Ying and Niq’s Niche

My car will turn 1 year old 24-Jun-09. So far it has clocked more than 23000km. I’ve switched to semi-synthetic engine oil for the last 2 services. My grey horse has served me well so far. It carried 6 adults and 1 child to Koh Samui and back safely. I pump my front tyres to 36psi and 39psi for the back. This gave a pretty comfortable ride.

Nissan Grand Livina 1.8 A/T Fuel Consumption

Sun, 19-Apr-09. Went to Ocean Green Seafood (GPS Coordinates: N5 25.576 E100 19.568) for lunch. This place was quite difficult to find. It is situated by the sea side, at the end of an alley along Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, just before Despark Auto College. It is easy to miss the turn so go slow. We had oyster noodle, salted egg crabs and stir fried broccoli. The food was nice. Their salted egg crab is one of their signature dishes

Oyster Noodle

Salted Egg Crabs

Stir Fried Broccoli

There is a nice view of the sea.

Sea View at Ocean Green Restaurant

The beach is a popular spot among anglers and offer good landscape photography opportunities. Sad to say the beach is not suitable for picnic as there were lots of ants.

A pseudo-lagoon

The automotive industry is now livelier with the introduction of the new Ford Focus 2009 “Kinetic” in Malaysia. The Ford Focus is the car that I had always dream of driving. To own one you have to really struggle between logic and impulse.

The Ford Focus, fully imported from Philippines as Completely Built Unit (CBU), is still a worthy contender in the 1.8-2.0L sedan and hatchback segment due to its attractive features and pricing of under RM120,000 (OTR Price with Insurance: RM117,123.40 for 2.0L Sport, RM116,097.40 for 2.0L Ghia). Sadly, there is no sales and service support in Penang Island.

I had the pleasure of viewing the Kinetic in Taiping Sentral on 14-Mar-09. Sime Darby Auto Connexion is quite aggresive on the promotion. The Kinetic was also on display in Queensbay Mall when I was there on 22-Mar-09. There are changes made to the head lights, front grill and tail lights. I can’t commend on originality as I can see hues of Volvo and Mazda.

Well, so much for dreaming.

Ford Focus 2009 Kinetic

Ford Focus Kinetic 2009 Silver, Queensbay Mall

Ford Focus Kinetic 2009 Swept Back Headlamps

I bought a hand-held pressure gauge from Jusco on 20-Jul-08. It costs less than RM5.00. All 4 tyres were having 42psi (290kPa). The recommended pressure for the 185 / 65 R 15 tyres is 35psi (240kPa). Since Ying had complained that the ride was bumpy, I adjusted the pressure to 36psi (250kPa). Driving below 80km/h was comfortable with no harsh bumps. We made a trip back to Ipoh on 2-Aug-08. Ying had no complaints, but I felt dizzy driving on the highway at 110km/h as the car felt like swaying and I had to use extra effort to control the steering. Before the return journey to Penang, I adjusted the pressure to 39psi (270kPa). The car did not sway and it was not very bumpy. On full capacity it is recommended to use 300kPa for the rear tyres. So I guess it is OK to use 270kPa in terms of safety.

Hand-held Pressure Gauge - It's like a pen that clips on your shirt pocket

Scale in 2psi increments

The car has covered just over 1100km and is due for 1st service. Fuel consumption is pretty good considering high cc engine. It is almost the same as a Proton Iswara Aeroback 1.3M. Fuel consumption for highway is 13.4 km/L (RM0.20/km @RM2.70/L) and for city 10.06 km/L (RM0.27/km @RM2.70/L).

Nissan Grand Livina 1.8L Fuel Consumption