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Taken from http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/singap...udited-20120920

Not sure if anyone has posted this thread b4. I read it in asiaone motoring. Outrageous! =================================== WHEN a motorist tried to park at a multi-storey carpark meant only for tenants at a business park, he was denied entry. But he refused to move his car even after a queue of cars formed behind him. And when police officers finally forced him to move to another spot, he shouted that he didn't care about the consequences and drove into the multi-storey carpark. As he sped up the ramp, his car hit and injured a security guard who had earlier prevented him from entering the carpark at Tradehub 21 at Boon Lay Way on Wednesday. Mr Lee Ah Hong, 64, told The New Paper that he was standing at the entrance to the carpark when he saw a black Lexus suddenly speeding towards him. He managed to jump aside as the car passed him, but his right hand was hit, leaving him with a fractured wrist. Mr Lee said the driver, whom he described as a man in his late 40s, wanted to park on the second level of the multi-storey carpark. But he did not allow the driver to enter as he did not have a label indicating that he was a tenant at Tradehub 21. Mr Gary Haris, 36, senior business development manager of KH Security Agency, said that only tenants are allowed to use the multi-storey carpark. There are other parking spaces available on the grounds of the business park. The incident happened at about 3.40pm, just minutes before Mr Lee was due to end his hourly stint at the carpark. The driver insisted on parking there and refused to move, causing a queue of five to six cars, including a police car responding to a separate matter. Intervened Three police officers from the car intervened and asked the driver to move his car so that other vehicles could pass. The driver moved his car to one of the parallel parking spaces opposite the multi-storey carpark, leaving it at a 45-degree angle away from the kerb. By then, Mr Lee's supervisor and another colleague had shown up, having seen the incident on CCTV. As they spoke to the driver, who was still in his car, Mr Lee stood in the middle of the entrance to the carpark, as he always does while on duty. Said Mr Lee in Mandarin: "Then I saw something black coming towards me. Thank goodness I ran out of the way. But I wasn't fast enough and the car hit my hand." After being hit, Mr Lee raised his right hand, using his other arm to support his wrist, and shouted at the driver that he had hit someone. Though the window on the driver's side was down, he continued speeding up the ramp, Mr Lee said. The police was called and an ambulance took Mr Lee to the hospital, where he was given outpatient treatment and four days of medical leave. Mr Lee later heard from a colleague that before the driver accelerated towards him, the driver had shouted: "I don't care about the consequences." Other employees The New Paper spoke to also mentioned that the driver had said that. Several security officers searched the 10-storey carpark for the owner and his vehicle, but could not find him. Mr Lee's son, Mr Lee Zhi Wen, 44, who also works for the same company, was having his break at a coffee shop when he heard that his father had been injured. Said the younger Mr Lee, who is still angry over the incident: "Our job is already dangerous. If the cars don't stop, our lives are at risk. "My father is in his 60s. Did the driver need to do that?" Upset Mr Lee, who lives with his wife and his daughter, is upset at not being able to work for several days. "I'm right-handed and it was my right hand that was hit," he said. "It's swollen like a pig's trotter and it hurts so bad. I can't even hold a pen. How am I supposed to work?" He is required to write down the licence plates of delivery vehicles that enter the multi-storey carpark. The New Paper understands from Mr Haris that the police identified the driver about three hours after the incident. A police spokesman confirmed that they received a call for assistance at about 3.50pm on Wednesday and are investigating. Frustrated as he is with the driver for his rash act, Mr Lee still managed to find something to be thankful for. Smiling, Mr Lee said: "At least he didn't hit my body. Now I can still celebrate Chinese New Year!"

Just some general discussion on car stability/vibration. I would say proper wheel alignment and high speed balancing.

Business Times - 09 Jul 2008 Toyota speeds up to regain top spot for first half of year By SAMUEL EE AFTER starting the year in an unfamiliar position as runner-up, Toyota finally pushed the pedal to the metal in June to wrest the No 1 ranking back from Honda by the end of the first half of the year. Toyota has been Singapore's top brand since 2002. From January to June 2008, Toyota, including luxury division Lexus, registered a total of 7,346 passenger car sales among members of the Motor Traders Association of Singapore (MTA). The world's biggest carmaker overtook Honda's 7,212 units after trailing the latter for the first five months of the year. MTA is a grouping of authorised distributors. Their sales do not include those of parallel importers, who have recently been experiencing record business. The key to authorised Toyota distributor Borneo Motors' turnaround is the Corolla Altis - the company's best-seller and a former perennial winner of Singapore's most popular model award. A new version of this stalwart was unveiled earlier this year and it was only from the second quarter that deliveries to customers began. 'The Altis was launched in late March and we didn't have any equivalent models to sell during that period,' says Mark Choong, South Asia chairman of Inchcape Motors, which owns Borneo Motors Singapore. 'But once it started to take off, it was only a matter of time before we caught up with Honda.' With average monthly deliveries of more than 600 units of the Altis, it was no surprise that Toyota raced back to the top of the sales charts. Mr Choong says other models that did reasonably well in the first six months of this year were the Camry mid-size saloon and the recently-arrived Wish compact MPV. 'They helped to contribute to the volume,' he says, adding that the 1.5-litre Vios sedan also did 'pretty well because it is in the smaller-car range'. 'It is affordable and economical. All these are critical factors in the current market', which is focused on running costs, adds Mr Choong. High pump prices have also spurred demand for the Prius petrol- electric hybrid, but Mr Choong says Borneo is unable to get enough cars to sell because of supply issues. Further down the sales chart, Mitsubishi ended the first six months of 2008 in third place with 3,983 units, while Nissan was fourth with 2,863 cars. Mercedes-Benz was in fifth place overall with 2,127 passenger cars, making the three-pointed star the most popular premium brand in Singapore. Right behind it at No 6 was traditional rival BMW with 1,890 units. At No 7 was Subaru. The once niche Japanese carmaker has gone a little more mainstream, and since then it has been speeding up the sales chart from when it ended 2007 at No 9. Korean marque Hyundai - previously a regular feature in the top three a few years back - was eighth with 1,828 units. This number could have been higher if the 627 Sonata taxis registered in the first half were included. As for the No 1 model in the first half of 2008, that accolade went to the Honda Civic with 3,283 units, including the hybrid variant but excluding the three-door Type R. In 2007, it was the Mitsubishi Lancer, after displacing the Toyota Corolla which had held the top spot for five years before that. The runner-up from January to June this year was the Toyota Corolla Altis with 2,539 units, despite being in the market for only three full months. Rounding off the top three was the Toyota Vios with 1,925 units.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin.../359074/1/.html LTA says travel speeds, traffic flow improve with the 5 new ERP gantries By May Wong, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 08 July 2008 2202 hrs SINGAPORE: A day after new Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges were introduced in Singapore's city centre, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said travel speeds and traffic conditions have improved. It said the five new gantries along the Singapore River reduced traffic volume by some 30 per cent between 6pm and 8pm. Traffic speeds also went up by some six kilometres to about 26 kilometres per hour. In a statement, LTA said some have questioned if it was timely to raise the ERP rates, given the current economic conditions. In its response, LTA said that if congestion is left unchecked, it will create a negative impact on the Singapore economy. This will also affect the quality of the living environment. However, the newly-activated ERP gantries have become bad news for cab drivers. Azman Mohamed, a taxi driver, said: "With the new gantries, I will rather go to Suntec area because there's no gantry. There'll be lesser taxis entering those CBD area. So the objective of encouraging drivers to enter the CBD with an additional S$3 surcharge will no longer be attractive. So it's like a backfire to the improved system." Passengers said they noticed a slight drop in the number of taxis. One commuter said: "Taxis won't come in, so I guess people would either have to take a train out somewhere to get a taxi or something." Another passenger said: "Lesser people will take the cabs as passengers have to pay more with the new gantries. I guess I will go take the public transport, rather than taking a cab." Companies like SMRT are already helping their drivers through a Contract Hirers' Scheme. Evelyn Quek, Senior Manager, Customer Relations, SMRT Taxis, said: "We offer them a Contract Hirers' Scheme. This means they have a basic salary and we provide free diesel as well as to maintain the vehicle. "We've seen more than 90 per cent of take-up rates for our Contract Hirers' Scheme for the first six months of this year, compared to the same period of last year." SMRT spends over S$10 million every year on help packages for its cabbies driving its 3,000 strong fleet. The company will also be returning the 15 per cent cut in road tax to their drivers. That works out to about S$180 per cab annually. However, the latest ERP move is still of concern to cabbies. Cabbie Azman continued: "The new fare hikes that started last December is like having a wound on our leg. So with higher ERP prices and more gantries, the wound is now getting infected. "It's getting bad, business is bad. I don't think this will help us to earn a living as a taxi driver because commuters are shying away." Azman now drives around with an ERP rate table which he had printed from LTA's website. Using this information, he can tell passengers exactly where the ERP gantries are within the city and what the charges are. He also uses this information to avoid going into areas with ERP unnecessarily. - CNA/vm

Hi everyone, Any comment on the upcoming 6-speeds Beatles (1.6cc) ? Rdgs

Hi guys, My 3yrs old Ignis is vibrating badly at speeds above 90km/h, the vibration can be felt by the hands(on steering wheel) and legs(on acclerator). Could it be due to worn tyres, balancing or alignment? The tyres are 3yrs old and have done 42K km. On a straight road, I have to steer slightly to the right or else the car will slowly veer to the left. The current size is 165/70/R14, can I fit a 195/65/14 tyre? Planning to visit the tyre shop at Tampines(the big shell petrol koisk), any comments on that place? How is their pricing? Thanks :)

When I brake lightly at speeds over 80kph, I feel quite bad vibrations coming from the front wheel. If I release the brake pedal and tap on it again, then the vibrations sort of diminish and disappear when my car slows down to below 60kph. I was told by my service mechanic that my car's front rotors are "polarised" (not sure what that means...and changing the front pair would cost S$180. Is that the real cause of the vibrations? I was also told in another forum that I could just flip the rotors so I dun need to change them. True? I plan to have this fixed soon cos brakes cannot play play one... I also encounter squealing sounds when moving off in 1st gear and especially when reversing. I've sprayed belt dressing on all the rotating parts and the belts but the problem is still there. While moving, there's also some grinding noise coming from the drive shaft I think...somewhere from the bottom of the car or gearbox. Any idea what ARE wrong?? Any workshops to recommend to have these problems fixed cos it's the first time I own a car. I'm driving a Suzuki Swift. BTW, hope it's near Woodlands cos I stay there