Authority on Five: October 2008

28 October 2008

Isuzu D-Max

Here in Hua Hin

Time pass quickly and it's been almost 3 weeks since Daisy and I arrived in Hua Hin. Daisy has not moved at all. After a good wash and polish, she has been sitting pretty in the house all covered up. Took some pictures of the dented left front fender. It's not a biggie because no paint came off and after a couple of knocks, it will look as good as new. Believe it or not, the more severe damages happened when I was parking Daisy inside the house. You see, the ramp up towards the garage is quite steep and since the car was lowered, the lower plastic pieces got scrapped badly. Looks like it's time for a complete change of the lower plastics. The front left undercarriage plastic just under the fog light cracked completely and a replacement is required. All this has got me thinking whether it would be a good idea to bring Daisy up to Hua Hin. There would be quite a lot of work needed to revamp the garage entrance (actually, some initial work has been done but the problem has not been solved completely.) The roads around my place are quite bad but once out on the main roads, the roads are much better. Anyway, there's still time to think about this. We will be heading back to Singapore soon. First thing we need to do is get the car all checked out and repaired. The overall paint job has suffered much and I am considering a new coat of paint before bringing Daisy up (if I so decided to do so.)

Anyway, since we are on the topic of Hua Hin, let me introduce our workhorse. It's an Isuzu D-Max 3.0 TDI twin-cab truck. This fella goes everywhere; shopping mall, up the mountains, long distance drive to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, wet market...you name it, we've been there. We have carried furniture back from Chiang Mai, sacks of rice from Nakhon Phanom (just next to the Laotian border) and even my mom and her relatives on the flat-bed. It's relatively cheap to run and obviously, it's problem-free. Here in Hua Hin, 1 out of every 3 cars is probably a truck. For obvious reasons, trucks are more practical here because they are used to go everywhere and do everything. A friend of mine who was here recently suggested that I consider a Toyota Land Cruiser if I wanted something with more oomph and luxury at the same time. I would probably give that some serious thought.

Life has been slow and steady here. I miss Nickie and if not for the fuel restriction, I would not hesitate to drive the little bugger here. The highest RON here is 91 and sometimes 95, if you can find the station that sells it. I would need many bottles of octane booster. Anyway, more food for thought.

16 October 2008

We made it...We are home

We set out on 11 Oct at 0400 hrs to meet the rest at the 2nd link Esso station at 0500 hrs. There were 8 cars in total and we were on the road for 14 hours, not counting the time we spent on petrol and pee stops. We got detached twice from the main convoy in Malaysia but thanks to the GPS, we were able to meet the rest at the next pit stop. Sadly, Daisy suffered some slight damage to the front left fender when we skidded and hit a truck while coming down the hill towards Krabi. The road was wet and slippery. Thank goodness, I managed to control the car and although the car was slightly damaged, it could have been worse because for a moment, as the car was sliding from left to right, I thought this was it. The truck on my left probably saved me from going down the ravine. I hope he is alright because there was no time to stop and I didn't even know we actually touched. We arrived at Sofitel Hotel in Krabi at 2230 hrs and had a good (late) dinner. Everybody was tired but satisfied.

The next day, we set off for Kao Lak. It was a beautiful drive with great scenic routes along the way. Pity that we were going too fast to really enjoy the view. After lunch at Kao Lak, 3 of us set off for Hua Hin. It rained most of the time and we were not able to go too fast. When hit Phet Kasem highway, it was already dark and the road was filled with trucks. It was really harrowing driving on a dark highway, passing huge trucks along the way. Some obviously were not too pleased that we were passing them quite close. But, we didn't care much. After 8 hours, we arrived in Hua Hin. We are finally home.

05 October 2008

We are ready to roll...

Today was a big day for Daisy and I. It was the first drive we had for a long time and more importantly, it was a test of how ready we are to make that trip home. I must admit that I was somewhat nervous because much has changed since we made a drive like that. But, my fears are misplaced. Daisy was great, not superb like before but definitely ready. I missed the big 275 tyres in the rear because grip was definitely not completely there but the 245 tyres made up for it with the quick acceleration. The i-Rotor brake discs are not great. The stock M5 brake discs are better, in terms of bite and feel. On a few occasions, I had to work harder to stop the car and once, the car actually skidded. Thank goodness the ASC worked well and all was under control. The wheels definitely needs to be balanced. It's weird that the car was so muted. There was no growl from the exhaust and in fact, it was so quiet inside that I felt I was not driving a 5 but a 7. But, I liked it this way; maybe because I am growing old and aural pleasures don't turn me on anymore. No matter how muted Daisy is, she is still fast and stable. A few simple tweaks here and there at the shop and we are ready to roll.

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