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Blame it on puberty, hormones and growing pains, but as a teenager, I had a negative mindset. I had no concept of being realistic either. With a steady diet of grunge music, the cloud of teenage angst that enveloped me made it easy to fall into the negativity trap. It didn’t help that I was failing math half the time in secondary school. Physics and chemistry were a downer as well. Passing was only possible with the help of plenty of tuition. Meanwhile, I also had to deal with the usual life question: What did I want to do after graduating university? Beyond that was also the question that every teen grapples with: Identity. Who are you and how will you fulfil your potential? (Image: Gadiel Lazcano, Unsplash) The negativity trap I probably had a negative mindset for at least five years. Before I sat for math exams, I had to keep my anxiety in check while revising. Awaiting results was arguably even harder. So, I began to expect less, thinking that since the highest score I could hope for was passing, there was no point in aiming higher. When your outlook is coloured by negativity, life seems dull. My mum cajoled me to become an optimist, but adult advice seldom reaches the teenage mind. Inevitably, her cajoling became statements about me being a downer with my 'surly attitude'. At least I wasn’t getting a lecture about grunge music anymore, though. You could say I wallowed in negativity during this period. (Image: Zac Durant, Unsplash) With perspective comes clarity As I grew older and more self-aware, I realised that I was annoyed with my attitude. I was letting challenges get the better of me instead of the other way around. Being weak in math isn’t the end of the world. I began to view this and other challenges as something I could beat. Of course, at the back of my mind, that irritating voice telling me to 'stop trying to hard' would sometimes attempt to sway my thinking. Self-pity is easy. Rising to challenges is harder. But I wanted to be better. Not for anyone else, but for myself. I started to view things realistically, and doing that pulled me out of teenage angst. Realistically, no matter how much I detest exams, they will still take place. In the bigger picture: No matter what, the world will still turn. The sun will still rise and set. It's what I choose to do and how I choose to tackle things that really matters. Coinciding with this is that my mind finally matured enough to take in all those math lessons. I shockingly started to enjoy it. In uni, I used a graphing calculator with ease. Suddenly, everything started to make sense. For two weeks, I even considered majoring in math. (Image: Steven Lelham, Unsplash) I didn't suddenly become academically inclined. But I had a clearer perspective and greater self-awareness. Pessimists will insist that you can't control your future because someone else is pulling the levers. Well, my view is that no matter where you live, someone else will still be pulling the levers. You could be a boss at work, but maybe not at home. And even if you had it all, well, you can't control the weather or when the sun rises or sets. You can't control time either. But you're in charge of your attitude. Teenage angst and negativity are in the past, so I seldom listen to grunge music. But when I do, it's like listening to oldies: It's the ideal soundtrack when reminiscing about how life was before we grew up. – Jeremy (Main image: Kyle Loftus, Unsplash)

Welcome back, and we have another review with sgCarMart! And today, we have the 2020 Audi Q7! Being the largest and most practical vehicle in the Audi lineup, the Q7 has been refreshed, and it now comes with more aggressive lines seen in its stablemates, but still retains that utility and practicality that it was brought to the table. After all, a seven-seat vehicle is always useful. So, let's see what Julian has to say about the Q7. From the get-go, it looks handsome. Audi's design language has been pretty good these past years, nothing too controversial. And not to mention, their gorgeous daytime running lights and sequential signals are always a welcome touch. I mean, just look at it. Audi really has it down pat with the design of the grille and those daytime running lights. And if you can take anyone's word for it, it is Julian's. "Jumping into this car, it instantly made me feel comfortable". That's pretty high praise, I would say. That grille is indeed pretty bold, and as per Julian said, he's not sure if the grille will suit the Q3 or Q5, but it fits the Q7. And to get more context on how big the Q7 really is.... The rear of the Q7 looks just as good, sleek, modern and clean. No need to fuss around when lowering the third row of seats. Audi has already thought of that and given you buttons to electronically lower the seats. Audi knows the Q7 is a tall vehicle and loading it can be difficult for shorter people, so there is also a button to lower the rear of the car so as to make loading stuff in easier. About 750 litres of boot space with the third row folded. If that isn't enough for you, knocking down the second row will give you over 2000 litres of cargo space. And if that still isn't enough, get a van. And if you're wondering, yes, the boot opens and closes electronically as well. With the seat set to Jon's height (Jon is about 1.8m tall), Julian has a ton of leg room, even headroom. A blessing in Singapore's weather, the Q7 comes with rear aircon vents not only in the middle, but also on the B-pillars so as to blow air directly at rear passengers. And surprisingly, the third row actually doesn't look too bad. As long as you aren't too big or tall, you should be able to fit nicely back here. Clean, sleek and modern with screens for your infotainment, climate control and instrument cluster. The Virtual Cockpit, as Audi terms it. And always appreciated in a big car, 360 degree parking cameras and sensors. Still curious? Find out more on what Julian has to say about the Q7 in the video review below!

I have little doubt that electric cars are soon going to be the future. But since the charging infrastructure here still leaves much to be desired, fans of automotive amperes have had to resort to hybrid propulsion. Nissan however, reckons that we need not compromise and gave us a taste of that instantaneous torque so analogous with electric cars last week with the Nissan Serena e-POWER. The eagle-eyed among you will note (haha get it?) that the car has some strange numbers: A 1.2-litre unit seems hardly sufficient for a seven-seater, and is that 134bhp really generated at a whopping 9867rpm? Rest assured that those are not typos. The Serena e-POWER is a hybrid in the sense that you fill up at the pumps and yet electricity is somehow involved, but that piccolo unit under the bonnet is not mechanically connected to the driving wheels, well, not directly, anyway. Nissan's e-POWER technology instead uses that petrol engine to power a generator which in turn, feeds current into a battery or electric motor in order to drive an electric motor, so you can see why we are dealing with very unusual numbers. But doesn't it sound like a just a hybrid car with more steps? You might be tempted to conclude at this point that all those additional processes must lead to some energy loss, and you are right. But as it turns out, so is operating a petrol engine through a conventional gearbox and having it run through vastly different engine speeds. The gains made from separating the petrol engine from the rest of the drivetrain are actually enough to make up for the complication of it all. But does it work well enough? We know it should. It is technology that has actually been in use for years in heavier vehicles, in things like freight trains and mining trucks - precisely where your fuel bill will hit like a, er, truck - and a full day of fooling around in the car, starting and stopping for photos and so on returned me a 15.2km/L fuel consumption rate. Which is reasonable in my opinion, for a 1,700kg car. But here's the thing though: If you are looking for an MPV, buy this, not because it's great with fuel, but because it has all the qualities of a good people carrier, with little of the typical drawbacks. It has a practical interior, and its weight is well masked under all that electric torque. But the best part is driving the thing: Its smooth acceleration, the lovely chairs, as well as the knowledge that you are moving along so much metal made me feel like Captain of the Starship Enterprise. Check that everyone is belted up and engage warp drive! Now imagine what lovely consolation that is to having to ferry your kids around on your daily drive. Looks like our electric future is approaching faster than we think.

Well crisis seems to be here to stay, and for some Porsche buyers it seems to have struck really hard. They have to move bedding out of mansion on their 911. Funny video

he new line of Phoenix electric vehicles claims to have addressed at least the re-charge side of the problem in a most dramatic way. And if the claimed 10-minute re-charge time is true, then that certainly lessens the concerns over driving range as it becomes possible to quickly re-charge your vehicle at your destination before returning back to where you started.

Saw new March on Car-nival at expo, really very cute , the ice-blue one i mean, blue all the way inside, like a cartoon . Yes, I'm a guy but still find it very cute. But a bit impractical, boot too small and back seats not for big-sized people. and if drive, a bit sissy ????? ALtis, practical, higher resale value and about 5-6K higher, its a safe buy but not many colours to choose from plus its EVERYWHERE, like today go for lunch, after lunch, cannot find my boss's car, champagne gold Altis 5 ot 6 of them in the carpark, need to rely on car plate number.. Really feel its a tie between what I want to have and what is practical. I guess the outlook and feeling of cuteness will die out and what you left after a year or two will be practicality, plus March really more for girls lah (even though many guys and families q up to ask for the instalments etc. maybe typical singaporean, we buy what our neighbours like instead of what we really like??????? anyway, my getz just slightly over 3yrs, 0 problems, pretty new, look around lor.