alarm reset switch

Windows

Power Windows(Check that the driver side auto window is working)
Windows control Lock

Electric Mirrors

Electric Mirrors Control ( Up, Down, Left & Right )
Folding Mirrors(Check that the Mirrors can be retractable by either manual or electrical folding.)

Console

Engine Start Button (if any)
Air-Conditioning
Fan Speeds
Rear Demister
Radio/CD/DVD Player
Reverse Camera (if any)
Steering controls (if any)

Switches

Headlights
Directional Signals
High Beam
Hazard Lights
Parking Lights
Tail Lights
Brake Lights
Fog Lamps
Interior light
Wiper (Make sure each speed is correct)
Wiper Spray
Horn

Dashboard

Dashboard lights come on when headlights are on
Information lights (eg. Parking brake ) are lit at relevant time
Check that odometer does not display excessive mileage

Transmission & Brakes

Smooth Gearshift
Automatic transmission
Over Drive button
Shift Lock button
Footbrake
Handbrake

Things to look out for:
Test auto-transmission for shock while engaging gear.
Make sure that the brake has to be depressed to shift out of Park mode.
Make sure that the car can only start in Neutral or Park mode.

Other Interiors

Steering wheel properly aligned
Steering wheel adjusting lever
Bonnet release lever
Boot release lever
Fuel tank release lever
Check for stains and holes on seats
Seat adjuster (Forward, backward, recline)
Seat belts (Check that the Seat belts lock when pulled hard)
Seat belts height adjuster
Check for scratches and dents on the trims
Rear Mirror
Glove box
Check for stains on carpets
Air-con vents (Check that they are able to move freely)
Speakers
Moonroof (Opens and closes fully)

Exterior

Check that car plate is correct
Check that body surface is free from dents and scratches.
Check that windows and windscreens are free from stains and scratches
Check that lights are clear and undamaged
Check that door handles are working
Check that tyres are free from holes and punctures
Check that rims are free from scratches
Check that the radio antenna is working
Check that fuel cap is secured

Under The Bonnet

Engine Oil level
Brake Fluid level
Battery Water level
Transmission Fluid level
Coolant level
Air-Conditioning gas level
Check engine compartment with any obvious defects and damage

Inside the Boot

Base board
Boot light
Tool kit
Spare tyre

Documentation

Road Tax Disc
Vehicle log card
Certificate of insurance
Car owner manual

Miscellaneous

Check tyres pressure
Cruise control (if any)
All goodies promised are given

12 ways to save petrol and money

2008-12-18T15:12:00.000+08:00

The price of petrol has always been climbing upwards. Instead of complaining about the increase in cost of petrol, let's see how can you cut down on petrol costs. Choosing the right type of petrol is a good start! As a general rule of thumb, you should always flip through your vehicle owner's manual and choose the lowest recommended grade of petrol required. Contrary to popular belif, higher grades of petrol actually does nothing to improve the performance of your car.

In addition, below are 12 good driving tips for saving fuel. Read them carefully, and you will probably save a pile on your next petrol bill.

1. Pump up your tyres
Keeping your tyres inflated is one of the easiest and essential way to reduce petrol usage. Saving petrol = saving money. Thus, your should try to improve your fuel economy.

If a range is recommended by the manufacturer, the higher pressure should be used to maximize fuel efficiency. Deflated tyres run hot and jeopardize safety. It will cause the tyres to wear out prematurely, affect the vehicles adversely. It also decrease the fuel economy by increasing the rolling resistance.

Tyres lose about one psi pressure per month due to air loss caused by the tyre hitting holes, bumps and kerbs. There is thus a need to check tyres at least once a month. A tyre deflated by two psi will result in a one per cent increase in fuel consumption.

2. Drive at a moderate speed
Avoid speeding on open roads. Driving at the acceptable speed limit is safer and increases the fuel economy. As for highway driving, over 50% of the power produced by the engine is used to overcome aerodynamic drag. For this reason, fuel consumption increases rapidly at speeds above 90km/h. On an average, a car uses about 15% more fuel at 100km/h, and 25% more fuel at 110km/h as compared to when it is cruising at 90km/h.

However, this should not lead one to conclude that the lower the speed, the better the fuel economy. The fuel consumption of an average car increases sharply at any speed below 50km/h.

3. Clean the air filter regularly
Clogged air filters increase fuel consumption by restricting airflow to the engine. It should be cleaned/replaced when necessary. Clogged air filters can increase fuel consumption by up to 10 per cent.

4. Use thinner tyres
Tyres with thick width will improve the handling of your car. On the flip side, it will also increase your car’s fuel consumption. Thicker tyres mean more rolling resistance, and naturally higher fuel consumption.

5. Start up the car properly
Cars these days do not require you to prime the engine by pumping the accelerator pedal repeatedly before starting. Such an action wastes fuel, so avoid doing it. When starting the engine, idle it for no more than 30 seconds to warm it up. An engine will warm up faster on the road. However, avoid sudden acceleration before the engine has warmed up sufficiently.

6. Drive in high gear (Overdrive)
The engine runs most efficiently between around 1,500 and 2,500 rpm. To maintain low engine revolutions, you should increase through the gears as soon as possible and before the revolution reach 2500 rpm.

For automatic transmission cars, you should always switch on your overdrive to help save fuel. Overdrive will allow your engine to change gears at lower revolutions. It also puts your transmission into an "economy" mode. It engages the final "overdrive" gear when cruising to keep the rpms extra low, thereby increasing fuel economy.

7. Travel light
Avoid carrying any unnecessary weight in your car. On the average, every 50kg added load in your car will increase fuel consumption by two per cent.

8. Anticipate traffic ahead
A driver can reduce fuel consumption by up to 10 per cent if he does not brake or accelerate unnecessarily. Anticipate traffic conditions ahead, adjust your speed accordingly and avoid tailgating. Accelerations and decelerations waste fuel. Braking and abrupt stops can be minimized by not following too closely and slowing down gradually when approaching a red light.

It takes up to six times as much fuel to move a car from a dead stop than it does for one moving at just a few km/h.

9. Avoid strong acceleration
The fuel consumption remains at a minimum when driving steadily at a moderate speed of about 90km/h. Bear in mind that every time the accelerator is depressed, the engine goes into a “fuel-enrichment” mode which wastes fuel.

The vehicle should always be gradually and smoothly accelerated. Using cruise control on highways can help maintain a constant speed and reduce fuel consumption.

10. Minimise aerodynamic drag
Additional parts on the exterior of a vehicle such as roof racks and spoilers, or having the window open, increases aerodynamic drag.

11. Don't let your engine idle
Minimize fuel wastage when idling by stopping the engine whenever your car is stationary or held up for an extended period of time.

Idling for more than a minute consumes much more fuel than restarting an engine. By having the engine switched off, you will save more fuel than that you lose from the burst of fuel involved in restarting the engine. The net increased wear and tear from this practice is negligible.

12. Use the air-con sparingly
Air conditioners can use about 10 per cent more fuel when operating. However, if you are driving at more than 80 km/h, using the air condition is better for fuel economy than an open window.

15 ways to pimp your ride

2008-12-18T15:10:00.001+08:00

Considering the amount you are paying to own a car in Singapore, you may be thinking of spending a little more to make it stand out from the rest. Here are 15 ways to improve your ride:

1. Exhaust

The bigger the better" theory does not work for exhaust pipes. Oversizing of exhaust may result in power loss. The installation of a high performance exhaust system will boost the power of your car. Aftermarket high performance exhaust systems provides a quicker and more efficient path for the exhaust gases to escape.

This means that the burnt fuel and air leave the combustion chambers at a faster rate. New fuel and air can then enter and burn in the chamber to create more power.

Apart from improving your performance, many aftermarket systems enhance the appearance of your car. The larger exhaust tips and polished mufflers makes the car look more aggressive. However, you may attract unwanted attention from the Traffic Police as many of the aftermarket high performance exhaust systems generate aggressive and loud noises. Please do make sure your installations are LTA-compliant.

2. Brakes

Say, you want to modify your car to improve the power output? You should know that the factory-fitted brakes (stock brakes) might not be able to handle the additional speed if it has exceeded the original design specifications. This can pose a threat to you and other road users.

Aftermarket brakes have better stopping power, thus decreasing the brake distance. In this way, you can improve the timing of your car through the corners as you can brake later into the corners. Besides, aftermarket brakes are more resistant to fade. Fade takes place when the brake fluid boils because the brakes are too hot. This results in a soft brake pedal and less responsive brakes, which can be dangerous.

Aftermarket brakes improves the image of your car as it looks better and fill the space behind the spokes of your sport rims.

It is not recommended to replace individual components of the brake system individually. For example, you replace your stock pads with racing pads, but not the rotors. Components function together. The stock rotors may not be able to take the additional heat generated by the racing pads. It is not worth endangering your life because you want to save on the cost of racing pads for your rotors.

3. Tyres

Performance tyres enhance the handling, grip and cornering capability of your car. They are able to sustain a higher maximum speed. If you have extra cash and do not mind a short tread life, you can consider the ultra-high performance tyres. They offer the best braking and handling for both wet and dry condition. They are made of soft rubber and provide unparalleled grip. The rule of thumb is - the softer your tyres, the better the grip, but the shorter the life-span.

Do a wheel alignment after the tyres are mounted on the vehicle. This is because the tyres may not be perfectly aligned to the direction of travel, which can affect the handling characteristics and the fuel consumption.

4. Suspension

A firmer suspension system enhances the car stability, reduces bodyroll and allows for a quicker turn. The handling performance of the car is boosted. Lowering a car gives the car a dynamic and sporty persona too.

Invest in a good set of performance lowering springs to improve the handling performance of the car. Aftermarket springs lower the centre of gravity, hence reducing bodyroll during cornering. Bodyroll is when the centre of gravity shifts away from the direction of the corner during cornering. Performance springs are much stiffer. They also tighten up the suspension.
Stock shock adsorber are designed for comfort. Aftermarket performance shock adsorber tightens up the suspension and improves the handling of the car.

The suspension upgrade causes additional stress to the car chassis, resulting in chassis flex. Strut bars can be installed to help reduce chassis flex and mitigate steering response in performance cars. It also enhances the appearance of your engine bay.

Alloy sports rims are typically made out of aluminium, which is much lighter than steel 5. Sports rims

Sports rims do not just perk up the superficial outlook of a car, it actually does multiply its performance. At a high speed, a car is more stable if it uses slightly wider rims. Wider rims stretches soft compound tyres, making it lower, wider and firmer.

Most sports rims are manufactured by casting; pouring of the molten metal into the mould. Casted rims are much cheaper than forged rims due to the manufacturing process. Forged rims are lighter. The lighter rims magnify the handling performance of the car as it works better with the suspension. Lighter rims work well during acceleration too.

6. Headlights

It is illegal to install aftermarket HID (High Intensity Discharge) lamp if your vehicle is not factory fitted with HID lamps. HID lamps are marked by brighter and whiter light. However, you may replace the existing headlight with white headlight bulb which emits a white light.

You should make sure that the bulb is of the same wattage as the original, because a higher wattage may increase the risk of fire. Always check whether the bulb is approved by LTA before installation.

7. Bodykits

Bodykits amplify the exterior appearance of your car, separating your car from others of the same model. Bodykits typically comprise of the front bumper, side skirts, diffuser and spoilers. Most bodykits are made using Poly-Urethane which is a rubber-like material. Poly-Urethane is chosen because it is more resistant to damage and relatively cheaper.

The Vortex diffuser is getting more popular among cars on the road. Apart from beautifying your car, it channels airs more smoothly over the car during high speed.

8. Spray Painting

Can’t seem to rid of unsightly dents and scratches no matter how hard you polish? Perhaps it is time to send your car to a spray painting workshop. Most spray painting workshops do dent removal. The new coat of gloss from the re-spraying will give your car a shiny finish. Do note that professional spray painting can be quite costly, with price starting from around S$1,000. You should check with the workshop on the paint used for spray painting. It is recommended that you choose quality paints like 2K Dupont paint.

9. Solar film

Solar film eases the load on the air conditioner by reducing heat from the sun and controlling light transmission. It aids in reducing the exposure of the harmful ultraviolet rays and infrared rays from the sun. Ultraviolet rays also causes fading of fabrics and furnishing. Darker tinted films are available to tackle this problem. They also add a sporty touch to your car.

10. DVD player

Are your children sick of playing chess during long road trips? Maybe it is time to fit a DVD player in your car. Most of the DVD players come with a LCD screen and have features like Dolby Digital or DTS surround sound capabilities which work well with the multi-speaker set-up in most car. If you prefer local television, Digital TV tuner allows you to tune-in to channels like Channel News Asia. It is recommended to install the LCD screen at the back of the car, so that the driver will not be distracted.

Using GPS to navigate is free. You only have to pay for the GPS set and software. 11. GPS navigation system

Need help getting around Singapore? With GPS navigation system, you will never get lost again. The GPS navigation system displays the map of the area and guides the driver to his destination with real-time routing and positioning. Apart from LCD display, most navigation system have a voice guidance feature. The driver no longer have to steal glimpses at the display screen for instructions and can fully concentrate on driving.

12. In-car entertainment system

Have you ever increase the volume of your sound system then immediately tune it lower because it was rather unpleasant to your ears? That is a sign to upgrade your sound system to a better one. A factory car sound system typically consists of a stereo unit and speakers.

You may choose to install a higher quality tweeters which offer brighter sound and overall clarity. Thereafter, you can search for better aftermarket speakers. It is recommended that you choose speakers with a higher efficiency rating. Otherwise, they can sound distorted when underpowered. If you are looking at better performance, you can install an amplifier which brings out the best in higher quality aftermarket speakers.

There are many aftermarket car stereo units available, from the simple traditional unit to flashy units with bright displays. The latter are more for aesthetic purposes.

13. Upholstery

Switching to leather upholstery gives the interior of your car luxurious touch. In addition, leather seats do not smell and is permeable. On the other hand, PVC seats are not “breathable”. That is why you feel warm and sweaty when you sit on them for a long period of time.

Cubic and walnut trimming for the car interior improves the look of your car. Carbon fibre lamination gives it a racy feel. High quality trimming are generally resistant to scratch and smell.

Higher quality car mats trap dirt well. It makes cleaning easy and provides extra comfort.

14. Car accessories

There are a wide variety of aftermarket accessories from gauges to steering wheel.

Aftermarket steering wheels, gear levers, handbrakes and pedals provide better grip and enhance the interior appearance of your car. The short shifter allows for shorter shift to engage gear, thereby achieving faster, easier and more precise shifting.

Bucket seat supports and holds your body securely under any driving condition. Despite its light weight, it works very well to protect the driver.

Reverse sensor alerts the driver should he get too near objects when reversing.

Gauges makes your car look sportier and allows you to keep track of the oil pressure, temperature, battery voltage and vacuum.

15. Car grooming

Does your car still look dirty no matter how hard you scrub and polish it? Please allow the car grooming professionals to work their magic if DIY is not working for you. It is important to entrust your car to a reliable and professional car grooming company.

A basic grooming package typically consists of cleaning of the interior (dashboard, console & windscreen) and exterior (tyres, rims, body & windscreen) of the car. Cleaning of leather and fabric seats often require additional surcharges. A basic grooming package starts from around S$80.

Choosing the right petrol grade for your car

2008-12-18T15:07:00.002+08:00

There is a common misconception that the higher the grade of the gasoline you pump, the faster your car speeds off.

Many drivers tend to make costly mistakes when it comes to the grade of petroleum they pump. The truth is, a higher petrol grade is not necessarily better for your car.

In fact, the recommended gasoline for most cars is regular octane. The owner’s manual is your best indicator on which grade to use. Using a higher octane gasoline than that will not make your car achieve better mileage, move faster, run cleaner or improve its operations in any way.

Premium gas costs roughly 30 cents more per litre as compared to the regular gas. This can accumulate to as much as S$702 in savings annually, based on a normal 1.6 litre car clocking an average mileage of 20,000km/year. Studies have shown that drivers are wasting hundreds of millions of dollars each year on higher grade gas than required.

It is only when your car engine knocks that you should switch to a higher octane gasoline. However, this happens only in rare instances. Some cars, such as sports cars and particular luxury cars do have higher compression engines. These cars might require premium gasoline to prevent knocking. Your best bet is to listen to your car’s engine. As long as it does not knock, you are using the correct gasoline grade.

What is Octane Rating?

By definition, octane is any isomeric saturated hydrocarbon found in petroleum and used as a fuel and solvent. The higher the rating, the slower the burn when ignited during the compression burn cycle of the piston. The higher octane allows for more control of burning for higher compression engines. Thus, you will want to ensure that the octane rating of the gasoline correlates to the engine design, for complete burning of the gasoline by the engine in order to maximum fuel economy and clean emission.

Majority of cars are made to burn regular unleaded fuel with an octane rating of 95. Should the car need a higher octane rating, there will be an indication in the owner’s manual and perhaps under the fuel gauge and by the fuel fill hole. As mentioned above, only high performance engines require higher octane gas.

Does higher octane gasoline contain more cleaning additive which will be better for my engine?

Unfortunately, this is not the case. Government regulations call for almost the same amount of additives in all gasoline to clean the injectors and valves. Regular octane gasoline does not compromise in preventing engine deposits from forming, in getting rid of them, or in cleaning your car’s engine, as compared to higher octane gasoline.

When should you switch to a higher octane gasoline?

In rare cases, car engines may knock even when you use the recommended octane. Should this happen, you should switch to the next highest octane grade. Usually, switching to the mid-grade or premium-grade gasoline will remove the knock. If the knocking persists after one or two fill-ups, your car may need a tune-up or some other repair. Thereafter, you should revert back to the lowest octane grade which was recommended in the user’s manual, or at which your engine runs without the knock.

What if I choose to use gasoline with higher octane ratings?

For starters, you will be making the gasoline manufacturers a lot richer than they already are. That aside, using a higher octane fuel than necessary will send unburned fuel into the emission system. This will also be collected in the catalytic converter. Should you overwork any system, it can breakdown or under perform. An early sign of such a predicament is a rotten egg smell from the tailpipe. Do not get a panic attack. Simply switch back to using a lower octane gasoline and viola! The strange odor usually vanishes after several tanks of gasoline.

Finally, is knocking harmful?

Occasional light knocking will not harm your engine. Neither does it harm your engine. However, do not turn a blind eye to severe knocking. A heavy or persistent knock can lead to engine damage.

Who says knowledge is power? Knowledge is power…and saving money!

Conversion of foreign driving licence

2008-12-18T15:07:00.001+08:00

Should you convert?

As a foreigner with a foreign driving licence, you are not required to convert your foreign driving licence to a local one if you are to be in Singapore for less than twelve months. You are allowed to drive in Singapore with a valid foreign driving licence. However, if your licence is not in English, it is compulsory for you to possess a valid foreign driving licence and get an International Driving Permit. If an International Driving Permit is unavailable, it is mandatory for you to get an official translation of your driving licence in English.

You should convert your foreign driving licence to a local version within twelve months if you possess an Employment Pass / Student Pass / Dependent Pass / Work Permit and intend to remain and drive in Singapore for more than twelve months.

How to convert?

You will need to pass the Basic Theory Test (BTT) to convert from a foreign driving licence to a Singapore driving licence. The BTT will inform you of Singapore’s Highway Code, relevant to traffic related issues unique to Singapore and other local traffic rules.

More information on Conversion

To convert to a Singapore driving licence, you are required to pass the Basic Theory Test (BTT) which will familarise you with traffic rules and Singapore's Highway Code pertaining to traffic related issues peculiar to Singapore. A Singapore Permanent Resident (PR) who wishes to drive in Singapore is required to convert his foreign driving licence after becoming a PR.

Am i allowed to do the conversion?

Application for conversion of foreign driving licence for Singaporeans and PR are not normally granted unless:
• They have stayed in the foreign country continuously for at least six months after the date of first issue of their foreign driving licence
• The foreign driving licence at the time of application for conversion must have been issued for a period of six months or more

Where to go for conversion of licence?

Your application for conversion of driving licence must be made in person at any of the following driving test centre:
• Singapore Driving Test Centre 3, Ang Mio Kio, St 62
• Bukit Batok Driving Centre 815, Bukit Batok West Ave 5
• Comfort Driving Centre 215, Ubi Ave 4

What documents to bring along?

Please bring along the following documents:
• Result slip to prove that you have passed the Basic Theory Test
• Passport and NRIC/Entry Permit/Employment Pass/Dependent Pass/Social Visit Pass/Work Permit, etc (whichever is applicable)
• A passport-size colour photograph with white background
• A matt/semi-matt finish and a fee of $50
• For overseas students, please produce proof of six months' stay in the country e.g. educational transcripts or Letter of Acceptance into the Educational Institution (120) and the relevant visa in the passport
• For those employed overseas, please produce Letter of Employment or Income Tax Returns or supportive documents from employers and the relevant Employment Pass in the passport
• A valid Qualified Foreign Driving Licence
• An official translation of the driving licence if it is not in English
• Extract of Driving Licence from the Licensing Authority that indicates the date of first issue of Driving Licence if this date of issue is not indicated on your driving licence
• For Malaysian licence holders, an extract from Jabatan Pengangutan Jalan (JPJ) is compulsory

Off Peak Car - Know the rules, know the benefits.

2008-12-18T15:06:00.001+08:00

Challenged with rising fuel costs, higher taxes and levies on automobiles, local motorists are given a choice to register their spanking new vehicles under the off-peak car (OPC) scheme. Many have avoided the OPC scheme, even reviled it. But the OPC scheme may be a blessing in disguise…

Many people aspire to own a car. Most covert their next door neighbor’s new Honda Stream RS-Z while frowning at the Vios in their own carpark lot. But there is always the alternative scheme to owning a car: The Off-Peak Car scheme.

To say the least, a lot of Singaporeans do not have a comprehensive understanding of the OPC scheme. The general consensus is that people who sign for an off peak are lowly paid or struggling financially. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The OPC scheme replaced the weekend car scheme in 1994. The main aims of this scheme was to offer new and existing car owners the option to save on car registration and road taxes in return for reduced usage of the car. When one signs for a vehicle under the OPC scheme, one receives a $17,000 rebate offset against the quota premium and the Additional Registration Fee (ARF). One also receives a flat discount of $800 on annual road tax, subject to a minimum road tax payment of $50 per year.

Not only that, the owner is forced to plan his schedules carefully, as he does not always have the car available. So he might commute to work on the train or bus, but take the car out at night and on the weekends to ferry his partner on shopping trips.

As a result, he spends less on public parking and petrol as well. There is also a growing trend of higher end vehicles being registered under the OPC scheme not because their owners cannot afford it, but because it is so much cheaper to maintain one if the owner does not need the car on a daily basis.

That may sound well and good, but what are its usage limitations?

Well, for one, a driver can only drive his OPC registered vehicle at the following time slots: Monday to Friday, 7pm-7am, and from 3pm onwards on Saturdays & Eve of the major public holidays such as: The New Year, Lunar New Year, Hari Raya Puasa, Deepavali and Christmas. The OPC registered vehicle is permitted by the authorities to be driven on the whole of Sunday.

So, does it mean that an OPC registered vehicle is not permitted to drive on the roads on regular days even in case of an emergency?

Of course not. If an emergency should crop up (e.g. the wife goes into labor), all one simply has to do is purchase a $20 day license from any Singapore Post Office, the Automobile Association of Singapore (336 River Valley Road or 2 Kung Chong Road) or the Land Transport Authority( 10 Sin Ming Drive). Peel accordingly, and slap it on the left hand side of your windscreen.

So can I convert my current car to an OPC, or vice versa?

Let’s start with converting a normal car to an OPC. One has to go straight to the Land Transport Authority (LTA). The owner forks out $100 as the conversion fee. Unfortunately, in this case, there is no entitlement to any PARF or COE rebate.

The owner, however, gets $800 discount on annual road tax, subject to a minimum road tax payment of $50 per year (as mentioned earlier). There is an additional PARF rebate on top of the existing PARF value should the owner de-register the vehicle before 10 years is up.

Additional PARF rebate is calculated as follows:

Remaining life of vehicle (in months) x ($2,200 x12)

Let’s use an example: Wendy converts her car (purchased under the normal scheme) into an OPC on 1st December 2006. She plans to de-register it on 23 Jan 2009. She is entitled to an additional PARF rebate as calculated below:

1st Dec 2006 to 31st Dec 2008 = 25 months

1st Jan 2009 to 23 Jan 2009 = 23 days or 0.76 months (23 days divided by 30 days)

Therefore, the total number of months during which the car is converted into an OPC is 25.76. The additional PARF rebate (on top of her existing PARF value) will be:

25.76 x ($2,200/12 months) = $4,722.66

Basically, Wendy does not receive the $17K COE rebate if she converts her normal car into an OPC. The additional PARF rebate is not manifested into cash during the conversion, but only when Wendy de-registers her car 10 years later. Moreover, the existing monthly installments Wendy forks out for her car remains the same since this conversion to OPC is between her and LTA and does not involve her financial institution.

Now, let’s look at John who tries to convert his OPC into a normal car. One has to go straight to the Land Transport Authority (LTA). John forks out $100 as the conversion fee, and he also has to cough up the $17K rebate he received when he purchased his OPC. The formula for the top up rate is as follows:

$17,000 x (120 months – no. of months that has passed at the point of conversion)/120 months

The top up amount is apportioned to the COE and ARF value which is calculated as follows:

Car registered on 1st June 2005 as an OPC.

COE= $14,000

ARF = $22,000

Because the car is registered as an OPC, the $17K rebate will be used to offset the COE first, then the ARF.

So:

COE=$0

ARF= $22,000 – ($17,000-$14,000) = $19,000

John’s OPC is now converted to a normal car on 20 Jan 2007. The period which the car was registered as an OPC is as follows:

1st June 2005 – 31 Dec 2006 = 19 Months

1st January 2007 – 20th January 2007 = 20 days or 0.67 months (20 divided by 30 says)

Therefore the total no. of months which the car was registered as an OPC is 19.67 months. John has to top up the following amount to convert the OPC to a normal car:

$17,000 x (120 months -19.67 months)/120 months = $14,213

This top up amount is apportioned to the COE and ARF according to the following:

COE = $14,000/$17,000 x $14,213 = $11,704.82

ARF = $ 3,000/$17,000 X $14,213 = $2,508.18

Hence, when John de-registers his car, the COE amount will be $11,704.82. The ARF amount will be $21,508.18($19,000+$2,508.18).

The problem with the 2nd option is John has to pay LTA the top-up amount by hook or by crook.

So at the end of the day, is an OPC really worth it?

We’ve calculated the sums, ultimately, the decision is still up to the individual. An OPC may seem like a godsend to those who need a car on the weekends or to impress a date, but its limitations will not find favor with everyone.

A piece of advice is, if you want to avoid the hassle of conversions, simply stick with one scheme (OPR or normal) and leave it as it is.

Road Test - Nissan Teana 250XV

2008-12-18T15:04:00.000+08:00

Choosing between the common Japanese range of executive-class sedans may not be easy. But now, there's a newcomer. And it is pretty impressive.

Just the other day in the middle of the afternoon, I was seated comfortably and watching the world go by. As I sipped my coffee, I noticed for the third time this middle-aged, bespectacled man squinting curiously in my direction and every time I turned, he’d pretend to look away. For some reason, he didn’t look very pleased either and I was wondering what on earth he was looking at.

And then it struck me. You see, here I was looking relaxed and absolutely nonchalant, considering the fact that I was driving the new Nissan Teana 250XV and not a Nissan GT-R. He was in a Cefiro. And apart from the fact that a newer model would draw attention, it’s also supposed to be an “uncle’s car” and most other males around my age wouldn’t want to be caught dead in any car that’s associated with “uncles”. So it was only natural for him to look slightly befuddled; maybe he was wondering why the new Teana wasn’t being driven by a guy like him. But I really couldn’t be arsed.

Speaking of which, that lower bit of my body had cool air blowing at it. And, further up along my seat, my back was being chilled as well. There was plenty of legroom in the foot well and visibility from the driving position was good. The layout on the centre console was neat and pretty intuitive, and on the whole, I couldn’t really think of anything to complain about.

A 2.5-litre VQ25DE V6 resides under its bonnet, producing up to 182 hp at 6,000 rpm and a decent 228 Nm of torque. Despite those figures, it isn’t what we would call “quick” and a zero-to-hundred sprint is finished in a slightly disappointing 9.6 seconds. Well, at least it revs smoothly.

But who cares about the acceleration? It’s not Golf GTI fast, but 9.6 seconds is still better than most normal cars on the road, and it isn’t as if it’s crucial for anyone to always get from standstill to 100 km/h in a short time, the Teana really doesn’t give a crap about that sort of thing.

Comfort first

What it is concerned about is whether the passengers are comfortable and always happy to coast around in it. And we’re pleased to say, it has definitely nailed it, spot on. Nissan combined their newly-developed “D” platform (also found in the Renault Laguna) and suspension system with the aim of providing a higher class of comfort. The front shock absorbers have built-in rebound springs while its rear gets a newly-developed multi-link suspension and with its dampers placed closer to the tyres, all with the aim of improving driving stability.

On a highway, the Teana rides with a planted feel and with barely a hint of floating sensation. It’s one of those cars you could drive up to Kuala Lumpur in, with your kids fast asleep in the back instead of driving you nuts with “are we there yet?”

Its handling, however, won’t meet the expectations of any Fairlady driver. The steering is rather numb and, while it functions perfectly well to turn the car, it won’t evoke thoughts of pin-sharp precision handling and charging into corners with super-late braking. But again, you see, that really isn’t what the Teana is for.

Nick Vujicic

2008-12-04T14:41:00.001+08:00

BMW F650GS part 8

2008-11-10T14:53:00.002+08:00

Servicing

Did my first servicing on last sat.
According to the manual, engine oil change 10000km (mineral oil), sparkplug every 20000km, fork oil 20000km, airfilter 10000km, oil filter 20000km, brake fuild once a year.

My service plans:
5000km oil change: Mineral oil + fuel additive
10000km : 2 platinium plugs, oil filter
Yearly: brake fluid, coolant

Tried mineral oil but dun really like the feeling of it... maybe gonna try semi synthetic oil the next round.
Just found out that the previous owner let the bike go without coolant, glad that i've finally got it filled up and the problem is gone. Bike still very underpower.. gonna find ways to improve the bike. =]

BMW F650GS part 7

2008-11-10T14:47:00.002+08:00

Penang trip

My first long trip to Penang on the BMW F650GS, crusing at 130~140km/h without the side panniers is a breeze but kinda stressful on me as i'm still using the stock windshield. Fuel consumption 20km/l on 160km/h speed... went slight off road on the penang mountain, very relax as a pillion an more fun as a rider. =]

BMW F650GS part 6

2008-10-20T12:10:00.003+08:00

F650 first ride to Melaka
Was very surprise with the fuel consumption, was getting closed to 22km/litre on an average speed of 120~140km/h way better than my previous ride, Super 4 at that kind of speed. Cons with the side boxes, pickup kinda slow due to the wind resistence. Guess i wont be bring my boxes along if i'm going for fast rides. Handling is a lot better and more relax. Can easily hit 160km/h, and my friend managed to hit 180km/h and the bike can go somemore.

4/5 stars for this bike for trips
I'm a happy beemer. =]

BMW F650GS Part 5

2008-10-11T01:51:00.002+08:00

You wont believe it.. I've just clocked 30km/litre on my 650.
Probably riding along KPE fearing the speed cameras help a lot on these.. 20% of the mileage at 70km/h gave an extra 3km/l despite the pickups and hard throttles. Getting more and more excited on getting even better fuel consumption.

Finally brought my bike to the malaysia land. Met jane and Bill before the singapore custom, pillioned 100kg Bill and he contributed by pushing the bike with me, thats the good thing of being tall. Got my rear suspension seasoned a little... guess what Augustine said makes sense... should get the Ohlins rear suspension... Tried 130km/h with pillion, stable and can go further but on corners, i still cannot make it.. My phobia overcome my confidence, eyepoint totally off.. was at 60km/h on the corner from GP to tuas. I used to do 90km/h on my s4 and r6.. I need tons of practise. =P

BMW F650GS part 4

2008-10-09T16:20:00.002+08:00

Pillioned my mum over the weekend, very comfortable seat but feedback is getting up on the bike might be a little stressful for her.

Still on my 2nd tank and i'm surprised that with a less conservative riding habit returned an even better fuel consumption.
have clocked ard 350km and reserve light is still off. Possible to get 29km/litre?? Was told that the bike shop is able to custom make lowering link for bikes.. Interested.. $50 including installation but will need a week or 2 to get the link done thou... worth the try. =]

Was on the net surfing and set my eyes on the K1200R.. with carbon fibre parts.. Cool. But the cost is about my year's salary.. not really suit my pocket. Maybe gonna wait for another 2 ~ 3 years for the 2nd hand one.

BMW F650GS part 3

2008-09-29T10:45:00.004+08:00

Finally hit reserved on my first tank. clocked 340km with 12.6litres of petrol which is ard 27km/litre on average 90~100km/h speed.. WOW!! will try out the fuel consumption with a less conservative riding.. =P
A hell lot accessories to buy for my 650.. frame crash bar, Koubalink, scottoiler... pocket gonna have a big big hole..

putting on mainstand is not always successful for me.. uturn still not good.. my eyepoint is killing me... need more training on that. =P

Yoga Mat for Sale

2008-09-25T00:21:00.003+08:00

Bought last month at Royal Sporting house, used twice only
Comes with yoga mat bag
Condition: Used (9.5/10)
Selling at $18

sms me at 9367 8986 or email me at razlee@bx3creative.com to arrange time to view

Stuffs for sale

2008-09-25T00:05:00.008+08:00

IKEA LERBERG CD/ DVD wall shelf
Bought quite some time back but seriously too lazy to drill holes on my wall to fix it up.
condition: Brand New
selling at $10

IKEA White Magnetic board
selling at $15
condition: Used

LG KU990
5MP Impaging Capacity with Auto Focus/Xenon Flash
3.0" Touch Screen Dynamic Flash UI
Hand Writing Recognition
HSPDA 3.6 High Speed Network Connectivity

Weight 112g
Size 103.5mm x 54.4mm x 14.8mm
(H x L x W)
Java Enabled
3.5G
Video
MMS
Bluetooth
Camera
EMS
MP3
GPRS
WAP

Retail Price:SGD638
Selling: SGD450
condition: Used (8/10)
ard 8 months old

sms me at 9367 8986 or email me at razlee@bx3creative.com to arrange time to view

MacBook for Sale (Singapore only)

2008-09-25T00:03:00.001+08:00

White
2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 3MB shared L2 cache
Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard
2GB (1GBx2) memory (Upgraded from original 2x512MB)
120GB Serial ATA, 5400 rpm Hard Drive
13.3-inch (viewable) glossy widescreen
1280 x 800 pixels
24x Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor with 144MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory

Install/restore DVDs included
size: 1.08 x 12.78 x 8.92 inches / 2.75 x 32.5 x 22.7 cm
weight: 2.27 kg
Warranty till March 2009. can get applecare to extend 2-year apple warranty

http://store.apple.com/sg/browse/hom...ok?mco=MTE3MjE

Very well taken care of.. very underutilised as i'm using my iMac most of the time. The MacBook is used for meeting presentation only.

Brand new cost 1848.50 including ram upgrade.
Will throw in the keyboard protector worth $35.

Selling at $1300
Viewing location: woodlands
sms me at 9367 8986 or email me at razlee@bx3creative.com to arrange time to view

Finally!!!! after days or workout..

2008-09-19T09:55:00.001+08:00

Its not for the slim figure that motivated me to workout my muscles.. its my GS, finally managed to put my bike on mainstand!!! YESH!!!!

BMW F650GS part 2

2008-09-18T10:53:00.003+08:00

My first european bike and i'm really spoilt by it... Have more or less gotten used to the bike other than the uTurn part. Seat is cutted and i really feel like i'm wearing pampers when i'm sitting on my bike. Managed to get my left foot flat on the ground at traffic junctions, just gonna tilt a bit to the left but my right will be dangling in mid air.

Managed to make negotiate bends more confidently now as i can roughly know where my front tires are when i'm turning the handlebars.. need more rides to conquer the bike. Also glad that i can dismount the bike without putting my side stand down first.. pushing the bike is getting easier, and i seriously need more practise putting the bike on main stand.. I failed again yesterday but i'm getting there... more dumbell sessions.. =P

Bike overheat when i'm less than 90km/h.. not good.. maybe the coolant is not changed yet.. gonna send for servicing this sat.

Bad me starting to look at the K1200R urban bike... maybe another 3years.. YEAH!!!

Riding my phantom to work today.. miss my GS.. awwwww....

BMW F650GS

2008-09-17T13:50:00.005+08:00

Finally, after a 2year long wait. I've got my hands on the '04 BMW F650GS. One of the best all rounder and best tourer.
Why, F650GS

1) It has a lowest seat height among the BMWs... I'm only 1.57m...
2) maintenence is cheaper (almost half) than my old super 4, mineral oil and 2 spark plugs.. compared to fully syn oil and 4 plugs.
3) Rugged Styling... at least its rugged enuff for me. I loved the scrambler feel.
4) Fuel consumption.. I got a big grin when i topped up the bike. The same amount of money paid compare to my little phantom. This bike doesnt need a super high grade petrol so i get to save on petrol topups.

My First Ride:
The bike roars after starting the engine, wow!! maybe its been 2 years since i last own a class 2 bike.. its kinda loud for me.. You dont have to warm up the bike that long cos of the mineral engine oil. The engine warms faster. Moving off is a little "tocky" which is common for the F650. After 4000rpm is super smooth and less vibration. Pickup is good.. but if you are comparing to the sportsbike.. it does feel a little under power.

The bike is easy to operate and easy to manuver. my smile goes from left to right while riding.. i felt secured and stable on the new ride.

Low CG bike but it doesnt really help if the suspension is set to soft. Its quite dangerous when you are doing a big bend. I've initially set suspension to almost softest due to my height but set it back to original after the scary bends along AYE.
The most scary part for me will be the uturns especially those 2 lane turns.. As i'm tiptoeing to my max and some phobias on uturns.. will try my best not to do uturns until i get my lowering kit. Have cutted my seat by 2cm.. so i assume my seat height is ard 770mm.. need another inch off to settle my phobia.. well at least i know i wont drop my bike.

Heat: All big bike sure heat up easily, same for the F650GS. But I would say its a lot better than my previous ride Yamaha R6 '05 model. As long as i'm not on heavy traffic jam i wont feel the heat even if i'm at low speed for long distance.

Cons of the bike: zero under seat space. not even for a raincoat. but who cares.. I got 3 boxes. good enuff for short trips but i need a bigger top box if i remove the sides for daily riding... Squeezing between cars is doable but i have to proceed with extra cautions.. not very used to such wide bike between cars and i cant afford a fall, repair will be hell for me.

Pros of the bike: Fuel consumption of cos. The first thing i will check on when i've interest in any bike. Still monitoring but reviews shows 100km/3.5liter which is ard 28km/litre at 90km/h constant but as long as i can get 24km/l on highways i'm happy. The lowest grade petrol for the bike is 87. Cant find this grade in singapore thou but 92 at $1.817/litre is cheap enuff.. I pumped at least a 95 at $1.849/litre and occassionally a 98 on my Super 4 which is ard $1.919/litre. Can you imagine how much i save on trips? =]

THE CHEMICAL MATERIAL OF THE PLASTIC

2008-07-30T23:13:00.001+08:00

Did you ever drink from a plastic bottle and see a triangle symbol on the bottom with a number inside?

Do you know what the number stands for ??
Did you guess that it's just for recycling ?
Then you are WRONG!!!!!

THE 'NUMBER' TELLS YOU THE CHEMICAL MATERIAL OF THE PLASTIC ....

No. 1 Polyethylene terephalate (PET)
- Normally 'Mineral water bottle' widely using this.
- Temparature can last up to 70 centigrade, cannot longer use...
- In 2003, Italy researched & discovered that after using about 9 months
later, will release (DEHP) which may cause level of cancer.
- When higher (DEHP) in male body, it will reduce the spermatozoon & damage spermatozoon.

2 *** High Density polyethylene (HDPE)
- 'Milk bottle', Thick Platic bag
- Temparature can last up to 120 centigrade. ** Is a stable material.**

3 Unplasticised polyvinyl chloride (UPVC) or Plasticised polyvinyl chloride (PPVC)
- Normally PVC pipe, rain coat, Platic cup, others.

4 Low density polyethylene (LDPE)
- Normally Thin Plastic bag
- Temparature can last up to 80 centigrade.

5 *** Polypropylene (PP)
- Norrmally Micro Wave container , Water bottle.
- Temparature can last up to 135 centigrade. ** Is a stable material.**

6 Polystyrene (PS) or Expandable polystyrene (EPS)
- Type of light plastic material - Polyfoam
- Temparature can last up to 90 centigrade.

7 (PC) is widely use material or (Other) material including nylon and acrylic, other unknown materials
- Is a common Water bottle material, normally free gift of water bottle from company.
- Will release (bisphenol A). Stop by Japan.
- Temparature can last up to 135 centigrade.

What you aren't told is that many of the plastics used are toxic and the chemicals used to create a plastic can leach out of the plastic and into the ' food / drink '. Think about it, how many times have you or a friend said 'I don't like this, it taste like the plastic bottle .... ' THAT'S BECAUSE YOU ARE TASTING THE PLASTIC '

Besides No. 1, should reject to use No. : 3, 6, and 7.

The WORST ONES are No. : 3, 6, and 7.

Check out this chart that breaks down the plastic, its uses and chemical makeup
(I find No.7 a little scary)

http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/waste/guide_ref/guide_plascod3.html

Reusing plastic bottles by refilling them is NOT a good idea. WATCH THE VIDEO:
http://video.wnbc.com/player/?id=238518

Microwaving plastic containers affects the chemical make up of the plastic, allowing the chemical substances to destabilize and leach out more quickly into the food you are reheating. You can check out this article that ran in the Wall Street Journal:
http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Microwave-Health-Problems.htm

EVEN one of my favorite 'RUMOR DEBUNKING' websites, lists the information as: overblown with a grain of TRUTH
READ the FULL 3 pages of the article!
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-microwave-dioxin.htm

Movies!!!! I WANNA WATCH

2008-07-22T17:24:00.003+08:00

Red Cliff
In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale, led by the Prime Minister, himself. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance. Numerous battles of strength and wit ensued, both on land and on water, eventually culminating in the battle of Red Cliff. During the battle, two thousand ships were burned, and the course of Chinese history was changed forever.

10 Promises to My Dog
The "Ten Commandments" for Dog Owners - a short poetry that has moved hearts around the world, now becomes a major motion picture about a girl, her dog, and their life together.

Kungfu Panda
A CG-animated comedy about a lazy, irreverent slacker panda, Po (Voiced by Jack Black), who must somehow become a Kung Fu Master in order to save the Valley of Peace from a villainous snow leopard, Tai Lung. Set in the legendary world of ancient China, this is the story of Po, our unlikely hero, who enters the rigid world of Kung Fu and turns it upside down. Po ultimately becomes a Kung Fu hero by learning that if he believes in himself, he can do anything.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
The blockbuster global Mummy franchise takes a spellbinding turn as the action shifts to Asia for the next chapter in the adventure series, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Brendan Fraser returns as explorer Rick OConnell to combat the resurrected Han Emperor (Jet Li) in an epic that races from the catacombs of ancient China high into the frigid Himalayas. Rick is joined in this all-new adventure by son Alex (newcomer Luke Ford), wife Evelyn (Maria Bello) and her brother, Jonathan (John Hannah). And this time, the OConnells must stop a mummy awoken from a 2,000-year-old curse who threatens to plunge the world into his merciless, unending service.

Doomed by a double-crossing sorceress (Michelle Yeoh) to spend eternity in suspended animation, Chinas ruthless Dragon Emperor and his 10,000 warriors have laid forgotten for eons, entombed in clay as a vast, silent terra cotta army. But when dashing adventurer Alex OConnell is tricked into awakening the ruler from eternal slumber, the reckless young archaeologist must seek the help of the only people who know more than he does about taking down the undead: his parents.

As the monarch roars back to life, our heroes find his quest for world domination has only intensified over the millennia. Striding the Far East with unimaginable supernatural powers, the Emperor Mummy will rouse his legion as an unstoppable, otherworldly force...unless the OConnells can stop him first. Now, in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the trademark thrills and visually spectacular action of the Mummy series will be redefined for a new generation.

Money No Enough 2
Following the success of Money No Enough, Jack Neo is coming back with another season of Money No Enough 2. In this movie, Mark Lee, Marcus Chin and Henry Thia will act as siblings.

The Love Guru
Pitka (Mike Myers in his first orginal character since Austin Powers) is an American who is left at the gates of an Ashram in India as a child and raised by gurus. He moves back to the U.S to seek fame and fortune in the world of self-help and spirituality. His unorthodox methods are put to the test when he must settle a rift between Toronto Maple Leafs star hockey player Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco) and his estranged wife. After the split, Roanokes wife starts dating L.A Kings star Jacques Grande (Justin Timberlake) out of revenge, sending her husband into a major professional skid to the horror of the teams owner Jane Bullard (Jessica Alba) and coach Cherkov (Verne Troyler). Pitka must return the couple to marital nirvana and get Roanoke back on his game so the team can break the 40-year-old Bullard Curse and win the Stanley Cup.

Fate
Woo-min, Cheol-jung, Do-wan and Young-hwan: they are the perfect team to rule the underworld. When they were united, nothing could stop them. Their plan to attack a casino and steal the money to get a fresh start seemed destined to be a success. That is, until Cheol-jungs unexpected betrayal turned their world upside down!

Woo-min is enraged at Cheol-jungs betrayal and for making everything go wrong. Cheol-jung betrayed his friends to get what he wants and to succeed in the cold, dark world. Do-wan dreams of making a comeback while Young-hwan try to quietly help his friends in the background. Woo-mins girlfriend, Eun-young, is also caught up in the whirlwind of the four mens destiny.

Meeting at the crossroads of fate, endless deception and betrayal grow rampant. The four friends are confronted once again with an unavoidable battle.. They collide on a harbor front illegal trading site, all with different motives... Now, their unavoidable fight with fate begins!

Wall-E
What if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off?

Academy Award-winning writer-director Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo") and the inventive storytellers and technical geniuses at Pixar Animation Studios ("The Incredibles," "Cars," "Ratatouille") transport moviegoers to a galaxy not so very far away for a new computer-animated cosmic comedy about a determined robot named WALL-E.

After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL-E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home). Meanwhile, WALL-E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most exciting and imaginative comedy adventures ever brought to the big screen.

THE GO MASTER
Based on the true-to-life story of the world's most renowned master of the ancient game of Go, Wu Qingyuan. Wu, a native of China, emerged as a prodigy who, at a young age, moved to Japan and rose to prominence as the top Go player in the world. In Japan, Wu overturned the established traditions and strategies of this ancient game, earning multitudes of fans and enemies along the way. Set against the backdrop of the tumultuous Sino-Japanese history of the 20th century, he remained in Japan in spite of the politics and continued his passion for the game.

MEN - annoy the men brightens ladies day

2008-07-22T11:02:00.001+08:00

Believe it or not:

WoMAN has Man in it;
MRs. has Mr. in it;
FeMALE has Male in it;
SHE has He in it;
MADAM has Adam in it;
No wonder men always want to be inside women!

Men were born between the legs of a woman, yet men spend all their life and time trying to go back between the legs of a woman....
Why?
BECAUSE THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Okay, Okay, it all makes sense now...
I never looked at it this way before:

Ever notice how all of women's problems start with MEN?

MENtal illness
MENstrual cramps
MENtal breakdown
MENopause
GUYnecologist
AND ..

When we have REAL trouble, it's a
HISterectomy.

Send this to all the women you know to brighten their day.
Send this to all the men just to annoy them
Have a good day, guys!!! :-)hehehe... ..

Heart attacks in females - i got this in my mailbox.. send to your loved ones

2008-07-22T10:58:00.001+08:00

She said she didn't feel well and had a back ache and was going to lie on the bed with the heating pad.

A while later her husband went to check on her and she was not breathing.
They were not able to revive her.

This is something we women should definitely take seriously. Please pass this on to those you love.

I was aware that female heart attacks are different, but this is the best description I've ever read .........

Women and heart attacks (Myocardial Infarction)

Did you know that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men have when experiencing heart attack...you know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest and dropping to the floor that we see in the movies. Here is the story of one woman's experience with a heart attack.

------------------------------

'I had a completely unexpected heart attack at about 10:30 PM with NO prior exertion, NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might've brought it on. I was sitting all snugly and warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me, and actually thinking, 'A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up.'

A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when yo! u've been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you've swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable.

You realize you shouldn't have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach.

This was my initial sensation---the only trouble was that I hadn't taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 PM.

'After that had seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE (hind-sight, it was probably my aorta in spasm), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when admin! istering CPR). This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws.

'AHA!! NOW I stopped puzzling about what was happening--we all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI happening, haven't we? I said aloud to myself and the cat, 'Dear God, I think I'm having a heart attack! 'I lowered the foot rest, dumping the cat from my lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead.

I thought to myself 'If this is a heart attack, I shouldn't be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else......but, on the other hand, if I don't, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in moment'

I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dia! led the Paramedics... I told her I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn't feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said she was sending the Paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in.

'I then laid down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don't remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting me onto a gurney or getting me into their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to St. Jude ER on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the Cardiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance. He was bending over me asking questions (probably something like 'Have you taken any medications?') but I couldn't make my mind interpret what he wa! s saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed two side by side stints to hold open my right coronary artery.

' I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the Paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and St. Jude are only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was already to go to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stints.

'Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail? Because I want all of you who are so important in my life to know what I learned first hand.'

1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your own bod! y not the usual men's symptoms, but inexplicable things happening (until my sternum and jaws got into the act). It is said that many more women than men die of their first (and last) MI because they didn't know they were having one, and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation, and go to bed, hoping they'll feel better in the morning when they wake up....which doesn't happen. My female friends, your symptoms might not be exactly like mine, so I advise you to call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you've not felt before. It is better to have a 'false alarm' visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be!

2. Note that I said 'Call the Paramedics'. Ladies, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER--you're a hazard to others on the road, and so is your panicked husband who will be speeding and looking anxiously at wha! t's happening with you instead of the road. Do NOT call your doctor--he doesn't know where you live and if it's at night you won't reach him anyway, and if it's daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn't carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do,
principally OXYGEN that you need ASAP. Your Dr. will be notified later.

3. Don't assume it couldn't be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that a cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it's unbelievably high, and/or accompanied by high blood pressure.) MI's are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep.. L! et's be careful and be aware. The more we know the better chance we could survive...

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this mail sends it to 10 people, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life.

Wonder of the Animal Kingdom...

2008-07-16T11:12:00.009+08:00

The earthquake was right in the area where giant pandas live. Most pandas are protected well, especially those babies, even if they were scared a lot. Right after earthquake. They rushed out and some stayed together.

How to reduce petrol and gas price... The Egg logic

2008-07-10T11:02:00.000+08:00

A man eats two eggs each morning for breakfast. When he goes to the grocery store he pays 60 cents a dozen. Since a dozen eggs won't last a week he normally buys two dozens at a time. One day while buying eggs he notices that the price has risen to 72 cents. The next time he buys groceries, eggs are 76 cents a dozen.

When asked to explain the price of eggs the store owner says, 'The price has gone up and I have to raise my price accordingly'. This store buys 100 dozen eggs a day. He checked around for a better price and all the distributors have raised their prices. The distributors have begun to buy from the huge egg farms. The small egg farms have been driven out of business. The huge egg farms sell 100,000 dozen eggs a day to distributors. With no competition, they can set the price as they see fit. The distributors then have to raise their prices to the grocery stores. And on and on and on.

As the man kept buying eggs the price kept going up. He saw the big egg trucks delivering 100 dozen eggs each day. Nothing changed there. He checked out the huge egg farms and found they were selling 100,000 dozen eggs to the distributors daily. Nothing had changed but the price of eggs.

Then week before Thanksgiving the price of eggs shot up to $1.00 a dozen. Again he asked the grocery owner why and was told, 'Cakes and baking for the holiday'. The huge egg farmers know there will be a lot of baking going on and more eggs will be used. Hence, the price of eggs goes up. Expect the same thing at Christmas and other times when family cooking, baking happen.

This pattern continues until the price of eggs is 2.00 a dozen. The man says, ' There must be something we can do about the price of eggs'. He starts talking to all the people in his town and they decide to stop buying eggs. This didn't work because everyone needed eggs.

Finally, the man suggested only buying what you need. He ate 2 eggs a day. On the way home from work he would stop at the grocery and buy two eggs. Everyone in town started buying 2 or 3 eggs a day.

The grocery store owner began complaining that he had too many eggs in his cooler. He told the distributor that he didn't need any eggs. Maybe wouldn't need any all week. The distributor had eggs piling up at his warehouse. He told the huge egg farms that he didn't have any room for eggs would not need any for at least two weeks.

At the egg farm, the chickens just kept on laying eggs. To relieve the pressure, the huge egg farm told the distributor that they could buy the eggs at a lower price. The distributor said, ' I don't have the room for the eggs even if they were free'.

The distributor told the grocery store owner that he would lower the price of the eggs if the store would start buying again. The grocery store owner said, 'I don't have room for more eggs. The customers are only buying 2 or 3 eggs at a time. Now if you were to drop the price of eggs back down to the original price, the customers would start buying by the dozen again'.

The distributors sent that proposal to the huge egg farmers but the egg farmers liked the price they were getting for their eggs but, those chickens just kept on laying. Finally, the egg farmers lowered the price of their eggs. But only a few cents. The customers still bought 2 or 3 eggs at a time. They said, 'when the price of eggs gets down to where it was before, we will start buying by the dozen.'

Slowly the price of eggs started dropping. The distributors had to slash their prices to make room for the eggs coming from the egg farmers. The egg farmers cut their prices because the distributors wouldn't buy at a higher price than they were selling eggs for. Anyway, they had full warehouses and wouldn't need eggs for quite a while. And those chickens kept on laying.
Eventually, the egg farmers cut their prices because they were throwing away eggs they couldn't sell.

The distributors started buying again because the eggs were priced to where the stores could afford to sell them at the lower price. And the customers starting buying by the dozen again.

Now, transpose this analogy to the gasoline industry. What if everyone only bought $10.00 worth of gas each time they pulled to the pump? The dealer's tanks would stay semi full all the time. The dealers wouldn't have room for the gas coming from the huge tank farms. The tank farms wouldn't have room for the gas coming from the refining plants. And the refining plants wouldn't have room for the oil being off loaded from the huge tankers coming from the oil fiends.

Just $10.00 each time you buy gas. Don't fill it up. You may have to stop for gas twice a week but, the price should come down. Think about it.

As an added note...When I buy $10.00 worth of gas that leaves my tank a little under quarter full. The way prices are jumping around, you can buy gas for $2.65 a gallon and then the next morning it can be $2.15. If you have your tank full of $2.65 gas you don't have room for the $2.15 gas.

You might not understand the economics of only buying two eggs at a time but, you can't buy cheaper gas if your tank is full of the high priced stuff. Also, don't buy anything else at the gas station; don't give them any more of your hard earned money than what you spend on gas, until the prices comedown.' Just think of this concept for a while.

Horoscope July 8, 2008

2008-07-08T22:47:00.001+08:00

Helping those who cannot help themselves, and getting such help if you need it, is an essential lesson now. Someone may be taking advantage of your generous nature. Perhaps you have put your trust in the wrong people. Do not lend your money to people who don't have the collateral.

You'll suddenly be seized by a great desire for change; you may want to change your customary environment by undertaking a long travel, to change your job, or even to change your love partner! In any case, think thoroughly before making a decision. In your work, you can this time bring your most ambitious project to a successful conclusion and by the same occasion outdistance your hardest competitors. The affairs of the heart will receive the benediction of the stars; any tension will be eased off; and if you're single you'll meet your soul mate in the most unusual circumstances.

At your work you'll be well supported by your self-assurance and superb capacities; you'll be in a position to hatch out ambitious projects; however, numerous obstacles will have to be overcome. Don't idealize your love partner too much, otherwise you'll be overly disappointed. Despite your innumerable obligations, you'll try to spend more time with your family; your children will show you exquisite affection.

this is composed for my colleague...

2008-07-08T14:22:00.002+08:00

君子須有君子所為
眾人方服其言行舉

一視同人方可服眾
捧高踩下全人唾棄

言而有理眾人心服
出言不遜郃快軍敗

RIDING TIPS - Stunts

2008-07-04T11:58:00.001+08:00

A. Wheelies

1. Pick a good place to practice. You want to be safe and you also don’t need to get in trouble.
a. Privately-owned parking lots are often good. Try not to practice on public roads, where cops and traffic can interfere.
b. The surface must be big enough to get up to speed and move around.
c. The surface must be flat. A cambered road can throw off your balance, and that’s the last thing you need.

2. In general
a. As soon as the front wheel comes up, your natural reaction will be to chop the throttle. Don’t panic.
i The most common fear is that you will fall backwards or loop the bike.
• Have faith in the bike. This tends to happen only to experienced folks who are trying to go too far.
• You have to really make an effort to go back past vertical.
• When you think you’re vertical, the bike is really only at about 45 degrees. That front wheel has a good couple of yards left to go before it is going to fall backwards.
ii If you feel that the wheel has come up too far, simply lean forward and ease off the throttle.
• If you panic, you’ll chop the throttle and pull the clutch in. Try not to.
• Be warned! If you panic and whack the throttle shut, the bike will drop HARD. If you’re a guy, this can be painful — it’s like getting kicked in the nuts really hard. And you can warp the rim of your front wheel.
• Advanced riders can use the rear brake to stop a wheelie, but don’t try that until you’re competent and comfortable with the basic maneuver first.
b. Build up your confidence gradually. Don’t try to be Evel Knievel right away.

3. Power wheelies — throttle only
a. In first gear, get up to 15 - 20 mph (or 3000 rpm, if you prefer)
b. Lean back
c. Slam the throttle all the way open
d. The front wheel will come up
e. Add gas to raise the wheel higher, ease off the gas to lower the wheel.

4. Power wheelies — with front-loading
a. In first gear, get up to 15 - 20 mph
b. Chop the throttle to front-load the suspension
c. Slam the throttle open and lean back
d. The front wheel will come up
e. Add gas to raise the wheel, ease off the gas to lower it.

5. Clutch wheelies — use both clutch and throttle
a. In first gear, get up to 15 - 20 mph (or 3000 rpm if you prefer)
b. Pull in the clutch (disengage)
c. Lean back
d. Yank the throttle open
e. When the revs peak, dump the clutch (engage)
f. Add gas to raise the wheel, ease off the gas to lower it.

6. Going for distance
a. Lift the wheel up to the balance point.
i This is where your center of gravity is directly over the rear tire’s footprint.
ii It will feel right. The bike will stay put with minimal effort.

b. Change gears to keep going.
i Use the clutch.
• The bike will dip momentarily when you pull in the clutch, but use the throttle to lift yourself back up.
ii You don’t really need to go beyond second gear, but you can show off by going through the whole gearbox.

c. Smoothness is the key. The more you’re chopping and waggling, the more difficult it’s going to be.

B. Stoppies

1. Stopped stoppies

a. A basic stoppie is done at a slow speed with all the braking force applied quickly. It usually lasts only a few seconds with the rear of the bike coming up quickly, all forward movement stopping, and then the rear crashing/ falling back down. As the basic stoppie is done at a very slow speed, most people feel more comfortable trying it. However because there is very little forward momentum or speed, if the front tire skids, it will usually fall out from under you to one side and result in a crash.

b. First bring the bike up to about 25mph and practice stopping quickly and smoothly while keeping the rear on the ground. Gradually try stopping as fast as you can while still keep the rear on the ground

c. Make sure not to transfer your weight from one side to the other or front to back quickly. Start off against the tank with your thighs gripping it tightly. Your arms should not be locked, but should nevertheless be stiff.

d. Now start braking quickly from about 25mph. At this point the front forks should be heavily compressed. Once you’re almost stopped (about 10mph or less) apply even more brake, quickly. The rear end should pop up fast, the bike should almost stop. Then let off the brake and the rear will fall as the bike stops completely.

e. If the rear is coming up too fast, let off the brake quickly and drop the rear. If the rear comes up so high and your STOPPED for a few seconds vertical at the balance point (straight up and down) it is better to swing the rear to the side to drop the rear than let off the brake, because the bike may fall forwards.

2. Rolling stoppies
a. A rolling stoppie is done at speed with the rear end getting up smoothly. It is then rode for a distance with the rear height being controlled by the amount of brake pressure. The rear can then be brought back down smoothly at about 10mph.

b. First bring the bike up to about 45mph and practice stopping quickly and smoothly while keeping the rear on the ground. Gradually try stopping as fast as you can while still keeping the rear on the ground.

c. Make sure not to transfer your weight from one side to the other or front to back quickly. Start off against the tank with your thighs gripping it tightly. Your arms should not be locked but stiff. This is extremely important at the beginning of a rolling stoppie while the rear end is coming up. Be smooth and keep the bike stable.

d. Start braking quickly from about 40mph minimum. For the first two or three seconds apply the front brakes hard enough to heavily compress the front forks.

e. Now increase the front brake pressure significantly and the rear end should come up. Once it's up, you have to slightly decrease the amount of brake pressure to keep the rear from continuing to rise. Then as the bike is coming to a stop slowly release the brake at about 10 mph lowering the rear, or ride it to the end and let it crash down, your choice.

f. The height of the rear end is controlled by the amount of front brake pressure you apply. You will definitely be able to feel when the rear comes off the ground. The first few times it will feel like the rear is way up in the air, but it’s probably only a foot high.

g. If the rear is coming up too fast let off the brake quickly and drop the rear.

h. If the rear is coming up and to the side, let off the brake slowly and the bike will straighten out by itself. This is due to the gyroscopic force. You can even keep the rear up and do this. Never let off the brake quickly if the rear is coming up and to the side. This will result in a tank slapper and most likely a crash. The bike's rear will most likely swing to the right because you are putting pressure and some weight on the front brake.

C. Burnouts
1. Why anyone would want to do this to a perfectly good tire is beyond me. But they sure are cool to watch.

2. Static Burnout — staying in the same spot
a. Stand on ground, no weight on saddle
b. Full front brake
c. Gas it
d. Lots of noise and smoke.

3. Rolling Burnout — while moving, feet-up

a. Check the surface first
i Too grippy, you’ll stress the clutch, rip the tire, and have trouble rolling.
ii Too slippy, you’ll push the front tire and you might flip it.

b. Get started (2 ways).
i Version (A)
• Start a static burnout, full front brake & throttle, no weight on saddle.
• Let the clutch out abruptly
• Ease off the brake while hopping onto the pegs
• Lift one foot onto a peg (don’t put any weight on it yet) then hop straight into a standing position OR
• Lean on the tank first, and swing both legs pegward together.

ii Version (B)
• Already riding feet up, very slowly.
• Pitch all the weight forward, as in a stoppie, and at the same time let the clutch out with a lot of throttle
• As soon as the rear wheel spins, ease off the brake
• Keep your weight as far forward as possible and ride away

c. Stance
i Keep your weight as far forward as possible.
• This makes it much easier on you, and on the bike.
ii Keep your feet on the pegs. No shifting or rear-braking, please.

d. Hands
i Left hand should cover the clutch. If anything starts to go wrong, pull the clutch in.
ii Right hand controls the brake with 2 fingers and the throttle with the rest.

e. Speed control
i More front brake = slower
ii More revs = faster rear spin = less traction = slower
iii Less revs = less rear spin = more traction = faster (maybe time to pull in the clutch)
iv The most critical thing to remember is to keep the wheel spinning and use the brake smoothly. Any harsh movement will bounce the forks and it’s over.

f. Steering
i More revs = faster rear spin = faster sliding & pivoting. (Can result in a low-side drop if you don’t pull in the clutch and put a boot down.)
ii Steer by turning the bars in the direction you want to go. Countersteer to control how fast the rear end comes around.

RIDING TIPS - Body Control

2008-07-04T11:49:00.003+08:00

Body Control – Another common panic error is to stiffen up.

A. When you panic, you automatically stiffen your body (especially your arms) and tighten your grip on the bars.

1. Because it’s an automatic response, you need to make a conscious effort to loosen up.
a. Flap your elbows like a bird just before you enter a turn, to make sure you’re loose.
b. See how lightly you can hold the handlebars, especially while going around a corner.

2. If you are stiff-arming the bike, the natural vibration of the front end will get transferred to the rest of the bike.
a. Your body is part of the bike’s suspension. When you stiff-arm, it’s like replacing your front shocks with a solid rod.
b. The resulting vibration makes the bike unstable.

3. The more relaxed you are, the more stable and smooth the bike will be.
a. Stay especially loose over dirt, gravel and bumpy roads.

4. Stiff-arming also makes you go wide in a turn.
a. This happens because the front-end wobble will overcome the cornering forces.

5. Stiff-arming makes you waste energy pushing down on the bars. That accomplishes nothing.
a. When you push on the bars to steer, you push forward, not down.
b. The lower your elbows are, the more forward you are pushing. The higher up they are, the more you’re pushing down.
i You can react faster and more strongly the lower your elbows are.
ii The ideal would be to keep your forearm horizontal.

6. One cause of stiffening up is a strong wind.
a. It does make you want to hold on for dear life.
b. Instead, however, you should loosen up more, and lean your body forward over the gas tank.
i This drastically reduces the effect of the wind. Your body no longer acts like a sail, and because you’re loose the wind won’t affect your handling.

7. A related lazy habit, very common, is when riders keep their inside elbow locked, and use the weight of their upper body on that locked arm to countersteer.
a. That’s bad.
b. It prevents you from being able to make small steering corrections.
c. It limits your control of the motorcycle.
d. Any bump in the road will unsettle your upper body, and that movement will transmit directly down your locked arm into the handlebar — unintentionally steering the bike.
e. Keep your elbows bent, and keep your weight off the bars.

B. Don’t grab the handlebars tightly.

1. Gripping the bars too hard is the most common source of motorcycle handling problems.
a. Any bumps in the road will jostle the throttle.
i This makes the bike even more jumpy, and messes with your suspension and traction.
ii It can really get bad, and of course you panic even more.
b. Smooth and even control movements are hard to do when you have a death grip on the bars.
c. Tight grip also makes your forearms get tired, and you don’t want to exhaust your forearms while riding. They are the source of power for all your braking and shifting.

2. You do want to hold onto the bike tightly — just not with your hands.
a. Grip with your legs. Use your stomach muscles if necessary.
b. Handlebars are for steering, not for holding on to the bike.

C. Body Positioning
1. In general, keep yourself centered. Lean with the bike — don’t lean more than the bike, don’t try to stay upright.
a. Several writers recommend to keep your head vertical while the rest of your body leans.
i They usually say it’s so you keep your eyes level with the horizon to avoid confused visual cues and upset balance.
ii I think that’s dumber than dirt. Why put a crick in your neck? Any pilot will tell you it’s easier to simply look up to look through a turn than to cock your head and then twist it. And your balance is steadier when your head is banked with the g’s than if you’re fighting them by trying to keep your head vertical.

2. A centered riding stance gives you increased confidence and control in a variety of situations.
a. Your outside knee will be in the correct position, and will help to distribute your weight properly.

3. Sometimes, a little hanging off can help you maneuver.
a. On slippery or wet roads, you can keep the tires more upright by leaning to the inside of the turn. You can use more of the tire’s traction while still turning.

4. During an emergency “pump-pump” swerve, keep your body upright. [This is where, to swerve quickly around an obstacle, you quickly push hard on one handlebar then the other. You remain upright and keep looking where you want to go.]
a. Don’t lean with it. It’s one less thing to think about.
b. You’re not throwing your weight from side to side.
c. You actually boost your countersteering a little by pushing off your own inertia.
d. You’re going to want to be upright at the finish anyway, and the maneuver will take less than a second. Don’t bother moving your body.

V. Vision – When you panic, you also make mistakes with your eyes.

A. You get tunnel vision, because you can’t give any attention to the peripheries.
1. As a result, you have no time to make decisions as things come into your field of view. And you panic even more.

B. You fixate on just one thing at a time, instead of scanning.
1. This uses up all your attention, and creates tunnel vision and more panic.
2. Plus, if you look there you go there. And if you’re fixating on anything, it’s probably on the hazard that’s making you panic. As a result, you ride right into it.
a. Always look where you want to go, not at the obstacle you’re trying to avoid.

C. You can only react to what you can see.
1. More accurately, you can only react to something if you see it in time.
2. This is why you’re not supposed to drive “faster than you can see,” which means “so fast that by the time you see a hazard, there’s not enough time to react before you hit it.”
3. “Faster than you can see” depends not only on how bright a day it is, but also on how much of the road ahead is visible.
4. If you’re in a tight curve with trees alongside the road, then you can’t see very far at all, and you’d better not be going very fast.
5. If you’re approaching a crest in the road, and you can’t see beyond it, then you can’t see very far at all.
6. Only drive as fast as you can see.
7. Visual panic errors reduce what you can see, as well as the time and space you have for reaction.

D. You need to keep your field of vision wide open.
1. This takes practice. It does not happen on its own.
2. With a wide field of vision, you can instantly change where you’re focusing your attention, without moving your eyes around.
a. This prevents you from fixating on one thing at a time and getting tunnel vision.

E. Give yourself visual space.
1. You want to be aware of hazards in time to react to them.
a. If you aren’t, then you will panic.
2. You want to know what to do before you have to do it.
a. If you don’t, then you will panic.
3. For example, spot where you will begin a turn well before you actually get there, and look where you want to go before you start to turn.

VI. Braking – Braking errors are Slides and Skids.
A. You brake both wheels independently of each other. Your right hand brakes the front wheel, and your right foot brakes the rear wheel.
1. This requires the rider to balance the braking forces properly.
a. Take into account that the weight of the bike shifts forward when braking.
b. Slamming on either brake will overcome your traction and you will lose control

2. Concentrate on squeezing the brakes smoothly.
a. This way, you don’t upset the suspension, and you let the bike settle into its stop without overloading its traction.
b. The best way is to squeeze the front brake first, let the bike settle, then apply the rear brake.
i Do this smoothly and you will avoid locking up the rear wheel.

3. You still do it fast. Just smooth. No jerking or slamming.

B. Always use the front brake.

1. Your rear brake is relatively useless by itself.
a. During a stop, the weight of the bike shifts forward. There is less considerably less weight on the rear tire. This reduces its traction and its braking efficiency.

b. Front brakes are where all the stopping power is located. There are usually two of them rather than the single rear disc, to begin with. More importantly, most of the bike’s weight has shifted onto that front tire when you applied the brakes. That’s where all the traction and braking efficiency are focused.

c. Some people are afraid that, if they use only the front brake, then the bike will throw them over the handlebars. This is not going to happen.

i The only way you’re going to do a stoppie is if you’re trying to, or if you’re really overenthusiastic with that front brake.
ii Accident statistics show that the number of injuries from accidental stoppies is statistically insignificant – not even worth mentioning.

iii On the other hand, accident statistics for injuries based on day-to-day reliance on the rear brake alone are overwhelming.
• What happens is, people who rely on the rear brake either lock up the rear wheel, or fail to stop in time.
• Locking up the rear wheel is easy, because there is little weight on that tire, so there is little road resistance to the braking force being applied.
• Locking up the rear wheel will make it skid. It will lose all traction and start to slide.
• Because it has lost traction, it is going faster than the front wheel, and has to move sideways to get around it.
• It will never continue to go straight. The slightest imbalance of weight or angle will throw the tire around you.
• This is when inexperienced riders let off the rear brake and it highsides (see below).
• If they don’t lock up the rear, then they fail to stop in time.
• Mentally unable or unwilling to use the front brake, they ride the rear brake all the way to impact.

d. The front brake is arguably the best safety device on any motorcycle.

i Older but oft-quoted statistics show that the front brake has about 70% of the bike’s stopping power.

ii Due to major increases in brake, tire and suspension technology in the last twenty years, this proportion has probably shifted up to about 80% or 90%.

e. Ride with two fingers resting on the front brake lever at all times.
i Reaction times are critical down to hundredths of a second. Covering the brake gives you a significant and critical reduction in your reaction time.

ii You will be startled. A pedestrian, or a deer, or a car will jump out in front of you. By the time you decide to commit to maximum braking to avoid a collision, you will have already squeezed in the front brake without realizing it.
• Essentially, your normal startle response has become a potential lifesaver.

f. Don’t cover the rear brake.
i Keep the balls of your feet on the pegs.
ii If you cover the rear brake, you’re going to hit it when you least want to.
iii Unless you’re in gravel or something like that, you’re not going to use the rear brake until you’ve already squeezed onto the front brake. So it is not critical that you hit it so soon.

2. It’s best to use both brakes — but not equally. More aggressive braking renders the rear wheel more weightless.

a. The faster you’re going, the more front brake you use.
i In parking lots, it can be 50-50 front and rear together.
ii At 35 to 45 mph, you want to use less rear brake.
iii At highway speeds, you might want to start off with just the front brake.
iv Never use the rear brake at high speed, unless you are super good.

b. As you slow, you can add more rear brake.
c. Using both brakes together ultimately gives you your maximum braking power.

3. There are times when you use ONLY the REAR brake.
a. In gravel or deep sand. (I wish someone had told this to me before I had to drive 30 miles to the shop with warped bars and no shifting pedal)
b. Very slow speeds
c. Steep downhill
d. Tight turns

4. Don’t be afraid to brake as hard as you have to.
a. Grab as much brake as you need, quickly and smoothly.
b. In slippery conditions, you’re obviously going to be concerned about skidding out. But if you’ve got to stop, you’ve got to stop.

i Use your best judgment. If hard braking is necessary to avoid impact, you don’t have much choice. Brake hard.

ii Either you will have the traction you need or you won’t. Your best judgment will be better, though, the more attention you’ve been paying to the way your bike is handling on that road.

iii But when the chips are down, there’s no time to experiment. Do what you gotta do. If the traction is there, you’ll stop. If the traction isn’t there, you will slide out and perhaps crash.

iv Any of the alternatives, however, is better than smacking into an obstacle at full speed. Use the brakes!

v From Jack Roe: While I use my front brake only for all normal riding, the fact is that using both brakes to stop is the fastest way to stop in the shortest distance, so I practice using the rear brake for those emergency situations.

Ideally, the best way to stop quickly (on a good surface) is to apply the the rear brake slightly before applying the front brake, then apply the front brake with a firm squeeze, increasing the pressure on the front brake lever as the weight of the motorcycle transfers forward. The reason for applying the rear brake first is because it helps settle the chassis and
keeps a little more weight on the rear wheel, allowing you to use the rear brake more effectively without locking it. Too much pressure on the rear brake will still cause it to lock. As the weight of the motorcycle transfers forward, ease your pressure on the rear brake to avoid lock-up, while applying an increasing pressure on the front brake lever. This is VERY difficult (damn near impossible) to do under "panic" conditions. Your concentration should be on using the front brake to it's maximum
effectiveness, i.e.: just short of locking up. If you front brake does lock, release it immediately and reapply. Unless you are a braking wizard and lucky as hell, a locked front brake means you're goin' down. The MSF teaches you to keep the rear brake locked if you lock it. If you are leaned over, or in a curve, I agree. But if you are going straight, I strongly suggest releasing the rear brake and reapplying it lightly. The reason for this is there are many times when you will not be able to stop completely and will have to make an emergency swerve to avoid the obstacle in your path. You cannot make ANY steering changes with the rear wheel locked (instant crash).

So, if your rear wheel is locked, at the most critical instant, you must remember to release the rear brake and allow the rear wheel rear to regain traction before you swerve. That's an awful lot to remember, and do in the split second required to save your ass. And most people fail miserably at it and hit the tarmac. Also, it is critical to remember to release your front
brake before attempting your swerve, or again, you will go down in a heartbeat. If this sounds like a hell of a lot of maneuvering to avoid a crash, it sure is. The ONLY way to get it right when you need it the most is to practice constantly until these reactions become instinctive and reactive under duress. Hope this helps.

C. Threshold Braking — Better than A.B.S.

1. This is the fastest way to stop.

a. MSF Course was dead wrong — they said in emergency braking just grab all you got and skid straight.
i I did threshold braking in the course, instead of their technique, and stopped several feet short each time. They made me do it over again, swearing that I was braking too soon, but they saw that I was braking at the right place, just stopping faster than I was supposed to. Amazing, I thought this stuff was common knowledge. Guess not.

b. MSF says lock ‘em up in a panic stop. But if you lock the tires, your stopping distance is actually increased. We’ve all seen accidents where a driver or rider locked up the brakes in a panic stop and slid straight into the rear of the car ahead.
i You literally burn rubber. The friction melts the tire and you slide on a patch of molten rubber. It’s like being on ice.
ii You lose traction regardless, because you’re essentially in a controlled skid, and you slide rather than stop.
iii You lose all steering control.
iv You can also put flat spots on your tire, which ruins it.
c. Conversely, if you brake too lightly, that’s no good either.
d. The fastest way to stop is to brake to the max, but keep the tires rolling.
i You retain directional control and traction.

2. Threshold braking means you apply the brakes to the point where they have their maximum ability to slow the bike, without losing traction.

a. This point is right before they lock up. The “threshold.”
b. This requires practice and fine muscle control.
i It is critical to practice. You must know the feel of your brakes in order to be able to exert maximum stopping power without locking up the wheels.
ii You need a sensitive touch to maximize braking power without exceeding the threshold.

3. What is the braking threshold?

a. It is the point at which you have max stopping power, with the tire still rolling. Any more brake and you lock up and skid. Any less and you’re not stopping fast as you could be.

b. This point is not fixed. It depends on a variety of conditions.
i The threshold will be lower on a wet road than on a dry surface.
ii Snow and ice dramatically lower the threshold (though many drivers seem to be blissfully unaware of this, until they need to stop).
iii Some dry road surfaces have better grip than others, depending on the material used and the surface texture.
• Some roads in Long Island have a really slippery compound that makes even cars wipe out. The counties were supposed to replace it a few years ago, but some places they never got around to it.
iv Bumps and irregularities in the road surface reduce tire adhesion, and lower the braking threshold.
v Banked turns and uphill rises have good adhesion, but off-camber turns and downhill slopes lower the threshold.
vi Cold tires or a cold road also have poor adhesion.
vii Meanwhile, overheated tires can get slippery and feel greasy.

c. TECHNIQUE — How to do threshold braking.
i Start max braking by applying the brakes quickly, but smoothly.
• Do not yank or stomp on the brake! Apply the brake.
• Accurate threshold braking requires a smooth and sensitive touch.
ii Apply the brake all the way to the point where the tire starts to lock.
iii The instant the wheel starts to lock, ease off the brake.
iv Ease back on the brake to get to the threshold.
v This all happens very fast. Easing on and off the brake feels like you’re fluttering the finest muscles in your fingertips and toes.
• You are NOT “pumping” the brakes.
• Pumping the brakes is an error. You need fine, smooth control here. Not on-off-on-off jerking, but a smooth flutter.
• Use the tiny muscles, not the big ones. You cannot get any fine control with your thigh. You can get lots of fine control with the tips of your fingers and toes. That’s what you use.
vi How do you know if you’re doing it right?
• You will know. You’ll feel it, because you are braking with great sensitivity.
• You might be able to hear it. In proper threshold braking, the tire treads make a “blip-blip-blip” sound. This is because, as the tire continues to roll, the treads grip and release, grip and release, grip and release.
• You will not leave any skid marks, and you will stop in a much shorter distance.
d. Practicing
i It is dangerous to practice threshold braking in traffic. At worst, you’ll skid out and hit something. At best, an inattentive car behind you might rear-end you.
• This is a skill that need to be practiced in a safe and controlled environment. Empty parking lots are good.
ii You’re working on building your sensitivity to the behavior of your bike as it approaches and exceeds its braking threshold.
• You want to be able to feel it instinctively, and react instinctively. So you have to be familiar with the feel.
iii This really doesn’t take much time at all. A little practice is all it takes.

D. Slides.

1. Don’t fight a slide. Fighting a slide is a panic error.
a. You’d think that fighting a slide is a good thing, but again your automatic response is going to be the wrong one.

2. Rear-wheel Slides.
a. When the rear tire starts sliding, do nothing at all.
i If you leave the bike alone, it will automatically stabilize itself.
• The front wheel will naturally turn into the slide, and it will go just the right amount to stabilize the bike.
ii If you fight the slide, or tighten on the bars, the bike will pivot on the front tire’s contact patch.
• If you were in a car, it would now spin out, as the rear wheels revolve around the front.
• Your bike, however, will highside.
• The bike will pivot. The front tire will be pointing forward. The rear tire will be pointing off on an angle. The rear tire will still be spinning, it will catch, and pop up into the air.
• So don’t tighten on the bars! Stay cool.
iii If you chop the throttle, the sliding rear tire will regain traction before the bike has recovered. [Chopping the throttle means letting off the gas suddenly. It can be partial or all the way off. Chopping the throttle is almost always a bad thing to do. You want to be smooth with the gas.]
• The rear wheel will regain traction, and you will highside.
• So don’t chop the throttle! Stay cool.

3. Front-wheel Slides.
a. When the front tire starts sliding, do nothing at all.
i If you leave the bike alone, it will automatically stabilize itself.
• The bike will slow, stand itself up, and get back under control.
ii If you try to straighten the front wheel, you’ll make it worse.
• The bike will wind up leaning even more, and you’ll slide worse.
• So don’t straighten out the wheel! Stay cool.
iii If you chop the throttle, all your weight shifts to the sliding front tire.
• You will lose all traction and you will go down.
• So don’t chop the throttle! Stay cool.

4. No matter which wheel is sliding, DO NOTHING.

E. Skids.

1. A skid is a braking error.
a. You’ve locked up the rear wheel.
i It is now skidding to the outside of your turn (or, if you were going straight, it is going out to the side of the bike that had more weight on it, even by a couple of ounces).
ii You have lost your gyro completely!
iii DO NOT LET OFF THE REAR BRAKE
• You will highside.
• Keep that rear brake locked up.
iv Don’t fight the front wheel. Let it correct itself.
• In an extreme skid, you may wind up lowsiding anyway. Do it. It’s far better than the alternative.

b. You’ve locked up the front wheel.
i All your weight was up front for this to happen.
• And now you’ve lost all of your traction.
• And you’ve lost all of your steering.
ii Just let up on the front brake!
• The front tire will grip again, and you’re back in business.
• Don’t make any big steering changes before you do this, though, or you’ll wipe out big time.

2. How do you prevent a skid?
a. Don’t brake in a turn or while swerving. Brake first, then turn. Or turn first, then brake. Never do both at the same time.
i You lose your traction and suspension if you do both together.

b. You can still brake hard.
i Don’t be afraid to brake hard.
• Braking too gradually just makes you have to grab a lot of brake just as you start to turn.
• And turning with too much brake = crash.
• Braking too gradually can make you enter the turn too slow.
• Braking too gradually can make you miss your turn point.
• Braking too gradually can make you hit the obstacle in front of you.
ii Just be smooth while braking hard.
• If you grab too much brake too quickly, you’ll bottom out the front suspension.
• If you grab too much brake too quickly, the front wheel will lock and skid, and you lose your steering entirely.

c. Don’t use your rear brakes unless…
i Save your rear brake until you need it.
• Don’t risk locking up the rear wheel. It kills your gyro, skids you, and makes you totally unstable.
• In most situations, the front brake is all you’ll need.
• If you wind up needing more, by the time you apply the rear brake you’ll be out of the danger zone for skidding.
ii Do use the rear brake in slippery conditions, on gravel, on sand, etc.
iii Do use the rear brake in emergencies.
• Use the front and rear brake TOGETHER for super-fast stopping.

RIDING TIPS - Throttle Control

2008-07-04T11:48:00.001+08:00

Throttle Control – A typical panic reaction is to cut the throttle.

A. Examples:
1. While you’re in a curve, a deer jumps out in front of you. You immediately chop the throttle to slow down.

2. While you’re in a curve, you feel like you’re going faster than you would like. So you let off the gas.

3. While you’re in a curve, you find yourself going too wide — either towards the shoulder or the oncoming traffic — so you cut the throttle.

4. While you’re in a curve, you find yourself turning faster than you want to — you’re leaned over too much — so you slow down by letting off the gas.

5. You find yourself starting to skid. This means your wheels are pointed the wrong way, so you cut the throttle.

6. You hit a bump in the road and it startles you. So you chop the throttle before you even register what just happened.

B. When you chop the throttle, you lose traction instantly.
1. Your bikes weight shifts forward drastically. The effect is the same as taking the weight off the rear tire and putting it on the front tire.

a. If you were in a turn, you already gave up a lot of your traction by leaning over. You can’t afford to lose any more.
i Never brake while leaned over, without standing the bike up first.
• While leaned over, losing traction, any brake will kill what little traction you have left, and you will crash.
b. Reducing the gas will overload your small front tire.
c. Your rear tire, without any weight on it, will start to skid.

i Don’t chop the throttle now, either. Chop the throttle in a slide, and your rear tire suddenly weighs nothing, and it will whip right around.

ii A skidding rear tire can make you highside. While pointed off at an angle, the wheel can start to grip again. This will pop the rear end up and throw you over the handlebars. The bike will pretty much land on top of you.

iii What do you do if the rear end starts to slide?
• You can’t chop the throttle.
• You can’t suddenly increase throttle, either.
• This suddenly adds weight and traction to the rear tire. Which by now is pointed the wrong way. You will highside.
• Instead, just keep the throttle exactly where it is.
• The bike will slowly scrub off speed and recover.
• As the bike slows, you will need to smoothly stand it up.

C. Don’t chop the throttle when you’re going too wide.
1. It feels like you’re going wide because you’re going too fast.
a. That’s right. You are going too fast... for your lean angle.
2. To tighten your turn, simply lean more.
a. Don’t let off the gas. You will actually go wider, because the bike will stand itself up.
3. This is another reason to ride at only 75%. You never know when you’ll need a little more lean angle. And if you’re already on the sidewall, you’re screwed.

D. Because you don’t want to brake or cut the throttle in a turn, you want to do all of your slowing down BEFORE you enter the turn.
1. This doesn’t mean you need to use your brakes. Most of the time, you won’t need to.
2. A common mistake is to wait until right before you lean over, and then chop the throttle.
a. This requires you to coast for a long time before you can add throttle again, because you’re going too fast into the curve. Coasting is bad (see below).
b. In a race, this will really cost you. By staying on the throttle too long, you will actually lose ground.

3. The right way is to ease off the throttle as you approach the beginning of the turn, so you are all the way slowed down before you lean over.
a. This way, you don’t coast at all. You can use the entire turn for acceleration.
b. This is what separates the winning racers from the rest of the pack.
c. Don’t gas it too soon!
i If you hit the throttle before you’re all the way into the lean, then you won’t be able to turn as rapidly, and you’ll have to
stay leaned over longer.

4. Make sure you roll off smoothly.
a. This way, you maintain control.
i Your weight won’t shift forward suddenly.
ii You won’t upset the suspension.
iii You’ll maintain traction.
b. If you chop it, you’ll lose suspension, traction, and control.

E. Once you get into your lean, you should not brake or reduce throttle at all for the rest of the turn.

1. In fact, what you want to do is steadily add throttle.
a. For example, you can tell the winning racers just by listening to them in the corners. They are the ones who steadily add rpm’s all the way through. The rest of the pack goes on and off the gas, and they lose ground and wipe out.
b. On the street you want to do this as well.
i You need to get on the gas as early as possible — not to accelerate, but to balance the bike, and stop it slowing down in the turn.
ii Getting on the gas early affects weight distribution, stability, how well the bike behaves over bumps, and what line you can take.
iii It puts weight on the rear wheel, with its larger contact patch. This helps traction and stability. Also, weight on the bigger rear tire lets you hold a more consistent line.
c. Don’t be silly with the throttle while leaned over. Be smooth.
i When upright, you can play with the throttle like an idiot, no worries.
ii When cornering, you have less grip. The tires can cope with the same amount of throttle as upright, but not if it rushes in all at once.
d. Racing tip: Don’t downshift too much before entering a turn.
i Your RPM will be too high if your gear is too low.
• As a result, you will hit redline too soon, and won’t be able to accelerate for as long as you could have.
• Plus, while you’re leaned over, the effective diameter of your tire is smaller. (The distance from the hub to the sidewall is shorter than the distance to the centerline.) This makes your RPM higher for the same speed to begin with.
ii But don’t upshift to correct this.
• Upshifting changes your suspension too much, too fast. Your bike will get unstable.
• Instead, just stand the bike up a little.
• This way, you ride on a larger circumference on your wheels, which automatically lowers your RPM for the same speed.

F. The proper thing to do is to use SMOOTH throttle control.
1. Don’t jerk the throttle.
2. Keep the g-forces low, and the weight shifting will be minimal.
a. A steady acceleration at low g is perfect while turning.
i Turning will scrub off speed all by itself, due to the extra friction on the tires.
ii So a constant throttle will let you slow a bit if you need to.
3. After entering a turn, you ease your throttle open just a bit, then gradually add gas throughout the curve.
a. Again, this means you had to have done all your slowing down before you leaned the bike over.
4. A common mistake is to wait to add gas until the curve is almost over.
a. That means you were coasting for most of the turn. Coasting is lazy and bad.
i You lose traction, because too much weight shifts to the front tire.
ii Your suspension will overreact to the road.
iii Any steering inputs will be amplified, leading to twitchiness (which can be scary, and can cause yet more panic errors).
iv Your bike will start to wander off line, to the outside.
v The bike will scrub off too much speed.
vi Your gears are not engaged while coasting — and you only have control when the gears are engaged. If you’re coasting, you’ve given up control.

5. The right way is to add gas as soon as you have settled into your lean angle.
a. As soon as you are leaned over to where you want to be for that turn, you start to add gas smoothly.
b. Don’t bother waiting for the suspension to settle first. It will take care of itself when you add the throttle.

RIDING TIPS - Steering

2008-07-04T11:45:00.000+08:00

A. If you do nothing else, steer with your eyes.
1. If you look there, you go there.

2. Remember the kid-eating tree. When dad was teaching us (and all the kids on the block) how to ride bicycles in the back yard, every single one of us managed to ride smack into the one tree there. Because we were all looking at it, instead of where we wanted to go.

3. You will automatically steer towards whatever you are looking at. This is equally true for someone who has never sat on a bike before as for someone who has been riding his whole life (as illustrated by the bike-eating tree).

4. Don’t look at the obstacle. Look where you want to go. And you will go there.

B. Countersteering – if you ride, you’re already doing this anyway, because there is no other way to steer a bike that’s moving faster than 5 mph. Better to do it on purpose rather than by accident, however.

1. To turn left, you push on the left handlebar. To turn right, you push on the right handlebar.
a. This is because of a combination of physical forces.
i Gyroscopic Force
• When a sideways force is applied to a gyroscope, the gyro will lean into it.
• Pushing on the left handlebar tries to turn the wheel to the right. In effect, there is a force pushing on the front wheel from the left side.
• If the front wheel is spinning, it is a gyro, and it will actually lean over to the left as a result.
• The harder you push on the handlebar, the farther over it leans.
ii Steering Geometry
• When you turn the handlebars, the front fork rotates along an axis. This axis is at an angle to the ground (its “rake”).
• The contact patch of the front wheel is directly beneath the center of the wheel. The front fork ends at the center of the wheel. But if you extended its axis of rotation all the way down to the ground, it would touch the ground some distance in front of the contact patch, because of the “rake.”
• The distance between the contact patch and this imaginary extension of the fork’s axis is called the “trail.”
• When you apply pressure on the left handlebar, the wheel does in fact turn to the right. But because of this “trail,” the wheel wants to fall over to the left.
• The more you push on the handlebar, the more the wheel wants to fall over.
• Turning the wheel to the left, for example, steers the contact patch out from underneath the motorcycle’s center of gravity. The tire will bank over to the right (and because it is connected to the forks, it will take the rest of the bike with it).
iii Once you are leaned over, the front end only stabilizes the bike. Steering is done by the Rear end.
• As a result, the front end only carries about 1/3 of the cornering load.
• This cornering load is still important. You want that weight on the front wheel, in order to be able to lean and to change
the lean angle.

2. A common panic reaction is when you want to swerve around an obstacle, or turn suddenly, and you FAIL TO COUNTERSTEER.
a. You wanted to go right, and turned the wheel to the right.
b. The bike will start to go left. That’s not what you want to happen, and you try to go right even harder.
c. What happens is, you “lowside” the bike.
i The bike falls all the way down with you sliding along behind it.
ii When you hear someone say “That truck pulled in front of me, and I had to lay the bike down,” what they’re really saying is the failed to countersteer and they lowsided the bike. Nobody drops their bike on purpose.

3. Don’t steer by pushing the bike beneath yourself.
a. Yes, you can steer the bike using just your body. But it is very inefficient.
i Essentially, body steering means you are pushing on the frame of the bike. This effort is transferred to the forks and is translated as a steering input.
• It is impossible to body-steer, or do any kind of steering at all, if the handlebars are immobilized.
ii It takes significantly longer for body steering to take effect. Not a good idea when you need to maneuver Now.
iii It takes a lot more effort than pushing on the handlebars.
• No matter how much force you apply to the frame of the bike, no matter how hard you try to lean it with your body, the slightest pressure on the handlebars the other way will turn you the other way.
iv It is not as easy to control.
v When the bike actually does get around to turning, you wind up using more lean angle than you needed.
vi It makes you fight the bike.
• Don’t fight the bike. Lean with it.
b. To help yourself stay with the bike, put more weight on the outside footpeg while you’re leaning the bike over.
i This keeps your body’s center of gravity closer to that of the bike.
ii It’s the same thing as shifting your weight to the outside of a slow tight turn. This lets the bike pivot more quickly, with less effort.

4. Don’t steer by pushing down. Push forward.
a. The handlebars do not move up and down. They rotate forward and back.
i Any downward force you apply is wasted effort.
ii Pushing straight down achieves nothing. Pushing down at an angle applies some force forward, which is used, and some force down, which is wasted. Pushing straight forward achieves everything with no wasted effort.
b. For maximum ease and efficiency keep your elbows down and your forearms horizontal.
i This puts all of your energy into the actual steering, so you hardly need to use any muscle at all.
ii Pushing down on the bars hurts your wrists.
iii Pushing down on the bars leads to stiff-arming the bike. Don’t stiff-arm it, stay loose. (see Body Control, below)
C. NOT FOR STREET RIDING – One way to steer a tighter curve without leaning as much, is to hang off the bike.
1. This is when racers put their knee down.
a. What happens is, you shift your body towards the inside of the curve. This shift in the center of gravity makes the bike turn more quickly with less lean.
i You lower your center of gravity without having to lean as much.
b. This way, you keep more traction, more upright stability, and more lean angle in reserve in case you need it.
c. On a sportbike, it also puts your center of gravity over the bike’s wide tire footprint.
d. You probably should never need to do this on the street. Just on the racetrack. Still, it can be a useful skill to have.
2. Never steer the bike while your butt is off the seat.
a. What happens is, your handlebars become the bike’s primary pivot point, instead of your center of gravity.
b. As a result, your bike will wobble unsteadily all over the place. This is never good, but especially not when the bike is leaned over hard!
3. The technique is pretty straightforward.
a. While you’re going straight, stand up on the pegs. (Don’t slow down yet.)
i Of course, you should be on your toes. You should only ride on the balls of your feet, never on your arches.
ii This gives you more control, makes the ride smoother, and upsets the suspension less.
b. Standing on the pegs now, you shift your weight to the inside of the turn. (Don’t slow down yet.)
c. Set one butt cheek down on the seat. (Don’t slow down yet.)
i Don’t wiggle the front wheel while you’re doing this!
d. Okay, NOW you can roll off the gas and start to brake.
e. Get comfortable. You don’t want to shift around during the turn.
f. Grip the tank with your outside leg and your body.
g. Lean the bike over into the turn.
h. To shift your weight even more, put your knee out (not down).

4. If you are not comfortable with moving around on the bike, you can try putting your knee out while remaining centered on the seat. You will slightly shift your center of mass, but also the air-brake effect of your knee on the inside of the turn will make the bike turn a bit more easily.
D. Mid-Turn Steering Correction – a common panic error.
1. You feel you’re going too fast, or too wide, or whatever. So you change your steering while you’re in the turn.
a. Note: Little adjustments are normal, and are of course necessary. But if it’s big enough to be noticed, it’s probably wrong.
i Unless the radius of the curve itself is changing. Then you do need to make larger adjustments through the turn.
b. Mid-turn steering corrections can start a chain reaction of further errors, and you can go down.
i Usually, what you do is lean more while jerking the throttle (which itself makes everything even worse).
ii This makes you unstable.
iii So you stand the bike up to regain stability.
iv Now you start to go wide.
v So you lean over even more than before, trying to stay on the road.
vi You go down.
2. You need to have confidence that the bike will make it through the turn.
3. Most of the time, you don’t need to make mid-turn steering corrections.
a. Unless you’re making a significant change (as in a decreasing-radius turn), your corrections aren’t going to do much anyway. You’re going to wind up exiting the turn at the same place, despite your correction.
b. So why risk creating more problems if you don’t have to? Try to keep yourself to one steering input per turn.
4. Make that one steering input quickly, and you’ll corner better.
a. If you take longer to roll over into your lean angle, you need to start turning too soon.
b. The bike takes a wider line, the more gradually you lean. You can drift out of your lane.
c. You’ll be forced to make corrections, as you first go wide, then pull in tighter to make the corner. And you only want one steering input per turn.
d. Leaning over more quickly lets you make just the one input, you can get back on the throttle sooner and harder, and you accomplish your cornering faster.

5. One steering input per turn.
a. If you’re going to get this right, you have to get the right lean angle at the beginning of the turn.
b. You want as little lean angle as possible – just enough to make the turn.
i Don’t go all the way over. You may need the extra lean if the curve gets tighter on you. If that happens and you’re scraping pegs, there’s nowhere left to go but wide.
ii Less lean angle is more stable.
iii Less lean angle gives you more traction.
iv More lean makes every bump, ripple and slippery spot more likely to cause a slide.
v More lean requires better throttle control.
vi More lean means you can’t go as fast as if you were upright.
c. How do you keep the lean angle to a minimum?
i In extreme turns, as in racing, you can get the knee down. But you should never ever need to do that on the street.
• Hanging off does let you steer more quickly, if you get your body into position and are stable before the turn. But remember, never steer while you’re in the process of hanging off. It makes the bike wiggle.
ii To keep the lean angle down, Steer More Quickly.
• Flick your bike into its lean angle faster.
• This turns your bike faster, at the same road speed, with less lean.
• This lets you get your turning done sooner.
• So you can stand it up sooner.
• You have more lean angle available in case you need it.
• The bike is more stable.
• You can go faster.
• Your traction is better.
6. Don’t be afraid to lean way over, if you need to.
a. It is so hard to drop the bike simply from leaning too far. The trick is to keep on the throttle as that contact patch gets smaller.
b. You’re in too fast for real, or the turn got tighter unexpectedly, or a truck crossed the yellow line. Whatever the reason, you need to tighten your turn. Do it. That’s why you only ride at 75%, so you have that extra room when you need it.
c. The bike can lean a lot more than you think you can, so go for it if you have to.
d. In extreme leans, you risk overloading the tires. If you overload the tires, you will go down. There are four ways to avoid this.
i Hold it where you are, don’t lean any further.
ii Stand it up — dangerous because you will go wider now. Things like buildings, trees and oncoming traffic tend to upset the alignment of your skeleton.
iii Scrub off speed — DON’T let off the throttle, you will go down. Keep the throttle where it is, and the tires will scrub off speed with their own friction.
iv Rear-wheel steering (a.k.a. oversteering) — When you’re at the limit of your tires, adding throttle will overload the rear tire. It will slide. It will slide to the outside of the turn (it does this a little in all turns anyway, but this is aggravated sliding). This will pivot the bike into the corner tighter, and the front wheel will stand up a bit (which is good, because you definitely don’t want to wash out the front wheel).
E. Turning too soon is a big steering error.
1. If you start to turn too soon, then your turn is going to start out shallow. And you’re going to have to turn again (or maybe even a couple more times) to actually make it through the curve.
a. This opens you up to more steering errors, throttle errors, braking errors, vision errors, body errors, etc. Why would you do that to yourself?
b. You wind up being leaned over longer than you need to. Your traction and stability are being sacrificed that whole time. Why would you do that to yourself?
c. And it’s just plain extra work.
2. If you steer later, closer to the apex of the curve, then you’ll only have to steer once.
F. Hesitant steering can be a problem.
1. You doubt your ability to get the bike turned. Why?
a. You’re not familiar with this curve.
b. You feel like you’re going to go wide.
c. You think you’re going to have to lean too much.
d. You’re concerned about oncoming traffic.
e. You’re afraid of losing traction.
2. This causes three errors.
a. You stay on the brakes through the turn, or you coast.
i Don’t brake while leaned over!
• You’ll lose your gyro and go down.
• You’ll lock up the rear wheel and highside.
b. You steer earlier than you should.
c. You steer more slowly than you should.
i This makes you turn too soon.
ii If you didn’t turn too soon, then you’re going to go wide.
iii Either way, you’ll wait too long to get back on the gas.
iv Either way, you’re going to make mid-turn steering corrections.
v You’ll probably wind up using too much lean angle.
vi And of course all the other panic errors will follow. Stiff-arming the bars, tunnel vision, freezing up, etc.
3. Don’t hesitate. Trust yourself. Trust the bike.
a. If you think you’re entering the corner too fast, ask yourself if it’s too fast for the bike, or for you. Your bike can probably handle it.
G. Choose your turn-entry point.
1. Make this a conscious decision.
2. This is a great way to defeat entry panic.
3. It gives you an idea of where you are, where you’re going, and where you need to be.
4. It frees up your attention, so now you can think ahead.
H. Always set your speed before you even begin to lean.
1. You don’t want to have to slow down during the turn (See Throttle Control, below)
2. You don’t want to be slowing or braking while you’re in the process of leaning. That’s a recipe for disaster.
3. Do all of your slowing before you start to lean over.

RIDING TIPS - Dont panic

2008-07-04T11:41:00.001+08:00

Everything about riding a motorcycle is counterintuitive.

A. Your natural instincts serve you well in ordinary situations, but the physics of motorcycles is anything but ordinary.
1. As a result, your natural instinct is almost always wrong.
a. If you do what comes naturally, you will probably make a bad situation worse.

B. When you panic, even the tiniest bit, you automatically react by instinct, without thinking.
1. For example, while going around a curve, you feel an unexpected bump or slide, and automatically cut back on the throttle and stiffen your body. It only happened in a split-second, but you just made things worse.

C. So to prevent yourself from reacting instinctively, the best thing to do is to not let yourself get in a panic situation to begin with.

1. How can you prevent panic? It’s a reaction to the unforeseen, right?
a. Actually, no.
b. Panic is what you do when your mind is already completely occupied, and you can’t give any extra attention to a new situation.

i If you are riding near (or beyond) the limit of your abilities, then your attention is completely used up.
• ANYTHING new is going to make you panic a little.

ii If you are riding faster than you can see (i.e., your roadspeed is such that you cannot react to unexpected road conditions in time, once you see them), then your attention is completely used up by things happening faster than you can react to them.
• ANYTHING new is going to make you panic at this point.

2. The solution is to never ride at more than 75% of your ability.
a. Less is even better.
b. When you’re surprised, you have plenty of attention in reserve to give to the new situation, and you will react properly instead of instinctively.
c. When conditions suddenly require additional skill — such as a car cutting you off, or a curve in the road that suddenly gets even tighter — you will have that ability available to you, and you won’t panic.

3. When riding with others, still don’t ride past your limits.
a. Riding faster than you’re comfortable going is exciting, but stupid. You give up your safety margin by riding close to or past your limits.
i You can learn a lot from keeping up with a better rider, but make sure you’re really following someone who you can learn from.
ii Don’t try to keep up if you can’t do it comfortably. Catch up later.
iii Likewise, keep an eye out for less-experienced riders you might be outpacing.
b. Maybe you don’t want to lose face, maybe you don’t want to get lost, but there is a strong temptation to keep up with riders who go faster than you can comfortably go. Don’t give in to the temptation.
D. Now that you can overcome your natural instincts, you need to know what the proper responses actually are.

Doomsday 2012

2008-07-03T16:23:00.001+08:00

2012 Predictions
One thing that will never end is speculation about the future. (That last sentence being a case in point, I suppose). Although, to my knowledge no specific dated predictions has ever succeeded, dates continue to be set and people continue to be fascinated and even concerned about them as they approach. (David Booth's dream of the 1979 airline disaster premonition is one notable documented case that makes me qualify prediction with the word "dated".)

The most popular doomsday date approaching is 2012. Countless sites offer evidences from various sources including Bible Code, Peak Oil, Numerology, Remote Viewing, Elliot Wave, etc. as evidence of something earth-shaking due that year. Most famously 2012 is the year when the so-called Long Count b'ak'tun cycle of the Mayan Calendar ends (on December 21 or possibly December 23). While it's unclear what the end of that period meant to the Mayas, many interpret the period end as The End, perhaps of civilization as we know it due to a major catastrophe, such as the passage of Planet X.

My default assumption about 2012 has been that it would probably be no different than the previous speculated dates. That assumption came from a time-proven maxim I had coined based on the saying that a "watched pot never boils": If anyone "sets a doomsday date", that's the one date that you can count on nothing happening. In other words, if everyone is distracted by watching one time period, it seems to virtually guarantee that nothing will happen during it. Or if something does happen, it will come at some other unwatched time.

Historically Doomed "Doomsday Dates"
The ultimate example of a set date which failed was of course Y2K or January 1, 2000. Many authors and ministries in 1999 were seriously committed to warning people that the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI) was nigh because of the year 2000 computer bug. Many people took them seriously and took action by stocking up on ready to eat (RTE) meal kits and other food supplies, investing in gold and silver, and preparing safe houses out of the city, etc. To their regret or relief, nothing happened.

By the way, I'll readily admit here that Y2K heavily influenced the timing of my already planned exodus from the USA in search of a better life to the beautiful tropical country of Costa Rica. Not long after arriving in 1999, I realized that Y2K could not possibly live up to its predictions. In hindsight I can see how God used that rumor to put some urgency behind my relocation plans. Nine years later I have no regrets and a very well-received prophecy book to show for my move. I never would have been able to write this book had I stayed put in my old lifestyle (or "the machine" as it's called in Pink Floyd's Welcome to the Machine). God guides and teaches us in surprising ways, even through misunderstandings.

Another example of a set date that is especially notable in the context of 2012 is May 15th, 2003. This was the supposed date of passing for Planet X according to Zetatalk, Mark Hazlewood and others early in this decade. Again, it was a dud that (this time) I recognized a mile away coming off my lesson from Y2K. On the positive side, 2003 hype did make many people aware of Planet X--including me. This lead directly to the researching and writing of my first book Planet in Bible Prophecy with the goal of finding out if the Bible substantiated such a catastrophe. (Which it did, just not for that year that many were watching).

One example of a major catastrophe that happened without prediction or at the wrong time, is, of course, 9-11. Supposedly there was at least one specific prediction of commercial passenger jets crashing into the towers before it happened, but none that I heard of dated it for Sept 11, 2001 nor did any such predictions become popular until after the event happened. Talk about a great missed opportunity for all the capable prophets out there to prove their mettle. (And in the end, as far as I have concluded from studying what real Bible prophets are made of, they did show their worth, or lack thereof.)

Clues From Bible Prophecy Breakthroughs
When I set out in 2006 to expand Planet X in Bible Prophecy to cover the rest of the Bible's prophetic roadmap of the end times, my understanding was already good enough to rule out Planet X's passage a few years into the future based on the absence of Biblical prerequisite events in the present. With 2012 already well estabished in the prophetic lexicon, one of the goals of my research was to determine if the many milestones and relative timing clues of Revelation and Daniel would tell us anything about whether 2012 deserved the dreaded reputation it was gaining. I would be willing to change my default assumption that 2012 was not going to be anything special if the Bible confirmed it somehow.

This would be a difficult task, because, contrary to the idea you'd get from studying the "Bible codes", literal Bible prophecy gives you no absolute or set dates. Instead there are relative timings given between certain milestones and the End of the Age. If you have heard of the 1335, 1290, 1260 days or the 42 months or 3½ years then you know what I'm talking about. Thus at the outset there seemed little hope of finding a definitive answer on 2012.

That changed when I remembered something I had learned years before. In listening to a Torah teacher, I heard that the 70 Weeks of Daniel 9 are, as one who has carefully studied the OT might suspect, Sabbath year cycles, or periods of seven years ending with a Sabbath year (called the Shmita in Hebrew). The Sabbath years were given to Israel as a year of rest from planting their fields with the guarantee that they would produce enough in the sixth year to carry them two years. On the surface this seems to have nothing to do with end time prophecy, but God never does things for a single reason or on a single level of meaning.

For example, Israel was told to eat the passover lamb each year to remember their Exodus on that day in history. Yet, later, Jesus was sacrificed as the Passover Lamb on that very same day of the year as well. Jesus also told us plainly in the Sermon on the Mount that the Torah, which includes the instructions of such holy day events as well as the Sabbath years, needed to be fulfilled (Mt 5:17-19). In other words, all of these instructions were "a shadow of things to come" (Col 2:17; Heb 10:1).

The Sabbath years turn out to actually point to the year of the return of Jesus. Jesus will return at the end of the 70th week, which is a Sabbath year. (For those who want the full understanding, I've dedicated an entire chapter to this topic in my book).

2012 According to the Bible...
Once I remembered that prophecy secret, I had two more steps to leverage it for determining what was possible in 2012 according to the Bible. I first needed to figure out which, among the differing opinions, was the correct Sabbatical year cycle today. Thanks to all my previous Bible research, that did not prove too hard to work out (although it remains debatable to most experts you'd ask). Next, I proceeded to deduce where all the events of Daniel and Revelation fall during the 70th week, working backwards from the rapture/return of Jesus at the end of it.

Yes, I said that right, the rapture is last. There are unfortunately many key prophetic events predicted by the Bible to come before the rapture, which is incorrectly considered the first prophetic event on most Christian's prophetic roadmap (if they even have one). Wormwood (secularly known as Planet X) of the 3rd trumpet, is actually the kickoff event to the catastrophes ahead which Revelation predicts starting with the 6th seal and ending with the 4th trumpet. Planet X's passage is often connected with 2012 (although as far as I can tell, this date is picked because of its widespread acceptance as a doomsday date, not based on any actual observations and orbital data). From my research on the Sabbath year cycles, I was shocked to find that the Bible indicated 2012 as one of the few possible years for Wormwood's passage!

But I hasten to add that 2012 is only the first possible year for Wormwood/Planet X and only if the 70th week starts at the next Sabbath year cycle. Time has passed since I made that discovery and the window is closing for that to be true. See, we don't even have to wait for the actual year before we can rule 2012 out completely. I mentioned there are other events that are not on the typical pretrib Christian prophetic roadmap that should be. Another one of these events is the coming Middle East nuclear war predicted by an abundance of prophetic chapters, including Psalm 83. This particular event has to happen before Wormwood comes, for many reasons I won't go into here. To make a long story short, if we don't see this war materialize soon, we can rule out 2012 as a year of any type of prophetic fulfillment. (And if something does happen that year and it's not in Bible prophecy, then it's nothing to worry about.) Therefore, if I had to guess based on the information we have now, I'd say 2012 will be another non-event just like 2000 and 2003.

4 years and 172 days until the end of the world?

2008-07-03T16:21:00.001+08:00

what will happen in 2012?
According to their calendar, the Maya believed that their world would end on Dec 21, 2012. Of all the dates put forth by prophets and cultures for a doomsday, this is one with an authentic, almost eerie feel to it. But what will happen? A global cataclysm is a possibility that I focus on - but nobody knows for sure what will happen..

Every so often a force from space causes global cataclysms and mass mutations.

The Anicent Mayan Calendar ends in 2012. We would be very foolish to ignore this warning, a doomsday date that may have been given to the Maya by others
Pole shifts have occurred in the past and will occur again. There is no known terrestial mechanism that can cause pole shifts, so the trigger could well be extra-terrestial. With the universe being the mystery that it is, we should accept that anything is possible.
Mass extinctions and rapid evolution occur at the same time as cataclysms. Rapid evolutionary change can only be achieved via extremely high rates of mutations, and by mutations that are not random. Unicorns and dragons once actually existed, they were mutant strains that didn't survive very long.
Cosmic rays cause mutations. A huge influx of cosmic rays would cause high rates of mutations. Although scientists are unsure about where all the cosmic rays come from, the source might be the same as what powers the pole shifts.
The ancients were aware of the dangers of cosmic rays and cataclysms and encoded information about them into their calendars, myths and monuments. I also believe that pyramids may have been designed as cosmic ray shelters.

Brewing Better Coffee With DNA

2008-07-01T13:18:00.001+08:00

“Brazil has announced the creation of a coffee DNA data bank, which will help the country improve the quality and size of its coffee crop….”The data bank will help Brazil improve the aroma and flavor of its coffee … to satisfy consumers with a product that has more added value,” the statement said.”

Four Or More Cups Of Coffee A Day May Help Prevent Gout

2008-07-01T13:17:00.001+08:00

Coffee is a habit for more than 50 percent of Americans, who drink, on average, two cups per day. This widely consumed beverage is regularly investigated and debated for its impact on health conditions from breast cancer to heart disease. Among its complex effects on the body, coffee or its components have been linked to lower insulin and uric acid levels on a short-term basis or cross-sectionally. These and other mechanisms suggest that coffee consumption may affect the risk of gout, the most prevalent inflammatory arthritis in adult males.

To examine how coffee consumption might aggravate or protect against this common and excruciatingly painful condition, researchers at the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada, University of British Columbia in Canada, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health in Boston conducted a prospective study on 45,869 men over age 40 with no history of gout at baseline. Over 12 years of follow-up, Hyon K. Choi, MD, DrPH, and his associates evaluated the relationship between the intake of coffee and the incidence of gout in this high risk population. Their findings, featured in the June 2007 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, provide compelling evidence that drinking four or more cups of coffee a day dramatically reduces the risk of gout for men.

Subjects were drawn from an ongoing study of some 50,000 male health professionals, 91 percent white, who were between 40 and 75 years of age in 1986 when the project was initiated. To assess coffee and total caffeine intake, Dr. Choi and his team used a food-frequency questionnaire, updated every four years. Participants chose from nine frequency responses - ranging from never to two to four cups per week to 6 or more per day - to record their average consumption of coffee, decaffeinated coffee, tea, and other caffeine-containing comestibles, such as cola and chocolate.

Through another questionnaire, the researchers documented 757 newly diagnosed cases meeting the American College of Rheumatology criteria for gout during the follow-up period. Then, they determined the relative risk of incident gout for long-term coffee drinkers divided into four groups - less than one cup per day, one to three cups per day, four to five cups per day, and 6 or more cups per day - as well as for regular drinkers of decaffeinated coffee, tea, and other caffeinated beverages. They also evaluated the impact of other risk factors for gout - body mass index, history of hypertension, alcohol use, and a diet high in red meat and high-fat dairy foods among them - on the association between coffee consumption and gout among the study participants.

Most significantly, the data revealed that the risk for developing gout decreased with increasing coffee consumption. The risk of gout was 40 percent lower for men who drank four to five cups a day and 59 percent lower for men who drank 6 or more cups a day than for men who never drank coffee. There was also a modest inverse association with decaffeinated coffee consumption. These findings were independent of all other risk factors for gout. Tea drinking and total caffeine intake were both shown to have no effect on the incidence of gout among the subjects. On the mechanism of these findings, Dr. Choi speculates that components of coffee other than caffeine may be responsible for the beverage’s gout-prevention benefits. Among the possibilities, coffee contains the phenol chlorogenic acid, a strong antioxidant.

While not prescribing four or more cups a day, this study can help individuals make an informed choice regarding coffee consumption. “Our findings are most directly generalizable to men age 40 years and older, the most gout-prevalent population, with no history of gout,” Dr. Choi notes. “Given the potential influence of female hormones on the risk of gout in women and an increased role of dietary impact on uric acid levels among patients with existing gout, prospective studies of these populations would be valuable.”

Higher Coffee Consumption Associated With Lower Liver Cancer Risk

2008-07-01T13:16:00.001+08:00

A new large, prospective population-based study confirms an inverse relationship between coffee consumption and liver cancer risk. The study also found that higher levels of gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) in the blood were associated with an increased risk of developing the disease. These findings are published in the July issue of Hepatology, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). The article and an accompanying editorial are also available online at Wiley Interscience.

Researchers led by Gang Hu at the University of Helsinki set out to examine the associations between coffee consumption and serum GGT with the risk of liver cancer in a large prospective cohort. Residents of Finland drink more coffee per capita than the Japanese, Americans, Italians, and other Europeans, so Hu and colleagues studied 60,323 Finnish participants ages 25 to 74 who were cancer-free at baseline. The Finns were included in seven independent cross-sectional population surveys conducted between 1972 and 2002 and followed up through June 2006.

The participants completed a mail-in questionnaire about their medical history, socioeconomic factors and dietary and lifestyle habits. For a subset of participants, clinical data was available, including serum levels of GGT. Data on subsequent cancer diagnoses was collected from the country-wide Finnish Cancer Registry.

Based on their answers to the question: "How many cups of coffee do you drink daily?" the participants were divided into five categories: 0-1 cup, 2-3 cups, 4-5 cups, 6-7 cups, and 8 or more cups per day. After a median follow-up period of 19.3 years, 128 participants were diagnosed with liver cancer.

The researchers noted a significant inverse association between coffee drinking and the risk of primary liver cancer. They found that the multivariable hazards ratio of liver cancer dropped for each group that drank more coffee. It fell from 1.00, to .66, to .44, to .38 to .32 respectively. "The biological mechanisms behind the association of coffee consumption with the risk of liver cancer are not known," the authors point out.

They also found that high levels of serum GGT were associated with an increased risk of liver cancer. The hazard ratio of liver cancer for the highest vs. lowest quartile of serum GGT was 3.13. "Nevertheless," they report, "the inverse association between coffee consumption and the risk of liver cancer was consistent in the subjects at any level of serum GGT."

An accompanying editorial by Carlo La Vecchia of Milan says that Hu’s new study solidly confirms the inverse relationship between coffee drinking and liver cancer risk, though we still don’t know if it is causal. "Furthermore, the study by Hu et al. provides original and important quantitative evidence that the levels of GGT are related to subsequent incidence of liver cancer, with an overall relative risk of 2.3," he says.

La Vecchia notes, however, that, "It remains difficult, however, to translate the inverse relation between coffee drinking and liver cancer risk observed in epidemiological studies into potential implications for prevention of liver cancer by increasing coffee consumption."

Amazing Calculations

2008-06-24T21:39:00.001+08:00

ROMANCE MATHEMATICS

Smart man + smart woman = romance

Smart man + dumb woman = affair

Dumb man + smart woman = marriage

Dumb man + dumb woman = pregnancy

OFFICE ARITHMETIC

Smart boss + smart employee = profit

Smart boss + dumb employee = production

Dumb boss + smart employee = promotion

Dumb boss + dumb employee = overtime

SHOPPING MATH

A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.

A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need.

GENERAL EQUATIONS & STATISTICS

A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.

A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.

A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

HAPPINESS

To be happy with a man, you must understand him a lot and love him a little.

To be happy with a woman, you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.

LONGEVITY

Married men live longer than single men do, but married men are a lot more willing to die.

PROPENSITY TO CHANGE

A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.

A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, and she does.

DISCUSSION T! ECHNIQUE

A woman has the last word in any argument.

Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

12 ways to save petrol and money

2008-06-10T12:28:00.001+08:00

The price of petrol has always been climbing upwards. Instead of complaining about the increase in cost of petrol, let's see how can you cut down on petrol costs. Choosing the right type of petrol is a good start! As a general rule of thumb, you should always flip through your vehicle owner's manual and choose the lowest recommended grade of petrol required. Contrary to popular belif, higher grades of petrol actually does nothing to improve the performance of your car.

In addition, below are 12 good driving tips for saving fuel. Read them carefully, and you will probably save a pile on your next petrol bill.

1. Pump up your tyres
Keeping your tyres inflated is one of the easiest and essential way to reduce petrol usage. Saving petrol = saving money. Thus, your should try to improve your fuel economy.

If a range is recommended by the manufacturer, the higher pressure should be used to maximize fuel efficiency. Deflated tyres run hot and jeopardize safety. It will cause the tyres to wear out prematurely, affect the vehicles adversely. It also decrease the fuel economy by increasing the rolling resistance.

Tyres lose about one psi pressure per month due to air loss caused by the tyre hitting holes, bumps and kerbs. There is thus a need to check tyres at least once a month. A tyre deflated by two psi will result in a one per cent increase in fuel consumption.

2. Drive at a moderate speed
Avoid speeding on open roads. Driving at the acceptable speed limit is safer and increases the fuel economy. As for highway driving, over 50% of the power produced by the engine is used to overcome aerodynamic drag. For this reason, fuel consumption increases rapidly at speeds above 90km/h. On an average, a car uses about 15% more fuel at 100km/h, and 25% more fuel at 110km/h as compared to when it is cruising at 90km/h.

However, this should not lead one to conclude that the lower the speed, the better the fuel economy. The fuel consumption of an average car increases sharply at any speed below 50km/h.

Driving at a moderate speed increases the fuel efficiency.

3. Clean the air filter regularly
Clogged air filters increase fuel consumption by restricting airflow to the engine. It should be cleaned/replaced when necessary. Clogged air filters can increase fuel consumption by up to 10 per cent.

4. Use thinner tyres
Tyres with thick width will improve the handling of your car. On the flip side, it will also increase your car’s fuel consumption. Thicker tyres mean more rolling resistance, and naturally higher fuel consumption.

5. Start up the car properly
Cars these days do not require you to prime the engine by pumping the accelerator pedal repeatedly before starting. Such an action wastes fuel, so avoid doing it. When starting the engine, idle it for no more than 30 seconds to warm it up. An engine will warm up faster on the road. However, avoid sudden acceleration before the engine has warmed up sufficiently.

6. Drive in high gear (Overdrive)
The engine runs most efficiently between around 1,500 and 2,500 rpm. To maintain low engine revolutions, you should increase through the gears as soon as possible and before the revolution reach 2500 rpm.

For automatic transmission cars, you should always switch on your overdrive to help save fuel. Overdrive will allow your engine to change gears at lower revolutions. It also puts your transmission into an "economy" mode. It engages the final "overdrive" gear when cruising to keep the rpms extra low, thereby increasing fuel economy.

7. Travel light
Avoid carrying any unnecessary weight in your car. On the average, every 50kg added load in your car will increase fuel consumption by two per cent.

8. Anticipate traffic ahead
A driver can reduce fuel consumption by up to 10 per cent if he does not brake or accelerate unnecessarily. Anticipate traffic conditions ahead, adjust your speed accordingly and avoid tailgating. Accelerations and decelerations waste fuel. Braking and abrupt stops can be minimized by not following too closely and slowing down gradually when approaching a red light.

It takes up to six times as much fuel to move a car from a dead stop than it does for one moving at just a few km/h.

9. Avoid strong acceleration
The fuel consumption remains at a minimum when driving steadily at a moderate speed of about 90km/h. Bear in mind that every time the accelerator is depressed, the engine goes into a “fuel-enrichment” mode which wastes fuel.

The vehicle should always be gradually and smoothly accelerated. Using cruise control on highways can help maintain a constant speed and reduce fuel consumption.

10. Minimise aerodynamic drag
Additional parts on the exterior of a vehicle such as roof racks and spoilers, or having the window open, increases aerodynamic drag.

Roof racks are bad for fuel economy as they increase air resistance and fuel consumption.

11. Don't let your engine idle
Minimize fuel wastage when idling by stopping the engine whenever your car is stationary or held up for an extended period of time.

Idling for more than a minute consumes much more fuel than restarting an engine. By having the engine switched off, you will save more fuel than that you lose from the burst of fuel involved in restarting the engine. The net increased wear and tear from this practice is negligible.

12. Use the air-con sparingly
Air conditioners can use about 10 per cent more fuel when operating. However, if you are driving at more than 80 km/h, using the air condition is better for fuel economy than an open window.

2008 Honda Jazz specs confirmed for Singapore

2008-06-03T21:16:00.002+08:00

Honda claims all-new Jazz to be sportier, trendy, more powerful, and more spacious than ever.

The 2nd generation Honda Jazz has finally arrived, and it has completely redesigned in the way of sportier aesthetics, better fuel economy, bigger cabin space, and ‘fun-to-drive’ appeal. Honda claims that the durability, quality and reliability factors have also been rated highly among growing customer groups who prefer the 5-door hatchback’s versatility and spacious interior.

It is available in 11 exterior colours (7 are brand new) and quirky interior styling that each owner can specify and choose according to his or her preferences.

“The all-new Jazz offers enhanced vehicle stability and field-of-view, and is more ‘fun-to-drive’ The all new and powerful i-VTEC engines will thrill fans even more. For customers looking for a car that is unique, stylish, versatile, spacious, and highly fuel efficient, the latest Jazz is an attractive choice,” said Mr. Vincent Ng, Product Manager of Kah Motor.

Available in both 1.3 and 1.5S variants, the 1.3 is equipped with a new fuel sipping, valve de-activating technology restricts additional combustion of petrol and lower rpms. The 1339cc i-VTEC engine develops a powerful 100ps, while the 1.5S’ 1496cc i-VTEC is rated at 120-ps.

Both engines are 92RON compatible, and features a 5-speed automatic transmissions with steering mounted paddle shifters. A close ratio 5-speed manual transmission is also available on both models. With no continuously variable transmissions available, this has been done in the way of appealing to the younger, sportier demographic of buyers who love driving and the driving sensation of a conventional 5-speed automatic, not to mention it’s clutched variant.

“It has been meticulously designed around the needs of the young and savvy new customers that Honda is attracting. We have included steering mounted paddle shifters on all models equipped with the new advanced 5-speed automatic transmission. Large diameter front disc brakes, rear disc brakes, a 3rd 3-pt rear seat belt, ISO child seat anchors, telescopic steering wheel adjustments and ratchet-style seat height adjusters are all standard equipment. The new Honda Jazz sets new safety standards in a compact car and families will appreciate the new user friendliness of the Jazz’s design – especially the one-motion seat dive mechanism built into the rear seats.”

Customers can expect delivery in November 2008, while the current version of Jazz will still be on sale, while stocks last. Prices start from $56,250 for the basic 1.3, to around $67,000 for the range topping 1.5S-automatic.

New Honda Freed to arrive in Singapore, 2009

2008-06-03T21:14:00.003+08:00

Three variants, eight seats and economy and emissions standards that comply and exceed expectations of 2010

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. Announced today that it will begin sales of a new compact minivan named the Freed in Japan today. The new model will feature special mobility assistive versions with seats that lift up to accommodate people on a wheelchair (this will go on sale from 20th June 2008).

There are three different versions – a seven and eight seater that will be the first in the compact minivan class, and a five passenger model equipped with a large cargo hold with the exceptionally flat floor, all this in a compact 4,215mm (L) x 1,695mm (W) x 1,715mm (H) body.

The seven-passenger variant features captain’s seats in the second row to ensure that occupants are treated to the same level of comfort as if they were in front. The walk-through layout means anyone can get from front-to-back very easily.

An eight-passenger configuration adds 60:40-split and tumble (double-fold) seats in the second row, creating a bench seat that seats three. In fact, Honda claims to have enough space for a 27-inch wheeled bicycle to fit into the back without having to remove either the tyres, seats or handlebars.

It will come with a MacPherson strut suspension on the front end and a H-torsion beam in the back, while an electric power steering is available for assistance instead of the conventional hydraulic module.

Honda also claims that the Freed has 75% lower emission levels than that of the 2005 pollution standards in Japan, while front-wheel driven Freeds exceed Japanese fuel economy standards for 2010 by 25%.

Honda expects to sell 4,000 units in the local Japanese market, while local distributor Kah Motor informs us that they are currently working to launch the Honda Freed after June 2009 as a tentative date.

While the Freed developed for, and sold in the Japanese domestic market will be equipped with a continuously variable transmission, our Freeds will come equipped with a 5-speed automatic and the same 1.5L i-VTEC engine as announced in the 2009 Honda Jazz 1.5S. This, in order to suit the driving requirements of the local Honda demographic better.

Honda R&D has already concluded that just like the 2009 Honda Jazz, the 5-speed automatic is more suitable for use in Singapore. Honda claims that this 5-speeder will provide greater dynamicity and better overall fuel economy, especially cruising above 70km/h.

Auto France Singapore launches Peugeot 308!

2008-06-03T21:11:00.003+08:00

As with most continental cars, the Peugeot 308 appears to look less “updated” from its 307 predecessor than you might think. While additional length and width have been added over the 307, Keith Ryder, designer of Peugeot cars, claims to have been able to hit the car’s proportions spot on.

This has happened by pushing the windscreen forward, just above the front axis of the front wheel, creating a squatted stance associated with recent Peugeot model releases.

The interior has been revised, with white accents on the leather seats, softer materials and white, backlit chronometer-style dials and chrome rings along with the redesigned air-conditioning vents.

Two engine variants will be offered, namely the PSA Peugeot-Citroen BMW group 1.6-litre VVT and 1.6-litre turbocharged engines from the 207, Citroen and MINI range of cars. In this application, the naturally aspirated sister produces 120hp and 160Nm of torque, while consumption is rated at 7.3 litres/100km on average.

The 1.6-litre twin-scroll turbo of the 308 comes with 140hp and 240Nm of torque from a low 1400rpm. While performance isn’t anything to scream about (0-100km/h in a claimed 9.3 seconds) it should appeal to the young family man who wants the convenience of an automatic and the space of a conventional European “warm” hatch.

Equipment such as ISOFIX mounts with three anchor points for child seats, ABS, electronic brake-force distribution, emergency brake assist and a host of airbags are of course, standard, while prices start at $82,900 and go up to $90,900 for the 308 Turbo.

Set in an elaborate French theme, local host Stephanie Carrington, numerous models and four dancers were invited to put on a good show for invited Peugeot customers and members of the media at the launch on Friday, the 30th of May.

Daihatsu Terios 7

2008-06-03T21:09:00.000+08:00

Styling, features and equipment

Many fail to realize that the Terios is the actual successor to the bland but effective Perodua Kembara. It fits nicely into the gap where the 1.8-litre Toyota RAV4 left as soon as they were unequivocally upgraded to a 2.4-litre four-banger.

This seven-seater still is typical Terios, with obvious changes being the length of the vehicle. The wheelbase has grown to 2685mm – an 85mm increase over the standard model. This means that rear-most row passengers are seated right over the rear axle, and that the D-pillar windows have been lengthened.

Where the standard 5-seater, shorter wheelbase Terios claims to be a “bona-fide off-roader” with full time locking 4WD in its arsenal, the 7-seater, really, is just a rear driven, soft-core device with a whole lot of ground clearance in its class. If you need numbers, consider 200mm minimum road clearance and a 38.5-degree departure angle as figures.

That rather tall, square-ish, upright body in this case, translates into nearly a truckload’s worth of space. the To put things into perspective, the new Corolla Axio might be around 390mm longer than the Terios, but the Daihatsu’s cabin is actually longer and definitely more spacious. Middle row seats are split and can recline independently, and when both of them are, you get 600-litres of storage, or nearly 400 1.5-litre bottles of mineral water to be precise.

Local Terios-7s will receive dual compartment air-conditioning that ensures an ice-cold environment all the way to the back. Then, there’s colour-coded everything from bumpers to door handles, projector and fog lamps, immobilizer, mudguards, powered everything, rear spoiler, roof rails, a semi-hard type spare tyre cover, front stabilizer and 215/65 R16 Aluminium wheels.

While the black dashboard trimmings were a definite plus in the quality department, they were somewhat let down by pseudo-metallic plastic inserts here and there, especially where centre console and door handle trimmings were concerned. Other than that, we don’t have any complaints regarding poor build quality, and we must applaud Daihatsu for their stringent quality checks.

Driving it

When you do get behind the urethane-coated steering wheel, you’ll find that you’re seated high above the road. Maybe a little too high for a sports-car centric driver like me, however. While those who love being on top of the world would appreciate the tall driving position, I can’t say the same about the non-adjustable wheel. It forced us to sit up straight and high in order to get a proper grip, leaving little room for my legs to roam free.

The engine used is your typical 3SZ-VE from the Asian family of Toyota and Daihatsu vehicles. Somewhat related to the 1NZ-FE unit used in the Vios, this longitudinally mounted unit puts forth 103hp at 6000rpm and 140Nm at 4400rpm. Coupled with a workhorse 4-speed automatic gearbox, getting from point A to B becomes rather effective and painless when driven round our little island.

While you won’t reap the benefits of this particular car’s front-engined, rear-driven layout, it still gets to 100km/h in a tested 13.6 seconds with three-quarters worth of petrol, no passengers and with the air-conditioning turned on for your typical traffic light sprint.

Much of its power is developed closer to the top end of the rev-range, so you must floor the throttle in order to get it to downshift. This is where you’ll discover the Terios’ “vocal talents”, where after 4500rpm it sounds like a screaming child mimicking the sound of a constipated person more than anything else.

You might hear a distant rumble from beneath the car as the drive-axle gets to grips with the transmission and rear differential. Gearing tends to be well balanced, where an 80km/h cruise sees 2300rpm in fourth, and the Terios will go on to a claimed 155km/h top speed.

You won’t want to get up there with those heady numbers though, because the car tends to loose some stability above 140km/h in strong crosswinds, especially with its magnificent, slab-sided body.

It has to be said though, that the handling capabilities of the Terios is much better, and more positive than SUVs with separate ladder-frame chassis. Turn-ins are always sharp and precise for a car this tall, but of course, body-roll can be excessive when one is overzealous.

Is this for you?

Well, Toyota hasn’t yet answered to the Terios-7 with an extended Rush G, and we have to admit that for an Indonesian made car, it is well made, and a pretty effective tool transporting many “bodies” with a little more comfort on the side instead of your usual panel van.

You get a full 3-year factory warranty (or 100,000km) and comprehensive aftersales support from Sin Tien Seng themselves. From $66,300 (as of 23rd May 2008), we’ll see if this proves to be a seller.

Remapped sport computer tuning ECU remaps

2008-05-26T10:39:00.002+08:00

Back in the good old days - the task of timing the ignition spark was performed by the distributor. The greater the RPM, the more the timing would advance.

This did a reasonable job but for the most effective power you would need to vary the timing to a greater degree that a fixed ratio advance curve. The electronic ignition was borne.

A complete map of variables was entered into the ignition program and preset timing would be read from a table.
Now air temperature, engine speed, engine load and even control over turbo waste gate control means that precise management of the engine ignition timing is possible and you can achieve the maximum power output throughout the rev range.  Electronic ignition allows the manufacturer to fine tune economy at popular road speeds such as 30mph, 56mph and 70mph where most cars spend a large proportion of their time. It is now possible to advance the timing if the throttle is wide open to give greater power or back off the timing when cruising at constant speed.

When a manufacturer creates a timing MAP they build into it a big margin of error
When a manufacturer creates a timing MAP they build into it a big margin of error to cope with: Adverse temperature ranges, minor faults & bad conditions. Manufacturers do not want people breaking down, suffering premature parts failure or a reputation for uneconomical cars.

Each car that leaves the production line is also unique some achieve 10bhp less and others can be 10bhp up on standard specs, depending on how well the components are machined and put together. So rather than put each car through a unique assessment and a bespoke timing map, they adopt a standard one map fits all philosophy.

It is also a fact that manufacturers use the remap to produce different power versions of the same engine and get lower insurance cover ratings and better fuel consumption. You start to see the fantastic scope for improvement, then, when you add into the mix the fact that the average Toruqecars reader will be adding better performing components to the car, you have a really strong case for a remap.

Other things that the manufacturer builds in to their map equation is the possibility of user neglect ie: infrequent servicing with items struggling like dirty plugs, bad leads, clogged air filter, partially blocked injectors etc... The list goes on.

Who should remap? Anyone who has added performance parts to the engine should consider a remap. If your car is a turbo model, there are massive power gains on offer and TorqueCars would strongly recommend a remap.

What are the hidden costs or drawbacks? You will need to be prepared to keep the car serviced more frequently, and, sometimes decreasing the service interval by half. When you fill up you are also restricting yourself to high quality fuel and you must be prepared to replace components that fail due to the extra work they are doing.

When an engine is tuned to produce more power, you are also creating more stress and strain, so things will start to fail such as air flow sensors. Also turbos can wear out, other major components like pistons and bearings will need care and attention and you will find that the clutch lasts a shorter time.

If you do not have a turbo there is very little to be gained by a remap alone - perhaps only a few BHP so TorqueCars recommendation for non turbo cars is to modify everything else first (cams,pistons, increase compression, engine balance, air intake, exhaust, head work, bigger valves etc...) after these things have been done you can then consider a remap which will help you get the full benefit from them.

On the subject of turbos, (briefly though as we have a comprehensive article on turbos in the forced induction section), a remap will often introduce boost from lower down the rev range and because of this the turbo is running faster and hotter. In this situation you must let the turbo cool down a little before shutting off the engine, otherwise the oil will degrade and you will have an expensive turbo repair on your hands. Fitting a turbo timer will also help with this problem and keeps the engine ticking over.
Of course the amount of power you choose has a bearing on the reliability and cost of running the car. Many people go for an off the shelf remap which are on offer all over the country and typically cost around £200-£500.
This is better than the manufacturers map in that it uses tighter parameters but it is still a one size fits all job. If you are after big power gains and have changed major components like the turbo, waste gate and have done extensive engine work then a custom remap is the best option.

Switchable remaps. Things have moved on and it is now possible to have a few maps stored which you can select from. It is typical to have a valet mode to stop the boy racers at the garage thrashing your pride and joy on the "test run" to bed in the new wiper blades they have fitted. Then there is often an economy option to give very frugal fuel consumption, particularly useful when cruising on long journeys.

Then you have the 'sport' or 'power' modes which give lots of power and often require high octane fuel. Torque.Cars strongly recommend that you get a switchable remap - it may cost a little more at the outset but you will avoid many of the pitfalls of running a high power remap all of the time by doing this and get the best of both worlds.

Please do not confuse a remap with the little boxes you can buy for £50 which generally contain little more than a £3 resistor and often do little more than fool the car into thinking the air is cooler than it is. If it was really this easy to get more power from a car then the manufacturers would have already done that themselves.

Some cars are not easy to remap, I remember that the Rover MEMS was a case in point. The Manufacturer holds the key to the ECU and locks their Map into their firmware. Some ECU's are just plain and simply not reprogrammable so what can you do? Is there an option? Well thankfully there is and they are called piggy back ECU's.

Piggy back ecus:
They connect between your existing ECU and the engine sensor inputs and outputs. All work slightly differently and apply all or some of the following combinations.

Some will adjust the sensor readings such as air temp engine speed crank position and effectively lie to the standard ECU forcing a more aggressive timing. Some will actually perform their own calculations and take over control of some aspects of engine management like turbo waste gate control and ignition timing. Some will take the standard ECU output and modify the signals sent to change timing and learn to guess the next output a split second before it is needed using the base ECU map and just enhancing it a little.

As with all ECU upgrades you are still dependant on having the car in top condition as you are removing the tolerances built in for dirty plugs, cheap fuel, or minor electrical faults.

Cold air intakes and induction kits and the effect on performance.

2008-05-26T10:32:00.002+08:00

Improving the Suck – if you put a piece of cloth over your mouth and suck in air you will not have too much of a problem but if the cloth were wet or a double thickness things start to get harder. Your engine, just like you, needs to breath air.

The air filter is a very necessary part of the engine unless you are operating in a laboratory so the aim is to get an efficient air filter that is not too thick and is not oily, greasy or dirty. This is where induction kits and sports panel air filters come in.

This slight coating of oil will aid filtration. As an alternative to sponge get a filter which comprises layers of a fine grade metallic mesh as both of these will flow better than the standard paper filter.

The oil sprays for air filters have been traced to problems with the mass air flow sensor. We must stress that you should only use a light coating of oil on the air intake side of the filter. It is a good idea to clean the mass air flow sensor periodically anyway.

The bigger the surface area of the filter the better the air flow will be. Mainstream cars today can be fitted with an air induction kit which completely replaces the air intake box.

Cold air induction kits, a cheap way of making the most of induction roar
The plus is much better air flow, particularly at higher revs, and the induction roar as air is sucked into the engine the downside is also the roar - some people dislike the extra noise these kits create .

Smaller engined cars can actually lose power when an induction kit instead of an airfilter is fitted. It can be challenging to deliver COLD air (which carries more oxygen) to the engine as the temperature under the bonnet can get quite high and and a 20 degrees rise in temperature can rob you of up to 3% of your power!

Under bonnet temperatures can quickly rise to double this. An intercooler can be added which is sprayed with Co2 and reduces the temperature of the air intake. It should be noted that in some small engine non turbo applications the car will feel less powerful with an induction kit - in these instances the best option is a direct replacement panel air filter which goes in the standard airbox.

Sucking warm air in from the engine is a great way to lose power.
Make sure you have a cold air feed pipe to get cool air from outside of the engine bay - cold air carries more oxygen.
So the best air induction kits come with a cold air feed pipe and are fitted in an air box which shields the intake air from the high under bonnet temperatures – the best compromise between the standard air intake box and the induction kit. Some kits have a long pipe which the filter sits at the end nearest the bonnet which really does help cut down the noise and improves the intake temperature.

Induction kits that protrude under the front bumper which claim to get more air forced in through the pressure built up on the front of the car as it cuts through air do not have significant power gains, other than the benefit of the cold air from outside the engine bay, - the RAM effect takes speeds up over 100 mph before a benefit is realised - they are however a great way to collect many botanical specimens of fly's, moths and bugs in the air filter!

NB: Be careful where you site the cold air feed - the last thing you want is to be sucking water into the engine every time you splash through a puddle.

If the induction kits air filter is enclosed in a box with a cold air feed, then more power can be obtained avoiding the hot under bonnet air (Carbon fibre boxes are very good for their heat shielding and durability). It also good to wrap a the exhaust manifold with a heat resistant material to keep the under bonnet temperatures down and tasteful vents can be added to the bonnet to take away the heat.

Induction kits sometimes come with a guarantee of "more power". In reality though, the power gains are so small, on small engined cars, they would not be noticable in real life. Secondly the power increase tends to be at the higher end of the rev range and your low down power band will suffer.

So to summarise, if you have a large engined car (or an engine with good low to mid range torque) fit an induction kit with a cold air feed. If you ahve a small engined car or one with little power in the lower rev band fit a direct replacment sports panel air filter.

Adding spoilers and wings for aerodynamic enhancement

2008-05-26T10:29:00.001+08:00

How do spoilers work?
The difference between a spoiler and a wing:

Spoilers are generally closer to the body of the car and help diffuse the air.
Wings are mounted much higher up and have an aerodyamic effect of creating downforce.

The angle of attack or deflection will have a bearing on the amount of down force generated, the larger the angle the more down force but the price you will pay is increased drag. Most wings have a two angled surface creating a two stage deflection forcing the air over the wing to take a shorter route than the air going under the spoiler.

Thinking about the principle of spolers and wing design ie: making the air travel further on one side than on the other, either by increasing the surface area on one side making the air travel further or by creating drag underneath to slow up the air. Brings us to look at the whole car and its effect on down force/lift.

If you look at the typical shape of a car the air will travel further and faster over the top of the car than it does underneath, this creates lift. Opening a sunroof at speed can make this problem even worse. So, an unmodified car, travelling at track speeds becomes very unstable and dangerous effectively losing grip, traction and control.

Cue the Coanda effect (a flow of liquid or air will follow the surface it is running over, try putting the side of a cup under a steady trickle of water and see what happens to the flow after it leaves the curve of the cup!) So once deflected the stream of air will continue on the deflected course after the end of the spoiler. Already we start to realise that just sticking a spoiler on the back of the car is not addressing the whole issue of aerodynamics.

If you imagine the car as a see-saw when you press down on the rear the front will lift slightly. When you fit a spoiler to the rear you have to expect that at higher speeds the front of the car will become lighter. In a front wheel drive car this is very undesirable, in a rear wheel drive car you still need the front wheels to steer so although traction is improved a degree of lift at the front is undesirable.

To counter the front lift you can fit front splitters, and front and rear skirts, which create down force at the front of the car and control the amount of air rushing under the car to create down force. When you start redirecting the air rushing over the car you will create an amount of drag which will rob you of speed and economy so there is a fine line between an efficient spoiler and wing design and an inefficient one.

Sometimes in Formula 1 and other motorsports you will have noticed spectacular crashes where the car has lifted due to a bump and the spoilers have effectively helped the car to get airborne and crash. Some cars generate more down force than they weigh creating the possibility of driving upside down on the roof of a tunnel (aside from the logistics of how you get it there in the first place.)  The best wings are adjustable, allowing the driver to set his preferences to the track conditions. For example a slow track with many bends will need a different setup to a fast track with plenty of straights. They also are mounted high up on the rear so they have an effect on the air flowing over the car. Vertical slats in the spoiler help to increase a cars straight line stability, something you see in motorsports spoilers.

Side skirts and sills help to cause the air moving under the car to move faster creating down force and enhancing cornering stability. For the best effect TorqueCars recommend that you do not just go out to the 'chavs n tarts' part catalogue and order a spoiler with pretty stickers.

Instead go to a proper motorsports tuner and get a rear wing specced up to your car and your requirements. A single rear spoiler is a pointless addition as a performance enhancement as you need to address the nose of the car, get some suitable sills and have the underneath of the car designed to create down force as well.

Wings can provide down force at speeds of around 50mph but it's not until about 70mph that this becomes significant and offers a benefit to the handling of a car. Spoilers can help to reduce drag on a car but are little more than cosmetic add ons.

Fitting a strut brace and performance benefits

2008-05-26T10:26:00.000+08:00

Strut braces will reduce body flexing allowing better cornering and enhanced driver feedback.

Combined with a roll cage a very rigid car can be created. The front of the car is more subject to flexing than the rear, so most people fitness strut brace in the front of the car.   The strut braces need to be precision made, and many allow fine tuning adjustment after fitting. They need to be a strong and light, so many are constructed from aluminium or carbon fibre, but steel rods are also suitable.   

When fitted as strut brace will improve the handling of the car by maintaining the angles in the suspension geometry, even under heavy load. You will also get better feedback from the chassis, and cornering grip will be greatly increased.   Fitting a strut brace is a very simple job and easily accomplished in a short period of time. You will require a torque wrench, allen Key and socket. (Sometimes you need a metal drill with a slow speed setting.)   

First off lay the strut brace over the struts and ensure :-
 1) They fit (you will be really stuck if they are too short/long or the bolt holes are in the wrong place.  

2) They will not interfere or touch the engine or components therin.   You must ensure that the car is on a level surface, use a spirit level and check for vertical and horizontal level. You need to undo the bolts on the top of the suspension, fit the strut brace and refit the bolts.

Don't overtighten them, they will snap easily so use the Torque Wrench to get a measure for the amount of force to use. (Some cars/strut brace kits may require drilling, so check the instructions before you start! If the strut only has one nut you will typically need to drill new holes around the top in order to connect the strut brace.)   

Adjust the strut brace when it is on to straighten out the tops of the struts. (Over time the strusts will have started to pull in so you are looking to correct this and restore the cars original geometry.)   The lower strut requires removal of the lower part of the suspension, but again is a simple job. It is easier to do this on axle stands or ramps but you must ensure that the car is on a level surface. Join us in our friendly forum to discuss all aspects of car tuning and modifications.

Horoscope

2008-05-16T11:20:00.001+08:00

CAPRICORN - The Go-Getter (Dec 22 - Jan 19) Patient and wise. Practical and rigid. Ambitious. Tends to be Good-looking. Humorous and funny.. Can be a bit shy and reserved. Often pessimistic. Capricorns tend to act before they think and can be Unfriendly at times. Hold grudges. Like competition. Get what they Want.

AQUARIUS - The Sweetheart (Jan 20 - Feb 18) Optimistic and honest. Sweet personality. Very independent. Inventive and intelligent. Friendly and loyal. Can seem unemotional. Can be a bit rebellious. Very stubborn, but original and unique. Attractive on the inside and out. Eccentric personality.

PISCES - The Dreamer (Feb 19 - Mar 20) Generous, kind, and thoughtful. Very creative and imaginative...May become secretive and vague. Sensitive. Don't like details. Dreamy and unrealistic. Sympathetic and loving. Kind. Unselfish. Good kisser. Beautiful.

ARIES - The Daredevil (Mar 21 - April 19)
Energetic. Adventurous and spontaneous. Confident and enthusiastic. Fun. Loves a challenge. EXTREMELY impatient. Sometimes selfish. Short fuse. (Easily angered.) Lively, passionate, and sharp wit. Outgoing. Lose interest quickly - easily bored. Egotistical. Courageous and assertive. Tends to be physical and athletic.

TAURUS - The Enduring One (April 20 - May 20) Charming but aggressive. Can come off as boring, but they are not. Hard workers. Warm-hearted. Strong, has endurance. Solid beings that are stable and secure in their ways. Not looking for shortcuts. Take pride in their beauty. Patient and reliable. Make great friends and give good advice. Loving and kind. Loves hard - passionate. Express themselves emotionally. Prone to ferocious temper-tantrums. Determined. Indulge themselves often. Very generous.

GEMINI - The Chatterbox (May 21 - June 20) Smart and witty. Outgoing, very chatty. Lively, energetic. Adaptable But needs to express themselves. Argumentative and outspoken. Like change. Versatile. Busy, sometimes nervous and tense. Gossips. May seem superficial or inconsistent. Beautiful physically and mentally.

CANCER - The Protector (June 21 - July 22)
Moody, emotional. May be shy. Very loving and caring. Pretty/handsome. Excellent partners for life. Protective. Inventive and imaginative. Cautious. Touchy-feely kind of person. Needs love from others. Easily hurt, but sympathetic.

LEO - The Boss (July 23 - Aug 22)
Very organized.. Need order in their lives - like being in control. Like boundaries. Tend to take over everything. Bossy. Like to help Others. Social and outgoing. Extroverted. Generous, warm-hearted. Sensitive. Creative energy. Full of themselves. Loving. Doing the right thing is important to Leos. Attractive.

VIRGO - The Perfectionist (Aug 23 - Sept 22)
Dominant In relationships. Conservative. Always wants the last word. Argumentative. Worries. Very smart. Dislikes noise and chaos. Eager. Hardworking. Loyal. Beautiful.. Easy to talk to.Hard to please. Harsh. Practical and very fussy. Often shy. Pessimistic.

LIBRA - The Harmonizer (Sept 23 - Oct 22)
Nice to everyone they meet. Can't make up their mind. Have own unique appeal. Creative, energetic, and very social. Hates to be alone. Peaceful, generous. Very loving and beautiful.. Flirtatious. Give in too easily. Procrastinators. Very gullible.

SCORPIO - The Intense One (Oct 23 - Nov 21)
Very energetic.. Intelligent. Can be jealous and/or possessive. Hardworking. Great kisser. Can become obsessive or secretive. Holds grudges. Attractive. Determined. Loves being in long Relationships. Talkative. Romantic. Can be self-centered at times. Passionate and Emotional.

SAGITTARIUS - The Happy-Go-Lucky One (Nov 22 - Dec 21)
Good-natured optimist. Doesn't want to grow up (Peter Pan Syndrome). Indulges self. Boastful. Likes luxuries and gambling. Social and outgoing. Doesn't like responsibilities. Often fantasizes. Impatient. Fun to be around. Having lots of friends. Flirtatious. Doesn't like rules. Sometimes hypocritical. Dislikes being confined - tight spaces or even tight clothes. Doesn't like being doubted. Beautiful inside and out.

2009 Audi Q5 Revealed

2008-04-21T10:27:00.007+08:00

Not like anyone went to the trouble of revealing the 2009 Audi Q5 un-officially, but the point is the wraps have now come off the new Small-UV from Auto Union this morning ahead of the live reveal at this week's Beijing Motor Show. What more is there to say about this overgrown jellybean other than the press release below the jump? Audi says the Q5 gets "slim, coupe-like styling." We're of the opinion that just because a vehicle is marginally slimmer and more attractive than a Q7 doesn't allow you to claim "slim, coupe-like styling." So, if you believe they're spot on — then go ahead and hit the jump because you'll believe just about anything.

The new Audi Q5: Sporty and versatile
* The performance SUV from Audi raises the bar
* Innovative technologies for dynamic driving excitement
* Spacious interior with a myriad of intelligent functions

The new Audi Q5 combines the dynamism of a sports sedan with highly variable interior and versatile options for leisure-time and family use. Strong and efficient engines, quattro permanent all-wheel drive and agile running gear have been brought together to create a superior technology package for both on- and off-road driving. Highlights such as the innovative seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch transmission and the Audi drive select control system are proof of Audi's Vorsprung durch Technik. The sportiest SUV in its class is dynamic, multifunctional and comfortable.

The dimensions alone indicate that this is a SUV of all-new proportions. Measuring 4.63 meters (15.19 feet) long and 1.88 meters (6.17 feet) wide, the Audi Q5 is just 1.65 meters (5.41 feet) high - making it sportier than any of its competitors. What's more, this SUV sets another benchmark in its class with a low drag coefficient of 0.33.

With its sporty elegance and artfully sculpted forms, the design of the Q5 is perfectly in tune with the character of Audi as a brand. The front end is dominated by expressive headlights on both sides of the large single-frame grille; on request, they can be outfitted with bi-xenon lamps and LED daytime running lights. Viewed from the side, the large wheels and rising edges are especially prominent features.

Crowned by a railing, the elegant slope of the roof underscores the slim, coupe-like styling. At the rear, the wraparound tailgate - made from aluminum just like the hood - clearly identifies this SUV as a relative of its older brother, the Audi Q7. The taillights are available in eye-catching LED technology as well.

Audi offers three different options for the external trim of the Q5 - black (standard), contrasting color or full paint finish in the color of the car. Two body packages are available as well. The S line exterior package imparts a decidedly sporty look to the performance SUV, while the alternative off-road style package with underbody protection in the front and back and 19-inch wheels gives this SUV a robust flair.

Long wheelbase, roomy interior

At 2.81 meters (9.22 feet), the wheelbase is the longest in its segment - creating a roomy interior on board the Audi Q5. The vehicle comfortably accommodates five persons in ergonomically designed seats that can be flexibly arranged. The backrests for the rear seats are angle-adjustable and especially easy to fold down by activating the remote release lever in the luggage compartment. This compartment, offering access to a second storage area under the floor, then expands from 540 to 1,560 liters (19.07 to 55.09 cubic feet) in volume. Optional extras include a rail mounting kit for luggage, a net partition and a luggage compartment liner.

The Audi Q5 is a multi-talent for sport, leisure-time and family activities. As an option, Audi offers the "rear bench seat plus", which slides 100 millimeters (3.94 inches) lengthwise to provide a load-through facility. The front passenger's seat can be outfitted with a folding backrest for transportation of long objects such as surfboards. Numerous practical storage compartments, drink holders, bottle holders and onboard power outlets are supplied ex works. On request, Audi even offers a climate-controlled drink holder to keep drinks hot or cold. The optional storage package features another clever detail as well - an attachment point in the passenger-side footwell to which various storage fixtures can be attached.

Top-of-the-line safety equipment is a matter of course for Audi cars. On the front seats, the belt force limiters and airbags work together in a new and especially intelligent manner. Much of the body of the Audi Q5 is made of high- and ultra-high-strength steel components assembled with maximum precision. They reduce weight while at the same time improving crash safety as well as rigidity and vibration patterns.

The Audi Q5 employs design elements typical of the brand in the interior, but adds its own unique variations - the driver-oriented cockpit is set higher, for example, in keeping with the upright sitting position. The ergonomics are exemplary, boasting the uncompromising craftsmanship one expects from Audi - a little treat for the senses in terms of look and feel. The clear-cut interior takes on even more charisma with fine materials such as aluminum, exclusive woods, chrome, leather and Alcantara as well as a large selection of optional design packages.

The Audi Q5 comes standard with an electromechanical parking brake, an intelligent chip key, a climate control system and a display screen in the instrument cluster depicting, among other things, the recommended ideal gear for efficient driving in the given situation. A large, central monitor is part of the standard equipment as well. When an onboard navigation system is added, many of the controls are shifted to the MMI panel on the center console. This is the next generation of the best operating system on the market - with even more intuitive graphics and control via the large rotary pushbutton.

Strong and efficient - the engines

The Audi Q5 is rolling off the production line in three engine variants - one gasoline engine and two TDI units. All of the engines are direct-injection models with a turbocharger - characterized by outstanding performance, hefty propulsive power and cultivated running while at the same time offering impressive fuel efficiency.

The 2.0 TFSI has been entirely redesigned. The four-cylinder engine unites three high-tech features - turbocharging, gasoline direct-injection technology and the innovative Audi valvelift system for variable control of valve lift.

The high torque of 350 Nm (258.15 lb-ft) is available at 1,500 rpm and remains constant up to 4,200 rpm, with performance peaking at 155 kW (211 hp). The Audi Q5 2.0 TFSI sprints from 0 to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in 7.2 seconds, reaching a top speed of 222 km/h (137.94 mph). On average, the vehicle consumes just 8.5 liters of fuel per 100 km (27.67 mpg).

Drawing on four cylinders and two liters of displacement as well, the 2.0 TDI is superbly refined thanks to a new common-rail fuel injection system; like the gasoline engine, it has two balancing shafts. With 350 Nm (258.15 lb-ft) (between 1,750 and 2,500 rpm), this diesel engine delivers strong propulsive power at an outstanding 125 kW (170 hp). Average consumption of just 6.7 liters per 100 km (35.11 mpg) is proof of Audi's successful efficiency strategy. The two-liter TDI catapults the Audi Q5 from 0 to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in 9.5 seconds, peaking at a top speed of 204 km/h (126.76 mph).

The most powerful engine in the line-up is the 3.0 TDI. This V6 diesel engine delivers a gratifying 176 kW (240 hp), with 500 Nm (368.78 lb-ft) of torque available between 1,500 and 3,000 rpm. With outstanding power flow and cultivated sound, it takes the Audi Q5 from 0 to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in 6.5 seconds, accelerating to a top speed of 225 km/h (139.81 mph). On average, the three-liter engine consumes 7.7 liters of fuel per 100 km (30.55 mpg).

Seven speeds - the new S tronic

The 2.0 TDI transfers its power to a six-speed manual transmission. Audi has built innovative technology into both the 3.0 TDI and 2.0 TFSI - the S tronic, a new twin-clutch transmission with seven speeds. This high-tech component can execute gearshifts in just a fraction of a second while offering exceptional comfort and high efficiency. Drivers can let the seven-speed S tronic shift automatically or select gears manually, when desired with rocker switches on the steering wheel.

Just like in the new Audi A4, pronounced the best midsized sedan by the trade press, the position of the component units in the drivetrain has been altered in the Audi Q5 - the differential is located in front of the clutch, directly behind the engine. This solution, which made it possible to move the front axle much further forward, creates a long wheelbase and optimum distribution of axle load. It is precisely these features from which the Audi Q5 derives its unique strengths - good directional stability, high comfort and impressive dynamics.

The pioneer of all-wheel drive, Audi builds the Audi Q5 standard with quattro permanent all-wheel drive - the only logical solution for a dynamic SUV. In normal running conditions, the transfer case distributes the power to the front and rear axle in a 40:60 ratio for a rear-focused style that enhances driving pleasure. When needed, the quattro driveline can deliver up to 65 percent of the power to the front axle and a maximum of 85 percent to the rear axle.

The running gear in the Audi Q5 further emphasizes its sporty nature. The five-link front axle and trapezoidal-link rear axle are made primarily from aluminum, the steering box below directs the steering impulse directly to the wheels. Large brakes ensure high retardation. The vehicle comes standard with 17-inch lightweight forged wheels in size 235/65. Audi offers even larger wheels of up to 20 inches in diameter on request.

The new performance SUV from Audi is sportily precise, spontaneous, safe and comfortable at the same time. Its electronic stabilization program (ESP) has been re-designed and enhanced with innovative functions not available from the competition. A sensor "tells" the ESP if a roof rack has been mounted, causing the Audi Q5's center of gravity to be shifted higher in keeping with the roof load of up to 100 kilograms (220.46 pounds). If a roof rack is present, the ESP engages earlier in the handling limit. Without a roof load, the driver is free to tap the full dynamic potential of the Audi Q5.

The Audi Q5 is suitable for all purposes and driving surfaces. Capable of towing up to 2.0 tons, this powerful vehicle delivers excellent performance in rough terrain as well. The standard hill descent control system makes it safe to navigate down steep inclines by regulating the preselected speed when driving at under 30 km/h (18.64 mph). The ESP and its sub-function, the ABS, have special ranges for off-road driving. The ESP focuses on achieving maximum traction in off-road driving; the ABS automatically recognizes the consistency of the driving surface and selects the ideal strategy for sand, gravel or loose rocks.

The numbers speak for themselves: The Audi Q5's climbing capability of 31 degrees of incline is exceptional. The overhang angle is 25 degrees thanks to the short front overhang. The ramp breakover angle, determined by the wheelbase, is 17.5 degrees. Ground clearance is an impressive 20 centimeters (7.87 inches), with a fording depth of up to 50 centimeters (19.69 inches) when driving through water.

Audi drive select - for more driving pleasure

A large package of high-end technologies makes the Audi Q5 driving experience even more fascinating. The optional control system Audi drive select guides the operation of various technology components and is available in several upgrade variants. At the touch of a button, the driver determines whether the system should work in a comfortable, an especially well balanced or a sporty mode. The MMI operating system offers a fourth mode, which can be individually programmed.

Audi drive select is available with two innovative components. One is an electronic controller for the shock absorbers, the other is Audi dynamic steering. Outfitted with a superposition gear, it continuously varies the steering ratio and the power steering assistance depending on the speed driven - which means less steering effort is required when parking, and firm steering with low sensitivity at higher speeds. At the handling limits, the dynamic steering stabilizes the Audi Q5 in conjunction with the ESP by means of instantaneous steering interventions.

The new performance SUV from Audi is rolling off the production line with a generous range of standard equipment including an audio system with eight speakers. A highly contemporary modular system of components is available for multimedia options - the highest upgrade level features a Bluetooth telephone, a DVD drive, a TV tuner, an intelligent speech control system, an iPod interface and a top-of-the-line sound system from the Danish specialists Bang & Olufsen. The excellent navigation system boasts a high-resolution monitor for new, three-dimensional representation of maps. The hard disk from which the system reads can also save music files in MP3 format.

The assistance systems: Straight from the luxury class

On request, the Audi Q5 comes with a spectrum of high-tech, onboard systems taken directly from the premium class to make driving an even more superlative and relaxed experience. These include the Audi parking system advanced with rearview camera, Audi lane assist (the lane departure warning system) and Audi side assist, which warns of hazards when changing lanes. Adaptive cruise control maintains a constant distance between the performance SUV and the vehicle in front.

Additional high-tech extras for the Audi Q5 include the advanced key for keyless access to the vehicle, a tire pressure monitoring system, the large panoramic glass sunroof with additional tilting function, the triple-zone climate control system, sun blinds for the rear side windows, the dynamic cornering light system known as Audi adaptive light, an electric tailgate and a swiveling trailer hitch. The high-beam assistant automatically switches between the high and low beams. On request, the front seats can be electrically adjusted, heated and ventilated - Audi offers the extras from the luxury class in its new performance SUV here as well.

CNG: Petrol's nicer twin?

2008-04-17T16:41:00.001+08:00

The Ecofuel World Tour team is attempting to set a Guinness World Record for being the first team to travel 45,000km, over five continents, in as many countries, running solely on natural gas.

Driving a standard CNG Volkswagen Caddy, they have retrofitted the vehicle with nine additional carbon tanks that give the vehicle a whopping range of 3,000km. Having travelled from Europe through to the Middle East, South Asia and South-East Asia, they still have two remaining legs in Australia and the Americas to go, and are expected to spend at least three more months on the road.

The team is currently carrying out a scheduled pitstop in Singapore for repairs and maintenance after setting off from Germany last October.

AsiaOne caught up with Mr Rainer Zietlow, leader of the Ecofuel World Tour team, at Singapore's pioneer Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) conversion workshop, C. Melchers-Galileo.

How is the Volkswager Caddy performing so far?

It's performing quite well actually. It has a heavy duty chassis which means we can put all of our fully-filled tanks weighing about 600 kg on the car boot, and so far the car is going very well. Consumptions runs about six to seven kg of gas to 100 km, and the engine runs great. No problems so far.

What's the team dynamics like?

I've got a very professional four person team. I do the organising and driving, and I have a mechanic with me who does all the repairs and CNG fillings. We also have a photographer and one video cameraman.

Has it been an eventful three months crossing so many countries?

The Iran border was quite interesting, because when I opened my car boot and they see the tanks, they asked me, "Hey are you tourist or terrorist?"

Anyhow, the tour is on schedule, so far no problems other than one tyre puncture. India is quite a tricky country for CNG because there is only CNG in the west coast, but apart from that, things have been quite good so far.

Do you think CNG will ever over-take petrol?

Probably not overtake, but CNG will play a major role. For example, in Germany we have a 5% market share, and I'm pretty sure it will go up to 20%. CNG is very reliable, it is almost 50% cheaper than fuel and you know it will last much longer. If fuel runs out in 2030 or 2040, we will still have CNG available. Of course, another big factor is that the environment will be better protected.
CNG the way to go for Singapore

AsiaOne also spoke to C. Melchers-Galileo's Business Development Executive, Mr Marc Dass.

On the future of CNG in Singapore, he said: "I think that CNG is moving in the right direction, and it is the way to go for Singapore. We are a country that promotes green living, and CNG improves your lifestyle overall because it is a cleaner fuel, and makes for a cleaner environment, with cleaner air."

So, what can Singaporeans look forward to?

"The first thing they can look forward to is higher cost savings on fuel consumption on the fuel they use because CNG is cheaper than petrol. Also, there is no carbon build up with CNG, so the engine's lifespan is actually extended as a result. So, cleaner car, cleaner environment and fuel cost savings in the future," said Mr Dass.

At the moment, the price for a basic CNG conversion kit starts from $2,000 for a mixer system and goes up two-fold for a sequential version. The sequential kit works the same way as traditional engines, which use a direct-injection system, and will only cause a power loss of roughly five percent. The mixer kit, on the other hand, results in a 15 to 20 per cent loss.

The most obvious perks of converting to CNG are reduced fuel consumption, cheaper fuel and a 40 per cent discount on the Open Market Value (OMV) of the car. It is expected that a car which does 25,000km to 30,000km in mileage annually will break even after 12 months.

A major problem though is that the only filling station is located on Jurong Island. However, plans are in the pipeline for a mainland station to be built, and possibly more to follow.

3 more CNG stations to open by end of 2008

2008-04-17T16:38:00.000+08:00

SINGAPORE: Soaring petrol prices have prompted drivers to look for cheaper fuel alternatives.

One alternative is to go for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) cars. A company selling CNG cars sold 80 of them at a road show on Sunday. It usually sells about 100 cars a week.

To cater to more CNG cars – which are cleaner, greener and cheaper than normal cars – three more CNG stations are due to open by the end of the year.

Bi-fuel petrol-CNG cars are a major draw for motorists. It costs more than S$3,000 to retrofit the car before it can use CNG, but S$10 of CNG can allow one to travel up to 220 kilometres.

New cars fitted with CNG technology benefit from the Green Tax Rebate, which is 40 percent off the car's open market value (OMV).

Valerie Tan, managing director of Pinnacle International, said: "For example, you have bought a car with an OMV of S$30,000, so you have a straight rebate from the government – 40 percent off S$30,000, which is S$12,000 off."

But many motorists still want to know how the CNG fuel would affect the cars' performance.

Melvin Toh, potential petrol-CNG car owner, said: "Before I tested, I thought, 'Would there be any difference in acceleration? Would the ride be smooth? Would there be any loading?'. But after I test drove the car, honestly, I couldn't feel any difference."

"I tested two cars. I found the drive quite smooth, even when you change from petrol to CNG and back again. The car didn't have any jerky movement," said Patrick Wong, another potential petrol-CNG car owner.

But owning a petrol-CNG car in Singapore is not all smooth driving. Besides the fact that the gas tank takes up a large amount of space in the boot of the car, those who own bi-fuel cars and live in the eastern parts of Singapore find it harder to refuel.

At present, there is only one refuelling station on Jurong Island.

Three more stations are due to open this year – one in Mandai by mid-February, another in Jalan Buroh in Jurong by end-February and the third in Serangoon North Avenue 5 by year's end.

There are currently no plans to build a refuelling station in the east because most of the gas pipelines are situated in the west of Singapore.

CNG is listed as a hazardous material, so strict controls are in place and transportation is only allowed on certain roads.

BMW gets in bed with Google Maps for MyInfo

2008-04-16T15:26:00.000+08:00

Promising to make automotive navigation systems "easier, faster, and more convenient to use," BMW is (finally) rolling out its Google-partnered "Myinfo" service in North America (Europeans received BMW's similar "ConnectedDrive" late last year). With a click of a mouse from the Google Maps web site on your computer, up to 10 destinations may be automatically sent to the navigation system of the BMW Assist-equipped model (yes, there is no need to use the iDrive controller to painstakingly plug them in). The telemetry may be sent while the vehicle is parked, or while driving if you have shared your Myinfo data with a relative, friend, or co-worker.

BMW is making Myinfo exclusive to the 2008 BMW X6 right now, however it plans to roll it out across the lineup in 2009. Inputting address and destination data into any navigation system has always been grievous, so we welcome any technology that allows remote, one-click, uploading. BMW's system joins the upcoming eNav feature for GM's OnStar service, which works with MapQuest instead of Google Maps.

Hit the jump for BMW's full press release and a brief video of the system in action.

Ford releases specs on new FPV Falcons

2008-04-16T15:25:00.005+08:00

Ford is getting ready for a battle in Australia for the hearts and minds of performance enthusiasts. Its new FPV Falcons will go head to head with what HSV offers from Holden, and today the Blue Oval from Down Under released officials specs for its souped up, gnarly-looking rear-wheel-drive sedans. First we have the F6, which is powered by the familiar turbocharged 4.0L straight-six engine now producing 416 horsepower and 417 pound-feet of torque at just 1,950 rpm. That's a 54-horsepower increase over the prior straight six, and matches up surprisingly well with Ford's other engine offering, the 5.4L Boss V8 producing 422 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque at a loftier 4,750 rpm. The Boss motor can be had in the GT E, GT-P and GT sedans, as well as the Super Pursuit and Pursuit Ute. The exceptional straight-six meanwhile, is only offered in the F6 sedan and ute.

Let's compare what Ford revealed today with the offerings from Holden's HSV. Currently the Clubsport R8 is HSV's most high-performance sedan, and it's powered by an LS3 6.2L V8 producing 425 horsepower and 405 pound-feet of torque. Ford has pretty much matched HSV in the motor department then, and the new Falcon looks like it might weigh less to boot. But HSV dropped a bomb at the Melbourne Motor Show named the HSV W427, which is a version of the Clubsport R8 powered by GM's LS7 V8 producing 496 horses and 472 pound feet of torque. Hopefully Ford Australia has an answer for that up its sleeves, too.

Mercedes SL65 AMG Black Series details revealed, courtesy of MotorTrend

2008-04-16T15:21:00.004+08:00

The online editors of Motor Trend have decided to spill the beans, which allows us to finally confirm the information circulating the interwebs regarding AMG's latest flagship supercar, the SL65 Black Series.

AMG has cranked an extra 66 hp out of the twin-turbo six-liter V12, now boosted up to 670 hp, while stump-pullin' grunt remains the same at 738 pound-feet. Unfortunately, all that torque still needs to be converted through a conventional five-speed automatic. The power boost, however, is only part of the equation that unburdens each horse of 1.6 lbs, now pulling just 6.1 lbs-per-hp instead of the "lesser" SL65 AMG's 7.7 lbs-per-hp. That reduction is thanks in no small part (but many small parts) to an ambitious weight reduction program that does away with the folding hard-top in favor of a fixed carbon-fiber roof, itself shaving 88 of the total 570 lbs cut off the curb weight. That figure is now down to a slightly more manageable 4,080 lbs, which is still in SUV territory for a two-seat sportscar. Carbon fiber is also features on the flared front fenders, hood, rear underbody diffuser and racing buckets. That reduced weight is sprung on fully adjustable coils with an electro-hydraulic Active Body Control suspension and one-piece forged alloys wearing Dunlop Maxx GT tires in 265/35ZR-19 dimensions up front and 325/30ZR-20 out back.

A deployable rear spoiler, flat-bottomed steering wheel and Alcantara-clad interior also factor into the package, which Mercedes says would be capable of hitting 220 mph if it didn't electronically limit it to 186 (300 km/h), but 60 will come in the three-second range. The extra kit is complimented by a lower hood line enabled by the Black's exemption from pedestrian safety regs due to its small production numbers: Only 350 examples will be made in either silver, white, black or red.

2008 Honda Accord Coupe

2008-04-16T15:19:00.005+08:00

The 2008 Honda Accord Coupe isn't immune to road rage. Driving back to Brooklyn on the LIE, scrunched forward on the steering wheel with a back seat full of reasonably-priced, but well-designed Ikea flat pack behind, I'm minding my own business in the middle lane, overtaking the law-abiders on the right but not the flouters on the left when suddenly the Accord's rear view mirror is filled with a chrome Isuzu badge. Not content with making the same progress as everyone else, the Forward Cab driver has settled on intimidating those before him in order to ensure he arrives back at whichever depressing industrial estate he's destined for at least 30 seconds earlier than he would have otherwise.

Sebastian, the semi-pro mixed martial artist rolling gently for and aft next to me, holding a stack of galvanized steel planters in his lap as his seat's latches fail to find purchase on the rails, looks on bemused as Mr. Angry charges past in a suddenly open gap on the right. Gesticulating wildly, the Isuzu driver swerves violently at us forcing me swing the Accord quickly into the fast lane; braking hard to avoid hitting the huge SUV that has no idea any of this is happening.

All of this hardly troubled the Accord. In V6 coupe form, the eighth and latest iteration of Honda's mid-size sedan is amazingly capable. Both fast and frugal, the 3.5-liter V6 is the largest and most powerful engine ever to find itself in a Honda passenger vehicle. In the coupe, Honda's ditched cylinder deactivation in favor of out-and-out performance. The 268 bhp is bolstered at the low end by both variable timing for its inlet valves and variable lengths for its magnesium intake manifold. Yes, this middle-of-the-road car now comes with magnesium engine parts.

Of course, Sebastian and I wouldn't have been out on Long Island shopping for fiber board storage solutions if we hadn't had a car we could have fit it all in. The Accord coupe's trunk is amazingly capacious for a two-door and while the rear seats don't fold down flat and the hole in the rear bulkhead is small and impractically shaped it does manage to swallow a surprisingly large amount of furniture named for obscure people, places and fjords in Sweden.

After the Isuzu moves on to torment the next car in a line of traffic stretching all the way back to Brooklyn, Sebastian observes that the driver, someone similar to us in age if not cleanliness, probably wouldn't have acted in such an aggressive manner if he'd encountered us on the sidewalk instead of the street. Bear with me; this car thing is all new to Sebastian, a recent émigré from Berlin, if not to you and I. More used to motorcycles and sports cars — vehicles intimately involved in their surroundings — it's something that I've always heard, but never understood. Until now.

Trapped in the midst of nothing but competence, a vast array of technology working to isolate me from its engineering to the greatest possible degree, I can suddenly understand where road rage originates. Driving down the highway, there's no grand visceral experience to separate me from the realities of moving through traffic. No engine that might not be fueling correctly or a potential stiff spot in my drive chain, there's nothing but the tedious journey ahead of me and those outside my cocoon making it longer. I feel empowered by the Accord's performance but separated from the experience of driving it. Suddenly, I'm not here for driving's sake, but for a destination that's increasingly taking longer to reach.

I could put my foot down — the V6 Accord is faster than anything this side of a Boxster — charging up behind those keeping me from home, safe in the knowledge that they see only its red paint and not my scrawny arms, safely removed from the experience. But something in the back of my mind restrains me. Maybe it's the leaf of the potted plant behind, gently tapping the back of my head, that reminds me that this isolation is only temporary and that soon I'll be back home, once again involved in the world outside.

Exterior Design:**
In places the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe is woefully bland, in others awkwardly edgy. And what's with the rubber strip running across the hood? Having said that, it packs space for five and their luggage into a reasonably svelte shape, we suppose that's something.

Interior Design:**
As seen here in EX-L trim it's possitvly posh. The problem is, the grayish plastic and cornicopia of buttions clash with the nice leather. Too much that you touch is cheap plastic, while what you look at is awkwardly unintuitive. The Sat/Nav screen resides several inches behind a piece of prehensile plastic and can't be viewed anytime the sun is above the horizon. The high waist-line makes for huge blind spots.

Acceleration:****
The 268bhp V6 does 0-60 in 5.7 seconds. That's ridiculously fast for a practical, mid-size car. 15 years ago this would have outrun most Porsches. We just wish it didn't try and light up the front wheels with such ferocity every time your right foot starts feeling heavy.

Braking:***
Everything you'll ever need, provided you don't need an ideal brake/throttle relationship for heel and toeing.

Ride:****
Unremarkable in that you don't notice it as it competently goes about it's job, absorbing all but the worst New York's roads could throw at it.

Handling:**
The biggest problem. Floaty and imprecise at speed, the experience is dominated by understeer if you slow down. Still, it'll get you where you're going safely and quickly, just don't expect to enjoy the experience.

Gearbox:***
As unremarkable as a six-speed manual could be. But, it's not an automatic, and that's something. First gear is ridiculously short, most of the time, second is fine for pulling away.

Audio:****
EX-L trim brings with it every audio function you could want, in an unremarkable and very buttony way that is.

Toys:***
If we could award stars for the number of buttons on the dash, the Accord's would stretch across the page. When you can see it, the Sat/Nav works well, the center mounted dial spinning through menus with ease.

Value:*
Ours was specced up to $31,145 with delivery. We'll take our $30k-ish V6 coupes in 350Z form please.

Overall: ***
You can't question the Accord's competence at everything it sets out to achieve, but you can question its motivations.

All the V6's silly speed does is make us long for a simple, no frills, practical sedan or coupe with solid engineering, good handling, a reasonably sized interior and good build quality.

By the Numbers Special Edition: Now for Some Positive Sales Numbers

2008-04-16T15:19:00.003+08:00

TTAC's monthly By The Numbers editorial tracks everything from fuel-sucking SUVs to the gas-sipping Prius. In this month's report, the sales stat were bleak almost across the board. Almost, but not quite. Economy car sales are, as you'd expect, relatively robust. To bring a little joy to readers fed-up with a steady stream of bad news, I decided to chart new car sales for subcompacts and compacts from the "Big 6:" Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Nissan and Toyota). The stats run for all of '07, and year-to-date. Here's how the so-called bottom of the automotive food chain is looking, with review links and inventory levels thrown-in for good measure...

2009 Corvette ZR1 Raptured, Leaves Behind Carefully Labeled Carbon Fiber Clothes

2008-04-16T15:17:00.000+08:00

Here's a pretty slick wall display from Plasan, the supplier of the carbon fiber parts for the 2009 Corvette ZR1. Instead of just stacking their stuff on the floor and making a path for people to walk through, like we do in the home office, they decided to utilize the wonders of vertical storage and even went all the way with a clever labeling scheme. Here we find out the weights of all the carbon fiber bits they supply for the mega-Vette.

Bentley wants to slash CO2 by two-thirds

2008-04-16T15:16:00.000+08:00

British racing green could take on a whole new meaning if Bentley is able to achieve its goal of reducing CO2 emissions by two-thirds to just 120 grams per kilometer by 2012. Currently, all of its vehicles emit more than 400 g/km, no doubt including the 2009 Bentley Brooklands we drove last week, so the company from Crewe has a long way to go. While we'd expect to see some sort of diesel offering, Bentley remains mum on any real details regarding its future powerplants. We do know, however, that the British manufacturer of ridiculously luxurious transportation is holding out hope for biofuels, which post high well-to-wheel CO2 measurements. When just the tailpipe emissions are taken into consideration, biofuels offer just a little benefit as compared to dino-juice, but when the entire carbon footprint of the fuel is considered, biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel can post significant CO2 improvements.

TAG Heuer unveils eight new driver's watches

2008-04-16T15:14:00.000+08:00

Of all the watchmakers out there making automotive-inspired timepieces, TAG Heuer is arguably the leader. The Swiss company has sponsored various motorsports for decades, has been endorsed by some of racing's biggest names and continues to produce some of the most lust-worthy yet attainable driver's watches on the market. At the industry's biggest annual exposition, TAG lived up to the reputation with a whole new collection of automotive timepieces.

Among the watches TAG Heuer unveiled at the Baselworld watch expo are three new editions of its Formula 1 Chronograph: two celebrating Kimi Raikkonen's championship last year and the Indianapolis 500, and a new oversized titanium carbide-coated Grande Date Chronograph. Three new luxurious versions of the innovative Grand Carrera were also unveiled, featuring gold and diamond embellishments. But while the Mercedes SLR McLaren may be nearing its long production run, TAG's headline production timepiece was the new SLR Calibre S Laptimer. Featuring a hyper-accurate mechanism capable of timing laps down to 1/100th of a second, the final SLR chronograph will remain in the company's catalog long after the last supercar rolls off the assembly line. Meanwhile, to showcase its latest technological advancements, TAG Heuer displayed the Grand Carrera Calibre 36 RS Caliper Concept Chronograph, featuring a rotating scale mechanism and a second hand that moves in precise increments of 1/10th of a second instead of the usual full-second movements. The concept timepiece was featured on the dash of former Pininfarina, Porsche and GM design chief Ken Okuyama's KO7 Spyder, which we first caught at this year's Geneva show and was displayed alongside the 36 RS concept watch in Basel.

Follow the jump for more details on TAG Heuer's Baselworld line-up of advanced driver's chronographs, and check out the images in the image gallery by clicking on the thumbnails below.

The Next Tyre for my Super 4

2008-04-14T12:57:00.004+08:00

With its high performance in every condition, Metzeler Sportec M3 is the first choice in terms of grip, handling and safety.

Nobody does it better.

With precise steering behaviour it keeps the line, and on top it provides the best feedback which gives the driver a safe feeling plus fun and makes it possible to realize high speed while cornering.

In addition its stylish and effective design makes your motorbike distinguish from the mass.

Precise.
Trajectory precision thanks to reduced oversteering when accelerating out of corners.
Fast corner entry with a progressive cornering behaviour and high speed stability.
Traction and dry grip with full support at highest lean angles.
Technological knowledge, R&D know-how to satisfy higher performance of new Supersport bikes.
Reduced stand-up: the trajectory is not affected by corner braking, improving riding confidence.

Safe.
Excellent overall tyre performance with safe wet performance and extended durability.
Dry grip and performance stability allowing every rider to exploit his bike with high safety margins.
Wet safety, reduced aquaplaning for higher contact feeling when cornering.
Predictable grip limit feedback to exploit power output of modern bikes.
Braking stability for later braking, higher safety at all speed, on all road conditions.

Cool.
State of the art, high-performing tyre with a modern, appealing tread pattern design.
Improved contact feeling that reduce slip and improve wet traction for safe riding.
Longer mileage, Even wear on both normal road and on racetrack use it assure a long mileage.
Performance consistency and balanced behaviour with high mileage.
Feedback: faster and lighter riding, feeling the bike reactions at lean.

Bikeasia

2008-04-14T11:48:00.000+08:00

A Regional Trade Show
BikeAsia 2008 is the first international exhibition on bicycle, motorcycle, accessories and components in Southeast Asia. It is a Regional show for a 500 million people who can reach Singapore within 5 hours flight and over a billion people within 8 hours. Thanks to the minimal visa requirements, its location in the middle of Asia and the high number of flight carriers in the area, Singapore is the ideal location to held the first edition of BikeAsia.

BikeAsia will become the new appointment for thousands of lovers and dealers of the 2 wheels sector. In a familiar environment, manufacturers from different countries will mingle together and will share ideas to improve the industry.

A Growing Market
Asia has the largest manufacturing base in the world for bicycles and motorcycles and it is also the largest consumer of these products. As per capita income increases rapidly in Asia, the desire to own better bicycles, motorcycles, accessories and to embody a lifestyle that expresses this new status increases as well. A new acquired conscience for the environment enhances further the interest for bicycles and motorcycles as choice mode of transport to reduce pollution and improve living conditions.

A New Show with an Illustrious Lineage
BikeAsia 2008 is at its first edition yet it can count on the wealth of experience of it's co-organizer partner, EICMA, which organizes the world's largest International Bicycles and Motorcycles show in Milano, Italy.

Thanks to this important contribution, BikeAsia 2008 will be a quality show with selected participants, which will contribute to enhance the image of bicycles and motorcycles in Asia.

Soft Drinks Trigger Gout Attacks; Coffee Prevents Them

2008-04-09T11:56:00.001+08:00

For folks who suffer from gout, prevention of flare-ups often means steering clear of certain foods and beverages, including red meat, seafood and alcohol. The results of a new study published in the British Medical Journal suggest that individuals with gout should cross another item off the menu: sugar-sweetened soft drinks.

In a 12-year study of more than 46,000 men, researchers noted the risk of gout was 85 percent higher among males who consumed two or more servings of sugar-sweetened sodas per month, compared to those who consumed less than one monthly serving.

Gout is a particularly painful type of arthritis that often initially strikes a single joint. In many cases, the joint of the big toe is singled out.

The first attack usually occurs overnight and without warning. Individuals with the condition may awaken to excruciating pain and find the affected joint red, hot, and swollen.

Although it may strike unexpectedly, it's likely that the gout attack had been mounting for some time. The condition occurs when a chemical known as uric acid begins to accumulate in the bloodstream.

Uric acid is a normal by-product of human metabolism. Most healthy individuals are able to excrete excess uric acid in the urine so it doesn't accumulate in the bloodstream. Folks who suffer from gout aren't so fortunate: Their bodies tend to either make too much uric acid, or have trouble excreting it.

When uric acid accumulates, it can cause a number of problems throughout the body. In the skin, it can form unsightly lumps called tophi. In the kidneys, it can lead to the formation of kidney stones.

Uric acid also tends to accumulate in joints, especially those in the foot, where it forms long, needle-like crystals. These prickly crystals trigger a violent inflammatory reaction, as well as excruciating pain.

Men have a greater chance of developing gout than women (although menopause increases their risk). The condition is practically unheard of in children and adolescents.

More than a century ago, gout was believed to be a fitting punishment for rich or royal men who lived a leisurely life of excess. Modern research has revealed that while excessive consumption of alcohol and rich foods can trigger attacks, most people with gout inherit the tendency from their parents.

For those unfortunate enough to be affected, the initial attack typically resolves in a few days to a few weeks. A second attack may occur months or years later, and it's almost always worse: the condition tends to last longer, involves additional joints and produces more severe pain.

If you've experienced gout, a few simple strategies can help prevent future flare-ups. Drinking plenty of water is a good place to start.

Gout-producing uric acid is more likely to crystallize in the joints if you're dehydrated. An adequate intake of water, on the other hand, helps flush excess uric acid into the urine.

Drinking alcohol has been linked to an increased risk of gout. One study found that men who drank the equivalent of four or five drinks daily were 2.5 times more likely to develop the condition that those who abstained. Even men who consumed just a single drink each day had a 30 percent greater risk.

While beer and liquor serve as triggers, coffee consumption seems to have a protective effect, as it helps reduce uric acid levels. Research suggests that the risk of developing gout is roughly 40 percent lower for men who drink four to five cups a day, and nearly 60 percent lower for men who drink six cups daily.

Spiking your coffee with milk may further reduce the chances of a flare-up. The results of a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrated that drinking more than two glasses of milk daily is associated with a 50 percent reduction in risk.

Gout is a serious condition that warrants medical attention. Without proper treatment, repeated attacks can lead to permanent joint damage and disability.

Even worse, the disorder may herald the onset of other serious illnesses, including heart disease. In 2006, University of Pittsburgh researchers announced their findings that gout is a significant risk factor for heart attacks.

The good news is proper treatment not only makes life more comfortable, it also helps prevent some of the condition's more dangerous consequences. A trip to your doctor's office can help you stop gout, before it stops you.

RWD Scion tC coming to Formula Drift

2008-04-09T10:43:00.000+08:00

We've enjoyed our fair share of front-wheel-drive hijinks in empty parking lots with our right hand firmly grasping the e-brake, but in the end, tail-out antics are always more enjoyable behind the wheel of something with the proper wheels driven. "Proper," however, isn't the way we'd describe how Scion decided to go about campaigning a tC in this year's Formula Drift series.

With backing from Toyota, the aftermarket firm RS*R converted a run-of-the-mill tC into a rear-wheel-drive monster utilizing a BEAMS-built 3S-GE engine and taking advantage of the Toyota Avensis/Caldina all-wheel-drive chassis on which the tC is built. RS*R ripped out the abysmal 2AZ-FE 2.4-liter four-pot from the stock car, fabbed up a series of new mounts to facilitate the transverse to longitudinal conversion and dropped in the 3S-GE after fitting the four-cylinder with an HKS GT3037 turbo, intercooler, Blitz dual SBC boost controller and an AEM EMS engine management system. Approximately 400 hp is now routed to the rear wheels through a Tilton triple carbon clutch and a G-Force, five-speed sequential gearbox. RS-R coilovers keep things suspended on all four corners, and are hidden by the custom wide-body kit and Enkei RPF1 wheels wrapped in Toyo Proxes R1R rubber.

The RS*R tC will be piloted by Ken Gushi, the youngest driver ever to compete in the D1 series, beginning at the season opener on the Streets of Long Beach on April 12th. Hit the jump to read the full press release and check out Formula D's website to see when the competition will be heating up in your area.

2010 Mazda3 caught testing in New Mexico

2008-04-09T10:42:00.004+08:00

We've been all but assured that the covers will be pulled off the next generation Mazda3 before the end of the year, possibly in Paris, with sales expected to begin in the Spring of 2009. So it was just a matter of time before we started seeing spy shots of the new Mazda3 undergoing testing. Our new friend Chris came upon two heavily-camoed prototypes in northern New Mexico and was kind enough to send them along for our inspection.

Chris points out that while it was difficult to snap photos of the mules at 80 mph, he was able to get several shots that tipped us off to their origin. The central-mounted binnacle on the dash has been a fixture of late-model Mazdas, and the CX-9 leading the parade pretty much confirmed our suspicions.

When the new Mazda3 is finally revealed later this year, expect a similar fascia as that found on the recently redesigned Mazda6, along with a few cues pulled from Mazda's recent run of "Nagare"-inspired concepts. Four- and five-door variants are planned, with engines spanning the range from 1.5- to 2.5-liters.

Ukrainian limousine leaves nothing to the imagination

2008-04-09T10:41:00.001+08:00

We've seen some dogface cars around here. As a baseline, most of us consider the stock Pontiac Aztek simply indigestible. With that in mind, when this "customized" Pontiac Aztek showed up on eBay last year, a few of us fell over the porcelain fighting to hold down lunch.

Just as our stomachs have finally settled, we came across several pictures of a limousine in the Ukraine. The manufacturer of this calamity obviously didn't know when to stop (in fact, they apparently didn't know where to start either) as every styling, functional, and ergonomic rule has been tossed out the door. There is so much wrong with this disproportioned mess of machinery...

Don't question the six exhaust tips, the narrow trunk opening, or the running boards that don't exactly line up with the doors. Better yet, spend time pondering the aerodynamic hood bulges for the wiper blades, the old-school benefits of 14-inch wheels, and the envious looks you will get for the lavish ornamentation on the door handles. You know, we didn't see any seat belts inside - then again, would you want to be caught with a heartbeat in this thing?

Nissan GT-R V-Spec lap times stun observers

2008-04-09T10:32:00.001+08:00

The prototype Nissan GT-R V-Spec, wearing the "Victory Specification" designation reserved for the ultra high-performance Nissan GT-R, has been caught lapping the famed Nürburgring at an incredible, if not simply unbelievable, 7:25 per lap. This, according to bystanders trackside. (For comparison, Walter Röhrl lapped the Ring in 7:28 while driving a Porsche Carrera GT in 2004.)

In contrast to the standard Nissan GT-R, that made the run around the 'Ring in 7:38, the GT-R V-Spec has a new front splitter, modified rear spoiler, and different wheels. A more extensive use of carbon fiber has reportedly reduced the weight by upwards of 330 pounds. Of course, Nissan engineers also tweaked the twin-turbo powerplant for another 70 horses... or so. Thanks for the tip, XeroK00L!

What's Your Favorite Forgotten Limited-Edition Car?

2008-04-08T10:29:00.003+08:00

The story about the Autech Stelvio, a car we were unaware of before today, got us thinking about other limited-edition cars that may have been lost to history. Cars like the Intermeccanica Murena 429 GT and the Rambo Lambo. For that matter, whatever happened to the Fornasari RR600?

The are more cars that were actually produced in small numbers for homolgation or insane rich people than we can count or remember, including some actual works of art. Help everyone remember by posting your favorite piece of forgotten small run automobilia below.

BMW X6

2008-04-08T10:24:00.007+08:00

Exterior Design: ***
Like many parts of the BMW X6, its looks are promising yet flawed. Doing a great job of disguising its bulk — the X6 is huge, that lip on the rear hatch is taller than an F-150's tailgate and the pictured wheels are 20-inchers — they're nevertheless awkward in some places — the huge rear end — and disappointingly conservative in others — the boring front. It's an extremely color sensitive shape; white showing off its surfaces best while the burgundy version is just boring.

Interior Design: **
In short: conservative and impractical. By opting for a CLS-style rear console BMW unnecessarily reduced the X6's people capacity to four, but haven't made the interior special enough to justify its lack of space. It's also very color and spec sensitive; the dash looks great covered in dark leather, but the beige plastic found in base versions is just plain tacky. The rear window, big on the outside, looks like little more than a slit from the front seat. The low roofline doesn't compromise rear headroom as much as it looks though, I'm 6'2" and could sit there all day, legroom is equivalent to an X5.

Acceleration: ****
Both the 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six and 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 move the X6 forward with real gusto. There's nothing in it below 100mph, but the V8 doesn't taper off at high speeds like the six-cylinder does. The revvy xDrive35i fits the X6's sporty character best, and weighs 264lbs less, making it noticeably more agile.

Braking: *****
Immensely powerful, the brakes haul the heavy X6 up without drama. On the track, they didn't fade and the ABS isn't over conservative, allowing drivers to fully exploit the available grip. The active dampers eliminate dive.

Ride: ****
Back off the pace a bit and the X6 is luxury car comfortable. While the big 315/20s ride firmly, the suspension always keeps things in control on everything from smooth highways to rough dirt tracks. There's less tire noise than you might think, but it's not as quiet as say a 7-series.

Handling: ****
So good you'll forget you're driving an SUV. Dynamic Performance Control is a genuine game changer, think of it as a form of stability control that gives you more control, increases grip to unimaginable levels and does both without interfering by grabbing brakes or cutting power. Other electronics eliminate dive and roll, too.

The laws of physics do eventually intervene and the X6 will understeer, but its limits are unbelievably high. We'd put the X6 up against any sports car on a tight, twisty and wet mountain road, it's just a shame the steering is devoid of feel.

Gearbox: *
The biggest flaw in the X6's driving experience is made worse by the rest of the car's competence. The plastic paddles are counterintuitive to use and provide a disappointing level of control. The automatic's electronic brain is an unpredictable master, you never know when or if it'll allow you to downshift and loves shifting up at unpredictable moments.

Audio: ****
Another journalist remarked to us that he hadn't noticed the sound that emanates from the differential under hard driving as he'd switched the radio on and spent the day in cruise-mode. We did exactly the opposite and were rewarded with two great-sounding engines and the unique mechanical noise coming from the back end. But taking a peak at the X6's options list reveals the kind of fancy audio systems you'd expect from a high-spec luxury car.

Toys: *****
We'd give the X6 five stars here if all it came with was Dynamic Performance Control, any technology that increases driver control, safety and speed at the same time makes us happy boys. It's the antithesis of traditional stability control — which we normally switch off — as it doesn't interfere with your driving. But, the X6 also comes with every other conceivable kid of gizmo, which while impressive, would make us worry about buying an X6 as a used car in a few years' time. The iDrive is better than ever as well, spend a few minutes getting used to it and you'll be rewarded with rapid, intuitive access to all the vehicle's settings.

Value: *
The X6 costs over $8,500 more than an equivalent X5. While it does drive considerably better, it offers a lot less utility. Having said that, it doesn't set out to be a practical package, more a car that people will want rather than one they'll need.

Overall: ***
Faster and better to drive than any vehicle this big, this heavy and this tall has any right to be, we'd love to be able to give it more stars, but ultimately its flaws compromise its ability to too great a degree.

Having said that, with the X6, driving is believing. Put your preconceptions and prejudices aside and take one for a spin, you'll be amazed. But fitting one into your life might prove a slightly less exciting experience.

Kleeman D-SCK Concept Revealed -- More Euro Flavored Vaporware

2008-04-08T10:22:00.006+08:00

Apparently, the Danish Mercedes Benz tuning haus Kleeman can't get enough of making up supercars. We told you all about the Kleeman GTK a couple of months ago and we haven't seen hide nor halfshaft of the car, but that doesn't mean they can't drop the sheet on the Kleeman D-SCK concept. Designed as the rear engined sister car to the GTK, the D-SCK was styled by student Jesper Hermann and revealed at the Danish Auto Show last week. Revealed as in digital images shown, not sheet metal. Why do these cars give us the feeling there are Nigerian bankers seated on Kleemans executive board?

UK feeling special, gets Hyundai Coupe TSIII

2008-04-08T10:20:00.000+08:00

Hyundai UK has announced that it's offering a lightly-modified special edition Hyundai Coupe (that's "Tiburon" in 'Merican English... or Spanish, really). The Coupe TSIII sounds like it was named by a doo-wop group ("Tee-ess-ay-yay-yay"), comes in four colors and gets new exhaust tips (possibly attached to new mufflers, since a "sportier engine note" is mentioned), Eibach springs, anthracite-finish wheels, quilted leather appointments, a new spoiler, and super-special badging. Power, however, comes from a 141-horsepower 2.0L four. Hey, at least it looks fast.

More bespoke vaporware: Kleeman D-SCK Concept

2008-04-08T10:18:00.000+08:00

The Danish tuners at Kleemann have already shown us how they've reinterpreted the Mercedes-Benz SLK in the form of the Kleemann GTK. And while the pseudo-exotic's tuned SLK 55 AMG engine (540 hp and 516 lb.-ft.), eight-piston brakes and carbon fiber panels do their best to up the performance quotient, the restyled sheet metal lost the concept a few cool points.

Now, Christian Brandt, the designer behind the GTK, has released images of the D-SCK Concept that takes several of the cues shown on their first bespoke concept and ported them over to create a more sleek, mid-engine ride. There's no word on what will be powering the imaginary supercar, but with Kleemann's ties to M-B, something with eight cylinders and forced induction isn't out of the question. However, there's a fair amount of doubt that the D-SCK will ever see the light of day.

Hummer-Branded Mobile Phone Is Very Capable, Surprisingly

2008-04-08T10:16:00.002+08:00

The Hummer HT2 is the company's second mobile phone branding adventure. The first Hummer branded mobile, the HT1 is still doing fairly well so it was only inevitable that Hummer would release the HT2. Despite what people may or may not say about Hummer owners, insecurities, compensation and whatnot, the H2T mobile phone isn't too bad. It has one nice feature that many, many other phones lack, and that is dual-SIM slots—meaning it has two SIM slots so multiple phone lines can be used in one mobile phone.

Other than the dual-SIMs, the HT2 is a quad-band phone, therefore it can work just about anywhere. It also has a media player, 2-megapixel camera (for taking picture of your pristinely garaged Hummer), Bluetooth, microSD expandability and more. It will be available first in Russia and Latin America.

2010 Chevrolet Camaro Ogled By Forum Members - New Info Leaked

2008-04-08T10:15:00.000+08:00

Very interesting news about the new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro coming out of the oft first-to-know Camaro5 forums. Seems a handful of their number were offered the chance to tour the Mesa Arizona hot weather testing grounds and managed to see a couple of Camaros up close and personal. When asking engineers some questions, interesting things can come up, such as the possibility of a supercharger option, an independent rear suspension unlike the GTO setup, an inferred weight between 3,300 lbs and 4,000 lbs. and what's this — flappy paddle shifters? Very interesting.

New Baby Audi R8 Based On TT? Not Quite

2008-04-08T10:14:00.000+08:00

Rumors have been circulating that Audi may be possibly considering a "baby R8" —but this ain't it. The current Audi TT is a fine looking machine, but it pales in comparison to its big brother, the R8. They both have a somewhat similar shape, but the R8 has those nifty "sideblades" and some other vents and scoops. In light of this, body kit makers Caractere decided to make a kit that attempts to make your Audi TT look like an R8. We thought it was one of those hypothetical styling kits that nobody would actually buy, but we were wrong.

What we have here is a TT with said "R8" kit available for your bidding pleasure on eBay. For the $45,000 buy-it-now price you get a 3.2-liter V6, S-tronic automatic, and Quattro. It's interesting, but we're not really interested unless they incorporate this faux-R8 kit with some sort of bi-motor or mid-engine setup.

Schumacher fills in at Ducati test, Raikkonen could be next

2008-04-08T10:10:00.003+08:00

Actions speak louder than words. Surely a multiple world champion driver like Michael Schumacher would appreciate such a principal, yet the retired Formula One driver continues to proclaim that he has no intention of competing in MotoGP despite his actions suggesting otherwise. After bringing you previous reports of Schumacher dazzling the crowds at various motorcycle races, comes news that Schumi was called up by the Ducati team to fill in for its injured test driver. The Italian motorcycle racing team was in the middle of a three-day test session when its official test rider Vittoriano Guareschi was injured after falling off his bike, precluding him from continuing with the tests. Rather than call on any of what surely must be a long list of eager and experienced motorcyclists to take Guareschi's place, Ducati called Michael and asked him to step in.

Meanwhile Schumacher's successor at Ferrari, reigning world champion and current points leader Kimi Raikkonen, an experienced motocross rider, uncharacteristically commented at this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix that he'd like to follow in Schumacher's footpegs and try out a MotoGP racing bike, however Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali put the brakes on the prospect for the time being by commenting that Kimi has enough on his hands focusing on defending his title on four wheels.

Article on Cancer

2008-04-08T10:02:00.002+08:00

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:
1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumours.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune
system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites. 11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

WHAT CANCER CELLS FEED ON:
a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal,Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very sma ll amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus.
By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk, cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline
environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes t o no urish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrified and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more e nzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer ce lls to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

New gantries in operation

2008-04-07T22:42:00.000+08:00

The first five of the 16 new Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries for the year will start operating on Monday, and Toa Payoh will become the first heartland area to have an ERP gantry at its doorstep.

All the new gantries, including the one at Toa Payoh, will start with S$1 charge during morning peak hours.

Some stores in the centrally located town are expecting an impact on their businesses when the gantry is switched on from 8am to 9am.

"Nowadays people don’t want to go out. Remember, if you go out, you must pay. Go there, pay. Go here, also pay. So if people don’t have a reason to go out, they won’t. And that makes it tough on business," said a storekeeper.

However, many said they can’t tell just yet what impact the new ERP gantry will have on businesses.

"It will affect (us) more or less. But how many per cent I can’t really tell because... this is the first time we encounter this kind of thing," said a medicine shopkeeper.

A money changer agreed: "I don’t know how it’s going to affect (us). I am not sure."

"It’s definitely going to affect the morning crowd... as they may not have time to come after work," said someone who works at a pet shop.

Others are not as concerned, especially since their shops open after 9am when the gantry is switched off, and expect to be unaffected by the morning ERP.

"I open at 11, so (it) does not affect me so much," said a small business owner.

"Usually the crowds come here at lunch hour," said another.

The new ERP gantries at Upper Bukit Timah Road, Upper Boon Keng Road, Geylang Bahru and Kallang Bahru will also be switched on Monday. — CNA/ac

Fireblade concept makes for a hotter ZR1

2008-04-07T14:09:00.002+08:00

We weren't really under the impression that the Corvette ZR1 was lacking anything. It's got the whole package - the power, looks, and even a (relatively) decent price tag. Apparently South African designer Idries Noah saw something much more and came up with his incredible design using the ZR1 as a platform. If you recognize the name, it's because Idries also came up with the unofficial Ferrari F250 Concept that we drooled over back in December. His latest design, dubbed the Fireblade, takes inspiration from the Stingray Corvette, Gillet Vertigo, and Shelby Daytona. Like the ZR1, it features the supercharged LS9 V8 displayed for the world to see under the clear portion of the hood. The result is a very attractive combination, and it's a shame that the car exists only in the digital world. Perhaps, like the Vandenbrink 599 GTO, enough people with excessive amounts of discretionary income will be interested in the design enough to consider a production version.

Chevy Cobalt SS Sedan: First official picture released

2008-04-07T14:08:00.000+08:00

General Motors has finally let slip the first official image of the upcoming Chevrolet Cobalt SS sedan. As we previously reported, the four-door version is essentially the same as its coupe counterpart, only it has - you guessed it - four doors. That means the same two-liter turbocharged direct-injected four as the coupe version, also ubiquitously found in the Chevy HHR SS, Pontiac Solstice GXP, Saturn Sky Red Line and Opel Astra OPC. 260 horses are channeled to the front wheels through a five-speed stick, with an available limited-slip differential to help keep the power in check. The two-door Cobalt SS hits sixty in about 5.7 seconds and, impressively, lapped the Nürburgring Nodschleiffe in a class-leading 8:22.85. We'd expect the same performance out of the sedan version, with a similar price tag of around $23k when it goes on sale later this year.

Spanish GTA to feature Pontiac V10?

2008-04-07T14:07:00.004+08:00

Back in February we brought you initial news of the supercar being developed by Formula 3 racing team GTA. The exotic was tipped to be powered by a mid-mounted 700hp V10, however, reports circulating around the internet now suggest that the ten-cylinder powerplant for this vaporware supercar will produce closer to 800hp and be sourced from -- wait for it -- Pontiac.

We'll take that one with an overloaded container ship's worth of salt. Last we checked, GM didn't have a V10 in its parts bin, and the mere idea of the General developing a bespoke engine just for this Spanish racing outfit's nonexistent sports car is ridiculous on its face. Now, add in the detail that this mythical powerplant would then wear the Pontiac arrowhead logo -- that's straitjacket-type stuff, people. We know the General is eager to put the excitement back into the Excitement Division, but come on. Let's be rational.

2009 Audi A4

2008-04-07T14:06:00.005+08:00

The A4 is Audi's bread-and-butter, representing half of the brand's volume in the US market. So, when the premium brand from the Volkswagen group introduces a new version of its volume leader, it's a big deal. That's why Audi invited a contingent of American media over to Europe this week to play with the new A4 -- first on its home turf in Deutschland and then bombing around the Spanish resort island of Ibiza. The completely redesigned B7-platform A4 debuted in sedan form last September at the Frankfurt Motor Show, while the Avant wagon dropped last month in Geneva.

As is typical for most German cars, European customers get a much wider array of powertrain choices than we Americans do. With the US dollar in free-fall against the Euro, brands like Audi have to cut costs in order to be able to sell their vehicles here at a competitive price point. A big part of that means simplifying the number of product combinations that get shipped over. That means US Audi dealers will get sedans with either a 2.0L TFSI four-cylinder or a 3.2L FSI V6. The wagons will only get the four banger. All models will use a new fast-shifting ZF six-speed autobox, and only the front-wheel-drive 2.0L will be available with a shift-it-yourself six-speed with a third pedal. The automatic will of course be equipped with paddle shifters for those inclined to pretend they are Dindo Cappello. Follow the jump to find out what's new about the latest A4 and what it's like to drive with some of the European engines that most Americans will never get to sample.

MV Agusta and Citroen reveal C2 1587 Brutale

2008-04-06T13:29:00.002+08:00

We've grown rather accustomed to seeing special-edition MV Agusta Brutales, but this is the first time that one has featured four wheels. MV Agusta and Citroën have teamed up to produce a two-door hatchback show car called the C2 1587 Brutale. The naming scheme and the color pallete are clearly inspired by what is arguably Italy's hottest naked bike, the MV Agusta 1078 RR Brutale. We're not clear on what other tie-in exists between the two vehicles beyond that, though. Featuring a 1.6 liter 16-valve engine with 125 hp, the C2 1587 Brutale's power output is nowhere near as impressive as its two-wheeled inspiration. We do like the interior, which features plenty of black leather and alcantara with red outlines and stitching. Ultimately, we feel that this is one mash-up that the world probably could have done without.

Google's Chinese Partner Adds Community Forecasts

2008-04-06T00:56:00.001+08:00

Chinese social site LaiBa has an apparently new feature: community-based forecasts (also see the English auto-translation, from which the screenshot above is taken). Lai ba means “come here” and is a part of the Google-powered Tianya.cn site. Xujie in the forum explains this service “allows you to predict the possibility of an incident.” Xujie adds that the the possibility “is changed when people bid for it” so that it can “show people’s confidence index about something and forecast the future.”

Internally, Google also uses a “predictive market system” to try forecast “product launch dates, new office openings, and many other things of strategic importance to Google”, to quote from a Google blog post on the subject.

A classic introductory work on the subject is the book The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki. Wikipedia in regards to this book explains the thesis that “a diverse collection of independently-deciding individuals is likely to make certain types of decisions and predictions better than individuals or even experts.” The article adds that four elements are needed for a “wise crowd”: diversity of opinion; independence; decentralization; and aggregation.

Using Google Docs Offline

2008-04-06T00:54:00.004+08:00

The Official Google Docs Blog recently announced they would be slowly rolling out offline access to Google Docs users. When I spotted the feature and tried it out on one of Google’s experimental sites back in January, it wasn’t quite ready to be launched. At the time, I could only view my synchronized document list and carry out simple actions like renaming and starring documents. But now, in one of my non-Gmail Google Accounts, I can synchronize my documents and work on them offline. (In fact, I’m writing this post using Google Docs without being connected to the Internet right now!)

The Google Docs offline functionality uses Google Gears to synchronize your online documents to your computer – excluding Presentations and Spreadsheets at this time – so Google recommends not using this feature if you’re using a public or shared computer in order to prevent others viewing your documents. After installing or enabling Google Gears, you’re also given the option of adding an icon to your desktop, presumably to make Google Docs appear even more like a proper desktop application.

Synchronization seems to be continuous but you can also right-click a document in the docs list and choose “Sync now (for offline access)” if you want to be sure that you’ve got the most up-to-date version before going offline. I didn’t do this at first and – despite telling me that my document was unavailable offline – I was still able to open my document while not being connected to the Internet and work on it.

While editing a document offline, you’ll see a message at the top of your document explaining that changes made offline are available at anytime from within the browser you’re using, reiterating the privacy concerns they warned about earlier.

After editing a document, an “Edited offline” label should appear next to the document’s name in the docs list. (During my tests this label seemed to appear and disappear inconsistently, although it should probably disappear when you go back online and resynchronize your documents.)

One of the main complaints from early users of the offline functionality seems to be that you can’t create new documents while offline. The only currently available actions are: edit, move, hide, delete, rename and preview. Jérôme Flipo suggests a work around in the forum; simply create an empty document while you’re online and hide it until you’re offline and ready to create a new document, at which time you can unhide it, rename it and move it to the correct folder. (However, you can’t “Save as new copy” when you’re offline, so if you’re likely to need several new documents when you’re offline, remember to create a few blank documents in advance!)

The offline features don’t seem to be the only changes in this release of Google Docs either. As you can see in one of the screenshots above, the document now has a bigger margin surrounding the content while it’s being edited. (Sharing the same document with an account where offline editing isn’t available doesn’t display it like this, so it’s not due to the document styles either.) This is likely to be a first step towards releasing the different page views like Microsoft Word’s “Normal” and “Print” layouts, as seen in internal screenshots previously.

Generally, this new offline functionality seemed to work really well for me. I did have some problems switching between my offline Google Docs account and a non-offline account after enabling the offline features, but this seemed to be easily resolved by signing in again. Hopefully we’ll see more features and offline access being added to Spreadsheets and Presentations soon.

2008 BMW M3

2008-04-06T00:46:00.006+08:00

The 2008 BMW M3 puts the world around it in fast forward. No, this isn't some function hidden deep within the still befuddling iDrive or a secret performance setting achieved by hitting B, A, B, A, Select, Start; just an inherent ability to twist the world over its power dome and past its windscreen at a nearly impossible speed. Neither is this the kind of garden-variety performance achieved by the average big engine, small car formula. Remember how cheesy '80s action shows would speed up the tape during chase scenes? The resultant mix of unbelievably flat cornering and inexplicably rapid oncoming traffic just ended up being unbelievable and inexplicable. But not in this new M3.

This thought first occurs as I'm shifting from third to fourth on the same wet, windy and narrow road in the Catskills that had the Jaguar XKR tying itself in knots. Burying the throttle well into three figures that thought comes just after I ask myself if this is a bad idea. The answer is no.

The fast cars following disappear into the spray as the M3 crests yet another apex and accelerate out onto the flat corners beyond. The BMW making that impossibly fast, flat cornering believable, redefining the way in which I think a car should perform. I almost feel sorry for whatever it is I have to drive next.

That the M3 eschews conventional fast car wisdom makes it all the more special. Not present is any kind of manumatic or all wheel drive. The traction control is easy to completely defeat even if the power and electronic damping controls are baffling. The push-random-buttons-then-get-on-with-driving-it setting seems to work for me.

Those buttons, located down by your right leg, are the visible front to an achingly long list of in-car technology. A brief look reveals the usual dynamic stability control, as well as switchable throttle maps, electronically adjustable active dampers and regenerative braking. That you notice none of this once you put the owner's manual away speaks volumes for the fundamental right-ness of the design, none of it interfering as I use the throttle to play with the BMW's backend entering and leaving the mountain bends.

Earlier that morning, swamped in Manhattan's gray sea of traffic on my way out of town, there was little to hint at the M3's performance to come. The light clutch and adjusted-for-speed steering make easy work of the stop and go, while the suspension — firm in any setting — never makes the bumps go away, the jolts fail to affect the stiff body. The engine, while fast and flexible, doesn't hint at the performance its capable of. In fact, the whole thing feels decidedly normal. Looks it too, the bulges and droops making the already unappealing current 3-series even uglier. I like to think of the sedan's body as a form of camouflage; helping drivers avoid the attention a car this capable would normally garner. Even with the badges, those sitting one car over in traffic think of you as an upwardly mobile young executive from New Jersey, not someone hell bent on breaking every traffic law ever written.

But it's not city driving for which people will purchase the M3. It's the sheer involvement with which it rewards drivers. To look at it on paper, the BMW would seem a parallel for fast sedan rivals like the RS4, IS-F and C63 AMG. Gone is the lightweight simplicity of its forebears and present in the kind of complexity that'll make used car buyers shudder in three year's time. But, once you put your foot down, that piece of paper will disappear nearly as quickly as just about any other car on the road. It's just that good.

Exterior Design: ***
The 2008 BMW M3 sedan, depending on whom you ask, is either ugly or boring. We think it's a bit of both. But, packing supercar performance into a compact package that won't turn heads is definitely a positive thing. If anything, the M3 isn't subtle enough, we'd take ours — and boy how we'd take one — sans bumps and bulges. We'll add a star for any buyer savvy enough to order theirs with the badge delete option checked.

Interior Design: ****
One part subtle mixed with one part tacky, the 2008 is classic M3. Any car that combines classic BMW-type faces and design language with both red and blue stitching is a winner in our book. We'd specify either black or white for the leather, but the as-tested red is certainly, umm, eye catching. As with any BMW, the controls are precisely where your hands or feet expect to find them, making this interior work better than it looks.

Acceleration: *****
Say what you want about relatively low torque figures, the all-new V8 revs so quickly and evokes so much power that its acceleration is all-consuming. And since when was 295lb/ft of torque relatively low anyways? The engine shares a perfect relationship with the chassis and leaves us wanting for nothing. Quite simply one of the best road-going engines ever.

Braking: ***
Never lacking in power or feel, but still has that ever so slightly not over-braked BMW feeling.

Ride: ***
Firm, but never harsh, the M3 always feels in control but would prefer you took advantage of the fast steering to avoid potholes.

Handling: *****
Simply one of the best handling cars we've ever driven, this is the M3's forté. Where other cars lie about their ultimate capabilities with over-heavy steering or artificial inputs, the M3 doesn't come alive until you're really pushing, its ultimate limits far beyond other fast sedan rivals and even its own grip levels. Want a car that'll drive sideways? This is it.

Gearbox: ****
Unlike other BMWs before it, the gear lever's throw isn't perfection, being both notchy and imprecise unless you're redlining it. An extra star added for the three pedals combined with six-gears. Thank you BMW for offering us the option.

Audio: *****
The radio works, we guess, but it's the engine you'll want to listen to. Neither woofly like a big American V8 nor screamy like a V10, the exhaust note conveys nothing but power and speed in its own unique way. For the M3, hearing is believing.

Toys: *****
There's more acronyms than we could ever list controlling every function and performance variable you could think of, and many you couldn't. When you're driving the M3, you notice none of them, except through the car's sheer competence. All the electronics serve the sole purpose of making it better to drive and giving more control to the driver, which is exactly how all cars should be. iDrive isn't nearly as infuriating as it used to be, you'll be clicking and spinning like a pro after your first day in a car so-equipped.

Value: *****
At $54,575 the M3 isn't a cheap car. But look at it this way: You get a 420bhp V8, one of the best chassis going and five seats for the price of a base Escalade. Or, if you'd prefer, nearly half the price and over twice the seats of a Porsche 911 GT3.

Overall: *****
Many purists will argue the size, weight and complication are the antithesis of an M car. In practice, these concerns aren't borne out. The 2008 model has as much involvement and more speed than any M3 before it. Where rivals are merely range-topping versions of the more pedestrian models below them, the M3 is a bona fide supercar, capable of satisfying the needs of even the most discerning drivers. This much practicality, this much pace and this much involvement from a four-door sedan? To say we're smitten is an understatement.

Why you should buy this car:
You like power, speed and reliability all wrapped up in a compact, five-seat package. You accept no imitations. You like driving. You loved your Porsche 911, but need room for baby seats. You don't need to brag.

Why you shouldn't buy this car:
You're likely to ask "What do you mean it doesn't come in 'P***Y Magnet' Yellow?" You think girls are impressed by the size of your wing. You think the internal combustion engine is evil and loathe it in all of its forms, but especially the finest. You're a believer in that whole 'Speed Kills' thing.

Suitability Parameters:
Speed Merchants: Yes
Fashion Victims: No
Treehuggers: No
Mack Daddies: Yes
Tuner Crowd: Yes
Hairdressers: No
Penny Pinchers: No
Euro Snobs: Yes
Working Stiffs: No
Technogeeks: Yes
Poseurs: Yes
Soccer Moms: No
Nascar Dads: No
Golfing Grandparents: No

Also Consider:
*Audi RS4
*Merceds C63 AMG
*E39 M5
*Porsche 911

Vitals:
• Manufacturer: BMW
• Model tested: M3 Sedan
• Model year: 2008
• Base Price: $53,800
• Price as Tested: $64,050
• Engine type: 4.0-liter DOHC Double-VANOS V8
• Horsepower: 414 @ 8,300 RPM
• Torque: 295lb-ft @ 3,900 RPM
• Red line: 8,300rpm
• Transmission: 6-speed manual
• Curb Weight: 3725lbs
• LxWxH: 180.4" x 71.5" x 57"
• Wheelbase: 108.7"
• Tires: 245/40 ZR18 front, 265/40 ZR18 rear
• Drive type: RWD
• 0 - 60 mph: 4.7 seconds
• 1/4-mile: 12.9 secs
• Top speed: 155 MPH Electronically Limited
• EPA Fuel economy city/highway: 14/20mpg
• NHTSA crash test rating: n/a

Porsche updates Cayenne S Transsyberia for '08 rally

2008-04-06T00:42:00.000+08:00

Last year, Porsche built a series of race-ready Cayenne S Transsyberia SUVs for use in the rally event bearing the same name. Lessons were learned, and so for the 2008 running of the Transsyberia, Porsche is offering the teams who bought the trucks last year a conversion package that features a number of upgrades. These include a new sump guard, a beefier tire package, tweaked air suspension, a shorter final drive ratio (same as the new Cayenne GTS), plus updates to the transmission programming, dynamic chassis control and traction management systems. Driving from Moscow to Mongolia is no picnic, and these upgrades should make the already-robust Cayenne S Transsyberia even better-suited to handle the rough-and-tumble 4,400-mile course. You can check out the full specs after the jump, and see last year's post on the truck's unveiling for a peek at many of the other modifications that came as part of the standard package.

Aptera Type 1 Makes Movie Debut - Will Be Old Pro For Star Trek

2008-04-06T00:41:00.003+08:00

Since Aptera may be getting too big for that whole Progressive Automotive X Prize thing after moving on to bigger and better things like being starring in Star Trek, Aptera is starting a newsletter of sorts so you can keep up as the car during it's rise to fame, and production. As such they've release this 'better know an Aptera Type 1' introduction video which touches on some of the details of this futuristic car. One of the funniest items has to be the air conditioning and how it runs all the time. Talk about cool and environmental friendly. Wait, what?

Daimler looking to buy big stake in Aston Martin

2008-04-06T00:40:00.003+08:00

What began as a rumor that Mercedes-Benz would begin supplying Aston Martin with engines has evolved into a full-blown partnership that may include both automakers co-developing platforms and technology. The newest report comes courtesy of Autocar, suggesting that M-B is considering purchasing a stake in Aston Martin and the Kuwaiti Investment Authority would in turn receive a seven-percent slice of the Daimler AG pie.

The partnership would make sense on several levels. Aston Martin, which is a small fish in a very large pool, will need to purchase major components from mainstream suppliers once its ties with Ford are officially severed. Imagine AMG-levels of power nestled inside Aston's sensuous sheet metal. Yum. But the partnership wouldn't be one sided. Recent reports coming out of Germany say that M-B is looking to employ a lightweight aluminum platform for the next generation SL. Aston Martin has the technology to help develop such an architecture, and with Mercedes stepping away from McLaren next year after production of the SLR ends, M-B needs a new supercar manufacturer to join the party.

2009 BMW X6

2008-04-06T00:38:00.002+08:00

from Jalopnik by Wes Siler

The 2009 BMW X6 isn't great on a racetrack. This thought occurs during my third lap when I realize — the throttle wide open, exiting a corner at 100mph — this may not be the best sports car out there. My next thought is "But this is a 4,993lbs SUV." And that's the point where you realize what we have here is something entirely new.

BMW calls the X6 a Sports Activity Coupe. That seems preposterous given both their constant assertion that their best selling SUVs, the X3 and X5, be referred to as SAVs and the X6's four doors, which is 2 more than the unofficial definition of a coupe allows. The BMW X6 is based on that X5, its main difference, aside from the obvious low roof, swoopy bodywork and huge ass, is firm suspension and the addition of Dynamic Performance Control.

It's the latter that makes the X6 so special. Basically the cleverest rear differential in the world, DPC apportions power to the rear wheels independently to improve agility, stability and traction at all times. This matters to you and me because it makes the X6 handle incredibly well and incredibly safely in any condition without cutting power or hitting the brakes to interfere.

Combine DPC with Adaptive Drive, which eliminates roll and dive, and two incredibly powerful engines and you have a car that performs better than even the wildest imagination allows.

The first indication of the X6's genre-creating genius came with a tearing sound from the back end. Getting on the power in the middle of a wet and foggy hairpin in the Appalachian Mountains that sound suddenly joined the twin-turbo inline-six's deep growl as the level of grip began to beggar belief. It's the sound of the rear differential working hard to keep the X6 accelerating rather than spinning. Its function is otherwise undetectable, except through the scarcely unbelievable speed with which it allowed me to attack that windy mountain road in the middle of a thunderstorm.

Eventually, the realities of physics do overcome the ability of BMW's engineers to bend them. Pushed to the limits of grip the X6 will oversteer, stepping out into a few degrees of controllable slide, but take things a step further and the end result is understeer. The aggression it takes to provoke is, however, unlikely to be encountered on anything this side of an icy road or racetrack.

Slowing down, later in the day, that performance becomes nothing but a memory as the realities of driving an X6 on the road set in. It's bigger than you think, dwarfing Ford Explorers and minivans, a full width lane barely containing its bulk. This is both good and bad. The size creates an incredibly spacious interior for its four occupants and plenty of their luggage, but it's hard to place on narrow streets and in tight corners. The svelte shape leaves plenty of room for six footers in the rear seats, but doesn't allow for rear visibility. BMW has compensated by speccing the biggest wing mirrors you'll find this side of a semi, but we don't recommend reversing without the aid of the on board camera. And while its incredibly fast and has ridiculous levels of grip, the steering is almost totally numb, so it takes time to develop faith in the chassis' ability.

For the US, the X6 will come with two engines, both have twin turbos. The xDrive35i comes with a 3.0-liter straight six while the xDrive50i come with a 4.4-liter V8. On paper, the V8 is the clear winner, delivering a 0-60 time of 5.4 seconds and a top speed of 155mph. In practice however, the inline-six is livelier, weighing down the X6's front end considerably less and not suffering from the bigger engine's turbo lag. At 6.5 seconds to 60mph and topping out at 149mph, it's far from slow as well.

The gearbox lets both engines down by being difficult to use. Override it manually with the paddles and the results are hit or miss. Sometimes you get the gear you want, sometimes you don't, making fully exploiting the X6's chassis disappointingly difficult.

Don't expect the X6 to be the last vehicle to use Dynamic Performance Control. Allegedly, it'll soon find its way into the X5 and maybe even into vehicles from the M division. Judging by what's it's capable of here, we can't wait to try it when it's not just serving to make a flawed vehicle surprisingly capable, but when it's being used to make an already good car even better.

BMW X6 Preview: Pigs Can Fly

2008-04-06T00:37:00.002+08:00

With its polarizing oddball looks, premium price tag and questionable need to exist, BMW's new "Sports Activity Coupe" (their PR speak, not ours) isn't for everybody. But with a choice of twin-turbo engines-- a 306 hp 3.0-liter I-6 from the 335i or an all new 407 hp 4.4-liter V8-- more electronic aids than Stephen Hawking and bigger rubber than a Z06 (315/20s at all four corners), the X6 is going to make some customers very, very happy. Here's the skinny on the Bavarian fat: both the Infiniti FX50 and the Porsche Cayenne Turbo have something to worry about. Despite the X6's bulk (more than 5k lbs of it), this X5-spin off can dance the dance. Grip is endless and there ain't no body roll either.

RWD Volvo C30

2008-04-06T00:35:00.003+08:00

While Volvo's C30 has wily charms in its stock configuration, we could see how it'd be even more entertaining with the power being sent to the proper wheels. While we're talking revisions, a honkingly large turbocharger and external-reservoir dampers would be welcome additions, too. The race-ready ride height is dead sexy, and while it's a crazy thing to do to a perfectly good brand new Volvo, Sweden's Skruffse has carried out some beautiful fabrication work. The use is obviously racing of some sort, and with wide tires at all four corners we're surmising that it's something that involves turning, versus drag racing. Seeing this car's tow rig - a first-generation V70, it all comes together -- those willing to strip the C30 down like a stolen Pinto and rejigger the chassis are true Volvo nuts. We're pretty sure the warranty has been voided, though.

Google's April Fool's Joke for Japan

2008-04-04T15:49:00.000+08:00

In Japan it’s April 1st already and it looks like Google Japan released an April Fool’s joke there (or a meta joke, in case the service will permanently stay): Google Dajare, in order to foster “Google’s mission ... to organize the world’s laughter”. Dajare, as Wikipedia explains, is a kind of comical Japanese wordplay, “similar in spirit to an English pun relying on similarities in the pronunciation of words to create a simple joke.” A search for 国内線 (which the Google translator says means “Domestic flights”, though that may be inaccurate) shows the onebox is live in Japan, indeed.

Google April Fool's Jokes Galore

2008-04-04T15:47:00.000+08:00

Japan started early with the April 1st specialties, but the jokes continue. Thanks to everyone who helps collecting Google’s April Fool’s pranks in the forum (or sent in things via mail)! Here’s the list of Google’s jokes and Google-related pranks from over the web, which I may update during the day (for all items I’ll add the disclaimer that it’s likely it’s a hoax, but some of the items may not be!):

Google Book Search now supports reproducing the smell of scratch-and-sniff based books. “Using special equipment and tricky JavaScript, we’re now able to capture some of the smells during the scanning process and then embed them in your web browser when you preview these titles in Google Book Search,” their blog says, pointing to several examples.

The Google Talk blog reports wants to help lower CO2 emissions and starts reducing the characters you send... by converting them to instant-messenger-speak. For instance, the sentence “As far as I’m concerned, you can give me the twenty dollars you owe me when I see you later.” will be automatically translated to “AFAIC, U can gve me the 20 $$ YOM whn I CUL8R.” before it reaches the other person. You can already see how your texts will translate thanks to the working en2im@bot.talk.google.com bot.

Google started Virgle, a team-up Google Inc and the Virgin Group. The goal? To establish a permanent human settlement on Mars, because as Virgin’s Richard Branson writes on the official Google blog, “Larry Page, Sergey Brin and I feel strongly that contemporary technology is sufficiently advanced to make such an effort both successful and economical, and that it’s high time that humanity moved beyond Earth and began our great, long journey to explore the stars and establish our first lasting foothold on another world.” In a video, Sergey Brin announces “We’re going to select the very first settlers of the planet Mars.” The apparent reason for launching this project now seems to be that “Earth has issues,” as the Virgle homepage states.

The German Google Watch Blog announced they’ll be shutting down to launch a competitor to Google Street View for Germany. Image samples from Berlin and other locations are provided in the post. Called CityMap, the service has a nice feature of overlaying people’s faces with smileys to better protect their privacy.

Ionut Alexandru Chitu got the scoop on OpenGoogle. The product sounds nice – “The project ... will allow anyone to create a search engine that uses Google’s index, but has a custom ranking algorithm and a personalized interface. You’ll be able to select from a list of approximately 100 ranking signals like: the page’s self-importance, the number of original ideas, the IQs of their authors, the number of links from Wikipedia, and decide their importance.” – but I get a feeling Google and the web at large is over-using the “open” word. On a side-note, the OpenGoogle system determines that Ionut’s IQ is 125; when I asked Ionut for a statement he told me it’s “off by 50” though he didn’t say in which direction.

YouTube is rickrolling its users big-scale. All the featured videos on the YouTube.com frontpage are currently linking to Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up. Or, as a commenter at YouTube puts it in the comments to the video, “HAHAHAHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA lol nice youtube”.

Over the next days, Google Documents will roll out a Google Gears-powered offline version (I can’t see it yet). Straight from the official Google Docs Blog announcement and as discussed in our forum, this has to be the silliest joke of them all, because in this day and age, nobody is ever offline, so it’s a useless feature. “When I lose my connection, I sacrifice some features,” the Google Docs blog writes, putting up a straw man argument, “but I can still access my documents... Everything I need is saved locally ... When my connection comes back, my documents sync up again with the server.”

Google Australia delivers gDay with MATE technology to “search content on the internet before it’s created,” i.e., from the future. From the page: “Google spiders crawl publicly available web information and our index of historic, cached web content. Using a mashup of numerous factors such as recurrence plots, fuzzy measure analysis, online betting odds and the weather forecast from the iGoogle weather gadget, we can create a sophisticated model of what the internet will look like 24 hours from now.” I saw this yesterday already and tried to search for “Google Blogoscoped” and indeed, found this post and opened its Google Cache version – I was then able to copy the full text of the post, which saved me a lot of writing today.

A website covering alternative search engines urges people to make April 1st the new Annual Day Without Google. “Choose one, choose several, but for One Day give the Alternative search engines a fighting chance and see what life would be like without Google. It will be alright. Really.” (I’ll pass – while I could probably imagine to stop use Google search entirely, I’m totally addicted to Google Shared Stuff, which is way better than Friendfeed.)

Also, if you open a new Google Document – log-in to Docs and pick New -> Document – you can then pick File -> “New airplaine” from the menu. This will result in a document pre-loaded with a paper airplane folding layout.

As reported, Google Japan now delivers special “Dajare” (Japanese puns) onebox results. This search will show one of them, for instance.

Jon Henshaw reports that cars of the Google Street View fleet are now forced to paint road lines while driving the streets of Nashville. The Nashville Mayor is quoted to have said, “These Google cars ride up and down our streets, sometimes 12 or 5 times back and forth. They’re making pot holes, causing wrecks and costing our city millions of dollars ... If they’re going to ruin our streets, then they’re going to fix them at the same time.”

Gmail now offers a “custom time” feature. The Google custom time help page explains you need to click “Set custom time” from the Compose view. Then, “Any email you send to the past appears in the proper chronological order in your recipient’s inbox. You can opt for it to show up read or unread by selecting the appropriate option.” According to their explanations, Gmail utilizes an “e-flux capacitor to resolve issues of causality.” Finally – I was wishing for this exact thing back in August 2004!

PC World describes a new Google effort to organize all of human ignorance. Google CEO Eric Schmidt says, “Admittedly, human ignorance is vast – perhaps unlimited – but our goal is to organize all of it. Consistent with our mobile strategy, we aim to provide anytime, anywhere ignorance.” Eric adds the feature may not be for everyone, but that “Here at Google we just want to give people options. Ignorance is an option and we want people to have that option.”

Google China invests in human search. Google’s automated translation of the homepage sheds more light on this (in a you’re-in-a-dark-cellar-wearing-sunshades-and-your- tiny-flashlight-is-half-empty kind of lightshedding way): “Not only can people search meat in the shortest possible time to expose the truth behind a certain door for a three public recognition of a seven find the moral position, but also not in the reach of the network, and explore the jungle found the most beautiful girls, the most moving mountains pastoralists, the most mysterious desert cave, the ultimate romantic encounter…… meat search pursuit of the highest goal is: do not seek the best, but for the most meat.”

Google competitor Microsoft in the mean-time came up with a plan that’s so crazy it just might work, Search Engine Land reports. Instead of buying Yahoo to beat Google, they will pay people in the US $1 million per year to not use Google. A special program will monitor their web activitiy to ensure this. Danny Sullivan comments, “Absurdly expensive? It can seem that way at first, but consider the math. There’s an estimated 300 million people living in the United States. If you pay each one $1 million for the next three years, that’s just under $1 billion. That saves Microsoft $39 billion compared to what it was going to spend on purchasing Yahoo.”

In case you have trouble getting out of the bed in the morning, Google Calendar’s “Wake Up Kit” uses notifications which are “progressively more annoying” to wake you up. From the description: “First it will send an SMS message to your phone. If that fails, more coercive means will be used. The kit includes an industrial-sized bucket and is designed to be connected to your water main for automatic filling.”

Google’s social network site Orkut turned into Yogurt today, according to their logo.
The Virtual Tourism blog found out that Google Street View censors the logos of competing companies, like Yahoo, Microsoft or Apple. In a live demo, you can reproduce how when you near towards the Apple store, the view goes black, noting “The image is no longer available.”

Google Calendar has a new “I’m feeling lucky” button. Just log-in to your calendar, click on a day, and in the box that pops up, hit the Feeling Lucky button. Now a random new event will be added, like one reading “Date with Anna Kournikova” (or George W. Bush, Lois Griffin and others).

Search Engine Roundtable has not one but four news items today. Including “Microsoft Buys Yahoo So Google Buys Microsoft in Hostile Takeover” and “Matt Cutts Transfers to Performics - Will Assume Lead SEO Role”. In regards to the latter item, Barry Schwartz writes, “Google has decided to reinforce Performics, a company that came with the Doubleclick Acquisition, by transferring long time search quality lead Matt Cutts into a role with the search engine optimization firm. This immediately strengthens the perceived value of working with Performics, since Matt is obviously very familiar with the Google algorithm”.
The Google Sightseeing blog reports on two new view mode in Google Earth and Google Maps. One is x-ray, the other is thermal imagery; with these new modes, you can literally see inside buildings.

Questions and answers service Uclue shows proof that Larry and Sergey grabbed their April Fool’s ideas from their site. “Every year we run an April Fools gag at our site, in an attempt to gain a bit of publicity,” the Google co-founders post on the site, “We’re a bit short of ideas to use for this year. Could you provide a few suggestions for us to choose from?”
The Rimm-Kaufman Group say they cracked Google’s press release server, uncovering news of several “open platform" releases; refresh their page for more news.

The Google Russia blog announced the release of Google Cash. Ihar in the forum explains, “Since everyone is used to cash in Russia, that’s the most convenient way for them ... The machine doesn’t actually collect money, it destroys them, after scanning the bill and sending the number to the Central Bank.”

Google AdSense introduces AdSense for conversations. These ads will be displayed on top of the head of others as you talk, making Google context-relevant money. Google remarks that ads can be turned off depending on who you talk with. “Yes; we understand that there’s a time and place for ads in conversations, as a chat with a friend isn’t quite the same as an interview with a prospective employer or parole officer. That’s why we let you choose which conversations to target using the ’Allowed Conversations’ feature, located under your AdSense Setup tab.”

The French Abondance blog announced that Google is the new main sponsor of the Paris Saint Germain football club, showing photo proof, too.

The French Google blog Zorgloob is showing their new “Google Blogoscoped” logo. I’m sure they will write an announcement post soon.

ReadWriteWeb is the first to report on Google DreamAds. According to their post, DreamAds are one of the most ambitious Google projects yet: it integrates AdSense into dreams. “It may sound far-fetched, but an inside source at Google told us that it is very possible thanks to the latest in cheap magnetic resonance scanning and mind-reading techniques developed at Stanford University.”

Google’s Matt Cutts said he’d skip April Fool’s this year, though he got a Firefox tattoo instead!

The Yahoo chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen in a video tells employees that starting next week, they should discreetly board one of the 694 Google shuttles to get to work. Valleywag has more.

Frank Taylor writes that if you zoom out far enough, Google Earth’s continents will merge into one, just as they “may have appeared hundreds of millions of years ago.”

The Googlified blog seems to be closing shop; it currently replaced all articles with a LOLCAT-flavored Google search engine. A button reads, “I can has lucky?”

Google Lays Off ~300 DoubleClick Employees, Plans to Sell Performics

2008-04-04T15:46:00.001+08:00

The New York Times reports that according to a person close to the case, Google “is cutting about 300 jobs from the American operations of DoubleClick, the advertising technology company that it acquired recently”. This represents around ~25% of all of DoubleClick’s employees, the NYT writes. Google’s statement to the NYT: “Since our acquisition of DoubleClick closed ... we have been working to match and align DoubleClick employees in the U.S. with our organizational plan for the business. As with many mergers, this review has resulted in a reduction in headcount at the acquired company.”

Also, Google plans to sell of the DoubleClick’s search engine marketing unit Performics, as it brings with it a conflict of interest for Google’s neutrality.

Dell CEO Says to Expect More Job Cuts

2008-04-04T15:41:00.004+08:00

ROUND ROCK, Texas (AP) — Dell Inc. is committed to reducing costs and will cut more jobs than the 8,800 previously announced in a bid to make the world's second biggest computer maker more competitive, founder and CEO Michael Dell said Thursday.

At the first full analyst meeting since 2005, Dell addressed the ongoing turnaround of the computer company, which was eclipsed as the world's largest PC maker in 2006 by Hewlett-Packard Co.

"We have identified a very significant opportunity here and are aggressively going after it," Dell said. "To be very clear, we are not satisfied with the current state of affairs and we are on a mission to address this."

Dell aims to cut $3 billion over the next several years to boost profits.

Last year, the company announced plans to cut 8,800 jobs, or 10 percent of its work force. The company this week announced plans to cut 900 jobs in the Austin area by closing a plant.

On Thursday, Dell said the company would exceed the previously announced figure, but didn't give a new estimate.
"We're decreasing our head count," Dell said. "It's declined in the past two quarters and it will decline again in the first quarter. And we will go past the 8,800 target previously discussed as we achieve everything that I'm outlining today."

CFO Donald Carty said Thursday that 5,500 jobs have been cut, with 1,000 more to come this quarter. He added that with an increase in "frontline" personnel — those in positions like sales and customer support — the net reduction is 3,200.

Carty also said the company plans a share repurchase of at least $1 billion this quarter after repurchasing $4 billion last quarter.

To accomplish the cost cuts, Dell said the company is taking the approach that the company has no fixed costs.

"Every area of the company is being pursued," he told analysts.
Dell said the company expects its operating expenses percent to be down at the end of the year.

"The entire Dell leadership team is focused on addressing these opportunities and challenges," Dell said. "We believe we've begun the journey to transform the company."

The company has focused its ongoing turnaround efforts on five priorities: notebooks, emerging countries, consumer, enterprise and small-medium business.

Its shares fell 21 cents to $19.74 in morning trading Thursday.

Motorola's Smart Rider Car Phone: Just In Case You Were Expecting a Call From 1992

2008-04-04T15:39:00.002+08:00

Unlike the car phones of yesteryear, the Smart Rider features GPS navigation, voice activation and Bluetooth. But here is the kicker—you can use it outside of your car, which basically makes it just another cellphone. Oh those Motorola execs with their marketing trickery! No wonder you guys are kicking so much ass. Available starting in June. Press release after the break.

Motorola Redefines Driving Experience with Smart Rider™ In-Vehicle Phone
Fixed in-vehicle device improves enterprise solutions for professional drivers, with interactive voice activation, GPS services and more

CTIA WIRELESS 2008 - LAS VEGAS, Nev. - 1 April 2008 - Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today announced the debut of the Motorola Smart Rider™ phone, an innovative in-vehicle solution featuring GPS navigation, interactive voice activation, Bluetooth™ wireless technology and exceptional audio quality that's sure to make this phone an integral part of every driver's journey. A unique hands-free solution, the Smart Rider phone uses GSM technology to enhance user experience by ensuring that users can converse, navigate and tend to business while on-the-go.

The Smart Rider increases convenience and quality of communication:
* Bluetooth™ technology allows users to move freely from the home or office straight into the vehicle while having active calls, contact information and other personal data automatically transferred from the handset to the in-vehicle device
* Multiple user profiles grant secure access to personalized phonebook settings for up to three drivers on the Smart Rider phone
* Interactive voice activation makes the phone hassle-free for drivers
* A robust built-in microphone and speakerphone ensures an exceptionally clear, sharp sound.

The Smart Rider phone also offers feature-rich GPS services:
* Turn-by-turn navigation and voice-guided driving instructions
* Precise on-screen directions and detailed maps on a 2.8" high resolution, sharp color display
* Real-time traffic reports and automatic re-routing
* Enabling of location based services (LBS) and fleet management applications.

"The Smart Rider is the next generation in-vehicle phone, designed to operate in unison with the user's daily needs and environment. The phone re-defines what communication on-the-go is all about, and the main focus was placed on transforming the user experience. We are confident that the worldwide success of this flagship product will speak for itself," said Golan Haver, business unit manager for Motorola Car Phones.

Availability
The Smart Rider will be sold worldwide and will be available on the market in June 2008.

MySpace Teams With Record Companies To Create Music Site

2008-04-04T11:37:00.000+08:00

The New York Times reports on a deal between MySpace and three of the four major music labels to develop a new music website. Users will be able to stream songs for free, purchase downloadable tracks, and (possibly) pay a flat monthly fee for unlimited access. From the Times: "Exact terms of the deal and details about the new site, like prices for downloaded music tracks, were not disclosed. But MySpace did say the site would offer songs free of digital rights management software or D.R.M., which is used to prevent illicit copying but can create technical hurdles for buyers. The songs would be playable on any portable music device, including Apple's iPod. For the music industry, the deal is partly born of desperation. In the face of widespread, escalating online piracy, music sales dropped to $11.5 billion in 2006 from a peak in 1999 of nearly $15 billion."