Penang: December 2024: Entry 4 (4/4)

 Happy new year, all.

I intended to write this last night but I had a thing or two to rush. With the time I have now, its time to conclude.

A last generation Toyota Celica,
far from visible but probably
distinguishable by the taillights

The last entry was a while ago, but hey, welcome Ping and anti. 

The two of them has come to join me for the last leg of my stay here. Say hello, chaps.

A BMW E34 sits where the previous
red Lotus Esprit was.

In a previous writeup I was commenting on a future second car here in Penang, and a top choice I was looking at was a Honda EG9. This is a well done example. Maybe next year, albeit unwise.

Well, remember the other post that I wrote about discussing on some Recaro's that I was debating on converting into an office chair?

I sadly wasn't able to secure my go-to set of a pair of Confetti's from a C99, the initial set had sold and the next choice I had was a scam ad. I lamented and found a set off of another website and bought it. As someone who's never sat on Recaro seats, they're quite comfortable. What I would say is that they keep you in and don't let you slide off. I mean, its a car seat, they definitely aren't meant to do that. I have it explained in another post, which you can find here: New to me Recaros; a research rabbit hole

Anyways, petrolheads and a sunny island with some very pretty mountain roads.

Naturally, this was one of the planned itinery. From George Town to Batu Ferringhi to Balik Pulau.

As the driver now compared to other trips I am sadly less inclined to photograph, even less so with a camera now. Maybe its just maturing up. I hope not. Photography is fun.

But anyways, it does mean that the rate of photos is down. Could be good, could be bad. The rest of the Airtrek photos can be found here: Thinking about Trek (Now for sale!)

Aaaand that's a wrap for another day.

Next up is mainland. Come to think of it, this day felt like alot, but it also wasn't a lot. I mean, maybe the same few destinations as before, but it was both a mix of underwhelming and about expected business for one day here. No idea.

This imported Subaru Levorg STi is a cool partner for the Trek. Bit unfortunate Singapore's market did not sell the STi variants. Also, the amount of Thailand cars here are plenty. Penang here is a good place to find the registration of three countries, all condensed into one location.

In the next location, here is this quite beautiful Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution II.

Oh sorry, it is just another Proton Wira. But that's not a bad thing. This unit looks done up well, and I applaud the details done on this, especially the GSR door badges. Mega cool. More photos here: Proton Wira Evolution II

Slightly convinced what I'm seeing is a little more than a coincidence. The same Toyota Nadia from before. 

Ah, right. Lotus recently opened a showroom in Penang. Hopefully one of these days I can come in and have a look around. I'm most definitely interested with looking at the Emira.

shikanoko

Day reset. Last full day of the trip. 

Went and had a test drive of a relative's Suzuki SX4. My thoughts on it? Its very car. I've not driven enough or experienced enough to be able to put a strong thumb on the typical reviewer speech about how each car drives, but compared with what I've driven already (Which is only 5 cars, this being the 6th), I could say the following:

Likely because of lack of oil as this car has an oil leak, I find the engine to be vibrating a bit more than others on low RPM's. I never took it high so I couldn't say how it performs, but you can definitely "feel" the engine from the cabin. The brakes are a little bit like a on-off switch, and the throttle feels like that of a truck, its position more like it being stepped on as opposed to it being pushed by your foot, like more driver oriented vehicles. Transmission I have no problem with although I was driving very slow, so there is that. This could also be another fault of the car but during parking, I need quite a bit of force to rotate the wheel. Perhaps its a leaky power steering, considering I need more strength to turn it than the Lotus.

Overall though, you probably can squeeze some fun out of it, although it isn't all that interesting as a car. You could do a Suzuki Sport conversion; wing, decals, maybe a manual swap. Definitely a turbo though, I wouldn't expect this to achieve any speed records at all. 

The day continues, we found this Ferrari F430 in the carpark of a very deserted shopping mall. This shopping mall in question supposedly has its developers go bankrupt, leaving not just the shopping mall seemingly abandoned and empty of stores, and its adjacent condos left in limbo. For one, finding a Ferrari here is quite unexpected.

Not to mention that Ferrari's here aren't really that common, I don't remember seeing that many. More photos are linked here, and this is definitely the first writeup to have so many redirections: A Ferrari F430's lonely showcase

Maybe a Proton Putra in the future? This one looks very well cared for, and very well done.

Well, nothing of related note for the rest of this day, and now, its the last day being here.

A new BYD I would buy- Only if they didn't
lock all functionality behind its infotainment.
Please bring physical buttons back.

First new registered Crown outside of Malaysia that I've seen. It feels like the Nissan GTR-50 language has come over to this new car.

As told by anti, the stripe is a some 20k US option. 

A high trim level S-Class S580 was not on my bucket list.

Peak of the session for Ping and anti perhaps, might be mine too but I saw a Fiat Multipla already. Alot more photos here: Surprise! GR Corolla in Varis clad

Also, this is something I also didn't expect to have seen. Another Proton Putra, how this one in full Evolution III convert. With Regamasters, this thing is absolutely beautiful. 

Watanabes!

EK Civic on SiR EK4 wheels! Absolutely fire!

Thank you Hirasaki!

I can make temporary use of my display case, thanks a bunch.

And now, at the airport, its time to conclude.

Quite a bunch to see, quite a bunch to have done. I don't have lots to mention in this summary since most of it has been related to personal endeavors rather than car content that befits this blog. If anything, it'll be another precursor for the next trip and whatever I do next. And as such, I shall end the post here.

Happy new year, everyone. 2024 has been quite enjoyable despite numerous setbacks. I hope that 2025 will only be better from here. Cheers.

~Efini