Motivated by the high-revving engines, the freedom of style, the billowing smoke trial and the chicks, young and eager Benjamin Chiam tells CHERYL TAY why he made drifting his life


His foray into drifting was sparked off by Goodyear. It all began when Benjamin Chiam used to see his neighbour’s Goodyear-stickered up car in the driveway. “Goodyear Racing’s Ivan Lim, Singapore’s top drifter, is my neighbour and in the past I used to see his Goodyear-branded Toyota Chaser whenever I was coming home from school. We became friends and he explained about drifting to me. That’s how it all started,” said the 19-year-old full-time National Serviceman.

Uwe Gemballa may be dead but the company that bears his name lives on. This Gemballa tuned Porsche Cayenne Turbo is proof of it. Aptly named the Porsche Cayenne Gemballa Tornado it showcases the newly formed Gemballa GmBH, a company built on the ashes of the debt ridden original company helmed by the late Uwe Gemballa.

The Tornado is based on the latest type 958 Porsche Cayenne and it the company's latest model. It showcases what this new, old company can do to a Porsche. Now under the hands of a previous employee or two, you can see that nothing has basically changed. Gemballa is still Gemballa.

picture source:Yahoo! News

It certainly felt like Christmas over the past few days with the continual downpour. The 3-day outlook by the National Environment Agency indicates that rain can be expected until Thursday, which is Chinese New Year day itself. Flooding has occurred in areas such as Tampines Ave 12, TPE and Ang Mo Kio Ave 5. It would be disastrous to have your vehicle damaged by floods during this period and below are some tips to observe and points to take note of.

Happy motoring and have a pleasant holiday season!

Ferrari has officially revealed details on its first production four wheel drive car called the FF. The new v12 model, which effectively replaces the quite awkward looking, quite unloved (or unnoticed) V12 612 Scaglietti come with an all wheel drive system which aims to attract a new sort of Ferrari customer. One that usually lives or tackles all sorts of roads and all sorts of weather
I suppose 'FF' stands for Four Seats and Four Wheel Drive. It is Pininfarina designed but with inputs from Ferrari's chief designer Flavio Manzoni. It has a hatchback type design instead of a sloping rear like most of the Ferrari cars we have seen to date. This could be the closest to a station wagon a Ferrari can get but it still comes in two doors; like any true blood Ferrari should..

The way people cope with traffic jams has been evolving over the years. In really bad ones, some people turn of their engines get out of the car and have some coffee. But in China, it has become a business opportunity.

Chinese motorists can now hire people to sit in jams for them while they are sent by a substitute driver to their destination on motorbikes. And while they are weaving their way through the traffic jam on a bike, a man sits in their car and drives it to your workplace. This unusual service is for "those with urgent dates or business meetings to go to, and those who have flights to catch and can't afford to wait in a traffic jam for too long," says the company's owner, Huang Xizhong, who operates in the central city of Wuhan.

BMW, or more specifically, BMW M, recently previewed the 1 Series M in Singapore.

The 1-Series M must be one of the most eagerly-anticipated BMWs of all time. For years, there has been constant rumours and speculation going around as to whether BMW will actually make an M version of its small car, and even debate on what it would be called, since M1 was the name given to BMW's supercar of the 1980s.

Now that it's finally here, BMW M fans can definitely rejoice.

Porsche is working on a new four-cylinder petrol engine that would power its new baby roadster, the Boxster, the Cayman and potentially even the 911.

Outgoing head of R&D Wolfgang Durheimer said at the Detroit show: “We have a four-cylinder boxer engine under development.” He admitted that the unit can be applied to the Boxster and Cayman.

If you're one of those people that travel a lot and drive different cars all the time either because you are using a company car, a rented one, a borrowed one or even a stolen one you may have to stop for fuel. You would usually want to park your car at the side where the fuel filler cap is closest to the pump but since you're in a car that is foreign to you, which side is the fuel filler cap on? The driver's side or the passenger side?

So, Volkswagen has launched a special edition of the Golf for the Rabbit Chinese New Year.

Aside from the connotations of being associated with a cute, fluffy animal (the Rabbit is also the name for the Golf in the US), the other interesting thing about this particular Golf is that it is specially tailor-made for our own Singapore market. Which is something that doesn't happen very often.

So what gives? Why the special treatment for us?

BMW's long-rumored four-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine has finally made its world premiere on the X1 xDrive28. Expect the new powerplant to be offered in a variety of models in the near future.

This is the first four-cylinder petrol engine to employ BMW's TwinPower Turbo technology. It also benefit from technologies such as double VANOS , VALVETRONIC and direct injection. Closely modeled after the Bavarian firm's force-fed in-line six-cylinder motors, it produces an output of 245 bhp with a peak torque of 350Nm. Its torque figure matches the 2.0 TFSI unit in the Audi A4 and overshadows the A4 in terms of horsepower. The 2.0-liter twin-turbocharged engine is hooked up to a standard six-speed manual gearbox or an optional eight-speed automatic transmission. Mated to with the manual gearbox, the X1 xDrive28 completes the 0 to 100 km/h sprint in 6.1 seconds (6.5 seconds with automatic transmission) and hits a top speed of 240 km/h.