Tattoo

All this while I look at Gen2 and think that it's a good looking car. All the lines and curves blend to make it look sporty. From the black headlamp bezels to the black and red leather interior to the spoiler and humming exhaust note, it's just a good looking car. But being all black here black there, the side profile seems one toned. Everything's black except for the rims. Because of that, I've always wanted to make it look like it's more aggresive sibling;
(the Gen2 R3)

Started to search high and low for the right stickers and the right shop. Looked from forums to online marketplaces. All seems so nice and might look well on the car. And the price are kinda affordable. Everything was 'researched'..from the R3 badges, to the stripe, to the windscreen sticker and MME sticker. In the end, found the place where they originals originated from!

So, off I went to;

Located at Lot.6 and 8, Jalan PJS 7/19, Bandar Sunway, 46150, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. It's the shop to be at when it comes to getting stickers of the R3 cars, because they are the official supplier to them. When I got there, I met the man himself, Remus Chang to get more opinion on what stickers to get for my car.

So, we chit chatted and browsed the picture catalog for like almost 3 hours and in the end, cannot decide what goes well. Since they supply the full set of stickers to Proton for the R3, he said that he can do that for me. But I don't want my car to be another R3 imitation, I just like the R3 side stripe coz it'll make the side less plain and make it sporty. But after being told it costs RM200, I think it's not really necessary (might as well get a K&N filter first).

In the end I just went back with so many ideas of the cheaper alternatives offered by him. While I was having a headache trying to figure out what to stick and what not, the CPS Club crew informed that there will be a standard group logo. So, being a member, decided to go back to motorsport playground to get a quote for the group sticker.

After another round of long chat, can't really decide how to incorporate the logo to the car other than the one on the windscreen as per standardised by all club members. So, Remus suggested that why not make a sample to see how it fit on the car. I wanted the red metallic colour to match the red hints on the interior, but...what happened after that;

(Cut the stickers out)

(Then transfer it to the sticking sheet)

(Clean the area)

(Use a tape as a guide)

(Then stick the sticker on)

And the results are;



A nice noticeable 'tattoo' courtesey of the club 'chairman', R.Y.D.E.C.K. Thanx to his hard work and dedication to the club that a nice identity is created. So now, Gen2 is now part of a smaller 'family' and have some relatives to hang out with. Oh, it turned to chrome after some 'consultation' from my dear dear. In the end, girls do have better taste when it comes to style.

Sparkling~

After getting 'heartbroken' because of this and this, finally got enough "spare cash" to do something about it. No, no, no..I'm not getting Gen2 resprayed! It's still a brand new car, meaning brand new coat of paint, so why waste the cash to do something unnecessary? :P But still, something needs to be done, and the answer came when I was browsing forums as usual.

The place is known as Detailing Tech. (M) Sdn Bhd, saw the advert here. A lil description of the company:

We are a new detailing shop located in kota kemuning, shah alam.
We use Meguiar's products in all our detailing services.

We also have Karcher cushion cleaner machine for cushion cleaning and steam cleaning to kill those germs/bacteria etc.
Many car owners clean their vehicle exterior regularly but the interior is often neglected.
At best, the interior is only vacummed and the dashboard wipe.
We can clean your car interior for you at a reasonable price, removing those stains, dust, sand and smells.
We also offer individual seat cleaning, when you just want a particular seat to be clean (because your son vormit on it) or just to try us out.

Having a clean interior is important, after all, you spend most of your time INSIDE the car.

Website is updated. Please check for more detailis

www.autodetailingtech.com

Or call me at: 603 - 5124 8018 or 012-6100300 for more details.
Or visit us at Kota Kemuning for a free consultation.

So, from the description..it sounds like a very good place to send your car to for some detailing. He quoted me RM176 for:
1) Wash with Meguiar's Hyper Wash Shampoo
2) Clay with Meguiar's Clay Bar
3) Paint Cleaner with Meguiar's M83
4) Polish with Meguiar's polish M80
5) Wax with Meguiar's M21
and, some cleaning of the interior (normal wiping with Meguiar's products).



Since I was working through the night before, got there extremely early. Shop opens at 9.30am, but I was already at their doorsteps at 8.30am! :P Wanted to go for breakfast, but was simply too lazy at the moment. So waited and waited, finally a gold Honda City pulls up and there he is, the owner of the place, Mr Yong. Mr Yong quickly open up his shop and then came to 'inspect' my car. So, as usual informed him regarding the scratches and how dirty my car is:



So, Mr Yong then drove the car into the shop to start making it happen:

(1st wash and vacuum the carpets)

(Then wrinse it using high pressure water)

(Soap it...)

(...and scrub the rims)

(give it a rinse and then clay it and then rinse and clean it with Meguiar's M83, Paint Cleaner)..

So, wash it 3 times in total just to prepare it for polish (no wonder I never get my car 100% clean before.. :P).

Since I kinda dislike the fact that if I don't op for the engine cleaning as well, then I would end up with a clean car on the outside, but the inside's still very much dirty! So, next up:

(Engine cleaning with some kind of Meguiar's degreaser)

(And then some steam action!)

I never imagined a car compartment being steam cleaned! Especially in the engine bay, I never thought people can pamper cars to this extent! :P

So once everything's done and the exterior has been dried, comes the hard work!;

(Get all the tools and tape up the car's more delicate parts)

(then polish away~~)

(2 person will speed things up)

So, after a long painstaking wait of 9 hours (yes, you read correctly). The car's finally ready. Actually, Mr Yong's daughter was sick and was at the hospital when all this was going on. So, he had to make and answer calls along the process, and that too caused some of the delay but mostly the delay was due to short of staff.

Here are the results:

(swirl mark free bonnet)

(Shiny engine bay)

(spotless spoiler = better performance? :P)

(No more watermarks here as well)

(Can't remember this being silver, thought it was black all the while!)

And to make things even clearer, some before (left) and after (right) shots;

(Shiny! Less water stains >.<)

(Sadly this is still there)

(This has been drastically reduced)

(No more scratch by *d*ot black V*os driver!)

(best of all, deep scratch disappeared!)

However, due to the problems faced by Mr Yong, there are still imperfections like the dirt's still on parts of the rims, the remnants of the polish material and wax still there between gaps, the chrome finishing on the bonnet wasn't cleaned properly, the rear bumper near the number plate wasn't cleaned/polished/waxed!, and that since the engine bay was done up before the polishing, all the debris are stuck in the engine bay!



So all in all is a total 'damage' of RM224 with 1 year of membership for future discounts. Happy with some of the results, disappointed with some. So, for the price I definitely think it's worth it and I think with more help and less personal issues, the result would have been much better than this.

Race.Rally.Research.

All the hype of R3 is not there anymore. Gone are the days where people will drool over an R3 (or challenge them on the road when they see them..). So realising the drop in interest (in the public's eyes) R3 came out from hiding (well, partially) with the Satria Neo event @ 1U over last weekend.

The highlight of the event is the RM20million (so says the Proton ppl there) Satria Neo S2000, which is basically highly modded Satria Neo which can be entered into rally races. Pics and details of the car here~

Because that is not a normal on-the-road car, I was more interested in this:

The Satria Neo R3, the only R3 production car. More pics:


Rear view..



The side skirt

The part where the R3 touches are!

The rear spoiler.

The trademark front bumper.

Details of the car.

So, if anyone interested in getting one, you guyz can call R3 @ 012-2131691 or Gary @ 016-216 6515 (a very nice R3 guy) for just RM71K.

As for me, since I don't own and nor am I going to own the Neo R3 and since there's no Gen2 R3..I may just have to settle for;
Chrome oil cap?

Warmers for for brake oil maybe?

Or for power steering fluid?

R3 aluminium engine cover?

R3 badge (front + back)?

Last but not least rims! *drool*

Or just a sticker?

Just so I can stick to my plan of turning my lovely Gen2 CPS to ultimately become;

Hehehe..5 year project in the making~ :D

Oh ya, since I was bored..guess where I got this shot:


p/s: Anyone interested in contributing any parts as above, pls do not hesitate to contact me~ Thank you.. :D