kate unleashed!

This has been looong time coming. Got the Kate back after the final mods and tuning almost 3 weeks ago. Been too busy to give a writeup on my baby. Not to mention not much time to drive her around.

First up lets see what the gains are. With a boost of 0.5, the HP is at 109.8 @ 5420rpms on wheel. Not as high as I would like it to be as he managed 125whp with an auto Myvi, but he said it was hard getting the right fuel ratio to match so I won't run too lean. Least its still about 40% improvement or so. How about the torque you say? Well Kate managed to hit 160nm @ 4000rpms. Yup not bad at all. Same thing that crossed my mind. :D

Now numbers are one thing but how is the ride that matters right? Well the day I picked Kate up I couldn't really give her a run. Good ole Murphy's Law kicked in and it was raining cats and dogs. LOL. I finally got to test her out about 2 or 3 days after. Decided to go for a run during my lunch time. ;)

Performance wise I can now feel the pull of the added torque. 1st and 2nd gears don't really give that much of a thrill but 3rd onwards is a real joy. I managed to hit 180kph from 120kph on 5th gear. Previously the car would be struggling to climb in 5th and I would never hit anything past 160kph. As expected there is a lag in 1st and 2nd but that doesn't mean no gains. My old man was the one who commented that its much torquer in 1st and 2nd now. He uses it to hit the sundry shop once in awhile and noticed the difference immediately. Considering hes used to driving his Civic 2.0 I would take that as a compliment. Hehe.

Besides the bolt on turbo. the new suspension is also money well spent. Myvi's stock was stiff and very bouncy while now its as stiff but more secure and doesn't bounce around. The rebound is just about right. Even tried it with 4 heavy adults and it doesn't bottom out. Lowering it to 2 fingers also helps reduce the center of gravity and improve the overall handling. Feel more confident now especially with the added power. Sweeet.

Thats all for now folks. Toodles!

tank updates...

Wow its been almost 6 months since I last blogged about my fish tank. Sadly though its been a rough time for the tank. Due to work I have been too busy to clean up the tank on a regular basis. On top of that I also miss feeding the fishies in a timely manner. The recent house renovation didn't help either with all the dust and moving around.

In the last 3 months or so I have lost most of my fishes. Just before today I only had 3 Cherry Barbs, 2 Amber Tetras and around 7 odd shrimps left. :(

I finally got off my ass and cleaned up the tank. As you can see the plants are still live and well but the tanks is rather empty. Not sure if you can notice but I decided to get slightly bigger fish as the would be hardier. So I invested in 5 guppies, 3 males and 2 females.

I hope I'll be able to maintain the tank better this time around. Kinda sad to lose all those fishes and shrimps. Lets see how it goes. ;)

ready to navigate?

Most of you guys should be aware that I've been looking for a cheap GPS unit for awhile now. Even wanted to get a China made one (RM300 odd) but heard lots of problems with it. Then Sony Ericsson came up with a new phon with built in GPS but heard its via the Internet so thats gonna take up lots of money as well time just to load up.

I started mulling it over and decided why not just spend and get something good and solid. So I researched on Gophers. Sounded alright for RM888 you get it preloaded with maps of Malaysia and Singapore. Furthermore its Msian so after sales 'should' be good. Then I recalled that my aunty from US was visiting soon. I checked online and surprisingly you can get a Garmin (who are the gurus of portable GPS units) unit for around USD150 and above. Thats not bad, even cheaper than the local made ones!

So now am roaming around with a Garmin nuvi 205w. Pretty cool stuff I tell ya! Manage to download a free Malaysia and Singapore map from MalsingMaps. Headed down the road and got it set up. Needed an open space for the first setup process to lock on to the satellites. After that it was smooth sailing.

Tommorrow am heading to Port Dickson for some prayers. Gonna give this baby a go and see how she fares. Heard the maps are really detailed so am eager to try it out. Gotta say its worth every penny. Great for when getting around Kuala Lumpur. Those of you who know me should know how bad I am with KL. :(

phones back...

Finally after 1 week plus my phone is back. Supposedly nothing was wrong and a software flash was all it needed. Hmmm hope thats true. The warranty is gonna run out in the next 2 weeks and I don't want it to die out on me again after that. Now that would be a real bitch!

Last I need is to be spending anymore money. Been blowing alot on Kate, birthday gifts as well as some new toys. Gotta lay low for the rest of the year from the looks of it. Hehe.

Never knew how much I depended on my K800i. Couldn't take pictures. Had to bear with lousy ringtones. Struggle to SMS. Everything on a Nokia is backwards. LOL. What a nightmare?!

Its ok. All back to normal now. Phew. :D

music head...

My aunty from US came visiting again. This time around she brought 2 yummy toys for me. Hehe. First up is the brand spanking new Apple Ipod Nano. To be exact its the shiny purple 8GB version (USD149).

To be honest am not really a fan of Apple. Would rather spend less and get a Sony or Creative MP3 player but since my aunty was springing for it I thought what the heck! ;) Although I did overhear my dad saying he'll pay for it. Hmmm...

This newer Nano variety has some new techno enhancements like the accelerometer which allows the gadget to shuffle songs when shaken or switch between portrait and landscape display modes. Also comes with 'Genius' which automatically creates playlists based on a selected song using an algorithm built by Apple. Not sure how 'smart' it can be but interesting idea I guess.

The design is also much nicer. It has a curved aluminum shell and glass screen. Supposedly its "the most environmentally friendly iPod [Apple] has ever made", containing arsenic-free glass and a BFR-, mercury-, and PVC-free design. It is also claimed to be highly recyclable. Doubt that really matter though. LOL.

All and all its a pretty nifty toy. I like the touch rotating pad as well as the crystal clear screen. Would prefer better earbuds though but I guess I can get some 3rd party ones. Now I gotta look for a suitable casing so that I can maintain the shiny metallic shell. If not it will be scarred in no time.

Guess I'll be chillin' with some cool tunes for awhile. ;)

what luck...

Boy what luck I tell ya! As you are aware I was off for a road trip to Cherating over the weekend with Sunshine and Kate. It was Kate's first long drive after the transformation. Everything was perfect till we got back Monday. I had just dropped Sunshine home when my AC seemed dead. Only warm air came out. I found that puzzling and thought maybe it needed some gas.

Didn't think much of it as I was so freakin' tired till I reached towards my home and the damn car was heating up! The needle was all the way to the top. At home I popped the hood and found out the radiator had been drained clean. It was leaking somewhere but all I could think of was how thankful I am that it happened when I was back in Klang Valley.

Imagine it happening while in Pahang or Terengganu?! Who the hell is gonna help me out then? LOL. Now that would have been some serious arseluck! Oh well, Kate is now back at the shop. Turns out a hose clip was loose, so at a certain temp it'll start to leak.

On a plus note is that I told Jeffrey to go ahead and change the suspension and set the boost to 0.5. Will give a better writeup of the gains and ride when I have more time on my hands. Cheerio folks!

road trip...

Woo Hoo. Finally managed to get some leaves approved. Sunshine and I will be heading out to Cherating for 2 nights. :D

Can't wait to hit the road with Kate as well. Good time to really test her out. Shes been coming along fine. Haven't really had the time to see her full capability as been busy with work. This weekend am gonna make sure I rip shit up!

crummy luck...

Sigh. Not sure why but my Sony Ericsson K800i is suddenly giving me problems. People can't seem to call me. Getting network busy or engage tone. While I can't call out to anyone. Getting network busy signal. This happened all of sudden as well. Practically overnight! Arrgghhh.

Its frustrating as I depend on my phone for quite a bit. For personal and work. Thankfully I still have my dad's old Nokia 2100. So have sent my phone in for a checkup since I have 1 month warranty left. Phew. Hope my baby is ok. :(

turbo kate...

I step into Kate and I see something at the corner of my eye. Anticipation builds. After a month plus I finally got my baby back. Hmmm was it worth the time and money? Then again if it wasn't, least I got a fancy gadget to look at. LOL.

Before I start her uo I head in front and pop the hood. Curious to see the final outcome. Daaamn! After 4 odd years of itching for this I finally have a turbo setup. Beautifully done piping and intercooler all in place. Real fine job by Jeffrey. Nice and clean. A real sight to behold I tell ya. ;)

Now I can't wait to get in and start her up. Before I could ask, Jeffrey says lets go for a spin but alas Murphy's law kicks in. It starts raining cats and dogs. Arrrggghhh. Why does it have to rain on the day I pick Kate up?! Dammit!

Unfazed I started Kate up and went for a spin. Sadly though I wasn't able to test her out. Jeffrey advised that it was only at 0.3 bar as my suspension wasn't safe enuff to boost more. No worries though as I was pushing 103whp. Thats like 30 odd percent increase!

Now am back home waiting patiently. Still raining mad outside. Can't wait for a clear day so I can take Kate out for a proper spin. :D