JadeyBlitzen

Guys this is very disappointing. I know everyones posting with their best intentions. But I feel that this car and this thread deserve better. First of all this is one of the better known 510s in the country and has very good potential. Komi has been humble enough to just name this thread a project. But I'm seeing words like restoration and restmod being thrown in too many times by others. When judging from the bodywork, it clearly is neither. When you are dealing with a relatively older car especially one that's been driven around for the past few years and has a 5 or 6 figure pricetag the bodywork will be really shoddy. because the older and cheaper a car gets the less is the need to spend money on the car for the average motorist, any dents or rust tend to get covered completely in filler by the cheapest garage, cos why spend so much on a cheap car? Its when a real enthusiast gets hold of the car that it becomes a real headache. because now the filler needs to be removed and sections need to be done from scratch. For this you can't depend on any garage that deals with modern cars or old beaters run by budget minded people. You need someone passionate, someone who's got some experience on such projects and very good tinkering and painting skills. Not someone who can complete a job at a cost within a certain time limit. The work done the rear end of the 510 is definitely substandard. I mean just look at that rear valance. That rectangular 'groove' is actually suppose to be a seam where the rear valance is attached to the rest of the bodywork. But if you look near the exhaust you can see its been completely filled the filler up to height of the seam. This is what the rear valance seam should look like. See how the seam stands out? And as WM pointed out the entire rear quarter panel, or at east where it meets the bumper is completely turned out from filler. So our observations could just be the tip of the iceberg. It wont take that long for a slight flexing of the nearly 50 year old body to send hairline cracks all over the paintjob when its on the road. Since the car is being done up for such a long time why not do it right the first time? There was a time I couldn't tell the difference between a good paintjob and a bad paintjob. When a panel is badly repaired. But after spending the past few years in the garage I can spot a bad job from miles away. My point is we can all learn. If you could get a few pics like this off the net and show them to your tinker/painter I'm sure he could do a much a better job. But ultimately you need to know a good job from a bad one. I'm sorry to say this, but the work being done right now is no better than what the previous owners did. So either find a better guy or get this fellow to do a better job, and most importantly learn how to spot bad bodywork. Like I said this car has a lot of potential so its a shame to treat it like this. Also a good job will take time and its not always good to put pressure on the guys. I would also like to point out the mods, ignoring the obvious biases or should I say conflict of interest, there are thousands of people in this forum and they look up to you as very knowledgeable people when it comes to motoring. However when you dismiss valid points made by senior and quite credible members in here, even if their approach isn't very good, it could mislead others into thinking that these bad practices mentioned are acceptable. Just my two cents.

The way I see it people have cars that are nicer and relatively more expensive than ever but seem to allocate much less for their tyres. I mean did we see recently registered corollas/axios back in the day with ceats on them? As a tyre shop owner told me recently some people would fit steam roller wheels to save money if they fit. That said maxxis ma z1 is a pretty good tyre. I was offered a big discount for a set of them by a friend who got into the business recently. Went for the yokos cos of the extra edge they they offer. Ecstas look very decent on the net. Will check them out one of these days. Mines an RS. So the tyre size is 185/55/15. You'll have trouble finding the tyres the car originally came with if its recondition cos the japs get some really nice tyres that arent offered here. GT's are pretty decent but since you got yokos on the other axle keep the gt's at the front.

Finally got around to fitting those Yokohama S drives I always wanted for my Vitz. Spent a good day between two shops with one that had the tyres for around 13k but turned out to be the wrong size and another that had the tyres but wanted nearly 18k each. In the end I went with the second option and managed to get the price down to 16750 each. Sorry about the poor quality pic What really bothers me is how good tyres are getting increasingly difficult to find over here. I was offered so many chinese and budget brands but nothing performance oriented. Maybe people don't look for good tyres in this size but what about evo or sti spec tyres? Just a few weeks ago a friend of mine who bought an sti 9 recently was looking for a set of potenzas. Even I made a few phone calls to help the bugger out and the best everyone had to offer was middle of the range japanese tyres. It took him about 2 weeks to find potenzas. Took me over 2 years to find these. Thanks to these budget brands and consumers who dont care much for good tyres I feel like we are in dark times over here.

He said the cells in Crown hybrids are being replaced. No word on the Prius and other toyota hybrids. The reason for the higher premiums I'm assuming could be the increased risk of overheating and the subsequent risk of fire which the local media loves to talk about when bashing hybrids. As long as the car is maintained and used well I don't see how this could happen.

I agree with you on the current values but the initial prices you've mentioned were top dollar at the time. however looking back at the Allion prices I think the insight has fared well. Btw is the prius holding its value better?

I've noticed this sudden power drop. its like the battery has a substantial charge but the system isn't updated on this fact. When I accelerate hard after a traffic jam or a hilly ascent sometimes I don't get the power i expect for the charge in the battery. Sometimes the system works the other way and vomits out all the charge when the battery's running low and leaves me with no charge for the next stop and start and the system goes into force charging at idle and on the move. Surely with a bit more R & D the system could be made more foolproof. While on the subject of batteries, I believe battery failures are mostly due to overheating and not being discharged fully regularly enough. overheating could occur from the cooling fans inside the battery failing (haven't heard of such an instance personally) or quite possibly the cooling vents and ducts being blocked. vents for the battery on the prius and insight are on the side of the back seat. So make sure you aren't resting your back on this. Also I've heard the leading cause of battery failure in any rechargeable electrical device is overcharging and not discharging fully. So if you never drive hard enough or stay at rest long enough for this to happen often the battery could develop what is known as 'false capacity' which will only try to maintain charge from say 80-100% and not hold any charge below that 20%. Anyway considering the low speeds the locals drive their hybrids at thinking they are saving fuel its quite possible to not use that charge at all. A friend of mine at toyota lanka says they are now replacing cells instead of the whole battery which is good news. But I guess with a little know how we can preserve the batteries for years to come. Actually all cars above 2mil attract noticeable deprecation increasing exponentially with the value of the car. But I doubt a non hybrid like the 141 axio would have gone down in value at 200k a year every year.

I've been using a Honda Insight for two and a half years and 24k kms this is my take on the topic. Buying a hybrid here is an interesting proposition cos you can get a bigger newer car for less. I've seen a lot of maruti owners and first time car buyers going for hybrids cos they fell for the whole 40 km/l claims. It really wont, unless you have a good understanding about the system so you can get the best out of it. for example its a cycle of charging and discharging the battery that gives you the claimed economy. If you don't brake gradually or drive downhill or coast to charge the system automatically and then accelerate hard enough to kick the motor in or drive in full electric mode or idle only on battery power to use up that charge hybrids are no more economical than regular cars. Honda hybrid owners (except 2013+ fit and vezel) especially complain how they aren't getting the expected mileage. That's because they are not driving them how they should be driven. But if you do know what you are doing its not that difficult to surpass the manufacturers claims. I get 25-28 km/l regularly on empty roads and 16.5 in and out of colombo during rush hour. Then there's the performance. dc motors have crazy torque but dont rev very fast. so hybrids offer some quite usable low end power. most of the time it feels like driving a big diesel. In the case of 2nd gen honda hybrids 0-40 acceleration is so rapid it gives people the impression the car is much faster than it actually is. It really is rapid. but after 60-80 there's very little power. Also hybrids at this level run out of puff when their batteries are fully discharged, so prolonged pedal to the metal driving with sharp braking will lower the performance. But on a full battery standing starts and sneaky low to medium speed overtaking maneuvers are a real delight. If I were to sum up the ownership experience I could say hybrids aren’t really worth it. I’ve lost about 500k in depreciation and It could get higher if I don’t sell it right away. Some people have lost about a million in some hybrids and a whole lot more on the bigger hybrid cars, like the Toyota crown. So hybrids definitely depreciate faster compared to conventional models, unless they are based on conventional models. Then they make their non hybrid models depreciate even faster e.g. lexus rx. So if you are someone who moans over depreciation hybrids will make you cry. Fuel savings won’t help unless you do several thousand a month. The standing acceleration quietness and day to day economy are very appealing, but there’s little else to make hybrids an attractive proposition here. For me this might be my last hybrid for a while. Downsized turbo engines and stop start functions in newer cars are appealing to the economy minded motorist in me.

This is a bit like looking at buying a week old pastry when you can afford a fresh one. There are only a handful of cars in the market whose older models are better than the new ones. This is not one of them.

I don't understand how they can book us for speeding on the highway anyway cos the place where we are caught speeding and the place where we are pulled over could be 100 kms apart. So what evidence do they have to prove that we were speeding? Its not the same cop who catches us and its not like they took a photo or filmed the incident to be presented at the courts if we contest it.

There are so called fuel savers and then there are performance chips. But if it was my money i'd go with a performance chip cos that could actually improve economy, not that those fuel savers stand a chance anyway. and like mightycarmods proved there are bogus chips but the genuine ones are easy to identify cos they usually carry reputed names, cost over $500 and they dont need barenaked ladies in the ads to sell them. Either way the these genuine chips will improve economy only if it gives you more torque at the same rpm or lower. So they might not work in all applications. In terms of theoretical physics the best fuel saver would be running a heavier flywheel But in my opinion all this is as sissy as taking fat burners to get in shape without doing some goddamned exercise. If you want better economy just maintain the car the way the manufacturer intended and make a few changes to your driving style. With anticipative yet considerate driving you can easily surpass the manufacturers claims of fuel economy even in sri lanka.

Laugfs does appear to be going overboard with its marketing. but we should keep in mind during the heyday of gas conversions most cars ran on carbs or at least the ones owned by the sort of people who wanted the conversions, so most were catered for such setups. From my little experience with gas conversions then I remember the systems being really crude at their best. Remember the vehicles that ran around with actual domestic gas cylinders plugged in at the back? Anyway I believe we should remain neutral at the moment and see how this catches on. Laugfs does say its electronically controlled and offers sequential injection which is the sort of thing required by an efi to run on gas. Also I don't know how much this costs but good gas conversions are expensive as in a few hundred thousand rupees expensive. But I would happily pay that amount to run a very decent big engined car that would otherwise be impractical run on day to day basis. So lets give these guys a chance and see what happens.

Be careful with v76 and v78 monteros if they have auto boxes. The 5 speed on v78's especially needs to be in tip top shape cos it only makes sense to replace a broken one and they cost about 250k each. Repaired ones dont run that well. Check for jerky downshifts and late shifting on the second. Also the 4m41's let go quickly if not looked after well and need specialist attention Also at this mileage cars with a chassis fare better.

Here's my 2 cents on the story. It happened on peliyagoda-wattala detour that goes over the highway and provides access to it, not the actually highway or on Kandy Colombo main road. I went past the accident location yesterday and there's only some light damage to the fencing on the flyover (which goes over the railway tracks). Not sure what it hit to get torn in half like that. but its probably the detached rear end that hit the fencing. Also I doubt the car has been tampered with cos the outer side panels on 4 door ek's anyway come in 2 pieces as shown in this link. http://estore.honda.com/honda/images/parts/catalogs/EA/13S8401/Estore/illustrations1/S843B4920.png So at the moment of collision the frame failed at its weakest points i.e. the welds. which are the exact same points on the diagram and the crashed car. It was raining that night so the roads were wet and its pretty easy to get some good speed on any car approaching the accident site from either direction. So the setting was just right for it. I should again mention this wasn't actually on the highway, just the byroad leading up to it. So nobody's there to enforce seatbelts entering this section.

front suspension is the same for both cargo and noah versions. as for rear the coil springs are different to the cargo model and also changes from grade to grade. 4wd coils are harder and taller, and 2wd royal lounge/V coils are the softest. the bump stops are also different. cargo has cone shaped ones and noah has trapezoidal ones. This changeover is important as with softer springs at the back suspension travel is heavier. Overall, changing the suspension and the added weight of the conversion gives it a car like ride, but the softer suspension does mean noticeable understeer.

pros: torquey engine. good acceleration in and out of traffic, good fuel economy cons: engine parts are rare and engines full of electronics, so when something goes wrong you'll have better luck getting parts down from europe through ebay This is one of those rare japanese engines we get here that are made to contemporary european standards. so you'll have to treat it like a euro engine for most part.

Seems like a tata sumo to me

That's a nicely specced up car. would have been even better if it had a manual box anyway don't worry much about straightline speed. the auto crz is all about its mad holeshot. you'll have other drivers sh*tting in their pants off the line.

Reading your posts literally brought a tear to my eye. I never thought the death of someone I had never met would have such an effect on me. Even I had trouble accepting the news. I was out celebrating a friend's birthday yesterday and was just starting on the mains when she casually said "I wonder what's gonna happen to f&f now that Paul Walker's dead" and I was like "No no its Han who's dead. not Paul Walkers character" then she told me what had happened and I lost my appetite instantly. All that went through my head was all the great stuff he did on and off screen and how much an impact it had on me as a kid. anyway here's a neat tribute video so we can remind ourselves what an awesome guy he was https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=698603530150700

Ok I know its been a few hours since his passing, but there's been very little discussion here about it. Being Sri Lanka's premier automotive forum Its totally unacceptable limiting the demise of this great man to a few posts in post whoring. So this is my eulogy and I hope it won't be the last I was 14 when I was first saw Paul Walker on screen. His character was troubled and, we have to admit, overshadowed by Vin Diesel's character for the most part of the movie. The movie wasn't too great either. fake turbo sounds, and "motec system exhausts"? what the heck is that? But it was fundamentally the first street racing movie and appealed to that throbbing street racer in young unlicensed car enthusiasts. So when 2 fast 2 furious came out for most of us that was the best movie ever. Paul Walker was THE man. Everything he did was just right. "Could you tell me right quick what would be a better motor for my Skyline, a Gallo 12 or a Gallo 24?" lines like that, "the stare and drive", giving the finger while going in reverse made a big impression on me. It wasn't a deep movie. It didn't have any deep messages in it. But for me it defined epic. I used to watch it every weekend. I still remember all the dialogues from the top of my head. When I worked part time the cinema I worked for had a habit of putting an employees favorite movie under their name on their name tag, And you can guess what mine said. For me Paul Walker absolutely defined what a heterosexual male should look like and act. He was a real guys guy. both on screen and off it. I started wearing converse shoes, before they went mainstream in SL, because of Paul Walker. I even walked like him and sometimes randomly read out his lines from the movie. No automotive icon or movie star had ever had such an impact on then 16 year old JB. And nobody has since. As I grew up I felt silly about it and sometimes I wasn't proud of what my name tag at work, the manager especially couldn't help but judge me from my taste in movies. I also felt f&f sequels that came after were "manufactured" for mass market appeal diverting from car only action. But today I'm not ashamed to admit that such is the impact this guy had on my life. He had a big part in my growing up, helped me notice things that I haven't noticed and opened my eyes to a whole new world. My life wouldn't have been the same without him. And it'll never be the same again now that he's gone. RIP Paul Walker

my first gen vitz rs has only 127 mm of clearance made even worse by its front lip. doesn't bother me. It doesn't hurt to slow down a little more for bumps and ruts. Its all about knowing your vehicles shortcomings and learning to live with it. Think about it. was ground clearance a top priority when purchasing a car for you? I'm sure there are other more important qualities you were looking for that the vitz offers in spades that a car with more ground clearance can't match. All you need to do is be a little patient in the rough stuff and appreciate the car where it shines.

that muffles the noise too. best way to take silent sh*ts when special parties are in the vicinity of the bog

Apparently this is how the British sports car came to be

Actually Ishara seems to have a habit of clocking cars. because this is not the first time i came across something like this in one of their cars. A friend of mine bought a ksp90 from them in 2011. When he showed me the car i asked him how much its done. he said 15k. so a pretty decent mileage. I casually checked the Jaai sticker on the windscreen and It had a mileage of 75000 kms on it! I wouldn't advise depending on a windscreen sticker to verify mileage. cos jaai stickers are easy to tamper with or reproduce and bureau veritas stickers have no information on them. The best way to check the mileage on newer cars, even though its not always practical, is to plug in an analyzer. the odometer reading can be manipulated but the vehicle computer always shows the genuine reading unless it has been replaced with another vehicle's. tried it on my insight and it showed 25k current mileage against a 12500 when imported on the jaai sticker. Also it was brought down by a small importer. and they seem to be more honest compared to bigger compaines