Penang 2024: D4 Round-Island Trip

 Hello folks! Unfortunately I didn't have much happening in my 3rd day of being in Penang, but today might deliver a bit more. Due for a round-island drive, we're getting some fresh rubber for assurance before going up the mountain.

7th gen Toyota Celica's are pretty common here
in Penang Island

Well, first thing on the agenda is the new tyres, the old unit is pretty worn out (I couldn't exactly tell you how worn they were), plus evidently whoever had the car opted to don on a set of Mazda CX-50 wheels. I suppose these OEM wheels are practically dispoable.

As it turns out to be, we're able to trade in our Mazda wheels for whatever set this Toyo shop has in stock, for quite a discount at that. 

I'll be honest, I'm confident that absolutely none of these wheels are actually genuine, maybe apart from the OEM sets. Malaysia's wheel market tend to be flooded with replica wheels, with most cars that I'm aware of, say Myvi's and all those, have replica wheels and what not. I mean, I'd be damned if everyone could easily afford Wedssport wheels for their Kelisa's!

What we chose was the wheel set on the bottom left, the 14-spoke variant that is (supposedly) made by Konig USA. Now, I would like to ask anyone who has seen or know the Konig brand; Do they even put USA on their lug nuts? I doubt so. At the time, I didn't think to do research, though I did think that they would be replica wheels. I mean, nobody would engrave the tagline "performance wheel" on their wheels, now, would they? For a USA brand, they sure are doing something as cheesy as what a Japanese company would have done in the 90s!

Two reasons why I picked this wheel set. Firstly, I'm a fan of Rotiform-style wheels. I like their style, their use on many cars (Rally cars no less!) and they just work on many body styles.

Source: Link

A WRX STi GF8 wagon in Roblox with
OZ wheels

Second, They were cheap. I was considering the Lenso Project D set, but they were 1000RM more over the "Konig" set, which was 3800RM. Trading in dropped the price down to 1680, additional items like lug nuts included. 

Fitment goes hard

Alignment work

Folks, its time we're moving out for that trip. 

Now, this is a stark reminder that Penang Island's roads are incredibly scenic in nature. Sometimes, I do think that it is a real life Forza Horizon map. Twisty highways, mountain roads, straight lines, its got everything. Just don't ask Microsoft to replicate the traffic.

Its sad that you can find a lot of cars simply
rotting away. Though it needs to be said that
these cars are still considered to have no value,
granting them the same treat as we would have
to cars that costed next to nothing back in their days

Now, I'd post videos of the roads but my limited bandwidth currently forbids doing so. Come past the trip, do check back in and you'll see the videos uploaded here. For now, here's more photogenic photos of the Airtrek.

So, heading up to the dam, traffic was stopped. Why? What I made out was that there's a movie being shot on the stretch. Which also happens to be the only road to drive through. I do suppose that there's always a positive with the situation.

With a backdrop and no ability to move in traffic, there may be time for some sneaky photos.

Oh the projected 30-minute provided by the officers were sooo wrong. Turns out the media group had finished within around 10 minutes, so what I couldn't reveal to you was me sprinting back to the car as they started flagging the first few cars forward.

I swear on you, there was three of these blue wagons.

A little tradition we do now is stopping on the way to Hard Rock Cafe before moving on. 

We did, but once again, I forgot to post photos of any food or location.

Obligatory stop at Gurney Plaza. Dinnertime was going to a pizza shop for, well, drinks. Surprised you, have I? Anyways, I didn't dare eat again regardless, so food wasn't what I was looking for.

The location in question is basically already lost on me (I forgot), but it was in the touristic district, where all of the street art and murals are that Penang presents.

I figured I could do a little bit of street photography walking around the area before meeting relatives, so I did. I find it fun to photograph streets and buildings, maybe I should do it more to satisfy that want.

So food and drinks happened. Now its night.

Now, past walking, its back in the transportation pod. I cannot teleport. Would be cool though

Yeah I'm home now. I do want to sleep, so I'll quickly end it off here. Thanks for reading, folks. Tomorrow I believe we'll be driving to the mainland, so here's to come for more carspots and random places to go to.

~Efini