Archive for the ‘automobiles’ Category


June 25, 2006

proton satria neo

Somebody at Autoworld refer it as ‘nyior’, heheh… I thought that was pretty funny.

Alright, I’ve seen this car, and what do I think of it personally? Well, good and bad. The good of it, is that the front portion of this car definitely looks too good to be a Proton. The bad, that’s the only thing good about… this… this… junk… car… whatever you want to call it.

Whoaa what happened?

I’m gonna make this in point form.

- The interior was still too ‘plasticky’ in my opinion, JUST LIKE its cousin, Proton Savvy. I just don’t feel good about it. The interior’s kinda neat, yes, but it’s the plastic grade that’s turning me off. Cheap, creaky plastics.

One thing about these plastics I’ve noticed, is that it’s being very widely used in contemporary Proton models (and some low-end Korean makes as well). The older models (Saga, Iswara & Ah Beng Wira) doesn’t seem to have this kind of material in them at all. It all only started with Waja, I believe… and after that, it sort of like became a major ingredient for all Proton products thereafter. BIG MISTAKE, fuckers… (maybe they’re being used due to the cost factor, but what do I care, really…)

In case you don’t have an idea what I’m talking about, you may perform following simple test to distinguish these ‘cheap plastics’ from the conventional ones:
- use your fingernails, and try to sink it deep onto the surface of the plastic
- if it sinks in and gives you that ‘rubbery’ or elastic feel, it’s by means all good (in my own terms, of course. Why? That’s because the ‘rubbery’ texture would dampen a significant level of noise when there’s a surface to surface contact, and you’ll get a that-much-quieter car)
- if it slips off the smooth surface, then you may start to scream… IT’S CHEAP PLASTIC!

Usually black in colour if it’s not being spray painted on, and if you apply some pressure on it, you’ll get some unexpected creaking sound effects. (You’ll see plenty of those on Kancil, Savvy and Waja - among the examples)

- The cabin space was too small. I used to co-own a 1.3L Satria with Emily, and I don’t remember feeling all too crampy about it. As for this car, there seems to be very little headroom left for me… and if I were to go through some really nasty bumps, my head’s bound to hit the roof. Now, I’m not really a tall guy, just about the height of Michael Schumacher… but I can’t imagine if this were to be driven by a 6 footer? Man, on top of getting frequent knock from above, that guy’s gonna get all the heating as well, and would probably develope a crop circle pattern on the top of his head in the long run - which, can be quite nice if you aspire to look like Zinedine Zidane.

I don’t know if the reduced space was suppose to bring any good but, it’s definitely not a car meant for big people. For petite chicks maybe, or a midget. Or squirrels. Or someone the size of a squirrel.

And that was it. I had enough. The car can come with ABS, Airbag, or a biological fuckable cunt, for all I care. I couldn’t be bothered. It’s just too small, and the interior just didn’t cut it for me. I’d rather spend my money on a used continental car instead.

(girls, that should give you a hint that, should you ever spot a guy driving a Proton Satria Neo, he’s not likely to be a tall person. Well, at least not someone who can give you a sense of security, you know what I mean? *wink*)

#  | michaelooi | automobiles | 13 Comments
November 30, 2005

buying it for yourself

People, what is the utmost important thing that would influence your consideration before purchasing an automobile? The look? The price? Handling? What?

For me, my very first gate of judging a potential buy would be the look of that car. I’ll have to like the car first before I would even show interest in purchasing it. (you see, I have this fetish of wanting my car’s meter to look prominently bright and clear during night time… and my Lorraine’s meter fits the profile just right)

Secondly would be the price. Definitely has to be something that I can afford. And finally, to test drive the junk if it’s driveable. If I’m satisfied with the test drive, then I’ll probably make some effort to find out if that piece of shit have any known quality issues or if the after sales service is any good. (such info can be easily found in any local automotive forums). Only then, I’ll contemplate for the final hurdle of getting myself enough bucks to pay for the deposit (and of course, getting the car loan as well).

If you can recall the half assed review entry I did about Proton Savvy, you’ll notice that I got turned off by that car even by the looks of it. It didn’t get through my first gate. And that has been the bane of the whole entry - some nincompoops came and decorated my commenting system with snide remarks stressing that the car’s selling point is all about handling, not about looks.

Well, does that really matter to me? Hell no.

Like I’ve previously iterated in one of my honda city post, the outlook of a vehicle nowadays are as important as it’s comfort and safety factor. It’s all about looking good in the modern world. People have spent millions in redefining their product design just to look better - clothes, cars, silicon boobs… everything. It’s part of the winning formula to get your products sell well.

So, if I see a car which doesn’t live up to my expectations, do you think I would even deign to test drive it? That’s exactly the case with me and Proton Savvy. I think it’s ugly and that’s the end of the story.

(one of the managers at my workplace told me that the rear of Proton Savvy somehow reminded him of ultraman taro’s face - refer comparison below to judge yourself…)

#  | michaelooi | automobiles | 17 Comments
November 22, 2005

“Kuda”

Man, that name “Kuda” would simply crack me up. I mean, doesn’t that sound like … weird to any one of you? Why does it have to start with a “K”? So that it complies with the unofficial abbreviation “SLK”? Small Little Kuda. How bizarre man…

Here’s a list of names that start with “K”, and let us remind ourselves that they could very well be an open option for a car’s name in future…

“Kanasai”
“Kanineh”
“Kongkek”
“Kelapa”
“KuihMuih”
“Karipap”
“KNNCCB”

hahahh! add yours…

#  | michaelooi | automobiles | 33 Comments
July 6, 2005

proton savvy comments

I posted my view about Proton Savvy a while ago… and apparently, there were some hardcore Proton supporters getting flustered about my review and decided to uphold the justice by posting some comments on my blog. Here are what they wrote (and my reply along with it…):

~~~

Yao commented :
“if u guys r fucking rich, then go for better car but if u don’t…
not all malaysian r rich!!!
the price, i think suit with the quality and even cheap for a car with TUV approval..!!
myvi only approve by Peordua ma…
myvi just better designed than savvy but performance, quality and safety i dont think so…!!
their using that fucking old kelisa n kembara engine..!!
their using old tech and systems man..!!
THINK malaysian!!!”

My reply to him/her/whatever :
yao - What’s the difference with TUV or whatever fuck approval ? The car’s ugly & expensive. Period.

And in case you believed that retarded advertisement, well… don’t. That’s because you’re gonna fucking die anyway hitting a tree or a garbage truck. TUV or not.

~~~

Lion commented :
“savvy car is much beter and your rewieu is fucking bad”

My reply to him/her/whatever :
Hmmppfff… yeah. A “savvy car” is definitely much “beter” and my … excuse me… “rewieu” is fucking bad ? Get some education, moron.

~~~

shaiful abdullah commented :
“fuck u all…….bitchy bitch…..go fuck urself…fucking hell…u all just suck….go fuck ur motherfucker in law!”

My reply to him :
Awwwwww… how sad. You must have paid the deposit for a Proton Savvy. Why are you so fucking stupid ? Now you can choose to cancel your car, or live with that fucking piece of disaster for the rest of your miserable life.

~~~

king of the road commented :
“if any one have ever drive a savvy. whay are you so stupid. i have a savvy . the interior of car is very impresive. renault clio is the best selling model in evrope and sohc renault engine is beter than mvyi.
all in this forum are idiots”

My reply to him/her/whatever :
king of the road - let’s see who’s the idiot.

1) you have a savvy and we think savvy sucks. (idiot = you)

2) you think cheap plastics are good and you don’t even know how to spell impressive to describe your thrill… (idiot = you)

3) You think Savvy rawks because Renault Clio is the best seller in “evrope”. I think you’re an idiot … so … idiot = you.

4) This is not a forum. This is a motherfucking BLOG. Know what’s a blog dumbass ? (idiot = you)

No wonder you bought that garbage Savvy. It suits your character.

~~~

There you go. And there are a few gentlemen (one even claimed to be a Proton salesman !) that vented their disapproval about Proton Savvy … which I find to be quite interesting.
You can follow the comments here.

#  | michaelooi | automobiles | 53 Comments
June 19, 2005

proton savvy

I was loitering around Carrefour during my office lunchtime on Friday… seeking for the meaning of life when I saw something at a corner of the alfresco section of the complex. It was a Proton Savvy - the latest model released by our infamous national carmaker which I have yet to check out. Apparently, there was somekind of promotion/exhibition shit going right there and I can see an asylum of annoying people flocking around that automobile; knocking and copping a feel on it despite the fact that they have absolutely no intention of purchasing it. Bunch of inconsiderate bums.

And because I still have plenty of time left, I decided to walk over to check out the car; knocking and copping a feel on it despite the fact I have absolutely no intention of purchasing it.

What can I say … it’s disappointing. The first thing that dumbfucked me was the engine compartment (or whatever you call that under the hood). I can’t help but noticed that the finishing of the engine cover and the aircon unit next to it, was very dull and crude. It looked like the work of some kindergarten kids with cans of low quality aerosol paints. Well, maybe the rest of the car could be better, I then thought, and so I proceed to move on to the next part of the car - the interior.

At the first glance, the interior reminded me a lot of Proton Saga. Cheap plastics everywhere. But at a closer inspection, I realized that I was wrong. It’s actually much worse than that. The plastics reminded me of those low quality pirated DVD covers that has an awful smell. And that big hole above the glove compartment wasn’t at all impressive. It’s really hard to explain but, it’s unbelievable that this piece of crap was sold for over RM40 grands ! What a rip off !

A little stroll towards the back portion of the vehicle reaped no good impression either.

- The space at the rear passenger seat was like of a plane’s economy class - you’ll pretty much get more frustration than a round of good sex if you ever decided to get adventurous inside this car.

- The trunk was unbelievably small. You can’t even store half of your mother-in-law in it. Well, unless your mother-in-law’s a midget, you’ll probably have to strap her on top of your vehicle roof if there ever was a need for you to discard your MIL’s body after killing her.

Savvy ? An illusion perhaps. To me, this is just another addition to the collection of junks under Proton’s brand. If you were to ask me, I’d say spend that RM40,000 on a used Japanese car. Or a really nice brand new bike.

*I know nothing technical under that hood. This review was made based on my gutfeel as a driver (& owner) of a Japanese car for more than 10 years. Certainly, a little tinge of quality know-hows helped a lot to differentiate what is a junk and what is not.

#  | michaelooi | automobiles | 81 Comments