Petronas Win Free Petrol for 3 Years Contest

The Petronas "Win Free Petrol for 3 Years" Contest run from 18 August 2008 until 17 November 2008. It is opened to Malaysian citizen aged 18 and above who spend a minimum of RM30 in one transaction at any Petronas service stations with any Petronas affiliated Visa or Mastercard credit or debit card, ATM Bankcard, SmartPay or cash with Kad Mesra.

Cardholders who spend a minimum of RM30 in one transaction at any Petronas service stations during the Contest Period are automatically eligible for one entry. Any additional RM30 spent in a single receipt shall be treated as another entry. For example, a transaction of RM60 will entitle the Cardholder to two entries.

During each month of the Contest Period, 1 winner will be selected to win the Grand Prize and 799 winners will be selected to win the Consolation Prizes. In addition, for every month, an additional 88 lucky Petronas Maybankard Visa winners will be selected to win the special consolation prize.

The prizes are as follow:

• Grand Prize - Free fuel for 3 years for 1 winner per calendar month valued at RM28,800.
• Consolation Prizes - 3X refill of value purchased at Petronas Service Station for 799 winners per month. The maximum 3X refill of value purchased is RM600 only.
• Special Consolation Prizes - 8X refill of value purchased at Petronas Service Station for 88 Petronas Maybankard Visa winners per month. The maximum 8X refill of value purchased is RM1,600 only.

Potential winners will be notified via telephone calls for verification and the potential winners are required to answer one simple question to get the prize.

3% petrol rebate for Petronas CIMB Mastercard

Today when I pump petrol in the Petronas station, I noticed their advertisement of providing 3% rebate for Petronas CIMB Mastercard. Currently, petrol expenditure with Petronas CIMB Mastercard at Petronas stations will get 2% rebate only.

However, I noticed that this 3% rebate is a promotion, valid from 18 September 2008 until 17 November 2008 only. This will make Petronas CIMB Mastercard to be one of the credit cards providing the highest amount of petrol rebate, competitive to the Shell Citibank Gold Credit Card.

Beside that, the 5X TreatsPoints promotion of Petronas Maybankard Visa which just ended by 31 July 2008 is also extended from 1 August 2008 until 31 December 2008.

Can you survive in the urban jungle?

Crimes against civilians, especially women, are on the rise today whether in the city or on the road. Therefore Tribe Toyota, the online community for Toyota car owners in Malaysia, is conducting workshops to equip ourself with knowledge on self protection.

This Urban Survival Skills workshops are for individuals aged 12 years and above. 2 type of courses are available.

1. City Survival - for females only

Focuses on the prevention of criminal acts against women like bag snatching, sexual harassment, domestic violence, kidnapping, rape, car theft and mugging.

Date: 16 August 2008 (Saturday)
Time: 8.30am - 2.00pm
Venue: Sheraton Subang Hotel & Towers
Cost: RM40 per person


2. Road Survival - for both males and females

Focuses on dealing with road bullying, car-jacking and car accidents.

Date: 9 August 2008 (Saturday)
Time: 9.00am - 1.00pm
Venue: Sheraton Subang Hotel & Towers
Cost: RM40 per person


Click here for more information about the Urban Survival Skills workshops.

Static electric shocks when getting out of car

Many people experience shocks when they get out of their car. That is caused by static electric discharged from the person's body or clothes to the metallic car body.

When sitting in the car, electrostatic charges are generated on the car seat and the person's body due to contact and movement between the clothes and the seat. The charges is accumulated if the person is wearing a good insulating shoe. It is observed that fabric and true leather seats normally generate more static charges than PU leather seats. If you wear synthetic fibre clothing, you also have more chance to accumulate higher level of static.

Having the air-conditioner blowing directly at you will also accumulate more static, as the air blown out from the air-conditioner is full of charged particles. If your car is full of dust and dirt, static will also be generated as a result of such particles "rubbing" with the air flow as you drive.

An ionizer can help to neutralize some of the static charges in the car. If you still experience the shocks when getting out of the car, you can hold the car key and let the key contact with the metallic car body first before you touch the door. This will discharge the static through the keys instead of your fingers, and you could hardly feel it, therefore avoiding the shocks.

Fact about maintenance-free battery of car

Nowadays, most car battery is a lead-acid storage electrochemical device that can converts chemical energy into electrical energy. A standard 12-volt, lead-acid battery is made up of 6 cells connected in series. Each electrolyte filled cell produces approximately 2 volts. The charge of this 12-volt battery is actually at 12.6 volts, and can vary slightly depending on the concentration of the electrolyte in its acidic solution.

The "maintenance-free" battery, similar in design to its conventional counterparts that need to refill with distilled water from time to time to maintain the fluid level, is actually just a heavier-duty version of the same arrangement. Many of the components in the maintenance-free battery have thicker construction. Different, more durable materials are typically used. For example, the plate grids often contain calcium, cadmium or strontium, to reduce gassing (which causes water loss) and self-discharge. This design is called a lead-calcium battery. The heavier-duty parts ensure that fluid loss is kept to a minimum and that components have a much longer life, making it a closed system.

The advantages of maintenance-free battery are: less preventative maintenance, theoretically longer life, faster recharging, greater overcharge resistance, reduced terminal corrosion and longer shelf life. However, they are more prone to deep discharge (dead battery) failures due to increased shedding of active plate material.

Grounding cables for car

Everything involving the electrical systems in your car requires a free flow of electrons from -ve to +ve terminal of the battery (note that the conventional current flow from +ve to -ve used in most circuit diagram is opposite to the actual electron flow).

Good electrical performance requires a grounding system that is capable to carry a lot of current with minimal resistance. Your car's engine control unit (ECU), spark plugs, lights, in-car entertainment (ICE) components, air conditioner, fans, power windows, cigarette lighter, etc. are all working on a complicated electrical network that includes fuses, relays, and electrical cabling, and they all share a common ground. Almost everything that is powered electrically in your car is grounded to the frame or the metallic body of the car. The negative battery terminal is also grounded to the frame, which causes the frame to serve as a gigantic piece of wire in the circuit.

Usually, the stock grounding system of the car consists of just a few non-braided cables that connect the chassis, engine and firewall to the -ve terminal of the battery. The cables are of normal quality only. In addition, as these connections oxidize or come loose over time, the amount of conductive material decreases, and the electrical devices have to work much harder to overcome the increased resistance.

By installing additional grounding cables connecting the various grounding point or point closest to the various components of the electrical system, and link it directly back to the -ve terminal of the battery, the result is: an alternative path is provided for better flow of the electrical current, via the lower resistance paths. The grounded electrical components are expected to work more effectively with better performance.

The current flow will always take the path of least resistance. Therefore, adding grounding cables to your car can only make the different if the additional cables are of higher quality and lower resistance than the stock grounding system.

Characteristic of grounding cable is determined by American Wire Gauge (AWG) specification. The larger the AWG number, the smaller diameter of the wire. For example, 4-AWG cables are better than 8-AWG cables, because they have thicker diameter, lower resistance and higher current carrying capacity.

Grounding cables are good companion to voltage stabilizer, and usually they are installed together to obtain the best performance.

ePetrol system - possible solution for fuel subsidy?

ePetrol Holdings Sdn Bhd is proposing to the government of Malaysia to make use of their ePetrol system as solution to implement fuel subsidy scheme for citizen with MyKad. This company is established in 2003. Their founding directors include RHB Group founder Tan Sri Rashid Hussain and Dialog Group Bhd chairman and group managing director Ngau Boon Keat. They've showcased the ePetrol system during the World Congress on Information Technology 2008 (WCIT 2008).

User of the system will need to register and activate his MyKad at a registration kiosk to be eligible for the fuel subsidy. The user can link the MyKad to his bank account so payment can be debited from the account each time a fuel purchase is made. Otherwise, payment can be made via credit card or cash. The user is then identified with his MyKad at the petrol pump terminal, and his subsidy amount will be deducted during the fuel pumping transaction.

Will this solution be rolled out by the government? Let's wait and see...

Compulsory rear seatbelt usage from June 2008 onwards

Ever since Germany made compulsory the usage of rear seatbelt from 1984 onwards, more and more countries ruling the same, and Malaysia will have this enforced from 1 June 2008 onwards. A 3 months "grace period" will be given whereby passengers found breaking this rule will be warned, and from 1 September 2008 onwards, they will be summoned.

The function of seatbelt is to reduce injuries by stopping the wearer from hitting hard interior elements of the vehicle or other passengers during collision or emergency break. Passengers with seatbelt buckled up will have better chance to survive from accident, and researches have concluded that car drivers and/or front-seat passengers are 5 times more likely to die in a crash if their back-seat passengers are unrestrained.

However, by the moment this ruling in Malaysia only applies to cars manufactured from 1 January 1995 onwards. It is temporary waived for a 3 years period to those vehicles manufactured before 1 January 1995, after which the ruling will apply for them too. This is because most vehibles registered after 1 January 1995 are equipped with rear seatbelts, and those without are urged to fit in as soon as possible. Perodua Kancil and Kenari cars manufactured between 1998 until mid-2004 will also be exempted from the ruling until 2011 (3 years later).

This ruling is expected to impact on the total amount of passengers that can be carried in the car. A 5-seater can then carry up to 5 persons including the driver, all fasten with seatbelts respectively, and a 7-seater can carry 7 persons. So far, the Road Safety Department does not indicate whether seatbelt usage will also be compulsory for 3rd row seats or not.

Anyhow, the original Toyota Avanza already equipped with 7 seatbelts for all 3 rows of passengers, and has no problem for its passengers to comply with this ruling.

Hidden card holder clip in Perodua Myvi

Since inception in 2005, Perodua Myvi has been one of the best selling car in Malaysia, and there is one in my household too. If you drive Perodua Myvi, probably you are aware of a small drawer to the lower right of the car ignition key hole, as shown below:



Do you notice something in the drawer? Yes, there is a hidden clip on top of the drawer, and many Myvi drivers probably don't aware of its existance or usage. It is "hidden" because you won't see the clip if the drawer is not viewed upward at this angle.

This is actually a card holder clip that you can "hide" your Touch 'n Go card, petrol station loyalty card, autogate access card, etc. on it, just like this:



Pretty cool isn't it?

Toyota Rush and Perodua Nautica

In January this year, UMW Toyota launched the Toyota Rush in Malaysia, and now in May, Perodua launched the Perodua Nautica in Malaysia too. Both of them are actually the rebadge of the 2nd generation of Daihatsu Terios, which is co-developed by Daihatsu and Toyota in Japan.

Let's look at their similarities and differences:

Toyota Rush:

• Type: 7 seater SUV, RWD
• Import: CBU from Indonesia
  
• Comes with 3 specs: 1.5G M/T, 1.5G A/T and 1.5S A/T
• Overall dimension (LxWxH in mm): 4410 x 1695 x 1745
• Interior dimension (LxWxH in mm): 2580 x 1445 x 1240
  
• Wheelbase: 2685 mm
• Kerb weight: 1250 kg
  
• Minimum road clearance: 200 mm
• Minimum turning radius: 5.2 m
• Fuel tank: 50 litre
• Engine: 3SZ-VE
• Front suspension: MacPherson Strut with Coil Spring and Stabiliser Bar
• Rear suspension: 4-Link with Coil Spring and Lateral Rod
• Tyres: 215/65R16
• Door visor: with
• Projector headlamps: only with 1.5S A/T
  
• Fog lamps: only with 1.5S A/T
• Sterling wheel: 4 spoke
• Sunglasses holder with spot lamp: with
• 2nd air-cond blower: with
  
• Colours: blue, black, silver, champagne
  
• Peninsular OTR price: 1.5G M/T: RM85,888 1.5G A/T: RM88,888 1.5S A/Y: RM94,888
  

Perodua Nautica:

• Type: 5 seater SUV, 4WD
  
• Import: CBU from Japan
  
• Only comes with 1 spec: 1.5 A/T
• Overall dimension (LxWxH in mm): 4115 x 1695 x 1740
• Interior dimension (LxWxH in mm): 1800 x 1385 x 1240
  
• Wheelbase: 2580 mm
• Kerb weight: 1200 kg
• Minimum road clearance: 190 mm
• Minimum turning radius: 4.9 m
• Fuel tank: 50 litre
• Engine: 3SZ-VE
• Front suspension: MacPherson Strut with Coil Spring
• Rear suspension: 5-Link with Coil Spring
• Tyres: 215/65R16
• Door visor: without
  
• Projector headlamps: with
  
• Fog lamps: with
  
• Sterling wheel: 3 spoke
  
• Sunglasses holder with spot lamp: with
  
• 2nd air-cond blower: without
• Colours: black, grey
  
• Peninsular OTR price: RM89,900

Asian Festival of Speed car club gathering at Sepang International Circuit on 18 May 2008

The Asian Festival Of Speed (AFOS) organized by Motorsport Asia Ltd. is recognised regionally and internationally as the premier Asian Motorsport Series. This 4-day race meeting at Sepang International Circuit begins on Thursday, 15th May, with a qualifying session, and the first two 10-lap races run the following day on the full 5.54km Grand Prix circuit. Saturday will see another qualifying session for the three further rounds which will be held over 20-laps each of the tight 2.72km North track.

Motorsport Asia Ltd. has invited all the car clubs in Malaysia to participate in the biggest car club gathering of the year during this biggest Asian Festival of Speed 2008 event on the 18th May at Sepang International Circuit.

Participating car club members are also invited to witness 6 power packed races, i.e. Asian Touring Car Series, ATCS 1500Max Challenge, Asia Supercar Challenge, Formula V6 Asia, Formula BMW Pacific and Formula Asia 2.0. There will also be a photo session with Race Queens from projectracequeens.com.

Toyota Owners Journal

Recently, UMW Toyota has split out the Toyota Owner's Journal from their Tribe Toyota portal and added more features to it.

Toyota Owner's Journal is a web portal for car owners who have purchased a Toyota vehicle from UMW Toyota or their dealers. It enables you to view and/or update your personal and contact details in their system. You can also view the purchase details and specification of your Toyota vehicle, its insurance details, and your 24SEVEN Road Assist membership details.

If you serviced your car with Toyota service centre, you can also view your service history, including date of service, mileage when serviced, service centre location, invoice amount, served by who, service type and parts changed. Information for your next scheduled service is also displayed on the screen.

Other than that, you can also view the eVouchers that you've earned, their value, issued date, expiry date, and rebate status.

There is also a reminders section that you can opt to receive reminder email for your next scheduled service, renewal of road tax and insurance, renewal of 24SEVEN Road Assist membership, etc.

Zaptor performance voltage stabilizer Acoustic Gold III v.2008

I heard a lot about this Zaptor performance voltage stabilizer from AOCM, and have seen it installed in the Toyota Avanza of most AOCM members. It is a proven product which able to boost the performance of Toyota Avanza, and I have it installed today during the AOCM TT session. It comes with double sided tape and I sticked it on one of the leg of my Ultra Racing strut bar near the battery.



Today's car is functioned by many electrical and electronic components, the most important being the Engine Control Unit (ECU) which is a computer controlling the engine operations of the car. The ECU is highly dependent on all the sensors that provide accurate data and signals to coordinate various parts in different places of the car. This ECU can give the best judgement if and only if the signal received is accurate, which is affected by the electrical flow of the system. Therefore, a stable and powerful electrical system in the car will ensure best torque and response at all times.

The function of the voltage stabilizer is to stabilized the electrical current generated by the alternator, by storing some electrical energy in capacitors so that stable and constant electrical energy can be maintained all times even if there is voltage drop or surge across the car electrical system. It can also filter out electrical noise and eliminate irregular current flow in the car electrical system. Its working concept is similar to the Power Saver unit in my home.

Zaptor performance voltage stabilizer is developed by a member of Volvo Owners' Club of Malaysia (VOCM). The Acoustic Gold III version is waterproof, fuse protected, has voltage tolerance of up to 25 volts and operating temperature up to 105 degree Celcius. It has a compact size with a 7-colour battery status LED indicator. Most importantly, it functions in par with the branded voltage stabilizer made in Japan, and is distributed in AOCM at a much more affordable price. It is probably the lowest price voltage stabilizer product in Malaysia that can function effectively.

My feelings to the car after installation:

• engine starts immediately when ignited, there is no delay.
• engine respond faster and the fuel pedal is felt a little bit lighter. Probably this will improve in fuel economy.
• car accelerate smoother with increased torque as ECU works better.
  
• the RPM is very stable during idling, not so affected by air-cond condenser kick-in.
• cabin lights and headlights seems to be brighter.
• car audio sounds better.

I was told that the car battery water level will drop faster after the installation of this voltage stabilizer due to the charging effect. As such, using maintenance free battery is more convenient when voltage stabilizer is installed, to eliminate the need of frequent checking and top up of battery water.

Naza Group founder and CEO passed away

Tan Sri S.M. Nasimuddin S.M. Amin, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of the Naza Group, passed away of lung cancer in California at 1.15am (Malaysian time). He was 54 years old and had been receiving treatment for cancer at a private hospital in Long Beach since January this year.

When he was 21, he had RM80,000 in his bank account which he saved from his remunerations from helping out his contractor father. A year later, he made his first million. It was 1975 and he did it by applying for government-issued Approved Permits (AP) to import cars for resell in the country. He was dubbed the "AP King" in the AP controversy event of 2005.

Naza Group, formed in 1974, has been famous for its automobile business. The group currently holds the Malaysian vehicles franchise for Ferrari, Kia, Peugeot, Brabus, Hamann and Ducati. It also holds the import permits for Mercedes Benz and Mazda vehicles.

Tan Sri Nasimuddin was quoted as saying: “I have always loved cars since my teenage years. That is why I am in this business. My father’s construction business was not my cup of tea.”

Medklinn Mobile ionizer

I purchased this Medklinn Mobile ionizer for RM299 at their Jusco counter during promotion period last year.

The unit comes with 14 days money-back guarantee and 1 year defect warranty. It operates by plugging directly into the cigarette lighter socket of the car and bend it upwards. This ionizer requires no maintenance since it does not operate with filter, and I was told that it can last for at least 6 years.

The function of this MedKlinn Mobile ionizer is to deodourize and detoxify the air in the car. It floods the car's interior with massive amounts of negative ions. Large amount of negative ions (at least 2 million ions emission per second) can effectively remove offensive odours and pollutants such as pollen, dust particles, cigarette smoke and exhaust fumes effectively, thus reducing the risk to our health.

I have tested it with durian, and it's deodourize function works very well. It is a better substitute for car fragrance that most people use in their car, because those fragrance are made out of synthetic chemicals that might be harmful to our respiratory system.

There are many other ionizers available, but might not be as effective due to much lesser amount of ions produced. Some can even be harmful to our health due to too much ozone produced.

They've sent a postcard to me, informing that they'll be exhibiting in this HOMEDEC 2008.

Boneless wiper

Have you ever heard or seen a boneless wiper? Recently I changed the ordinary wiper blades of my car to this boneless type. The cost is double to the price of ordinary rubber wiper.

These boneless wiper blades fit directly to the hook of the original wiper arm, and installation is pretty easy. The blades fit nicely and firmly to the slope of the windscreen, providing effective wiping to covered area. They operate quietly and will not lift away even when used during high speed driving. The blades form an even pressure onto the windscreen, and the rubber contact is less likely to deform over time.

The manufacturer of this kind of boneless wiper claims that they are durable, have longer lifespan than ordinary rubber wipers, and can be used for years. There are also boneless wiper with silicon blades, which cost even higher, but is even more durable.

PU car seat cover

The original beige colour fabric of Toyota Avanza 1.5 makes any dirty spot or stain on the car seats to be quite visible and difficult to clean up. As a result, I've covered the car seats with a layer of beige colour PU (polyurethane) car seat cover. This colour of car seat cover perfectly match with the car interior, and is very close to the original colour of the underneath fabric.

I purchased this PU car seat cover from Brothers at the price of RM380, and additional RM40 for installation. The product consists of PU covers that match with all the 3 rows of Toyota Avanza seat and also PU covers for all the headrests.

Dirty stains on this PU car seat cover can easily be cleaned, and it is also water resistant. However, the car seats will feel a little bit hotter under the sun, and need about 3 minutes to cool down after the air-cond is turned on. This is not too bad since I already have the tint film installed which eliminates heat from building up in the car due to sunlight.

Leather seat cover would be better than PU material, but the price is also much more higher. Beside this seat cover, AOCM also recommends another nice looking CarPro brand PU seat cover, which is almost the same price, available in JE Automart.

Jump start the flat battery of a car

It is always a good idea to keep a set of jump start cables in your car, in case somebody in the car park with flat battery need your help, or in case you are the unfortunate one. Try to get a thicker jump start cables which supports 400 cold crank Amps or above.

Here are the procedure to jump start a car with flat battery that I've learned.

Before jump starting:

1. Check the dead battery. Does it suffered from loose connection to alternator? Does it need to top up with distilled water? Fix the possible problem that has caused the battery to be flat. Sometimes you might find that replacing the dead battery directly is a better and/or safer solution than jump starting.
2. If there is white/green residue developed around the battery terminal, clean them out first. Don't touch it with your bare hand, wearing glove is a good idea.
   
3. Bring the car with charged battery to the front of the car that need jump starting, position so that both the batteries as close as possible.
4. Ensure the engine of both the cars are off. All the lamps, radio, air-conds, etc. should also be off.
5. Ensure that the hand brake of both cars are engaged.
   

Performing the jump start:

1. Clamp one end of the red-handled/positive jumper cable to the positive terminal (the one marked with the [+] sign) of the charged battery.
2. Clamp the other end of the red-handled cable to the positive terminal of the dead battery.
3. Clamp one end of the black-handled/negative cable to the negative terminal (the one marked with the [-] sign) of the charged battery.
   
4. Clamp the other end of the black-handled/negative cable to the metal part of the car with the dead battery. Clamp it somewhere where the current can ground out, such as unpainted bolt or bracket in the chassis. Caution: do not attach the black-handled/negative cable to the dead battery itself.
5. Start the car with the charged battery. Wait for a while.
   
6. Start the car with the dead battery. If it still doesn't start after several attempts, the jump start has failed, and it is time to call a tow truck or bring a new battery to the car for replacement.
7. Keep the engine of both the cars on.

After the jump start:

1. Remove the clamp of the black-handled/negative cable from the grounding point.
2. Remove the other end of the black-handled/negative cable from the negative terminal of the charged battery.
3. Remove the clamp of the red-handled/positive cable from the jump started battery.
4. Remove the other end of the red-handled/positive cable from the charged battery.
5. Put back the jump start cables into the car.
6. The car with dead battery should be immediately driven to workshop for checking. Do not turn off its engine before it reaches the destination. If the battery is still usable, it needs at least half an hour for recharging. Try driving the car at higher RPM for faster charging.
   

Toyota Avanza enhancement - Ultra Racing bars

This is a major modification I've done to my Toyota Avanza. It is significant in term of cost, which is RM1xxx for 4 state-of-the-art powder coated steel bars from Ultra Racing (M) S/B. It is even more significant in term of enhancement in safety, handling, comfort and performance of the car. Driver and passengers of the car will feel a completely different ride experience after the installation.

The original Toyota Avanza already comes with a front anti roll bar to tie together the 2 front wheels suspensions. The 4 bars I've installed are:

1. 4-points strut bar (stabilizer bar): provides better handling and control by tremendously improves in stability and road traction, especially during cornering or driving with high speed. Strengthening the chassis to reduce chassis flex and improve reaction to sterling movement.

2. rear anti roll bar (anti-sway bar): tie the lower suspension components together across the 2 wheels. It keeps the car flat in turnings instead of leaning over to one side, and keeps the traction by preventing understeer or oversteer. Also makes the suspension feel stiffer, therefore effectively reduce in bounciness.

3. front lower arm bar: increases overall rigidity and reduces body flexing of the car's front body. Improves suspension effectiveness and eliminates unwanted car rolling movements.

4. rear lower arm bar: increases overall rigidity and reduces body flexing of the car's rear body. Improves suspension effectiveness and eliminates unwanted car rolling movements.




Ultra Racing bars work together as a system, therefore it is recommended to have all of them installed to the car, although they can also work individually with lesser effect. These products are widely used by AOCM members and proven to be effective in transforming the Toyota Avanza ride to a totally new experience. The Toyota Avanza will feel like other sedan cars, and you'll notice the bounciness and body roll has been greatly reduced.

Kindly be reminded that there are many similar products in the market, some even imitate the Ultra Racing products. Not all of them can produce the same result and performance. Only the original Ultra Racing bars are highly recommended by AOCM. These bars come with at least 3 years warranty and guaranteed trade-in value.

My feelings to the car after installation:

• bounciness reduced substantially.
• body rolls eliminated.
• great improvement to handling and response.
• feeling like driving sedan car, and still maintain the high clearance view.
• driving at the speed of 110km/h has the same feeling as driving at the speed of 50km/h. The handling is the same, and you won't feel the car is "floating" at high speed.
• driving on curvy road has almost the same feeling as driving on straight road. The handling is superb. There is not much body roll, and you don't need to press on the break as much as before.
• cornering (eg. going down highway) can be made at the speed of around 80km/h and the car is still stable.

Suspension system - of bumpy or bouncy ride

If any of your friends are complaining about the ride comfort problem they experienced with Toyota Avanza, please refer them to this article.

It is a known issue that the suspension system of Toyota Avanza does not give a promising ride, although improvement has been made for the 1.5 version from the earlier 1.3 version to minimize the effect.

Some people says it is "bumpy", while some other says it is "bouncy". For my experience, it is not bumpy but bouncy.

A vehicle is bumpy if its suspension is stiff. Stiffer suspension makes the car feel more responsive and more direct to the road condition. When the suspension encounters a bump, you will feel the car is "jumping", and in severe case, you will feel your buttock lifts up from the seat a bit whenever a bump is encountered. Normally, cars designed for performance ride (eg. sports cars), those designed for off-road driving (eg. 4WD), and those designed to carry heavy loads (eg. trucks), have stiffer suspension and might bring you a bumpy ride experience. This is not true for Toyota Avanza.

A vehicle is bouncy if its suspension is soft. When the suspension encounters a bump or running on uneven road, you will feel the car is bouncing up and down. The ideal condition for a car to cross a bump is to rebounce once, but a bouncy car will rebounce more than one time before the suspension stabilized again. This is exactly what happen to the Toyota Avanza.

To overcome the bounciness problem of Toyota Avanza, one can modify the original suspension system with the right combination of coil springs and shock absorbers. Several options can be found in AOCM, which vary in different pricing and level of comfortableness.

In addition, you can also enhance the ride comfort, increase stability and reduce the bounciness of Toyota Avanza by installing Ultra Racing bars, which is highly recommended by AOCM members. These bars can really make a big difference to the ride comfort and drive handling of Toyota Avanza. I'll share about my experience on installing and using the Ultra Racing bars in the next article.