ooh my brain...

you know...when it comes down to the process of making a choice for my next car...mrs kona often calls me an indecisive bastard...and for good reason too...i knew the time for this decision is rather far away...probably only in about 30 to 34 months' time but i think about it a lot...or rather, make that bloody frequently...

this problem is fed by the fact that i am a car-mad idiot with a fetish for powerful cars but this is also tempered by the fact that i am somewhat pragmatic especially considering the prices of cars in singapore and the ever-rising prices of petrol, be it normal petrol or premium grade...the heart palpitates and the body shudders at the thought of feeding my obsession (and the car) with huge dollops of petrol which at this moment is something like a buck sixty odd a litre (HOLY CRAP!)...

therefore my next car has to be:-

1. fairly easy on the pocket to buy (most probably would be a used specimen...let the 1st owner eat the big depre)
2. fairly easy on the pocket to maintain (i.e. not too horrible fuel-inefficient and not gonna go kaput on me ever so often, thereby requiring constant repairs)
3. still be fun to drive (handling, so much more over power, is my main delight...i wanna look forward in the mornings to a nice drive to work and after work, to a good time frolicking around winding roads)
4. safe (both passive safety i.e. well-made and won't crumple into a glorified accordion upon any impact; and active safety i.e. good brakes, airbags, well-judged steering for quick avoidance)
5. and lastly, still distinctive (i ain't gonna go down the ah pek, auntie route and buy me a frickin' nissan sunny or a ugly-as-a-refrigerator corolla/altis)

so here is the list of the usual suspects below:-

THE NORMALLY ASPIRATED TRIO

HONDA CIVIC TYPE R
the civic model has long been associated with the typical golden hair lion king ah bengs in singapore...perhaps because it was fairly cheap to buy and more importantly, very easily modded...with the right vtec controller, a set of more lairy cams and a well-made exhaust, it would easily push out say 40 to 50 more horses than its stock output of 197hp...somehow or other, i really kind like the breadvan look of this particular incarnation...

HONDA INTEGRA TYPE R
the older sibling of the CTR but certainly not any less abrasive and outgoing...the dc5's ka20 engines pushes out around 220hp and is as, if not more, moddable than the that of the CTR...it's pretty much perfect out of the box for trackwork...all it needs is a good cold air intake set up, front/rear strut braces and a titanium exhaust...makes me just drool to think about it

ALFA ROMEO GT
this baby would be the car with the lowest amount of horses in the engine bay (well at least the 1.8 manual and the 2.0 flappy paddle ones i am looking at) but all of them are brawny yet refined italian stallions...this would be the best-looking one by far...it's arguably the best looking coupe currently on the market...i'd love the 1.8 manual with an aftermarket novitec supercharger or autodelta turbocharger in her...lowered of course...


THE TURBOCHARGED TRIUMVIRATE

SUBARU WRX AWD
those people who have known me for a long time...and more than a few than have known me for less, know that i have always been a fan of subaru's boxer engine...the distinctive braap braap sound of the exhaust/engine note and the sheer in your face-ness of the design elements combined to make it a top contender for my next purchase...even though it's been fairly recently associated with the aforementioned golden haired buggers, i'd overlook this fact easily as i really do like this car...and it's sooo moddable...in fact, that's a steep and slippery hill there...225 japanese horses and the safety net of all-wheel drive makes this a very delectable proposition indeed...if only it didn't drink so much, being a turbocharged engine...

FORD FOCUS ST
this is something out of the leftfield for me, i must say...ford's never come into the picture for me here in singapore as their last performance vehicle, the all-conquering focus RS, was never imported into singapore...i loved it then and it will always be a car that i will long to own...this new focus is a pre-cursor apparently of the new focus RS which will come in its own good time...but let it not be said that the ST is a laggard as compared to the coming RS...with 225 horses and a 6spd manual and some wonderful tuning of its chassis and suspension bits, it actually runs the famed nurburgring nordschleife more than 10 seconds faster than the previous RS...amazing a feat...perhaps not as pretty and cohesive-looking as the previous look focus, it nevertheless is a contender for me...the signature metallic flame orange paint is a cost option but heck, i'd pay for it without a 2nd thought...just completes the car...

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF GTI
since the 1st incarnation of the gti waaay back in the late 70s, the gti moniker has been a hallowed indicator of heroic performance in a small hatchback package...put a reasonably powerful engine into a lightweight hatchback and you'd have very decent performance indeed...sadly the golf gti lost its way as it grow older...become fatter and heavier until this mk5 came along...now it's something to look at and another thing to marvel at the pin-sharp handling and the wonderfully direct steering, not to mention the 197hp TFSI engine and the miraculous DSG gearbox...pretty much the perfect car except for the premium price..and yet, still very moddable...a candy-white 3 door for me, revo-d with a k04 turbo and full milteksport turbo-back exhaust system, please...in my dreams, that is...


THE RAVISHING ROTARY

MAZDA RX-8
the one big thing in its favour is that mrs kona actually does like this car...and i have to admit i really do too...handles well (like a slightly bigger and more powerful miata), looks svelte and sleek (without the stewpit decals like the above version of course...YUCK) and yet packs a punch with its 1.3L rotary engine putting out 240hp...yes you saw right...1.3L only...rotary engines are just like that...and if you're wondering why other manufacturers haven't caught on with this type of engine, it's because it's a massive drinker...1.3L with the thirst of a 3.5L conventional engine...if driven hard, it'll gulp down premium grade petrol at a rate of 6km a litre...yeesh...well perhaps it is offset by the cheapo roadtax...perhaps not as moddable as the aforementioned cars but it's powerful enuff out of the box and that screaming rotary engine at hi-revs sounds like a bat outta hell...can only be improved by a fujitsubo titanium exhaust...

so there you have it...my usual suspects...what shall i do???

pricing-wise (based on used cars lah hah...i poor man)...for a say 2 year old car...i'd say the cheapest would either be the rex or the rx8...cos there are plenty running around in singapore...either would satisfy me save for the terrible fuel economy i'd be getting...

the focus and the golf are inseperable, performance and looks-wise...but the focus would get the nod over the golf for its oleng paint, the 6spd manual and the fact that it is a good 15 to 20 grand cheaper than the golf (going by current prices)...

the GT would be the sexiest chick magnet...but it's pretty much almost all show and not much go unless forced induction comes into the picture and that would void the warranty on it...and that warranty is much needed, given alfa's reputation for "reliability"...of course it's improved in recent years, but still...nothing to shout about...

the honda siblings would probably have to be around 4 to 5 years old if and when i do get them...but the pluses are the bomb-proof engines (made to rev to extreme hi revs where other cars would be begging for mercy) and the relatively exclusivity (not thaaaat many were sold in the singapore market)...and they'd be relative cheap to run (if i dun put the pedal to the metal all the time, definitely better fuel consumption that the other cars...and the fact that they are NOT turbocharged means better reliability and lower servicing costs...

ahhhhhh.... *still scratching my head* wat to do wat to do????