My Cars

I loved cars. I still adore them but as I got older, I realised that these are toys meant for the rich and famous because they deplete my reserves really fast. So instead of desiring to buy the cars that I like, I have decided that the car I own now will last for many more years to come.

Suzuki Swift 1.0 from 1997 to 2001

Now, let's see. My very first car that I owned was a second hand 1.5yr old Suzuki Swift 1.0. Yup, a 998cc ride I think. It was a very reliable workhorse for me back then. Bought in October 1997 I believe? At a price tag of about $62000. It was a crazy crazy time I must say. COE was very high and the dot com bubble had just burst, or going to. Anyway, I drove the car for about 3.5 yrs. I was going everywhere with the ride. Mileage was so high that it went through a 2nd cycle but I believe the odometer only allowed 99999km. It was that ancient because the new cars now will be able to hit 999 999km before the cycle changes.

Below is a picture of the look alike. The colour should be a dark green and the rims, look exactly the same!

Nissan Sunny 1.5 from 2001 to 2004

In 2001, the Nissan Sunnys were roaming Singapore roads because it was a car that was comparable to the Toyota Corollas. And it was during this same period, Nissan outsold the Toyota. It was nicer shaped than the Corollas definitely. Their big headlamps was just not attractive. In any case, the Sunny was bought because we felt that we needed something safer compared to the Swift. Although, technically speaking, the Sunny was not much better. But it was the best the family could afford then. The car cost $75000 I think. Again, I cant recall.

The picture below was the 1.6 Super Saloon version. What I bought was the 1.5litre EX-Saloon. It was a lightning blue - I think it was called that?

Ford Mondeo 2.0 from 2004 to 2007

I cant find pictures for the previous 2 cars that I owned. But from the Mondeo on, I have been keeping pictures of them all. The Mondeo was the first continental car I bought with much apprehension. Rumour had it that continental cars are hard to maintain and that parts tend to spoil easily and costly to replace. But with this car, it came with 5 years warranty and 5 years free servicing! There was nothing to worry about. It was spacious and it handled very well. Just what does it mean to have a car that handled well? The controllability and the feedback to the driver at the steering was really good. Car was bought at about $92000?

Car had gone up North-South highway and sitting in the car, it ate up the tarmac really well. Despite the 170kph I was going, the steering still felt firmly seated to the ground. Usually for cars, at certain speeds, the steering will start to feel light but not with the Mondeo. I particularly liked the corner of the vehicle. Despite its length, it could corner very well with little body roll.

It was also with this car, that I first started using Michelin Pilot Preceda tyres. And from then on, I had been a Michelin convert. The tyres were sufficiently grippy for this car and yet comfortable on normal roads. There was one particular modification that I did to the car - I changed the springs and lowered the car noticeably. And it was also the first time that I used 17inch rims (quite a popular size then). The handling became even sharper.

The only complaint I have for the car was that it was severely underpowered. Driven by a 2 litre Dura-tec engine, 5 cylinder it may be, the body was just too heavy for it. Not only that, the 4 speed gearbox was just making it very fuel inefficient, thus the running cost in terms of petrol consumption was not very ideal. But again, if you look beyond this, it was a huge comfortable saloon car to drive.

There was a 5door hatchback version that looks similar to this but cost a couple of thousand more. There was also the estate. The part of the car that I loved the most? It was the rear look. Front was kind of dated, but I somehow liked the circular brake light embedded into the triangular rear lamp cover. The paint job was better than the Swift and Sunny, but nothing beats my current Volvo's.

Volvo S40 2.4i From 2007 to Current

From one safe car, I jumped onto the Volvo bandwagon because of the fantastic safety specs of the car. Let's see, 6 airbags including the curtain ones, side impact protection beams, rigid body cage, anti whiplash headrest, pedals that break upon impact, are just some of the aspects.

2.4litres naturally aspirated, powering 170 horses with 190 Nm torque, is able to see me off the traffic lights faster than most cars on the road. Not exactly that massively powered, but sufficiently for me and my family. The other version comes with turbo, known as the T5. Now, that is one mean machine. Subtle looking, exactly the same as mine, but the acceleration is intense. Century sprint for that car is 7.2s, versus my 8.9s. I would love a 2.5litre turbo car, but it was just too costly for me. It was then, another $22000 more. So I passed.

Immediate change was the exhaust to HEICO twin mufflers, lowered springs, BBS 17 inch rims with Michelin Pilot Sport tyres profiled at 225/45, a stiffer anti-roll bar, front and middle H braces, which gave the car a tighter control on the road, especially during a corner. The exhaust, oh well, it was just pure vanity and for me to to enjoy a deeper throttle roar.

In all, I liked the car very much. Besides the fact that I will not want to spend the money to buy another car, it is also because I enjoy driving this ride. It is smaller and shorter than the Mondeo, but this makes it zippier and more agile (although the turning radius of such a small car is quite crazily big, but most of the Volvos have big turning radius anyway, so that's fine). In addition, the mileage is quite low compared to my other cars.

It is coming to its 3rd year now. Warranty is running out in a month's time. But the only parts that needed to be changed so far were tyres and brake pads, excluding the 15000km interval engine oil change. I just hope the wear and tear will just keep it slow and steady so that I can drive the car as long as I like.

Pilot Preceda was initially used for the car but the S40 was not like the Mondeo. It had more power drivetrain and I found that the tyres were not quite as suitable because there was frequent wheelspin upon acceleration (yes, I am quite heavy footed). Thus when the tyres wore off, I changed to the Pilot Sport version and the wheel spin had since disappeared. But with the lowering of the springs, the camber angle had somewhat changed and the inner wear of the tyres had become more prominent. Perhaps it may be time to install a camber kit? My policy is always to run good tyres all the time, after all, on the road, what separates my family and the tarmac are 4 small patches of rubber. If I compromise these 4 patches, I will be compromising the lives of the passengers as well.

Cars will remain a love of my life. But are just too costly to chase. In any case, I cant afford the hypercars in the like of the R8 or Aston Martins or Maseratis (notice, I prefer the cars not as popular as Ferraris and Porsches), or even the cheaper hypercar killer, the GTR. I can admire them from afar. But I shall keep my sight on my Ironman. Cool!