Elton (a friend) and I discussed about cars a while ago and then he showed me a picture of an oil catch tank he could get from Kuantan. So I said, yeah, I'm interested. Unbeknownst to me today, he bought it for me. I paid him RM130 for this new toy of mine. According to my cousin, Terry, he says that an Oil Catch Tank is important to filter out dirty oil and other sediments from the engine, so that the engine runs cleaner, especially when the engine is always revved towards the redline. Here are some pictures of my new toy.
Well, there goes one Satria Neo friend. Farewell loyal steed with a weak heart. Hello new car soon, whatever it might be. Well, I'm glad I had fun being chased by the Black Knight, knowing how good Tougeking is. I will definitely want to meet up with TK soon with his new ride and see how good it is going to be. Knowing he is a FR maniac, I guess he can't take off his addiction, even with some FF medicine. So whatever it is, farewell it is to the black knight and hello new-comer to TK's garage.
According to wikipedia, INVECS means Intelligent & Innovative Vehicle Electronic Control System. It is the brand name used by Mitsubishi Motors for its electronic automatic transmission technology. So, I'm going to run down and list the generations of INVECS gearbox available since its birth.
INVECS
The first generation of INVECS debuted in the seventh generation of the Mitsubishi Galant, which was introduced in 1992. An array of sensors continuously monitored six parameters and, using "fuzzy logic", adapted the shift patterns in the automatic gearbox "on the fly" according to the driver's style. The four-wheel drive, four-wheel steering, traction control and suspension were all similarly adapted based on the same sensor data. INVECS would, for example, downshift to increase engine braking while travelling downhill, or similarly automate transmission processes which were previously only controlled manually by the driver.
INVECS-II
Despite sharing its name with the previous system, the second version of INVECS was a radical development, based on Porsche's Tiptronic semi-automatic transmission technology. As with Porsche's version it allowed for either a fully automatic mode, or a clutchless semi-automatic mode if the driver wished to control the up- and down-shift points. It also offered the same Adaptive Shift Control software which monitored and "learned" the driver's habits over time and adjusted the smoothness or aggression of the gearshifts to suit his style. It was first implemented in the new Mitsubishi FTO in 1994.
INVECS-III
The third version of INVECS was further advanced, and now offered a continuously variable transmission when in fully automatic mode, or a six-speed clutchless manual if the driver wished to control the up- and down-shift points. A further innovation for Mitsubishi was the introduction of paddle shifters allowing the driver to make manual gearchanges while their hands remain on the steering wheel.
INVECS-III was introduced in 2000, in the seventh generation of the Mitsubishi Lancer. The paddle shift option was first seen on the second generation Mitsubishi Outlander which debuted in 2005.
Since you guys probably understand what INVECS actually mean, you would realise that its the same gearbox technology used in my Proton Satria Neo 1.6 Automatic. But compared to the picture above (INVECS II gearbox in other Mitsubishi models), the Satria Neo box is more retarded, since it doesn't have a tiptronic function, which is damn stupid, since all Proton wanted to do is to save money.
Well, I realised I haven't took proper photos of my Satria Neo, since I've done so much modifications to my car. I've smoked the front lamps and tinted the rear brake lamps, to make it more awesome. I'm planning to respray the Proton logo badge into chrome and attach a carbon fibre sticker with my own decals on it. So yeah, until then, check out what I have done to my car and the power of the 10.2 megapixel Nikon D80 DSLR camera (courtesy of my dad).
This is an interesting video that compares all the famous engines of the 90's that had variable timing. The video compares the characteristics of the all famous MIVEC 1.6, VTEC 1.6 from the N1 EG6 and the VVT from 4A-GE 1.6 20 valve, as we all know from Takumi's AE86. Watch the video ahead. I am not that good with Japanese, but I roughly understand what the video meant
Well, I was definitely intrigued what TK (Tougeking) could do during the 1st time meeting on Dato' Sagor track. Plus this time, he's got a new set of Yokohama Advan Neova AD07's, so I guess its more fair to actually see how well he could perform.
Well, I didn't expect TK to let me start first, after all, this is my second time to drive up here, since last year October 2007. Obviously, I do not drive super fast on the first end of Cameron Highland's leg, because I think its rather hard to determine whether to overtake or not at blind turns. So yeah, I started off first, overtaking him, taking the sprint as much as I could, knowing that TK's manual Neo could keep up any second. Obviously, my so-called Mitsubishi sourced INVECS II has a stupid fuzzy-logic system and it doesn't work properly with the lethargic Campro engine and the drive-by-wire system. I really wished I had an Unichip Q or Haltech Interceptor unit slapped on it.
Obviously, I didn't want to drive that fast, especially not knowing the road conditions well. Plus whilst talking to TK when we met, he mentioned there was a landslide, so I had to be vary of the upcoming road conditions, so that I don't slip off or hit a bundle of sand.
But yeah, haven't someone chasing you in the back is definitely stressful enough, LOL! So all I could do is to focus on my energy on the road and not think about him at all, HAHA. But yeah, there was a stupid motorcycle that was blocking my way. I tried to overtake him, but he came out to my lane, stupid MOFO. So I decided to overtake him when it was much safer.
Obviously TK has overtaken me by then and definitely hard to play catch. We reached the half point checkpoint (which I know now where it is on the video). I came out all drained out, haha. So I thought I get TK to try my car, maybe he could show me some pointers on what an Automatic Neo could do.
So we started off from that point. Apparently, TK has a hard time adjusting to the Automatic gearbox (which I wouldn't be suprised anyways) However, seeing him being able to keep up with Yeap, I guess he's pretty good, except I guess he couldn't go all out due to the gearbox limitation.
All in all, its a good day to meet up. No rain, all shine. I was so worried that my Toyo Proxes wouldn't hold at all, since they are near to none. Definitely would go to Cameron again, should I purchased a new set of tires. Here are some pictures and videos from the run (above), courtesy from TK himself.
Behold, the latest addition to Kev's line of laptops, the new Dell Inspiron 1520! Here I attach the picture, where I start blogging with this laptop. Overall, this laptop is rather weird to me. Silver painted keyboard, which I think would fade in the future, much like my previous Dell Inspiron 6400, but time would see. I thought I buy this laptop, considering I make a savings of RM600, compared to buying online. Besides that, I get to have a complimental remote control and the bluetooth adapter to hook up to my DiGi edge connection, which I had been lacking for years. So yeah, I will update about my experience on this laptop, pretty soon.
