How much is to spend on your next car?

Often it was an long-awaited answer for poor souls or car nuts who have spent too much on cars. I think I sought a good answer the other day from a book called "Living Rich by Spending Smart" by Gregory Karp. So what is all about?

First of all we have already spent way too much on cars that we pay monthly car loan for. The book is written for Americans but I think it has all the sense to apply the same in Hong Kong. Anyway one shall not spend more than 7% (10% for some special reason of yours) of one's disposable household income (that means after-tax monthly salary) on a monthly installment of the car one owns. If one needs to stretch the period of installment from 3 to 4 year or more to lower the amount of monthly installment to meet the 7% or even 10% ceiling, obviously one cannot readily afford and has already overspent.

What happens if one has already paying installments on a car one shouldn't have owned, meaning too expensive based on the above rule? Well, then keep with the installments until they are all paid for, if it is already a dream car and one can keep up with the monthly payment without much financial strain. After the car is paid off, one can either keep the car or sell the car and get one with a price tag that meets the above 7% rule.

What happens if one just pays of all the installments? Well, one should continue to pay the installments, no more than 7% or 10% of the disposable income (after-tax), not to the car loan, but to a one's saving account towards the next car. Do this for three years. Use the money in the car fund and trade in the existing car for a better ride. In principle, one should be able to get a much better new car than the one you have owned for 6 years. And one doesn't need a car loan this time or any other time. And if one keeps doing that, one can trade in to another yet much better car, not in six years, but in three!

I think, one should be allow to use a 3-year car loan, to get one's dream car. However there are two conditions. Do it only once or twice at most in one's lifetime, and do it when one is young and passionate. For me I have done it too often myself when I was younger. Lesson learned.

Based on the rule of 7% (or 10%), I can afford, without trading in my existing car, a brand new Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, or something similar, by a 36-month car loan. Anything above that would be a stretch. I felt horrible initially about the fact but slowly settled on that idea. Anyway my 13-year old C36 isn't all bad, and the price of it well fits within the 7% rule, as there is no car loan on it.

AMG C36 Update - Jun 2008

I did a follow-up trip to Pak Lok on the Island side to have the fuel-air ratio check on a Black Rain Saturday. Initial check by hooking up the Diagnosis Handheld showed a poor connection to the air-mass flow sensor. However it did read the data correctly. Anyway I had a new Bosch one, plus a new fuel filter, put in. I also had a squeaky engine belt replaced, which has been bothering us since early this year.

It was a quick job done in less than 2 hours on a Saturday (June 7th) afternoon. The C36 was back on the road again. Initially, throttle response was reduced but the bags of low-down torque had returned. I could feel the engine was remapping itself and slowly adapting to the new components. For what it was it felt slightly different to drive. Tiki felt the engine's eagerness to rev was gone, replaced by a more sluggish low-down pulling power, which was not impressive in her opinion. All I care here and now is the fuel consumption. And it did work magic to my fuel consumption, at least by 20%. Now I can do over 450km in the summer with air conditioner on with a full tank. Just like the old days.

AMG C36 Update - My License is back!

After 6 months without driving I got my driver's license back on May 14th.

I expect the driving again will be a renewal experience but in fact it has been not. It seemed like I have only been hibernating for over 6 months and wake up to find only the same thing over again.

I only drove to work once. Today I took public bus to work.

On last Saturday I took the C36 to Pak Lok to replace the front springs (to the original flat top springs that came with the C36). The front is now lowered by around 5mm but it makes all the right move and balance now. The front is sitting comfortably lower and matches well with the rear. Damping has improved, too. Ride is about the same or better. Damping is better but still not the best I could expect. I replaced the worn PS2 with new PS2 again and did wheel alignment for all 4 wheels. Finally all the minor issues and complaints I have were completed sorted out. At least it is what it seems to me.

I had been thinking about other tires like Bridgstone RE001 Adrenalin and Dunlop Direzza Z1. Finally I settled for the 40% more expensive Michelin because I worried about ride quality. I have been struggling for a long time and decided that Michelin PS2 is a natural match to my aging C36. I reckon that it is a 12-year old car and hard suspension and hard sidewall tires will only make the C36 to feel worse and loose. Comfort and ease of driving are still ranking high on my list. And really I want to do my best to keep what I own, since a real replacement is still quite far away from a financial standpoint. I want to keep the car as long as I possibly could, at least up to a point of diminishing return. Yet if you ask me how I define the point of diminishing return, I would say I have no idea and will think of an answer to that.

The fuel/air ration is wrong as I think it is too rich. The engine feels sluggish and the sometimes hiccups and coughs. I think it has too much fuel being injected. The fuel consumption is a bit unusually high, too. So I think it is due for another checkup, which I should have dealt with it when I replaced the springs.

Cayenne

A friend Eddie asked me to put random thoughts about cars in the blog. One day he asked why there were so many Porsche Cayennes on the streets of Hong Kong. I was wondering why and two ideas popped into my mind almost instantly. First many or a large percentage of Cayenne owners are the first-time Porsche owners. Second many people want Porsche cars but cannot buy Boxsters or 911s because they have a family to lurk around. Porsche Cayenne is not cheap but it would be most people's best excuse to get themself a Porsche. Of course let's not forget the edge on performance, engineering and image associated with Porsche. It is a runaway success. A business owner in Hangzhou, China, told me over dinner he was the first owner in China to have the Cayenne Turbo S just two to three weeks ago. Next time I hope I could get a ride in his new Cayenne.

Mercedes CLK55 (Year 2000) - A brief ride

Finally got a chance to get close and a 15-min ride in a mint condition CLK55. It is in silver with sunroof. I did not drive because my license is still frozen until mid May. Steven let the salesman drove us around the block and got fuel for it. It was not me after the CLK55. What impressed me most was the power delivery and the firm ride, which left me not much to complain about. The interior and the trimming were not as nice in terms of luxury and quality as the previous E55 we saw over one month ago. Nevertheless it is very nice and really beyond what we ever need for luxury. With a 5.5L V8 upfront the whole car did not feel front heavy or even heavy as a whole. It really hides and distributes its weight quite well. Engine is smooth and highly tractable, making it perfect for daily driving even under heavy and slow traffic. The engine torque of course is next to perfect, similar to C32AMG, and yet with loads of refinement and excellent throttle modulation. I could easily feel that even from the passenger seat.

We did not test the power because it was rainy and the road surface was wet. indeed the whole test drive experience was a pleasant one. Uufortunately I did not took photo.

6 months without driving...

My day started with going to a Court House in Fanling. It was an indeed a fine day with sunshine and breeze. It was a day that my driver license was taken away for a period of six months for the observation of a speeding charge. My license will be reinstated in mid May.

I felt bad initially when I was caught. However slowly I accepted it after I got the court summon. I checked around people and all the legalities and it seemed to me there was no way to cut corner. I was faced a penalty of 12-month driver license suspension.

I got lucky because of a fault of preparation by the police prosecutors in a case much earlier that morning. The judge had reprimanded the malpractice of the prosecutor. So when it was my case the prosecutor skipped all the supporting details and only listed the basic fact. I was sentenced to a fine and a six-month license suspension with immediate effect.

Joy! I got lucky. Quickly answering a few questions of the judge on my speeding incidence I walked away gracefully without a hesitation. Did I feel guilty about what I did? Well, should I be? It is just a day in my life. In ten or twenty years there will be little or no significance of it.

The question now is to face a lifestyle without driving. My wife is still driving when we share our journey. It has been more than 20 years without public transportation as the means of commuting to work and places. So I resort to public transportation - bus and MTR. So far so good (as of two months later when this essay was written in early Jan 2008). Do I miss driving? Honestly it is in between not a whole lot and not at all. Do I feel itchy about driving? Not at all. I have been sick of driving for so many years so taking a break like this, in my personal opinion, is really a nice thing. I feel my life, while mingling with the general public, is then more three-dimensional. I have to admit that there are at least 2 hours each day I lost on getting myself from one place to another, which I find I could do something else if I am not driving.

AMG C36 Update - 86'961km

Eric, Eddie and I brought our three rides to Pak Lok on Sat (9/15) for service check and oil change. For me I went back for nostalgic reason (my favorite breakfast street - Tung Tai Street) and seeing old friends working at the garage. My last oil change was on 5/19, roughly 4 months ago. And I did only 3'300 kms only. This time I did not use the Miller Synthetic but took Pak Lok's advice and used the twice more expensive Castrol Edge 10W-60. If it is good for BMW M and I think it will work okay in my AMG grandpa. Eddie's X5 has been using this oil for a few times and reported satisfactory engine response. Pak Lok recommends this oil for German engine over 3.0L in size.

A note after 3 days of motoring: The Edge proves to be very good oil even though it feels highly viscous, it is smooth and friction-free. It does not feel like watery like those Japanese racing oils. Engine is quiet and loaded with plenty of low-end response. I can feel that the fuel economy is improved. As I have been using all kinds of oils in the past 20 years, I become both neutral and critical about what people are telling me about engine oils. But this is one of the good ones.

I also removed the K&N air filter and replaced it with the standard factory item. I think the standard item gives slightly better response and torque below 3000rpm. Acceleration seems more solid, even though it might be slower than it was with the K&N. For K&N the C36 feels lighter when it was asked to accelerate at full throttle. And K&N makes the butterfly valve more dirty because of the more generous filtering of the suction air.

I did not have any faith of curing the clunking noise in the front suspension, which grew louder and more frequent every day since last time it was cured at ML 3 weeks ago. Nevertheless I have never given up the idea to improve the rigidity of the C36. There was a marked difference between the ride and solid feel between my 1995 and Steven's 1997. I do not believe the chassis has changed so much in two model years.

Bingo! We found that the rear bushings for the front lower arms were both torn. This explained very well the tire scrubbing (my inner thread of my both front tires) and potential toe-out, because of the undesirable flexing during braking and/or lateral loading.

Anyway two lower arm bushes and one wheel hub universal joint per side was replaced with genuine factory parts. While the springs were removed I found out the left side spring pad (top side) was punctured, causing the sharp corner end of the spring coming into contact with the front spring metal pocket. Eureka! This explains very well the clunking noise. The corner of the spring end has punctured the thin side wall in the recess area of the rubber spring pad. The spring rotates under load (braking, going over speed bump, or extreme steering angle) and hence scrapes the metal pocket and make the clunking noise.

For me the solution is simple - change the spring pad from the current "one-dot" thin spring pad to a "two-dot" thicker spring pad. It is thicker by 4mm and hence lifting the front of the car by as much. The rigidity and the thickness of the new spring pad will make sure it takes much longer for the sharp spring corner to puncture the spring pad. For added assurance, a ball of grease was applied to the spring socket, providing some lubrication if the spring choose to rotate, hence lessening the stress on the spring pad. I think it will work even I am not 100% sure.

For some reason, the 4mm increase seemed like an inch increase in ride height. That's just my wrong perception, and according to my experience, the ride height will drop slightly and settle down with 100 to 200kms of motoring.

After all the work the toe angle was much affected. After some very rough adjustment it was drivable. Anyway the ride height is different (hence less negative camber) and then my front tire shapes were a kind of slanted to the inner side, and not in symmetric way. So the steering effort to left and the right is different. And the car would not go absolutely straight some times but not all the time. However I think after the tires have been 'broken in' they would be as quiet and smooth as before, and track better after 100 to 200kms. Already this morning I didn't notice the difference in steering effort, left vs right. I love the new found firmness and tightness. And the car seemed to cruise more effortlessly, indicating a reduction in drag.

If I replace with the new tires, I would need another wheel alignment to be done. Right now since there is no hurry and the front tires (still has 30% of life left) seem to work well in terms of ride comfort and grip, except in the wet, I am not in a hurry to change tires until next month (October). The rear tires are wearing evenly and healthily and still have more than 50% of life.

AMG C36 Update - Suspension Bug

Yesterday I sent the car again to ML Motors to find out the source of "clunking" noise in the front suspension when the car was braked and was going over speed bumps. Finally they found out a worn spring pad and replaced it for free. After driving last evening and this morning, I would say the noise is now "largely" gone. Still there was a slight and much less frequent "clunk" that was far more acceptable, some time but not all the time I turn the steering at an extreme angle.

I have to give up Pak Lok for the moment because of proximity issue.

The ride has been very acceptable with the Bilstein B8 shock absorbers with original factory springs. Ride height is just right. Low enough for the look and high enough to clear curbs and slopes. My only complaint was that the steering is a bit weird when doing tight maneuver in the parking area. This goes away during normal driving. It seems a camber and caster angle issue.

I rejected for the moment an idea of more sporty springs from Eibach, H&R and Bilestein. I still value ride comfort far more about handling.

My front tires are due for replacement. Natural choice would be Michelin PS2. I am also thinking about more noisy and stiff Dunlop Z1 or the Vimode from Toyo, and perhaps Pirelli P-Zero Rosso. At the rear, the PS2 wears much slower and will remain.

4 months and 3'000 km after the last oil change, the car now feels sluggish. Fuel consumption has risen up in the last two tanks. However I did not pay attention for the low tire pressure lately until 3 days ago.

Let's see.

AMG C36 Update - Suspension Overhaul

Recently after return from a pleasure trip in Hokkaido and numerous comments from Steven about his C36, I have done much in the front suspension and also replaced the shocks  in 4 corners in my C36. The shock replacement, to say the least, is a needed but a pre-matured one. The AMG-Bilstein still have plenty of juice in them.

I have always complained about some looseness and softness in the suspension and the clunking sound in the front suspension when braking or going over a speed bump. However it was a ride and handling issue I have been able to live with for many months.

Finally I bite the bullet to replace the steering damper (kaput) and also the front upper arms. The replacement of the front upper arms turned out to be a mistake because I thought it only brought about 2 to 3% in terms of ride refinement if you would ask me to say. And I was not sure it was brought by the new steering damper. The two jobs were done at Pak Lok, prior to the trip.

And then a test ride in Steven's 1997 C36 in one Saturday afternoon proved that the huge benefit can be realized if I changed the twice more expensive AMG-Bilstein factory shock absorber with the Bilstein B8 short stroke "Sprint". Initially it felt quite firm and harsh but after 200+kms it felt mellow and fuzzily damped. I love the ride a lot. Also I had replaced the steering linkage (a bit loose) and also the front wheel bearings (also loose and had seen better days). The steering is now much more linear in modulation and direct. The softness and looseness are largely gone for good. However they still give me the old love-boat type of floating feeling going over large undulation that I love most out of the old school Mercedes suspension design. I could hardly believe it would all come from a "sport-tuned" shock design. The whole package is like an immersion in the luxury oil with all the directness and steering feel you could possible get. Wonderful combination I would say. Unfortunately the clunking sound still persisted but the frequency reduced quite dramatically. The last things to change is probably the front wheel hubs assembly and perhaps the front lower suspension arms. But I doubt it. The rear suspension was checked good after the inspection. Nothing to replace there.

I can see now my front tires have already seen 70% of their useful life. I wonder I will keep the choice at Michelin PS2 or change to another brand/model.

Here is a link to Bilstein website about the B8 Sprint:

http://www.bilstein.de/cms_website/english/Products/Product-Details/?cms_produkt_id=7

Honda DC2 Update

After selling off MX5 my focus is back to my DC2.

I had KYB re-fitted the air conditioning. It was simply too damned hot. They have got the DC2 a used compressor, a radiator and the coolant bottle. The air conditioning works perfectly, and seems to work much better than the one in C36 which is not a weak one.

I also removed the Sony Bluetooh head unit from MX5 and fitted to the DC2. A front speaker was missing so a pair of MTX were fitted as well.

So the DC2 is immenesely driveable with the air conditioning. Of course it is still rough, noisy and harsh. It was a born racer.

I will try to at least drive it once a week to see how it goes.

Bye MX-5

It was a slightly heart-breaking to see it goes.

We moved to a new place last month, much closer to work for me and within 10-min walk for Tiki.

Tiki felt there was no need as she doesn't drive much now.

So the MX5 is a kind of sitting in the garage. DC2 was home with us again, waiting for the a/c to be installed and some fun.

Thanks Peter for such a clean and quick sale to a happy owner who will take good care of the car.

We owned the MX5 for around 10 months and have driven it for 6000kms. Not bad. I don't feel it was under-utilized.

So right now we are down to two cars - Honda DC2 and Mercedes C36.

AMG C36 - A 14-Month Long-term Update (83'312 km)

The C36 was due for its 4'300km service on 5/19 immaturely since I had to go with Eddie with his X5 (also due for the service). I live no longer in the Chai Wan area so going to Pak Lok Auto is going to be a chore. So I will just go when I have a chance. Plus I suspect the engine oil was not going great since I had a couple weeks of engine overheating a month or so earlier.

Also I have the factory MB spark plugs replacing the TM plugs. It turned out to be a bad idea. Not only I lose power but also torque and responsiveness. I will put the TM plugs back in during the next service or earlier if I can find a chance. The mighty C36 engine now turns into a silky, creamily smooth C320.

Also I learn that the wiring to the transmission has hardened and therefore due for a replacement. The front pair of upper A-arms are also getting more and more frequent clunking noise whenever they are subject to some serious suspension travel or lateral loads. Those two expensive repairs will be on the list for the next service.

Otherwise the only complaint I have is the tendency of minor understeering. This can be solved either by changing to a stiffer and stickier front tires, or lifting the rear ride height by 10mm. The ride is perfectly acceptable to me now, provided that the front tire pressure is not above 32psi when cold. I especially enjoy the firm and controlled way that they flow over the speed bumps of all sizes and shapes.

Changing Spring Rate on C36 Update 3

I understand the last update (2) was not an update but some useful information. However this one is. After spending a week with the H&R I springs I felt there was room for improvement.

The H&R springs made the C36 handle a lot better. And the ride was very good for the first one or two inches of spring travel. However after that due to its progressive or variable-rate nature they became awfully hard when compressed. It gave a hard time to the shock absorber especially during the rebound. Simply the shock absorber could not cope with the higher spring rate (or rebound). The H&R springs was shorter by more than an inch and two coils less, compared to the original springs. It would be nice if the H&R springs were of the same height of the original springs. This way it would add perhaps one more inch of usable spring travel and suspension compliance. Also it would help to increase the ground clearance much needed to clear the ramps, dives, dips and rises of the HK roads and parking. Most of the time I had to slowing down to a crawling to clear.

So on a Saturday morning Shing Gor of Pak Lok Garage and myself set out to the Mercedes part store to look for alternate solution. I brought my original springs to compare. We searched the database and found out that the original springs in my C36 were from the first of the listed springs of the two generations recorded in the part database. Quickly the store provided the second generation springs for some comparison. Eureka! The two new springs were of the same spring height but with one coil less turn compared to the original, both front and rear. This would mean the new springs would have around 10-15% more spring rate. We examined further a few other points and concluded that it might just work for me.

The fitting took more than two hours. I chose the thinnest spring pads front and rear. My initial impression was the loss of sparkling handling but a return of the Mercedes classic ride I had been longing for since the days of C200. The front springs now sat a tad lower a few days later. The ride was surprisingly more compliant and compliant over rough roads. There seemed to be boundless amount of spring travel. There was a new found stability and firmness in the ride. It seemed to me that the original springs were indeed a bit soft and would not work with the new shock absorbers (AMG-Bilstein) that was installed 14 months ago. The new factory springs did work better with the shocks now and hence provided the much needed improvement. It was now a joy to ride the car in both smooth and rough pavement. There was reduced nose dives in each of the corner when the front wheel found its way into pot holes. There was the tuneful and muted bump thumbs alike the W126 that I remembered. The body movement was gentle and slow when the car floated through low frequency dives and crests at high speed.

It made me remember the ride in the C200.

Mercedes Part Number Reference:

Old Factory Spring came with the C36: Front (202.321.1204), Rear (202.324.1104)

New Factory Spring for C36: Front (202.321.1804), Rear (210.324.3104).

Changing Spring Rate on C36 Update 2

Following is quoted from a forum discussion on benzworld.org:

Springs differ in two main areas... spring rate and spring length. Changing the length does affect the rate, but let's talk about springs in their static state.

Mercedes makes a whole series of different springs. They have different rates and lengths. These different springs are spec'd for different cars. Higher spring rates are generally for use in a heavier car. Spring rates can also be increased to vary the "sporty" driving nature of the car. Different spring lengths are used to vary the ride height of a specific car. The different thickness spring shims (often referred to as "pads" on the forums) are used to vary the space between spring perches, effectively changing the length of the spring.

For a given car, using the weight based on the number of options installed, the desired ride height based on the car market, and the intended ride quality, the intended spring and shim can be calculated.

Because Mercedes wanted a more "sporty" driving quality with the AMG models, a higher spring rate was in order. Depending on whether the AMG car is intended for US or Euro markets, a different spring length is chosen to provide different ride heights. Since Mercedes has a huge catalog of different springs from which to choose, the logical course would be for AMG to specify what the desired characteristics are, then choose the off-the-shelf spring that matches these characteristics. The W210 E-class springs are higher spring rates to handle the slightly increased weight of the car, so these were used. That's why the AMG cars come from the factory with springs that look like regular Mercedes springs and have regular Mercedes part numbers.

Changing Spring Rate on C36 Update 1

This is a quote from a website http://www.spdusa.com/change.htm:

the Mercedes C280 sedan is changed into the Mercedes C280 Sport with very small changes. It has stiffer sway bars, the shocks are calibrated stiffer and like the Honda, they change the upper link in the front suspension. The spring rates are not changed!. The car is much more controllable at high speeds and high rates of yaw (turning quickly). The Mercedes C36 (now C43) has slightly stiffer springs for Europe, but not America.

Out of curiosity I have ordered a new spring kit for the C36. It was the H&R Sports Spring Kit Part Number 29377, designed for C36, C43, CLK430 and CLK55. They will lover the vehicle by 25mm, as claimed by their website and specification. Again I have ordered the spring kit with a reasonable discount via Pak Lok, my favorite garage for Mercedes. I chose H&R because of its reputation in ride quality and its German origin.

There is another H&R Sport Spring Kit Part Number 29277 for are designed for the rest of the W202 model range (for the lesser models like C280, C180 and anything in between). It says it will lower the height by as much as 40mm, which is scary to me. 

We needed to find the W210 spring pads to fit the top section of the H&R springs as they were not flat at the top as the factory springs. Judging from the difference in heights I selected the thickest spring pads front and rear. However when we dropped the car to the ground I was hugely disappointed. The car simply sat too low and it just looked plainly stupid. I was sure that was not the 25mm I had been expecting. I don't mind firmer spring rate but I seriously challenge the usefulness of lowered suspension.

Besides the ground clearance concern I had also issues with the reduced spring travel. It is bad for handling in my knowledge as we are dealing with street condition.

My drives in the next few days turn out fine. The springs were obviously carefully engineered not to be offensive. The ride was actually acceptable 85% of the time. Handling and traction have improved a lot, 40% plus in my subjective valuation. Steering responsive and diving while braking are also vastly improved. Still I could feel 15% of the time the whole car was under-damped, as I kept the very expensive factory Bilstein-AMG shock absorbers which was merely one year old. My wife actually prefers the new found handling finesse and gained traction. She does not mind the added hardness.

For me personally I prefer the softer and more floaty ride over sharpened handling and added traction. Anyway I don't really needed them to help me to drive fast and to meet occasional challenges on the streets. And I don't need to take the C36 to a morning drive. And I have planned to revert to the factory springs whenever I can find time to do so. I would like a new set of factory springs which I hope will be softer than my original springs that came with the C36, as well as the H&R spring kit.

Here are two web links to the H&R site (one from US and one from Germany):

http://www.hrsprings.com/site/index.html

http://www.h-r.com/

C36 vs C36

It is unfortunately I don't have any images to share here. Indeed it was an excited test drive for me. 1997 C36 vs. my own 1995 C36. The test drive was done two weeks ago via the arrangment from Pak Lok who found the 1997 car. My wife was there, too. Believe it or not, she gave the nod but I didn't take the car for an exchange. I was trying to find it because a lot of my friends are interested. However eventually none of them were brave enough to show up for a test drive and it was quite frustrating.

As all you know I have test driven a few C36s in the past, however they might all be alike in spec and performance. Needless to say my own was the best. This was no longer true after testing driving the 1997 version. There are enough changes to justify any reason to give up my own C36. First and foremost is the 5-speed gearbox, which gave much better response and completely change the way the big 3.6L engine deliver its power and speed. It accelerated much harder and faster. I have no doubted thru the quick change of gears it may out-accelerate my own C36 with 4-speed by as much as 1 seconds from 0-100kph. The 1997 was busy changing gears to answer the call of the gas pedal with the lively engine. You can feel the energy and the torque of the lively engine and the gearbox . My C36 quickly changed up to third gear and then hanged in there for a long time. While doing so, it relies on the 3.6L engine's torque and power to do the acceleration. I certainly find this lazy torquey American style way acceleration slightly more addictive. What's slightly disappointing is that the crazy shift mode (sports) in my C36 has changed to a 'winter' mode.

Engine-wise it wasn't as smooth as my C36 at idle. It did give a raspy and energetic engine note and has the responsiveness and free-revving spirit of a small engine. I couldn't not believe it is a big inline 6. The 5-speed gearbox does give the same (I believe) engine a different character. Only when you drive long enough you notice they are actually sharing the same engine. I have no doubt the ECU program has changed accordingly.

Besides being two years younger, the 1997 did have a much better body work with deep, luxious and smooth silver paint. The leather rear seats are in great condition. Honestly I don't like the newer busy-looking, heavily padded and thick AMG steering wheel. I don't like the new electronic a/c controls. I prefer the old rotary temp dials and buttons. They are responsive and rugged and require very little adjustment in getting the cockpit confortable throught the journey.

The ride is firmer and less floaty. The car feels slightly more solid. The....

C36 Engine Temperature - A 81'000km report

Sometimes before the last service I have noticed the engine water temperature shot over 100C occasionally. Sometimes it was 110C when I came home and parked the car.

Nevertheless I had Pak Lok to flush the radiator but it didn't help much in the following Saturday. It helped a bit but not much. On the positive side the engine still ran smoothly and willingly without a hitch.

I sent the car back to Pak Lok for a check and replaced the thermostat and the water temperature sensor. The water temperature soon dropped below 80C all the time, and reached no more than 85C in in the most stressful condition. But then engine was not responsive, sluggish, and unwilling to rev. And we could smell the unburnt from the exhaust in dead or slow traffic if the window was open. Obviously the engine was not in its optimal running temperature resulting in an incomplete combustion. It was a relief that the radiator and the engine cooling was excellent. The water passages and jackets were not blocked, otherwise the water temperature would remain high even after the part replacement.

It turned out that the Pak Lok used an OEM thermostat of 71C for general replacement. While it worked for all old MBs except for my own cool C36. The lack of on-road performance due to over-cooled water temperature has troubled me. So I reverted to my old "overheating" thermostat while waiting for the factory thermostat 86.5C ordered from Mercedes. Immediately the performance was back and the engine didn't mind it was 90C or 110C. Just like before, it simply pulled like a train smoothly and not complained a bit.

Finally today I have the thermostat replaced. After some hill climbing and slow crawling the water temperature shown was very stable at around 85C to 89C. Not bad in a ambient temperature of 25C to 28C. The engine seemed to enjoy itself in the narrow band of warm water temperature - quiet, smooth and torquey responsive and instant power on demand are how I would choose to describle it.

This hot summer will come the ultimate test. I will report then how it turns out.

This proved that the thermostat was faulty at the outset. And now the problem should be considered solved.

April 5th - After several days of running in different conditions, the engine temperature remains steadily in between 80 and the 100 lines of the water temp gauge. So far so good and the engine itself is longer stressed or labored. It just revs smoothly and effortless across the wide rev range. I am glad that it has gone back to what it supposes to be.

Now the windshield wiper was not working hard enough like it used to be. Time for replacement is not far away, I guess.

C36 Long-term Update (12 months and 79'000KM)

Slowly and for some unknown reason, the C36 has become Tiki's favorite car. C36 has grown on her after one year of ownership. I think it is the build quality, robustness and the responsiveness of the engine that win her heart. It was not as nimble and nice handling as the MX5, but I think in her view the difference is not important for daily driving.

The C36 has just got a wax job and a 8000km service. The C36 was last serviced more than 4 months ago. The car was so good and ran so flawlessly we decided to give it a wax job every time it was serviced, as a reward for it and ourselves. Between the lately much improved MX-5 and C36 Tiki still picked the C36 as her default ride. In turns I picked the MX5 more because it was in a much better shape mechanically since we owned them last summer.

There was some rattling from the Altec Lansing 6"x9" speaker on the left. It had nothing to do with the car itself. I need to yet find a way to kill the rattling at idle, as the noise would go away when the car starts to move. The engine idles smmothly and I guess it was the natural frequency of the overhanging treble-midrange assembly of the Altec Lansing. I thinking attaching some weight would change that frequency. Will let uou know later on that.

The broken engine temp light behind the console has been replaced. Engine oil, filter, air filter and the coolant were changed. Throttle vavle was cleaned. Engine response is improved and more refinement was felt. The car now feels 100kg lighter and moves off the line with relative ease.

The ride had worsen because someone at the garage didn't agree with my slightly under-inflated setting. While the rear can live with higher pressure up to 33psi when cold. The front tires should be set no more than 30lbs max.

The gearbox, while changing up and down smmothly without a hitch, suffers from slight hesitation while shifting among Reverse, Neutral and Drive modes. There was a minor vagueness, too, while engaged in D, when I move my right foot from braking to gas pedal. That's fine with me as I was not bothered by any of those, until I was told my the owner of Pak Lok who did the elevaluation of my C36 after it had been serviced. Really even I know now I do not mind and I happily learn that I could live with the vagueness. Normally under similar circumstance I would plan a gearbox overhaul. Not this time.

The car was almost one year now. It passed the annual inspection even before the service. So we decide to keep for another year. At least it is decided for now until we will be tempted by another MB. I really like its (W202) understated, smart and yet slightly outdated look. Despite a few dents and minor scratches on bumpers that we collected in the past 12 months, with the new wax job the C36 still looks its part. 

I would like to do something special on the C36 and wondering what would be a good choice. Beefing up the stereo or a new set of 18" or 19" wheels and tires? Nah. It seems not exciting enough. New paint job? Maybe and perhaps not. Perhaps a change back to the refurbished original AMG wheels that are sitting at the back of the parking space.

MX-5 Long-Term Update (6.5 months and 39'500 KMs)

This is a brief update following the last blog entry not long ago.

During last week when the Honda DC2 (integra Type-R) is ready I left the MX5 to the KYB. KYB has this special gear oil "NEO" (a USA formulation for the real-life racing application). This would be the last hope of getting rid of the notchiness in MX5 manual box, especially when it was cold. I picked up the car last Sunday and the gear change was like a wet dream, not close to knife through softened butter but 85% there. Anyway it was a huge improvement and I felt gladly that an expensive gear oil can save the beautiful MX5 from its biggest drawback.

The gear oil change made my day.

I am glad that I don't need to have someone to open up the gearbox to check the tear and wear, and hence find a fix.

Now both C36 and the MX5 get my equal vote of daily use. Really I have difficulty sometimes which car to take out. Sometimes it is easy because my wife will take one first and I have no choice but to take the remaining one. However in a few rare occasions I had a hard time to decide, hence just took the public transport and left both cars at home.

I know it is a stupid thing to do and why the hell I need to have two cars at home. Well I can tell you that sometimes I do feel very good about taking public transport when I know I have a choice. It is a state of mind. No man needs to have three cars at once as a practical means of transport. It is no economical, nor even environmental friendly. I am sure I am not a number one guy favored by Al Gore, ranking at the top of the list contributing to the global warming. Damned me.

MX-5 Long-Term Update (6 months and 39'000 KMs)

The MX-5 was having its second service in the middle of Janurary. Its registration and annual government inspection was performed. This time I decided on a thicker Miller synthetic oil instead of the thin, more free-flowing (or watery in that sense) Japanese Speed Master. Fuel filter and air filter were changed.

We also gave it a good wax job from NTI.

For some reason the car's cranky clutch and sticky gear shift was improved. The clutch had no longer any issues and the clutch action was smooth, cold or warm-up. It felt very patchy and blocky before when the engine was cold. The flat spot in the mid-rev range was gone. The power delivery is more linear and seemed to have 5% more grunt.

The MX5 drives like a dream with the top down. With the roof up it is tolerable and the handling is not as good as with the top down. Don't ask me why it is just how I feel about it.

Fuel consumption remains reasonable at slightly over 10 KMs per L.

After the service we did use the car more now at 3 times a week. We were thinking about not keeping the MX5 because of low usage and now we have a second thought. My wife Tiki said we should keep it for as long as we can enjoy it.

It was very rare for me to meet another second generation MX5 on the road. It in a way makes the MX5 unique on the roads of Hong Kong. Although I think not high about being unique. From the way I conduct my driving on roads, I am better off left unseen and un-noticed.

3.5L V6 Family Sedans and the truth about them....

Car Plus ran an article for a review of Toyota Camry 3.5L and Nissan Cefiro 350JM. It caught my attention and I bought the newest (Janurary) issue right off the convenience store on the X'mas day. Both front-heavy-and-front-drive cars have straight line power but are humbled by their siblings with smaller engine in the corners, of any radius.

If you know earlier my decision to get the Mercedes AMG C36 this March was based on an early test drive of the Toyota Camry 3.5L (both 2.4L and 3.5L) in Feb. It was a rare test drive arrangement that an old Toyota salesman has arranged for us. The car actually felt more manageable than I thought, with the big 3.5L V6 with its accessories hanging off its nose. My initial impression was very good, despite I could always feel the mass. Toyota actually achieves something quite like what Mercedes does with its famed S-class - making a heavy car feel nimble and easy to manuver under "certain speed" and general road condition. Don't get me wrong. There are tons of engineering and development behind this achievement.

Go get your copy of the Car Plus and read about it. It is the kind of the article that attracts my attention. And I have waited 10 months for this article. What is the fuss about it? Well you know I bitch always about the wrong power/weight ratio of modern cars, and their emission control and the passive safety advancement.

This leads to the next question. Why I need 3.5L engine instead of 3.0L, 2.5L or 2.0L? I need the 3.5L as a minimum as a power reserve because there is a lack of advancement in automobile engineering, thanks to the marketing and the poor consumer public who have shown in the last 10 years the auto industry where the future is.

If you don't know what I am talking about, read this. Our cars are getting heavier in the last 10 years, by at least 15% or more in my estimate. And the tighter emission control and device has ripped the performance off our engine. And thanks to all of that, our cars are getting more expensive, too. And there is more. Depite the fuel efficiency claims of the modern cars, I don't think in the real world condition the cars today are more fuel efficient than those 10 years ago. It makes me think that enough engineering has been done in the past in fuel economy and whatever that have been done in the last tens years are only to offset with weight penalty of the passive safety equipment, luxury items and the 20 air bags.

What I want? I want a 1.5L engine Honda Civic with 0-100kph (0-62mph) in less than 8 seconds, with gross weight no more than 1,000kg. Please look at what our current environmental, sporty Civic we have today and tell me what you think. Ditto the Toyota Corolla. Both companies can no longer produce their entry level family sedans with 1.3L engine. Why? It is because then the cars will be too damned slowed and the sophisticated emission control and multiple catalytic convertors will just strangle the little peppy engine to suffocation. Don't believe me, get yourself, if you can find one, a 1.3L 4-speed manual VW Golf made in 1980s for a test drive. You will be amazed by two facts - first how much technolgy has advanced in the past 20 years. Second how little these advancements have done to us in a meaningful way.

And to end this blog, I have two groups of people to blame. First the majority of marketing people /product managers in the top selling or failing auto companies - their stupidity increases together with their power to show the direction, influence and shape the new cars we drive today. I suggest that they should always have an engineering degree or an pure science discipline under their belt and not a MBA degree. Sorry, I have both. Second it is the mass consumer public who have shown always the awful truth that "customer is always right". Thank you and it actually saved me money by making me turning to junk yards or second hand markets to look for ride made roughly 10 years ago. It is a shame, man!

MX5 - A 4-Month Long-term Update

If you notice I haven't discussed much about the MX5 in the blog. Don't get the wrong idea I still drive the little open-top twice a week. It is a fact that it gets less use between Tiki and myself. We have nothing against the MX5. We use it in bad weather as well as in the nice days.

I have no complaint about its suspension and handling. I think it is just right and complaint enough for most of the road conditions of Hong Kong. Although it is easy to detect the body flexing from time to time, the body and the interior trim still feel like like one tough solid piece. Rattling is rare and interior trim noise is low, even with the inferior road conditions. It was really an impressive feast how Mazda engineers have worked out a magical compromise. MK1 Mx5 has been known to be weak in this area. MK2 really improved on this big time.

The drivetrain (engine and transmission) is not really ranking very high on my list. The gearbox is notchy when it is cold. Sometimes it is difficult to shift from 1st and 2nd gear. However I must say that the gearbox and gearchange actions have improved since day one back in August. Somehow I feel that the clutch condition and/or the poor gearbox oil are to be blamed. However I find them tolerable as they are. The gearbox is a six-speeder that I was told a bit more difficult and less smooth and finesse when compared to the original 5-speeder. Anyway. I will have the gearbox/gear looked at during the next routine check.

The engine has a very nice smooth torque from 1'500 to 2'500 rpm. Acceleration in any gear at this rpm range is just really nice, with a feel of smoothness and urgency. Unfortunately it was so narrow but still usable in the less hurried traffic conditions. While the power and torque above 3'ooo rpm are present and linear in the delivery, there is nothing to brag about. It could be the flow restrictive catalytic convertor that was the culprit. Sorry, I have no plan to replace with an after-market, flow-free exhaust.

I think the MX5 is best driven as it is, as it is magically engineered where its deficit is very tolerable and easily forgiven. It does not have the leisurely and yet smooth torque and power delivery of the big inline-6 but it gets the job done one way or other.

AMG C36 - An 8-Month Long-term Update

To be honest, I like the C36 more than the MX-5 even thought the split in terms of usage is like 60/40. I wrote more about C36 than I did with MX-5. MX-5 is a fantastic car but it seems to me that I always have more materials on the C36.

I did a follow-up suspension adjustment right after return from the Kyoto trip last Saturday (November 25th). The rear ride height was lifted half an inch to its original height while the front was kept low. I like the steering feel and quick turn-in by lowering the ride height by half an inch in the front. So no change in the front. By lowering the ride height both front and rear the cambers were also increased, more in rear than in front, visually speaking.

In my previous report I have told what I found in the handling and ride. However after a few weeks I found that the rear was way too grippy and stable, and refused to self steer under load, therefore lessening the front wheel cornering load. The result was a tight and a nervous handling that constantly needs adjustment, especially when cornering in an inconsistently cambered road surface. And despite the additional grip and decisive turn-in the front would always want to understeer and behave slightly weird under steering load because the rear failed to give and passively steer. Simply there was way too much grip in the back due to lower ride height, lower CG, and increased camber. So I had been thinking of going back to where it was before where it felt very nice.

After changing the rear spring pads I was a bit nervous about it. Fortunately the C36 still looked level despite the higher ride height on rear wheels. One can tell the tire to wheel arch distance was different between front to back now but not easy to tell if viewed from a distance. The rear seemed to work with the front in harmony and the consistence was back. Basically I got what I want after only a trial and error. Not so bad, dude, and I lost the nervousness and tight handling characteristics I do not wish to find on any Mercedes.

The C36 runs fine as usual. Its ability to steer in tight space and make 2-point turn (instead of 3-point) in narrowly two-lane with small turning circle still amazes me today as it were the first day I laid my hands on the W202. It is a kind of car that I will leave it on a busy or quiet street (Mongkok, sidewalks or whatever) for a few hours or whole day without worrying a bit. I did that a lot now and it seemed to provided the added sense of freedom (of not worrying). I wonder if I will behave the same if I run a more expensive car.

Of course the ride could be better but I am not complaining. It is now and has always been too springy for me, as if the car is slightly under-dampened. It is not the best and will pale in comparison to the modern Bimmers and Mercs. The magic is that it works for me and is liveable as a means for A-to-B transport and daily commuting. I had bad experience when I was not happy in a big way with a much more expensive and overall better cars. But not this C36, as I don't love it nor hate it but like it a little. What am I looking at now for the future? A black 2003 E55 AMG...and it came with a pair of air twisters. However it is something that could not be traded with my pocket changes. So I will leave the idea at that.

AMG C36 - A 6-Month Long-term Update (Part 2)

The picture above was taken on Saturday (Oct 21st). With watchful eyes you would notice that the C36 has been dropped 1cm (half an inch) fron and rear. However I doubt you would because I need to measure by a ruler to tell. I did not change to sport springs or lowered suspension. I don't dare to think we the humble motorists can do any better job than a team of AMG engineers more than 11 years ago. Those who think they could can continue to dream on and suffer. The C36 still wears original springs and AMG shocks. The trick is to use thinner factory spring rubber pads. Why not lower even more? Well, I still need to go places where ground clearance is of paramount importance. Second, lower height does not mean better since it will hurt the handling balance (front and rear, as well as left and right) and suspesion geometry (usually resulting in more negative camber).

Suspension travel is important in HK, especially in some of the corners and roads that I need to make the car lean and move the center of gravity around to induce rear steering to balance the front understeer. Harder and/or shortened spring will make the task more difficult and I need to carry more speed into the corner to create the desirable amount of wheel loading. Otherwise the car will feel stiff and unwilling to turn progressively. With stiff and lowered springs the turn-in will always be snappy and direct but it also makes the chassis feels lifeless. Most of the time it does not help corner speed and smoothness. I have tried enough "amateur" modified "daily" cars myself who think theirs were a success. But in the end it would be heart-breaking to tell the owner it is much worse than the original car that he has started with. Putting a dent into someone's ego is not my cup of tea, so I always keep that to myself until a certain point.

By that 1cm I already feel sitting lower in the driver seat. I can feel the center of gravity dropped, too. There is no more rocking side to side. It cleans up a lot of quite a lot of body movement. And the suspension seems to deal with road irregularities with faster response, especially the speed bumps and road joints. Turn-in is much improved and the car feels more in one-piece. Corners now feel slower and more stable at the same speed. However ride hurts noticeably (or feels differently) even though the compliance and suspension travels are still retained. It is a good trade-off and the ride isn't offensive either. I have a feeling that once the car (or myself) has been broken-in, the pereceived smoothness and refinement will come back. My fingers crossed.

Steering effort has increased, perhaps due to increase in negative camber. A little amount of tramlining not felt before has presented itself. The front end is more snappy, stable and firmly planted on the road. The rear is no longer tail happy as before (slight disappointment here). There was a trade-off. It took me a few months to get used to the previous setting which I disliked in the first month or two (back in summer). Now it is time for me to learn again how to adopt this new setting. Ride definitely is choppier and less refined (more bump thumps). Gone was the initial softness (floatiness) in the first inch of suspesnsion travel. However the whole package is now more nimble and chuckable. Love it or hate it! I really don't mind the old ride. Either setting will work for me. It is hard for me to believe that reducing 1/2 inch of ride height without any change in springs and shocks provides such significant changes in ride and handling. Dropping the ride height by an inch will definitely be disaster to me.

Engine oil (Miller synethetic from a drum) and transmission oils have been changed at this 72'060km service. Throttle cable has been changed. What a joy and highly recommended! Much finer throttle response and the modulation is fantastic. Feeling I am driving another engine and reminding me the ultra smooth C240 we once owned. Rear parking sensors (4) were fitted. My wife absolutely loved it and wanted the same for the MX-5 even though there was one fitted.

To end this entry I must tell you one story and how I was forced to bring the car to the garage on Thursday leaving workplace. Well I did not drive the C36 nor it was driven to the garage. It was towed! When I told my friends my C36 was stranded in the middle of highway they laughed at me and told me to stop bragging about the reliability of Mercedes AMG cars. And get a life and an updated Japanese car. Well, they were wrong again. Ignoring the fuel warning light for a long time, I ran out of fuel thinking there might be 10 to 20 km worth of fuel left in the tank. My bad. Still I can claim that my C36 is as reliable as I speak now. I am not proud of nor feel bad about my first and hopefully the last bad experience. Now let's see this: