ucscsades

interesting that mazda is leading the poles so far! that's what I voted for too. I'd like to say a BMW or something european, but honestly they're too expensive to maintain on my budget. Plus, I've been in a huge Mazda 3 phase these days...they're practical and very decent cars, and its not some huge dream that'll never be attainable.

damn, it hurts looking at all these new cameras...how quickly they come out with new models, and how quickly prices drop!! I bought a sony H5 about 9 months ago for around $400 and now they already have a H7 and H9 which you can get for a bit more than $400! 15x zoom would be nice, but the h5 is more than enough for normal use. definitely wouldn't make sense to go up from something like an s3 or sony h5 to a newer model...the next step up has got to be to a SLR...but that involves quite a large jump when it comes to $$$! sony doesn't have the best reps in SL, definitely..so you might want to stay away from them in that regard, but at least with my H5 I've had a great time with it and its a really decent camera with a lot of great manual features. oh, and I bought my camera online too....ebay or anywhere else you just need to be careful whom you're buying from and make sure its someone with a good reputation. you can never be certain when buying online...things get lost/broken during shipping, and people make mistakes when packing orders too..but i think its a price worth paying given how good some deals can be on the internet!

How much longer are these idiots going to be in office again? Not that there is anything much better to look forward to with whomever the next set is, I'm sure..but at least some new kind of joker might be a bit more entertaining than this crap these guys keep throwing.

So, in summary- Axela- Japanese import Mazda3- Brand new from Thailnd Axela- Great Mazda3- Crap Anybody see any correlations here?

i agree..i think its a great car too. not sure where the US version is built..plus they have the 2.3lt version here, haven't seen anything smaller. i'd love to own a mazda 3 hatchback!

does that count as off-roading? looks more like it's getting washed away!

I don't intend to open up a can of worms here, but what's the general sentiment about the war out there these days?? All I really hear about it is the article on BBC every other day talking about how both sides are fooling around and overstating the opponent's casualties/understating their own. I definitely wouldn't put it past our government to try pulling off something like that. The ride back from the airport was bad enough a few months ago just with the traffic (took a good 2+ hours into colombo)..can't even imagine how it must be with checkpoints all over the place. Any progress on the "highway" they've been building???

custom made for sri lanka??? i think that's a bit of an exaggeration! the sri lankan market for axelas is barely large enough for them to bother custom desigining their suspension for our market I think!! they probably have a version made for shitty terrain or something..to be sent to places like thailand, indonesia, and basically the rest of asia that isn't japan or singapore I guess. the axelas that come to SL are made in Japan right? wonder why these brand new cars seem to be having a lot more problem than the recon imports ( at least that's what it sounds like given what you guys are saying). Wonder if the "customizations" they do to it has anything to do with it??

the front looks a lot like the current acura TSX/japanese accord...so I guess it's not too far of a stretch. and given the current euro civic hatchback stying, the rear doesn't seem like something they'd just do to be crazy on a concept only to make the real thing really bland and boring either. guess we'll just have to wait and see how it turns out!

on the topic of the axela..are there any mazdaspeed 3/axela's in SL? it has some seriously good tweaks compared the the stock car (which is great by itself) and has a 6 speed manual, and comes in the hatchback version (which for some reason I like a lot more than the sedan). I've always been a huge fan of the 3..I think it looks great and has a great finish. I would seriously consider getting something like the mazdaspeed 3 once prices fall and there are more available in the 2nd hand market (it was released only this year in the US)...2.3l turbocharged engine with 263hp and 280lb/ft of torque..that's just crazy. it's supposedly faster to 60 than a WRX! only negative is probably the fact that it's FWD..would be the ultimate package if it came in AWD like the mazdaspeed 6 i think! but its supposed to have a decent torque management system that minimizes wheel spin and torque steer. and apart from all the craziness its still a very refined and comfortable car that doesn't look ridiculously teenagerish! but anyway, as far as your car goes I agree with the consensus here..it should get more than 6.5/lt. I've heard from people out here that they get up to 35mpg on the highways and around 28 in the citye, which translates to about 10km/lt. i guess. most of the cars out here have the 2.3l engine though...

that's just ridiculous! people use private vehicles because the public transportation system is beyond crap in sri lanka! buses and trains are overcrowded, old, dirty, don't run on any real schedule (or route for that matter sometimes!), and are quite dangerous too! he claims that the money they make out of higher petrol prices will be used to improve the public transportation system..how long is that going to take? 5, 10 years? an eternity?? and it's a great idea to leave the roads at their current dilapidated state...they've spent so much money making a road network and maintaining the infrastructure in the country, but lets just stop putting money into it and let it disappear..vendors can use the country's extensive system of streams and sewers to row goods to markets. it takes something like 5 times more money to rebuild a road than it does to maintain one at a decent level, so if this idiot really thinks its a good idea to let the roads deteriorate the country's going to have to significantly increase it's borrowings within the next few decades at some point! The country does definitely need a better public transportation system, I agree..and if it were better, a lot of people would switch back to it. But they need to improve the system FIRST..they can't just suddenly force people to stop using private vehicles and then say that they'll work on improving public transportation (i seriously doubt that the present transportation system has enough buses or trains to even increase its capacity to the level it would reach if everybody who drives cars suddenly started riding the buses!)..it'll just bring the country to a stand-still! yet another idiot talking out of his a**...still amazing how they have the ability to serious piss people off after many decades of this BS!

perhaps you should ask Darin about it? He had one up for sale on the classifieds here- http://www.autolanka.com/ad.asp?ID=2277

Yes, he does want a one day trip..and Hatton and back (or close) is totally do-able in a day. I've done that drive the last few times I was in SL, and I'd have to agree it is a great drive. Plus the roads for the most part outside Colombo are so much better. Honestly, there aren't that many places in Sri Lanka you couldn't drive to and back from in a day...it really is a pretty damn small country! But as far as windy roads goes heading towards the Hatton area is the best option. There are quite a few smaller roads around there you can take that are pretty scenic and fun..can't remember what they are without a map in front of me, but I believe there's one that goes by Castlereigh reservoir and back down through backroads to the main Hatton road. I don't remember anything specific enough for this to be useful at all so I'll shut up! But yes, def. a good thread to start, so hope there are some good gems of drives out there that come up here that we haven't really tried before! Cheers, S

..he already mentioned it's a Mother's? And I'm assuming you followed pretty much the directions you'd find on any clay bar kit/what other members advised you should do in above posts when the thread was initially made?!

damn, thats one cool picture! good job with the clay bar too!

..and www.finalgear.com have all the top gear and 5th gear episodes for download...and they have little info bits on each of the episodes so you know what exactly you're downloading beforehand. has been quite a reliable site...puts videos up a few hours after air, and great quality too.

Yes, it is a Fortuner. Where is that thing made? Thailand? Doesn't seem to have the same quality level as something from Japan..

So Lexus just released the new LX at the New York Auto Show..and I think it's nothing short of ghastly! Photos here- http://www.carenthusiast.com/motorshows.ht...&make=Lexus and write up- http://www.thecarconnection.com/Car_Shows_...293.A12057.html Honda also released the S2000CR..a "club racing" inspired version of the S2000, and it looks pretty cool I think..except for that rear wing that looks a little too rice-ey for me! http://www.thecarconnection.com/Car_Shows_...293.A12060.html Anything else you guys find interesting thats out this year at the NY show? Seems pretty boring so far for the most part! Well I guess the new Infiniti G37 coupe is something to talk about too..

M5 diesel? Are you referring to that one Top gear episode? I believe that was a 530 or 535 or something..they definitely do NOT make a diesel M5! But yeah, diesel engines are underrated because of the old mentality that they're noisy, boring old junkers...the technology has come a long way..they can put out a lot more torque than a petrol engine, are more fuel efficient, and not noisy like they used to be..so there definitely is a big future for diesel power!

hideous, i agree! more pictures and write-up here- http://www.thecarconnection.com/Vehicle_Re...184.A12170.html

these things have been around for ages and you can buy one for pretty much any car..so there's obviously a market for it..and if there's a market for it, then there must be people who think it works! I think they do. like fuzzo mentioned, after a while the clear coat can have its own problems. bras are probably useless in city traffic, true..but in countries where you do a lot of freeway driving you can get a lot of crap on the nose of your car..and having a bra on definitely helps against that. it's easy enough to take off when you're just running around town and to tie back on if you're driving cross country or something if you're that concerned about the looks! and honestly, i've seen quite a few cars that look nice in them..a friend of mine has a red porsche 944 with one on, and it looks pretty mean with the black contrast up front.

for some reason i also remember having seen a beautiful (very sporty looking) white E34 running around back in the day..can't remember if it was an M5 or not..is this possibly the 19-1000 car that fulvia mentioned? or yet another M5??

Is the one on the Modified Fest discussion forum that Kim had posted not an M5? I've never seen it in person, and the poster had mentioned something about an M in there....not sure if it is. I definitely have a thing for the older Ms too! Just yesterday I decided to look around if there are any E28 M5s floating around the market out here..so rare, shame! The E34s are quite a bit easier to find..great cars too! I want one someday..but I want an E30 M3 more! But I think those are more expensive because they've got a cult following (expensive is relative I guess...$20,000 will get you a good one..which is a steal in sri lankan terms I suppose )..plus its so much harder to find one that hasn't been messed with. I'll stop rambling now!

haha..good stuff. did you guys see all the april fool's crap Google put up (the TiSP and Gmail Paper)?? You don't see much april fools stuff out here (probably out of fear of getting sewed by some idiot who actually thinks its real), was great to see some funny stuff! They definitely put a lot of work into it!

well, i think they are a good accessory to have at least in places where you'd do a lot of highway driving. it's crazy the amount of rock chips and just muck you can get all over the face of your car over the years..and with a bra on it would keep your paint and body a lot cleaner. i don't have one, and never have..but then again I'm yet to have owned a car I was THAT enthusiastic about keeping up.