Engine Overheats (Again?)

Remember about the unfortunate events of Krabi slightly less than a year ago?

History repeated itself today. In Singapore.

Yakki's car overheated. Again. Except that this time round, with a bag of experience from our Krabi adventure, he was able to safely manoeuvre his car home.

With no smoke oozing out, no engine dying, no panic.

Most importantly, he could show his manly composure to his other half.

No pride lost. Sexiness leveled up.

Manly!

Who says a bunch of men travelling overseas is just pure decadence? One year on, we've man-ed up.

Peugeot 3008 v Kia Sportage

Everything's returning to normalcy after two weeks of sports fever. As Singaporeans return to gripes of housing and foreign workers, the two of us decided to review our cars' future.

There's no perfect moment to buy a car in recent times. But it hurts no pocket to test drive a couple. A odd couple that is.

Usual comparisons involve two automobile heavyweights. Read Bimmers v Benz.

Or cars from two mega economies. German power v Japanese efficency.

We have decided to buck the trend.

French Flair v Killer Korean.

Coffee first

Bonjour

First up was the Peugeot 3008.

As with all Pugs, the 3008 had a distinctively French touch to it. Stylish, chrome-ish, a soothing interior.

Le Stylo Milo

This particular Pug comes with so many storage compartments, you could play hide-and-seek with the customs officer by daring him to sniff out that one contraband cigarette you borrowed from a Johorian. Or pirated DVD.

More storage behind the Lion

The 3008 is a crossover (half-hatch back, half-SUV) that seems big, but not too huge. Enough legroom for four, but a little small for five. Enough boot space for stuff, but insufficient for more stuff.

Yakki took it to the roads and was okay with the car's power. He had a tiny issue with the driver's seat, saying that it felt a little claustrophobic down there.

The backseats were comfortable, but the slightly hard suspension made the ride a bit too rough for a family car.

Still, it felt like a sexy crossover to have. Somewhere between a hatchback and an SUV as it was designed to be.

안녕하십니까

Next up was the Kia Sportage.

As with all the Kias now, it sports a Audi touch. Sexier than the old Kias, muscular like typical Germans.

This Sportage definitely beats its predecessor in terms of design and styling. The interior looks one up on all Korean cars. Even the sound-system's impressive.

Sound control has air-con vents as wings

Yakki floored the Sportage just he did with the 3008, but despite its louder roar, the 2L engine responded with lackluster acceleration.

Korea launches second space ship

I certainly didn't care as I spent most of the time admiring the lovely sky through its sunroof. The seats were softer and more comfortable than the 3008, cushioning my rear the entire drive.

Nutshell

After one afternoon of test driving both cars and attempting to sound professional and knowledgeable in our assessment, we thought it would be easier to describe them this way:

3008 - Natalie Portman in some artsy film

Likely seen zipping around the streets of Paris.
1.6L turbocharge engine, better fuel economy, sexier interior.
S$116,900 for the Adventure model (incl. heads up display, panoramic sunroof).

Sportage - Ali Larter in Resident Evil: Extinction

Muscling its way through the Las Vegas desert.
2L engine, spacier, softer interior.
S$110,999 for the Sports version (incl. 18" rims, silver rails on its roofline, panoramic sunroof).

Which are we getting?
We're very faithful men. So we're staying with our current ladies for now.

School Holidays = No Traffic Congestion

Today's Teacher's Day and traffic on the roads was significantly smoother.

Why?

We list down a few possibilities.

School Days since 1965

1. Teachers are well-paid and own cars
Teachers' Day means all the cher-drivers, numbering 50,000 or so, are off the roads.

2. Parents take leave, MC or chao geng to stay home with their kids
Someone in office mentioned, "Just look at the car park, half empty".

3. A lot of ah sia students these days
In the new economy, students skip trains and 'O' levels and drive to university.

Rain and More Rain

It's been an interesting year for Singapore, weather-wise. Instead of the usual hot and humid or very cloudy or heavy thunderstorms and showers expected all over Singapore, our Met service now has access to the word "flood" in their limited vocabulary.

The rain has caused many problems to us Singaporeans. Some losing their cars. Others having their condos' car park or landed property filled with sexy brown water. We too had our problems with the rain.

Bad Bad Rain

Remember we were gonna do an article on "Birds". Yes, 鸟. The rain has forced us to cancel many early Sunday morning trips to the birds' sanctuary. So you'll have to wait a little longer for the "Birds" article.

Anyway, back to today. As I was driving along the surprisingly-only-damp Bukit Timah Road, I wondered about my insurance's coverage for a drenched car, and then about changing to a more flood resistant car like an SUV or a crossover.

The new Kia Sportage

Speaking of which, Yakki and I should be test driving some new crossovers (in flood conditions preferably) in the coming month, so keep a lookout for that.

The new Peugeot 3008

But on a serious note, we should be thankful that the floods here have not caused any loss of life as seen in Pakistan and China. We are really a fortunate bunch of people. Be grateful.

Krabi - Engine Overheats

The alarm clock rang at 10 am. It was wakey-wakey and time to make our journey back to Krabi.

Becoming smarter by the hour, we asked the receptionist for a route with the least treacherous terrain out of Phuket. We grabbed a proper map (for once) and left Hotel Ibis.

Taking the route towards Kamala Beach, we were driving up a small hill when the temperature meter showed us the red. The engine was overheating once again. We were by now immune to such occurrences and calmly stopped the car for an assessment.

Sexy Transformer Metal

Wally and Yakki Present: What to do when your engine overheats?

1. Turn off the engine - As with any machinery, when in doubt or on fire, switching off the appliance/equipment is the most obvious option. After doing so, di gong (pretend that nothing happened) for a few minutes to regain composure.

2. Recall all the old man talk - When my old man mentioned that my car's engine coolant required topping up, I thought he meant that my wiper fluid had ran out. He went on to teach me the ways of life by explaining that water could be added to ensure engine coolant is sufficient for driving.

3. Check with petrol-heads - If you're not sure what your old man taught you is in line with the current generation of petrol-heads, call or text one to ask him for advice. He will tell you that it is okay to add water to coolant, but it is better to add the real coolant. Also, check for radiator leakage by looking under the engine compartment as that might be the cause of the insufficient fluids.

4. Still unsure? Hitchhike to the nearest petrol kiosk for help! - Daniels and Yakki braved the rain on a scooter without helmets. It was how the Thais travelled. Three men on one scooter for 200 baht. A helpful mechanic brought some water to top up the coolant. Upon seeing the radiator, the burly mechanic assessed that it was leaking and required some patchwork. It cost us 500 baht to restore our car for the return trip.

We knew we lacked practical life skills, but Thailand exposed our ignorance.

Lovely weather on our return

A few hours later, we returned to Krabi safely, having graduated from the college of himbotics.

Yakki's Dream Bus

Old Skool Volkswagen Bus