Let There be Light - Part 2 (the video)

Faster but Safer night driving with retrofit projected HID headlights...

Headlight beams  are now wider and brighter (2 x 35w H7 + 2 x 35w H8 foglights)

Highway Obstacles

There are times when you are in hurry for appointments. Even though you are sure to arrive on time there are occasions when your timing could be jeopardised due to obstacles by ego drivers as shown below...

I didn't mean to race with them. Otherwise I would have cucuk them as close as possible and kept changing lanes. I hate to drive like that but sometimes I had to. Watch also this video [I regretted for driving that way actually - i.e. overtaking frm LHS and kept changing lanes but what to do, sometimes your patience got limit also kan] .

In the following videos I kept a safe distance from the speeding cars in front of me and stuck to my lane even though I had chance to overtake frm LHS. These are my typical way of driving my.Peugeot.308 on hi-ways fast lanes.

Part 1: ' Chasing' and chased back by an Audi TT

It was around 4:50pm at BBBangi interchange. As I entered PLUS (northbound) there was a glimpse of a speeding Audi TT down the highway. So I thought the traffic ahead was clear and I could arrive on time.

I got only less than 15 minutes to arrive somewhere in Jalan Klang Lama. So I had to drive 'faster than normal'... at first I did not think I could match up with the speed of the Audi.

Finally the Audi driver slowed down and gave way or probably he was afraid of the speed trap or he just wanted to know what car was speeding behind him. Nevertheless, not long after that [from frame 2:02] the Audi driver chased me back but I think he was not brave enough to match up with my speed at that time and the traffic was also getting congested as well. Both of us had to slow down for a while.

[note: there are 'dropped frames' for a few seconds at 1:57 ]

Berely a minute later the traffic was clear again but I was...

Part 2: Obstructed by a Volvo S80

Volvos with T5 and T6 engines are phenomena, I'd never tried my luck to cucuk them. Not because of the cars raw power but I know what kind of men behind their steering wheels. Otherwise they would have bought the car for the wrong purpose. Volvo S60 T5 is my non-German dream family_car actually. Nevertheless Volvo S80 2.0T is not my piece of cake even though its performance is respectable and on par if not better than Peugeot 308 GT.

The Volvo S80 2.0T in front of me in the following video I boleh balun w/o much difficulty if I wished -the car was driven by an ego driver. He didn't give me way even though it looked like that was the quickest acceleration and fastest speed he could brave enough along that stretch of the hiway [from frame 1:17].

Finally I arrived at the destination just on time within less than 15minutes [from BBBangi interchange].

Let's beat up the drum....

Sunday, Sept 18th., 2011

It was just after 7pm when I was rushing home on PLUS southbound. I had to be home before sunset. Moderate traffic but smooth. As usual when you drive on fast lane there are always drivers who don't give way, especially when they are driving in cars like BMW, Audi and alike... [A Ferrari also like that]

Been following a BMW and an Audi for a while. I had no choice but to overtake 'em from the left. Suddenly these BMW and Audi started to chase me. Probably they just wanted to test the waters. I hope they are not serious though...

OK, lets beat up the drum!. [turn ur speaker volume aloud]

p/s I'd just replaced myLion's heart [still under warranty]. The new heart could pump enough blood when needed.

Seconds Before Disaster

Saturday, Sept 10th., 2011.

It was around 0811hrs. As I was speeding [guess what was the speed] suddenly a motobike changes lane right in front of me without giving any signal. Watch what happened...

It was on my way to a service center in KL to diagnose for my 308T intermittent power loss when the car gets hot. Normally after driving for more than 200km. In such a situation the boost pressure seems to drop or totally lost that makes the car behave as if it is powered by a VTi engine.

Soon it was diagnosed for the problematic High-Pressure Fuel Pump. The pump was replaced foc. Legaaa...

400m standing with new HPFP

Saturday, Sept 17th., 2011

After replacing the Hi-Pressure Fuel Pump the car was tested for straight line performance. Only one test was needed - i.e the 400 meter standing.

Running time, Leg Length [total: 8+12+14+17+..... =399m] and Speeds were recorded with a data logger as shown below:

Without plotting charts, it can be seen at 9th second the speed was 98km/hr and at the 16th second the car already arrived near the 400m line at 132km/hr. Hence the original performance has been restored. See original performance data HERE (century acceleration) and HERE (400m standing)

An old Horse in the eyes of a naughty Lion...

Saturday, Sept 10th., 2011

The Horse could run away, but could not hide from the eyes of a Lion. Finally the Horse gave way!

Watch also near miss accidents between the Ferrari and a pickup truck [@1:22nd sec] and a new proton saga [@1:59th sec]. What a reckless driver!

Had Fun with H/C 2.0

Early morning drag with a stock Honda Civic 2.0.

Cucuk a modded Honda Civic 2.0 he heeee...

Cucuk Mat Rempit

Aku cucuk dari Mat Rempit hingga Ferrari...

only play play laah...

Some of the VDOs caught with AHW308 onboard videocam.

Night-time driving with retrofit Projector- 4300K 35W HID lights @ low-beam

Taking Fast Curve Tips

Many people like to test their new 308 Turbos for speeds on highways. If the road is straight and level it doesn't matter be it a novice or an expert, one can floor the accelerator pedal but if there is a curve special attention must be taken for negotiating it at high speeds.

Of course highway curves are the easiest and safest to negotiate at high speeds but it cannot be taken for granted. I've seen many incidents involving fast sport cars skidded and went off the line on PLUS. Probably the drivers rely too much on the car raw power without understanding the car dynamics and limits.

Entering the curve
I'm no expert, but to the experts the curves can be taken without a significant slow-down or trail braking.
Instead, the expert matches the speed and gear more sympathetically beforehand... and turns the car appropriately into the curve with the foot lightly on the accelerator pedal before flooring again around the apex and let the car accelerate as he turns the steering wheel back for the straight line.

At high speeds the turning radius can also be controlled by the throttle besides steering wheel. More throttle will set turning radius wider [under-steer], less or no throttle will set tighter corners [over-steer] and will even make real wheels skid and make the car spin!

What to do when rear wheels skid?
Don't worry and menggelabah. 308 Turbos have ESP which will cut-off engine power and lock front wheel [the outside wheel of the curve] to adjust trajectory back to the intended line of the curve. If ESP does not activate, the accelerator pedal MUST be completely eased off then slide the steering wheel just a bit and then re-apply the throttle as hard as possible .

Exiting a fast curve
Upon exiting a fast curve, the throttle must be applied very quickly, as the wheels would never spin at such speeds.Practice makes perfect! I'm still practicing though....

Lowest Fuel Consumption with Petronas PRIMAX 95 Xtra!

[updated version on June 7th 2011]

After 'flushing' my 308T combustion chambers with a few tanks of the new Petronas PRIMAX 95 Xtra I decided to carry out actual tests for the fuel consumptions on different kind of driving conditions covering more than 1200km.

BBBangi - Simpang Pulai - Gua Musang - Machang & around Kelantan - Kuala Berang-Kuantan - KLumpur - BBBangi.
Day 1: June 4th 2011
Sector 1: Economy Drive [215km] - 'warming-up lap' with auto-cruise without exceeding speed limits on PLUS from BBBangi to Simpang Pulai.

Average Petronas PRIMAX 95 Xtra Consumption: 5.8liter/100km
The Best Fuel Consumption running on normal RON95 fuel was 6.2liter/100km


Sector 2: Pushing 308T to the Limits [152km] - Crossed Main Range by driving-up winding road from Simpang Pulai to Blue Valley, stopped about 45minutes to buy farm produce then continued with downhill challenge all the way to Gua Musang. At Gua Musang stopped for lunch.

Average Petronas PRIMAX 95 Xtra Consumption: 8.8liter/100km. Last test using normal RON95 fuel was 9.9liter/100km.

Sector 3: Normal Driving with lots of Traffics [145km] - Anybody who drives at midday between Gua Musang to Kuala Krai, especially during holidays knows what kind of driving condition one has to endure.

Average Petronas PRIMAX 95 Xtra Consumption: 7.0liter/100km
Normal RON 95 fuel consumption for this sector was 7.6liter/100km

Overall Average fuel consumption on the new Petronas PRIMAX95 Xtra for the Day1 515km-trip (SKV-SimpangPulai-GuaMusang-Machang) is 6.9liter/100km.
The best average fuel consumption for similar trip on other RON95 fuel was 7.8liter/100km.

Day 2: June 5th 2011
Sector 4: Driving around Kelantan [104km] - Drove the car 'normally' around towns and along trunk roads, sometimes caught in traffic jams .... no hiways in Kelantan of course. Honestly I don't enjoy driving here.

Average Petronas PRIMAX 95 Xtra Consumption: 7.1liter/100km
Previous tests on normal RON95 never got less than 8liter/100km for driving the 308T around this 'gedebe & cas keting' state!

After travelling 620km on various types of road with different styles of driving the car consumed 44liters [3/4 tank] of Petronas PRIMAX 95 Xtra averaging 7liter/100km.
Balance 1/4 tank. Already topped up and ready for Day3 600km-return trip.

Day 3: June 6th 2011
Sector 5 - Non Stop Return Trip. Had to detour towards Kuala Berang before joining ECE due to heavy traffics on the way to Kuala Trengganu. Skipped passing over or stop at major towns. Reduced traveling distance from 620km to approx 590km.

40% Hi-ways [above 100km/hr] , 50% Trunk Roads [80~100km/hr] , 10% other roads [below 80km/hr]

Fuel left after 589km drive...

The over all fuel consumption for the 1209km journey was 84 liter [around RM160 @RM1.90/liter] of Petronas Primax 95 Xtra [PP95X].

________________________

The 225/45/17 CSC3 tyres had been abused at the end of their life at some points of this journey...

Projector Lenses

Updated - Dec 22, 2010
Peugeot 308 H7 Halogen lights are bright enough for normal driving but still not sufficient for high speed driving at night [worse still if it rains]. At first I replaced them with NightBreaker bulbs but still not good enough ...

Then I installed HID Xenon kit [color temp 4300K] at the end of Q1 this year. Very bright but the parabolic reflectors were actually not designed for HID use.
As a result there were too much glare for the comfort and safety of drivers coming in the opposite direction. I was thinking to find a solution then...

I learned that a pair of Projector Lenses were required to be placed in front of the super bright HID tubes to correctly focus the scattered beams hence reduce glare and improve light distribution.
Just installed a set of 3" Projector Glasses [lenses] for the H7 HIDs.


Projected light beams on the wall...
Now no more glare to the incoming vehicle drivers...Circular Cold Cathode Fluorescence Lights [CCFL] tubes were also installed c/w inverters.
The CCFL side lights [angel eyes] look really cool.The installation wasn't easy. Even the expert hands took almost 10hrs to do. Never try do it yourself if you are not patience enough. Thanks Desmond Lim for your patience and passion. Very good job done indeed.

The 'E46' Projector Lens is 3" in diameter - not exactly 'ngam'. Probably 3.5" glass would be better but couldn't find locally [yet] .

After the installation, final beam realignments [horizontal and vertical] were required. Click HERE if u want 2 c how 2 do it.

Even though projector lenses cut out glare significantly, beam height still needs adjustment to avoid causing a nuisance to other road users. The manual headlight height adjuster is located to the right below steering column.

From lowest to highest...
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Note: Beams are not sharply focused though. Some evidence of penumbrae exist. Since those lenses are not multi-coated there are some fringing too.

Projector-HID on the road...