Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Porsche Optional Equipment - Porsche Red Clip

I bought something for my little Boxster recently. The item arrived from U.S after a waiting period of one month. LOL. I don't understand why it took 1 month to reach Brunei. Anyway, it is a small item and its original equipment from Porsche. Check it out!

Ting! Tong! Small parcel arrived


Wording is in German


"Steckklammer", no idea what it stand for


I do know it is called "Alarm Red Clip"


Tag said "Made In Germany"


This is where the clip will be clipped on


Tada! Simple and quick


"Porsche Boxsters are equipped with an alarm feature which notifies you when there is a breach in the passenger compartment, using infra-red motion sensors located near the map light (above your rearview mirror). The Porsche Red Clip activates your Boxster's motion sensor alarm when your top is down. It will also prevent your vehicle's convertible top from accidentally closing", information taken from eBay seller


Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Friend Rides

The rides you are looking at here belong to a good friend of mine. Yeap, all three rides belong to him. You can say he is the pride of Brunei as his acting skill put Brunei in the world map. I was invited to his private function at his home recently during Chinese New Years Eve. So I brought along my camera and snapped a few quick shots of his recently acquired machines. I do not want to give out his name as most readers will know who he is....

Lamborghini Gallardo, he took me out for a spin a few months ago when he returned to Brunei for some breaktime. I was totally breathless on the speed and torque of this machine.


Ferrari F430, I was told I will be driven in it soon...lol


Oh! Did I mention he also had a Nissan R35 in his collections ? The R35 look so out of place parking right next to the two Italian supercars. It is the largest though almong those three.


Boxster S at SHH-Proshop

Recently before Chinese New Year, I paid a visit to a workshop belonging to a good friend of mine. They are the one and only performance shop in Brunei that are capable of servicing and modifying your JDM rides. They are also the sole authorised dealer of HKS Japan.

Here are more pictures from their site of my little Boxster.


Here is the link to SHH-Proshop.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Interior shots

Last two posts had been quite long and boring to some people so my next post will be more pictures of my Porsche Boxster S.

Here are some of the interior pictures taken recently. I hope you guys can see the color of the Ocean Blue interior more clearly this time. Readers can also see some of optional equipment that I had optioned when I custom ordered the car.

Ocean Blue Interior with Porsche Optional Full Leather Interior


Porsche EXCLUSIVE - Speed Yellow Belt


Porsche EXCLUSIVE - Stainless Still, Illuminated "Boxster S" door Sills



Porsche EXCLUSIVE - Floor Mat with matching Yellow Leather surround and "Porsche" label


Interior Night Shot


Porsche Optional Equipment - Sport Chrono Gauge


All EXLUSIVE and Optional equipments are Porsche original equipments that also comes with Porsche Factory warranty.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

My experience buying a Porsche....Part 2



Continuation from Part 1

I was about to leave the showroom when the Sales Manager of Porsche came and speak to me. The first sentence she said was "Why don't you check out our new Boxster coming in around November or December? " At that time, I wasn't even considering much as the price really put me off. Then came the next sentence, "It is a "bit" cheaper and it has a yellow seat belt and yellow carpet optioned in the package".

At that time, I had a big question mark hanging over my head, I was curious and puzzled. I asked her "What do you mean by "optional" yellow seat belt and yellow carpet?". So from there onward things got kinda interesting, we sat down and she explained to me that Porsche recently just launched the facelift version of Boxster around Nov 2008 and their launching model which is a Yellow in color will be soon.

She further explained to me that any models in the Porsche range can be spec-up to your need. If money is not a problem you pratically can spec up to the highest specification on your Porsche model. The only thing customer need to do is WAIT.

I was told that I can either wait for their yellow Boxster or I can customised my own Boxster which will take 3 months to arrive. She even showed me 5 pages of optional "spec-up" equipment which I can "spec-up" from the standard equipped Boxster. The lists are impressive and so as the price. LOL.

She explained to me that if I customised the Boxster it will be unique as it will be the one and only specification in Brunei because no two people will ever spec-up the same car. Her last sentence was "That is why not all Porsche are the same!" From then on, my point of view on Porsche changed. Now I understand why Porsche never made dramatic changes to its design for the past 50 years and yet it is still the most profitable manufacturer in the world. Yes! the most profitable even compared to Toyota.

At this point, I had already in my mind that the chosen choice of car will be either Audi TT or Porsche Cayman "S" or Boxster "S".



Here are the prices for each car

Audi TT S-Line - $86k (fully loaded with local optional equipments)
Porsche Boxster - $105k (standard car only)
Porsche Boxster "S" - $125K (standard car only)
Porsche Cayman - $113k (standard car only)
Porsche Cayman "S" - $138K (standard car only)

I really have no clue about Porsche ranges, I have no idea what the differences of a normal Boxster and those with the "S" badge. After a few conversation with the Sales manager, I immediately removed the normal Boxster and Cayman from my list as it is too lightly equipped and doesn't come with all the latest technology from Porsche. So, my choice now for Porsche is left with the one with the "S" badge.

I left home that day with my Boxster and Cayman brochure and "spec-up" sheets. LOL.

to be continued....

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

My experience buying a Porsche....Part 1

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, it is 11:51pm and I am going to write about my experience when purchasing a Porsche. Every car lover get excited when they are about to purchase a brand new car. It's like their first child or their first love. I am a car enthusiastic for almost 18 years, to me owning a new car is like an achievement or dream fulfilled. During my earlier year in Australia, I was introduced to automobile world by a few of my asian friends. At that time I was really blank on cars. My first impression for Nissan Skyline R32 was "What an ugly sport car!". Now, the GTR R32 is one of my all time favorite car in my dream car lists.

Porsche, I was never fond of the brand cause like Jeremy Clarkson said "Porsche is the laziest car manufacturer ever!!!". If you look at a Porsche, you will know it is a Porsche as it never change much. There are people who hated Porsche and they are loyal customer who forever will love the Porsche brand. In my earlier life, I hated Porsche so much. I always think that Porsche is ugly and never understand why some of its models are so damn expensive (911 Turbo is as expensive as Ferrari, Aston Martin and other supercar marques).



So around July 2009, I was searching for my perfect wedding car that I will be able to use on my wedding day and of course keep forever for remembrance. So here are our conditions ranking from importance to less importance.

1. First condition, my wife has to like the car too.
2. It has to be a 2 door sport coupe or convertible (preferably convertible).
3. It has to be unique in term of rarity (Hence, why I never consider Nissan R35).
4. It has to be in yellow, white or red color.
5. It has to perform to my standard (as close to my current Nissan ER34)
6. Easy to modify

So only a few cars caught my interest at that time and here are the lists, BMW 3 Series Convertible, Audi TT, Audi A5, Chevy Camaro, Nissan 370Z and Porsche Cayman.



I lost interest in BMW 3 Series as I think the interior was so typical BMW interior and the design will not last forever. I was eagerly awaiting for Audi A5 coupe but Audi weren't sure when the car will even arrive for me to see. I was also hoping for a right hand drive version of Chevy Camaro in Australia and had it imported to Brunei until Chevy announced that for a fully converted Camaro will cost over AUD130K. Don't bother getting your calculator as when it reach Brunei it will cost around BND190K ~ 200K at the current exchange rate inclusive of tax. As for the 370Z, I was targeting the yellow version in the showroom as it is limited run for 2009 production only. It cost $78k if I can recall and the yellow cost $3k more. The Z is a nice car and really its bang for your buck, but I lose interest immediately thinking that it will be filled in Brunei road soon....

Porsche Cayman S

Audi TT

Audi A5

Chevy Camaro

Nissan 370Z


Of all the car mentioned above I only managed to test drove the Audi TT and Porsche Cayman S. First lets talk about the Audi TT, I test drove it and it was quick as it was a 2.0 turbocharged version (similar engine to VW GTi MK.4). The interior has one of the nicest leather stitching I ever seen on a standard 2 door coupe. It also has one of the coolest bucket seat design. I almost booked the red color TT with the Quattro and dual clutch gearbox. It was also the one and only Audi TT Quattro in Brunei as the rest were only front wheel. By the way, Quattro is the all wheel version.



Next, Porsche Cayman S, a few weeks before I test drove the Audi TT, I received info that QAF had just launched their new facelift Cayman and Cayman S. So I decided to check it out myself and visited Porsche showroom with one of my friend. When I arrived at the showroom, I was greeted by Cayman and Cayman S. Firstly, the chosen colors for the launch cars didn't suit both cars in my opinion. It was a Sunset orange and Metallic red. Next, the price tag, it cost a staggering $167k for the Cayman S. Which was only a few thousand "cheaper" then a R35.

to be continued....

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Night Shot in our new garage....

Here are some night shots taken with my D90. I am still trying playing around with the night setting on my DSLR, and these are my best results.

My two yellow beasts inside the garage....


Porsche side view with the spoiler extended



Monday, February 8, 2010

Photoshooting with our new home

These were taken a few weeks ago. The sky was so clear that I had to take a few shot of my little Boxsters with our new home. The colors turn out pretty well especially with the blue sky!