2014 June | LENSPEED

Goodwood FoS 2013: The best cherry picks

By James Wong

Attending the Goodwood Festival of Speed (FoS) has to be every petrolhead’s must-do in their lives. The UK’s automotive industry may have declined in the 80’s and 90’s, but recently it has witnessed a sterling revival and today not only is the industry one of the most vibrant in the whole of Europe, British car sales have also been more resilient than the rest of Europe’s. The British simply love their cars. The result is that interest feeding back into the FoS has been overwhelming, leading to a crowd of hundreds of thousands heading towards the South Coast over the festival weekend. It is a massive undertaking logistically, something that is certainly unprecedented from when the FoS first began life at Goodwood House. But it is a well-deserved interest – you will not see another festival like this anywhere else in the world, where every form of motorsport converge together in a shared spirit of the love of machines. That is why people from all over the world also fly in to attend the festival.

“… you will not see another festival like this anywhere else in the world”

I attended FoS last year and wrote an article for a magazine while at it. However, while at FoS I also took nearly 2,000 photos, and eventually only a handful were published. What a waste, right? Well, while we all wait in anticipation for 2014’s shindig this weekend, here’s a little photo-taster of the Fos. The photos came in handy after all!

At the FoS you can count on seeing all the latest super cars, and I do mean the latest. This was the developmental McLaren P1, almost a year ago…

And this 991 GT3, before it got recalled for its burning engines!

You’ll also get to sit in all of the latest models. Inside the press centre there was the Ghibli to fiddle about with, and this is an interesting piece of unpolished wood trim in the car. Can’t imagine how it’ll look like 20 years from now!

We also felt cossetted in Audi’s quilted leather in the new RS7.

You’ll see experimentals like the Volkswagen XL1 too. This, by the way, is the carbon-fibre lined engine bay of one of the most efficient cars in the world. You can sure see where the weight saving comes from.

Back then Tesla was just launching in the UK, and these are the two third-row rear seats of the otherwise conventional Model S. Today Tesla sells the RHD Model S in the UK.

A big part of the FoS experience is camping at the same time throughout the weekend. Or glamping, as in the case of this Vanquish and its motorhome, or the Rolls-Royce Phantom below…

Make no mistake – day trippers who drove their cars down have no less impressive machinery. Touring around the visitor carparks is a show in itself – cars that you love are everywhere. People who come for the FoS after all are likely to be similar to you and me…

Porsche was the title sponsor for 2013’s event, and they decided to hang 3 of their cars in the air. Nifty.

Rallying is one of the motorsports widely represented at FoS, and many people miss the opportunity to sneak into the forest to watch these cars pass by you at just a stone’s throw away. You get so close you can even feel the vibrations from the loud unrestricted exhausts. Think Group B level of spectator-ship. Beware of the dust though – you may come out done and dusted!

Of course, not everybody enjoys the dust, and this guy must be sulking in his Maser!

Oh, and if you love your classics, you’ll be well catered for too. There’s a whole grassy field filled with priceless specimens.

Yeehaw!

What a sweet looking Speedster!

Oh, and if you love your Lambos (looks at Ken)…

Besides a hillclimb, you can also see your favourite cars doing their thing around a narrow circuit that crosses much of the grounds. They’ll be civil sometimes, but to please the crowds burnouts are common!

If you so wish, you could go off-roading with a 911 (see what I mean by anything goes at the FoS?)…

Or you could see Sir Stirling Moss in his priceless Merc.

Or how about a 458, but not quite – Eric Clapton’s one-off SP12 EC…

This press LFA has certainly made its rounds in the UK!

And there’s that, the best pictures I have. I have so many more, but hopefully this will give you a good idea of how it’s like. It may feel like a haphazard place, with a million things happening at the same time, so my advice is to pick and choose carefully what you want to see the day before. You’ll be so distracted on the day itself you may end up watching something you don’t really want to see and missing your favourite part of the show. Also, you can’t see everything over a day – choose your areas to focus on for each day to minimise walking. It’s a real effort to be walking up and down that hill if you don’t plan your days!

There is something for everyone at the FoS. It’s an incredible experience to be savoured – don’t miss it! One last Top Tip: book accommodation way in advance. I got lucky and managed to find a place in a university hostel, but most people book almost a year ahead.

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MULTI-PURPOSE MISSILE

By The Lenspeed Team

Lenspeed gets its hands on Volkswagen’s most potent Golf R

510km in three days with the Golf R, and Lenspeed should be more than ready to give a balanced review of Volkswagen’s seventh-generation Golf pumped with turbocharged steroids. To be honest, we were wishing for a back-to-back comparison with another hot hatch, but when the subject comes in the form of VW’s most powerful Golf R, it should be sufficient to carve a story capable of whetting any petrolhead’’s appetite.

Our test unit came with a mileage of 7750km, which means that it has been trashed and tested by other journalists. Not that we’re complaining, because we prefer to try one that is past its run-in period – that’s normally the time when the car starts to reveal its true character.

Stepping into the cabin reveals familiar features found in other variants of the Golf hierarchy, only to be reminded by a couple of “R” logos adding to the badge snobbery.

Inner workings disclose a couple of important mechanical tweaks to justify the price tag over the Mk7 GTI too. The springs are firmer than the Mk7 GTI and sits 5mm closer to the tarmac, and it also comes with the flexibility to toggle with the suspension setup. And probably the most costly input for the R will be the Haldex all-wheel drive system that sends torque to the rubber in need of more grip faster than a blink of an eye.

On paper, it surges to the century mark in five seconds with the help of 280bhp and 380Nm. And yes it does feel fast. Once you get over the initial turbo inertia, you get whisked away by the mid range punch that sucks you in the horizon, huffing and puffing away till redline and only backing off until you ease off the pedal. It is a car that sweeps through straights with blistering pace, and more often than not it makes you feel like a champion behind the wheel.

“If you keep it neat and tidy, there is a fluid rhythm to the chassis that works seamlessly with the suspension, and this positive stroke of mechanical genius from the underpinnings allow you to toggle with throttle adjustability in mid-corners.”

It has the soundtrack to complement its quick strides too. Exhaust notes are “synthetically enhanced” by the speakers for more vocal “charisma”, but to be honest it still sounds better than a muted cabin (I’m sure our acoustic specialist Chor might have a word with me after this!). You get a boomy bellow under 2000rpm before the turbo settles into rapid-fire mode. In full swing above 4000rpm the resonance in “Race” mode is enough to send tingles down your spine and echoes throughout the emptiness of the night – it is loud, very loud, and most of the time you will hear it before you even spot a hint of Lapiz Blue lurking in the shadows.

When ploughing through gears on the limit even on full-bore upshifts, there are no hints of torque steer, and with the help of the latest generation Haldex to sprawl torque on all fours, you could even chuck it round a sweeper on boost and the electronics will sniff out the corner in need of more traction. It’s mentioned that this trickery can send 100% of the torque to the rear axle, something that we have yet to explore in a controlled environment. But if you keep it neat and tidy, there is a fluid rhythm to the chassis that works seamlessly with the suspension, and this positive stroke of mechanical genius you get from the underpinnings allow you to toggle with throttle adjustability in mid-corners. There’s sufficient fun to be had with this MQB-derived chassis, even though it’s more reassuring than outright captivating.

If you are looking for more mid-corner adjustability, the Mk7 GTI would suffice, as it has that innate ability (possibly due to a lighter drivetrain) to be playful. You could get the tail washing wide and enjoy some lift-off oversteer as you pitch it in hard with help from the quick steering rack, but yet it possesses the finesse from the chassis to keep things well sorted. The Golf R, on the other hand, is reassuringly fast, and on a properly wet switchback, we doubt many this price point can match its savage cross-country pace. Effortless motoring for the petrolhead does not come much better and faster than this.

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TRIPLE S CONCOCTION

Text By James Wong, Photos By Amrit Changaroth

I find it a bit of a struggle to wake up at 715am every day. However, like all petrolheads out there, I tend to make an exception when it comes to driving. I have woken up like clockwork at 4am at Switzerland to catch the first sunlight for mountain roads, 5am in Singapore to hit the B-roads just when the sun rises, and I’ve never really complained. Neither has my body. I find it incredulous, none more so than my alarm clock which has had more than its fair share of snooze snubs.

Along a fabulous piece of B-road one faithful morning, there lies an even more terrific thing – an empty area of tarmac that, according to banners put up by possibly nobody, is used for drifting events. I’ve never seen any drifting event held there, and I am happy for it. It’s a place where it’s safe to put a car through its paces, where there are cones and tyres already in place for you to set up your own course. In short, there cannot be a better place to drive to within 2 hours of Singapore…

So, three cars assembled for the short blast, incidentally all with a real fetish for the letter ‘S’. Suzuki and Subaru are the brands, and Suzuki Ignis Sport (SIS), Suzuki Swift Sport (SSS) and Subaru S204 are the models. Call them the Triple S.

Every road trip seems to have its eventful twist, and each of the Triple S had their fair share of white-knuckled moments. Along the B-road, the SSS was traveling ahead of the S204 and a truck, and disappeared left on a blind corner. Moments after, I (in the S204) saw the truck braking and as the road became visible, the SSS was nowhere to be found!

Before panic set in, I saw it scurrying back onto the road, slipping nonchalantly in front of the truck as if nothing happened. Over the intercom we had to ask incredulously, “What the heck happened?!”

As it turned out, rear tyres as bald as a monk gave way mid-corner, possibly due to a sandy surface and water seeping through the grass. The car oversteered, and went into the hedge! Thank God the casualty was only a frayed bumper and a missing number plate, but we did go retrieve the number plate later.

The next moment happened when an innocent squirrel stood firmly on its paws on the road, having what must be the best nuts in the world as it didn’t want to move when the S204 approached it… Quickly deciding that I didn’t want any squishy bits to bring home with my car, I swerved, got onto a dirt patch along the side of the road and oversteered a little before the sterling AWD brought me back to the road with little sweat.

The SIS was spared any incidents when we reached the tarmac area. Given the experience of two drivers on the trip of driving the wheels off their cars, they quickly devised a track layout and we started time trials. I had a go in all 3 cars, and it was pretty clear that power is of little importance here. The SIS, with its short wheelbase, gave an agility that likened it to a sniffing dog onto a treat trail. Its gearing was perfect for the conditions, giving short bursts of acceleration that, while wasn’t fast, was enough to thrill the driver and reward clean shifts. At some points, going into gear 1 and then pulling the handbrake was necessary, which is where the SIS excelled again as it yawed on its front axis like a natural. Cocking up the inside rear wheel was, of course, something the SIS did everywhere it went. It sounded the business too.

Dropping into the SSS, it was startling how similar some things were, like the upright seating position (giving great visibility) and the ease of controls. However, the SSS felt more mature and better built, adding a slight heft to its handling that deprives it the razor sharp responses of the SIS. It however had a more confidence-inspiring steering feel, and definitely felt like a proper hot hatch, again cocking up its inner rear wheel as it resolutely held its line rather than understeering severely. It’s no doubt the SIS felt more natural in the narrow confines of this circuit though.

As I drove the S204 on this circuit I gathered that, like many enthusiasts think of Subarus, there is a inherent understeer bias. What surprised me was how difficult it is to quell it to get a clean lap; with the DCCD left in Auto the car simply preferred to understeer into the hedge rather than move power around to fix it. As such I felt backing off the throttle was necessary, although I much preferred to power through and let the car ‘sort itself out’. I tried the same lap again on different settings on the DCCD, this time heading down the progressive chart and finding out the difference. Although with each lap the difference was hardly noticeable, by the time I reached the opposite end of the scale from Auto, the car was much cleaner on its lap and power was being distributed more efficiently to neutralise the handling. By then however, my front tyre sidewalls were already melting, and mechanical sympathy stopped me from going further!

Although the S204 clinched the fastest eventual lap time, the clear winner from behind the driver’s seat is the SIS. From ground up, it was built for situations like this and it was completely at home. Pity this specific model is going to be scrapped in two weeks…

Anyway, we left off where the SIS has no incidents, but before it got back to Singapore it unfortunately wasn’t spared. On the B-road back, a serious off-camber corner nearly drove the car into the oil palm plantations, and upon reaching Gelang Patah the car started leaking coolant fluid. A stone struck the radiator, just a small wound, but enough to give the car the thirst of a parched athlete. It limped back to Singapore and stopped periodically to get its coolant topped up!

All in, it was an incredible Saturday morning that showed thrills are never too far away from our island. We just need to know where to look.

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A BRAND NEW M3, YOURS FOR LESS THAN S$300K

By The Lenspeed Team

We’re in no doubt that S$300,000 is a lot of money, but if you’ve been tracking car prices in Singapore closely like Lenspeed has, the list prices fresh off the press of the F30 M3 and F32 M4 will certainly get you sitting up and paying attention.

At $226,800 (without COE) and $236,800 (without COE) for the M3 and M4 respectively (as of 22 June 2014), the M3 can now be had below the psychological $300k barrier inclusive of a $61,899 COE from the latest bidding – a first in a long while for an M car, if not the first time in history. As far as our memories can bring us, a E46 M3 still asked for circa $340k back in the day…

Whatever wizardry BMW M has employed to get the prices so low, we’re definitely not complaining. With the equivalent RS4 breaching nearly half a million dollars, both M cars are currently an absolutely bargain.

We’re making a good guess that these M cars would probably be sold in poverty spec, allowing their prices to stay so competitive – and maybe also leading to a lower OMV. But seeing as how Singaporeans care more about the badge than what options their cars have, this is a sound strategy to drive volume.

Heck, we can already hear the cheque books being thrown on the leather-lined tables…

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TO HELL AND BACK

By BLT

BLT takes to the treacherous Nürburgring Nordschleife … and returned home alive

Like any racetrack, the Nürburgring Nordschleife inspires both exhilaration and trepidation. But for me, it represented more of an enigma; a bucket list item any petrolhead needs to strike off his list at least once. We’ve all seen the Top Gear videos of Sabine Schmidt and Jeremy Clarkson going at it on the ‘ring. We’ve seen the manufacturer test videos of their cars doing a blistering lap time. And yes, we’ve all seen the epic crashes and YouTube ‘fail compilations’ of exotics crashing when flogged too hard from corner to corner.

Even with all those premonitions and expectations, I wasn’t scared. I was confident. I wouldn’t call myself a veteran, but having driven many Californian racetracks in fast cars and gotten second in a Porsche race day, I arrived in the sleepy town of Nürburg with my head held high. To me, this was just another track, albeit one with a lot of unnecessary hype and fuss. She was just another conquest.

Boy was I wrong, though it would take me a day to realise it.

After checking in at the Tiergarten Hotel (owned by none other than the Sabine Schmidt’s parents), my friends and I thought it wise to do the Ring Taxi to whet our appetite. We were hooked instantly. The instructor took his M3 E90 to limits beyond what BMW must have intended and we did an impressive 8:30 with four people on board. My friend and I then decided to rent Suzuki Swift and do a ‘practice lap’ each in anticipation of the next day’s race. My friend pulled a 12:15 on his first lap, no small feat considering he had never driven left-hand-drive before.

At the helm, I pushed that little car harder than gravity intended and started passing car after car. My proudest moment was when I managed to pass a latest-gen Porsche Cayman S in the inside line. The thrill of passing a 300+bhp car in something with 200bhp less pleased me almost as much as my respectable 10:23 timing, and I went back proud to the Schmidt hotel proud of my achievements and hoping I would run into Sabine to boast about my exploits.

It all changed the next day when I woke up to the thickest fog I’ve ever seen, or rather, not seen. Indeed, I couldn’t even count my fingers with my hands stretched out. I was as if I were a tick lost in Santa Claus’s beard. The fog was everywhere, and to make matters worse, the fog’s moisture soaked the ground like a sponge. Perfect racing conditions… if one were suicidal.

Despite that, we headed off to the racetrack expecting the competition to have turned tails because of the fog. And even if they were silly enough to persist, how many weekend racers in their GTIs/Lotuses/”pre-F30” M3s were going to be a match for my rental today – The latest generation Porsche Cayman S (981). Fog or no fog, I was going to rock it. Again, I was severely mistaken.

Instead of a bunch of midlife crisis men with salt-and-pepper hair rocking M3s and hot hatches as old as their pensions, the parking lot was filled with chiseled alpha males with cars one only saw on Top Gear. Audi R8s, Latest-Gen BMW M3/M4/M5s, C63 Blacks, Race-Spec Aston Martin Vantages, Koenigseggs, Ferrari 458 Italias, McLaren MP4-12Cs, 650S, even a P1, not to mention a whole assortment of Porsche GT3s, GT3RSes, and Turbos. The value of the cars in that lot exceeded the GDP of some countries. I felt like the guy who brought a Super Soaker up against guys packing bazookas, and actually knew how to use them. All of them had roll cages, fire-retardant suits, helmets, lots of machismo, and perhaps one too many ‘Nürburgring veteran’ bumper stickers. Germany’s motoratti were out in full force. Gulp.

“Up against such competition, the only thing that prevented me from turning tail was the fact that I had already pre-paid for 16 laps; one lap of which was pricier than 10 lap dances from the most exotic of exotic dancers.”

Up against such competition, the only thing that prevented me from turning tail was the fact that I had already pre-paid for 16 laps; one lap of which was pricier than 10 lap dances from the most exotic of exotic dancers. Put in that perspective, the money-conscious Asian American in me (and the only one in the whole race) could not walk away from that opportunity cost. After I signed the innumerable amount of waivers, I was made to put a deposit on my credit card for the replacement value of the car if I so much as scratched it: E$24,900. Yes, “only” a third of what a base Cayman costs, but one too many zeros for my comfort level. I crossed my fingers and hoped it would exceed my credit card limit, thus allowing me a face-saving exit out of the race. Needless to say, it didn’t, and I found myself cursing AMEX as I fired up the car, its raspy Boxer 6 defiantly croaking against its V8, V10 and V12 counterparts in the mist.

“Predictably, I was terrible, pushing too hard on the straights and braking way too late to clip the numerous apexes properly. The 150+ turns, already a challenge in the dry, were downright impossible in the mist.”

I had hired an instructor for the first six laps so I wouldn’t be culpable to doing anything overtly stupid (at least not initially), and he was in charge of teaching me the proper racing line. Michael, a veteran of more than 20,000+ laps and current touring car champion, was the epitome of Teutonic cool as he guided me around the track. ‘Zis ist nicht playzstation, you dzon’t get rezet button!’ he yelled many times as I flew through the corners carrying way too much over-confidence-induced speed. I had to place full trust in Michael, because all the corners were not only blind, but downright invisible thanks to the fog. Yesterday, I remarked to my friends that the ‘ring was almost beautiful, even if one weren’t driving at 250km/h. Now, I couldn’t even see a meter in front of me.

Predictably, I was terrible, pushing too hard on the straights and braking way too late to clip the numerous apexes properly. The 150+ turns, already a challenge in the dry, were downright impossible in the mist. As Michael scampered for the door after his six lap obligations were done (I don’t blame him at all), I tried my best to memorise where and when to turn and make it out of the numerous corners carrying the best possible exit speed. He did a fantastic job of teaching me, but I simply couldn’t memorize all 150+ turns at full throttle.

As luck would have it, the sun came out, but as the mist slowly dissipated, so did everyone’s inhibitions for speed. I found myself up against fast and furious racers relentlessly pushing my 6 o’clock in their 458s, P1s, and GT3s. With the fog gone, it was hard not to ogle at the supercars in my rear view mirror and think I was in a surreal dream – Except the dream was quickly shattered when all of them easily passed me without so much as even downshifting. Dream quickly turned into nightmare as I ended up being overtaken by one of the few hot hatchbacks at the race. How quickly the tables had turned since yesterday and I buried my face (and my dignity) in my hands at lunchtime.

Chain-binging on nuggets and fries, I resolved to give it my best after lunch. My passenger after lunch, Janina, was not used to screaming, but she did. Which, being German, is a big deal for her. That certainly inspired confidence in my driving. My next passenger and travel compadre, Malcolm, had the brilliant idea of navigating with the car’s GPS and with his help, I was starting to rock it. Like a rally team, he would give me directions right before a corner and give me a few milliseconds of much-needed anticipation. I finally felt confident enough to press the “Sport Plus” button on the center console and blew past a few cars.

“I now understand the allure of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It’s not so much outright dangerous, but like a sexy vixen in a Bond movie, lulls you into a false sense of security with her luscious curves, then bites your head off right when you get overconfident.”

With our new strategy, I managed to pull a decent 9:53 hot lap. As I was going for another fast lap with my ego glowing, disaster struck. Right as I was about to take a corner at high speed, a GT3 appeared out of nowhere. Trying to cut him off so he couldn’t clip the apex, I pushed a centimeter too hard on the accelerator and the car spun out explosively.

Having been a victim to a few motorcycle and car accidents, I am no stranger to the sensation. Everyone experiences it differently and for me, it’s always in slow motion, yet I am always powerless to change the outcome. As we spun around the Nordschleife like a roulette dice, I remember thinking it was going to be expensive crash and cursed my AMEX again for its high limit. Thankfully, I smashed the brakes and downshifted quickly, stopping the car from catapulting me into bankruptcy and cutting short my ‘idiot drives Porsche into wall’ stardom on YouTube. After we took stock of our near-death experience, I noticed we were half a meter or so away from hitting the metal-plated barrier and becoming another Nürburgring casualty figure.

I was done. Like a sportsman trying to master a comeback and failing repeatedly, my subsequent laps were pathetic. I was scared, and knew it. I came face-to-face with death and blinked. Though my luck had not worn out and I was still in God’s good graces, I knew pushing it would be foolish. Normally I would have continued, but for some reason that day, logic won. As I sat at the starting grid watching others gambling with their lives with every kilometer above 200, I made the decision to stop and turn in the keys. At 12 out of 16 laps, my Nürburgring career was unequivocally and undoubtedly over.

I now understand the allure of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It’s not so much outright dangerous, but like a sexy vixen in a Bond movie, lulls you into a false sense of security with her luscious curves, then bites your head off right when you get overconfident. I pulled a 9:53, which was respectable, but not noteworthy. Under Walter Röhl, the Cayman is capable of 7:56. I was two minutes away from the car’s true potential. My fantasy of running into Sabine and impressing her were all but the stuff of pipes.

With my self-worth in tatters, I bought some kitschy ‘I survived the Nürburgring’ bumper stickers for my Cayman back home; feeling that I might be able to bandage my ego with them by bragging to other petrolheads back in the States. Indeed, I comforted myself with the solace that I had crossed something off my bucket list without kicking the bucket itself. I figured no one in the States will know about my cowardice, just that I had raced at the ‘ring.

As I walked back across the parking lot past all the supercars and into my friend’s Seat Ibizia, I knew that I would be back, sans overconfidence. I was beaten and humbled, but not out of the fight. Perhaps that is the ‘ring’s true appeal – Once you’re smitten, you never let it go, and I wondered if that was what possessed men like Nikki Lauda to return. As I sat in the car contemplating my comeback, I started asking myself which corners I could improve on, what I would change about my racing line, and what car I would take next time.

What caused me to spin out? Why did I rent a Porsche Cayman when a much more basic car would have sufficed? What on earth had caused me to commit to 16 laps? Even one lap, basically 10 minutes and 23+ kilometres, was an eternity. They say pride comes before a fall, and the Nürburgring was the ultimate experience of my confidence not matching my actual skill. I was, in other words (specifically those of Jeremy Clarkson) ambitious, but rubbish.

At least I have those bumper stickers.

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BRIDGE THE GAP

By Gerald Yuen

Lenspeed’s staff car gets a new set of rubbers

60,000km done on the Citroen DS3, and I must say that one of the most outstanding takeaways from the car would be the OEM Bridgestone RE050A rubbers. With dimensions of 205/45/17, it has the tyre width of a base spec 122bhp VW Golf, and yet its an inch up on size – probably to complement the DS3’s “anti-retro” image. Slapping on rubbers with vital stats of 205/45/16 would certainly make more sense considering the DS3’s ability to maintain a fluid rhythm with the road. But to be honest, I’m not complaining about the ride quality one bit.

With a treadwear rating of 180 (similar rating to the Yokohoma Advan AD08 semi slicks), I was expecting it not to last beyond 30,000km. But simple visual inspections reveal that there is still plenty of thread left. It might be due to my driving style (erm, wheelspins can be counted with one hand!), but even then the rubbers did not show signs of hardening and losing grip even though they often bask under the heat on weekdays in an unsheltered parking spot. But one nagging issue with the front right tyre was all it took for me to decide on a new set of rubbers. High time for a change, perhaps?

It came down to two choices – Michelins’s Pilot Sport 3 and Bridgestone’s RE002. We had the PS3 on the MkV GTI, and apart from the brilliant treadwear (we did 80,000km with pretty hard driving), I did not feel that in tuned with the car. Steering response was numb, and it was even noisier than the Pilot Sport 2 – a tyre supposedly designed for sportier driving. That left me with only one option – the Bridgestone Adrenaline RE002. I’ll be fitting this on later in the week. Let’s see how this will work out.

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Singapore: the march in of auto companies

By The Lenspeed Team

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd (FHI) has just announced the launch of a representative office in Singapore, comprising a grand total of 3 staff. Although seemingly insignificant news, this is part of a wider push by the company to do feasibility and research studies about the region for further expansion of Subaru. It has identified ASEAN as a future growth region after finding success in China, Australia, Japan and especially the United States.

This is of course something we have seen before with other auto firms. Today, there are more than a handful of car manufacturers which have set up regional offices in Singapore, a fact that is still unknown to much of the Singaporean populace whose hopes of owning a car have been left high and dry. And rightfully, they would be feeling bewilderment at first too – why Singapore, one of the most hostile places for cars in the world?

As it seems, things can thrive in other ways. These manufacturers do not set up offices in Singapore to actually sell cars here; taking advantage of the business-friendly environment, low taxes, offshore banking facilities and great transport links to the world, Singapore has emerged as an ideal hub from which to manage the automotive business across Asia. China has proven to be too politically attached and polluted, while Japan is not as globalised as Singapore is for business. Hong Kong is a viable alternative, which is why some companies, like Infiniti, have their head office there. But mostly in Asia, they’re in Singapore or they’re moving here.

Among the big names with operations here, just to name a few: Porsche AG, BMW Group, Daimler AG, Jaguar Land Rover and most recently General Motors. It’s a bit like having candy in a bed of thorns. All inaccessible to the general population, but there they are…

What’s good news, however, is that car enthusiasts in Singapore who may not be able to buy a car can most certainly rejoice in the fact that they may find it easier now to work for a car manufacturer, with more openings in this industry than ever before for Singaporeans. If you love cars but find them too expensive to buy, this is your next best option, and admittedly a pretty good one… You’d have to travel across the world (mostly halfway or more) to find another auto regional office to work for! And in Singapore, they’re located in swanky places too, like Ocean Financial Centre and Raffles Place…

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

By Ken Ng

Lenspeed attends Big Mac’s 650S launch party in Kuala Lumpur

It has only been nine months since McLaren Kuala Lumpur’s opening right smack in town, but it has wasted no time unveiling three cars in nine months – a sign of growing market demand within the rich radius of Malaysia’s capital.

Three cars have been unveiled since October 2013 – the MP4-12C (or 12C in 2014 speak), the P1 and the 650s. We were invited for the launch of the 650S, and as its name suggests, it boasts a power output of 650ps (641bhp), with the familiar M838T 3.8-litre twin turbocharged V8 motor capable of helping McLaren’s latest addition to the stable sprint to the century in three seconds.

Greeted with the only 50^th anniversary 12C Spyder in Malaysia, I was pretty certain that the night will not disappoint. Like any other supercar unveiling, the event was accompanied by finger food and drinks.

The main star of the night however has to be the 650S itself. According to McLaren, it is not meant to be a replacement to the 12C. Rather, it was developed to sit alongside the 12C as a higher priced offering. Despite McLaren’s claims, it remains clear that both cars look very similar, at least to the untrained eye.

At RM1.2million before duties and RM1.3million before duties for the Coupe and the Spyder respectively, owners of this new supercar will be happy to know that most of the optional extras are already included for Malaysia customers. Carbon ceramic brakes, parking sensors and camera, lightweight forged rims – previously costly upgrades for the 12C now come as standard in the 650S.

To differentiate the 650S from the 12C, McLaren has included the unique headlights derived from the P1. The ‘swoosh’ badge is also replaced with the classic McLaren logo found on the F1. To accompany the increased downforce provided by the front, the rear is fitted with a three-piece bumper inspired by the GT3 variant of the 12C. Although the 650S looks stunning, I would still opt for the 12C mainly due to its more cohesive design language. But beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, and supercar purchases are often bought with your heart (and a deep pocket of course!). If you are in the market for either a 12C or a 650S, rest assured that you would never go wrong with either one.

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Oriental Force

By The Lenspeed Team

The Chinese automotive sector opens a market of possibilities to the West. And all parties involved should be very thankful…

Chinese automobile manufacturers might still be tagged with the social stigma deeply embedded in the minds of the car-obsessed public. This comes as little surprise, since the products we get to “scrutinise” at the recently concluded Beijing International Auto Show are far from original. Just take a look at the Zotye E20. It looks as though a Ferrari F430 Scuderia had a love affair with a Toyota Aygo. Sounds like a plan to capture a larger slice of the fancy EV market, but when put into practice, it’s not quite the aesthetically pleasing output we desire when placed into mass production.

But the Chinese car market is still having the last laugh in the end, with auto sales smashing the 20 million mark in 2013, ballooning by nearly 14 per cent. It is (as expected) still the world’s biggest car market. This implies that cars like the Zotye E20 could see sales surpassing more technically superior imports – a statistic that foreign companies ”vow” not to concede without a good fight.

This pot of gold and high potential for market growth proves all the more vital for European manufacturers, since reports out of Europe have not been promising. On a global scale, sales of French cars “hit a 15-year low” in 2013. Transactions for German cars fell last year too. This could mean that more European imports should and would “seek refuge” in the highly lucrative market of the Middle Kingdom, if they play their cards right.

One part of the world benefiting from the sheer scale of China’s economic ability will be the United States, with General Motors posting a 11.4 per cent hike in vehicle sales from 2012 to 2013. By now, we should realise that anything is possible in China. Even if we still have doubts regarding Chinese-made modes of transport, we cannot avoid the fact that this shift in economic advantage places Chinese companies at the driver’s seat in terms of economies of scale, familiarity, labour cost and geography. And with the West’s superior technical advantage over local products, it could very well be a win-win situation for all major players dabbling in the Chinese market. Its more of a marriage of convenience than fight for the finish line. Well played, folks.

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The LS460 gets a $15,000 bill

By James Wong

I always believed our LS was a bastion of reliability, while the Touran had the odd CEL popping up on the dashboard and the S204 reluctantly starting when warm. I had this unshakeable impression that Japanese cars were more reliable. But it was shattered when we sent our LS460 for service last week.

Among other things, it needed a $12,000 replacement of control arms and associated bearings, and a $2850 replacement of both rear shock absorbers. We were also quoted $300+ for a car battery and $24 for a key fob battery.

Mind you, our mileage is currently 120,000km and the car is only 7.5 years old. It’s a huge shock when the bill first came to our hands, and it didn’t fade over the week. We picked a LS with no air suspension, just because we thought the more traditional mechanical suspension setup would be able to last longer. Top Tip: it’s not true! We’re not sure if the air-suspended LS has the same control arms as well, but Lexus should seriously re-think about the longevity of these parts.

At $14,850 this is more than 10% of the cost price of the car when we bought it used!

Apparently, all of the control arms (8) had to be replaced at the same time, and the complexity of getting them out meant that labour was the major cost of the job. I still couldn’t believe every control arm was at least $1,000 a pop.

So we went to an outside workshop which got the same exact job done for a little over $7,000. Still painful, but a lot more bearable. I guess this really shows how much the official dealer is overcharging.

My impression of Japanese cars is quite damaged from this episode, and I’m beginning to think this unfair advantage we give to Japanese reliability is all just a baseless mindset. And it is – how do we easily forget Toyota’s recalls but remember VW’s so insistently?

I’ll need some time to recover. Meanwhile, I’ll go on a Japanese-free diet for a while…

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