Get a Clunker - Almost Everyone Needs One

Clunkers. They can drain you of cash and pile your debt up to your nose. That's why you get rid of them for brand new or relatively new cars that don't act up as often or strand you on your way to work or to somewhere else important.

Yet, clunkers are something you don't really worry about when it comes to parking in dodgy places. Just leave them in open car parks or dark basements, and they'll still be there when you return to them.

Why? Because no one really wants to steal clunkers. It's just too much trouble for too little gain.

By contrast, if you have to go to dodgy places with your brand new Honda or Toyota, you'd think twice about leaving it unattended. Why? Chances are, they'll get stolen.

And this was exactly what happened to my sister's relatively new Honda Accord 2.4L. While I still don't think it's a very good car, it appears to be in high demand among car thieves, such that hers was stolen almost as soon as she left it unattended in an open car park somewhere in Damansara.

OK, she may have neglected to use a steering lock and/or a brake lock, which was why I believe her car was targeted among the many, many new cars in the open car park. Even if she had used either or both of those things, they are not foolproof measures against determined car thieves - at best, they are initial deterrents.

So, now, my sister is utterly sad and utterly without a car.

However, had she owned a clunker, I believe she would still have both her clunker and her new Honda Accord.

In other words, if you have a clunker and are thinking about getting rid of it, well, think again. It still has its uses. Besides, you're not going to get much for it anyway.

If you don't have one anymore and if you think you're going to be going to dodgy places often enough, perhaps you should get a clunker of your own, like a cheap Kancil or even a Kembara.

Me? I'm getting my Kembara soon. In the event that I have to go places where I don't want to have to worry about my car being stolen, I'd use my Kembara.

Zoom, Zooming with the New Mazda 6

The new Mazda 6 is not a new car, at least not in terms of launch date. Be that as it may, it's still one of the best looking non-Continental executive saloons in the Malaysian market.

With its Kinetic design approach, the Mazda 6 quickly outshone the Toyota Camry's straight-line, less curvaceous design. Of course, Toyota Camry lovers disagree, but as we can see, the Kinetic design is so compelling that Hyundai has adopted it as a strategy to capture market share from Toyota using its newly designed Sonata.

Hyundai does nothing special to hide its copycat strategy, simply calling its design approach "It flows" (which is another way of describing 'kinetic'). And as a result, many a reviewer have hailed the new Sonata as being better looking than the Camry - and some have hailed it as being better than the Mazda 6 (e.g. Cars, Bikes & Trucks).

Anyway, having owned a Mazda 6 for several months now, I dare say, the car not only looks great, it feels great too. It has a commanding presence on the road, but not too much that every other racer boy or wannabe racer feels compelled to race with it.

That is to say, while it looks sporty, its not a sports car; not like how the previous Mazda 6 was set up to be.

You see, the previous Mazda 6 appeared to have been designed as a sports car first and then tuned down to be a family saloon. As a result, the suspension and handling still had a lot of hard characteristics that you'd find in a sports car - which was why some have described the old Mazda 6 as a sports car trying very hard to be a family saloon.

The new Mazda 6 is more of a luxury saloon, but not of the sort you'd expect to cater to old people. Staying true to Mazda's "Zoom zoom" approach to designing cars, the Mazda 6 feels less like a sports car but still responds well when you need to put peddle-to-the-metal.

The Mazda 6 in Malaysia comes in two variants - 2.5L with 18-inch rims and 2.0L with 16-inch rims, at RM175,000+ and RM150,000+ respectively. The prices are a bit steep for most people, but if you can afford them, I say both variants are worth the price you pay.

This is especially so because you get quality comparable to German marquees like VW, Mercedes, BMW and Audi, but without paying as much. And that is simply great if you share in my belief that you should always get the best value from the money you spend on cars.

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Addendum: Notice that I didn't mention the new Honda Accord. Well, that's because I don't think it's a very good car. Its expensive and tries hard to be in the Camry-Sonata-Mazda 6 league, but doesn't quite make the cut.

The new Honda Accord's seemingly random design approach makes the car hideous (especially the bulbous headlights) and anything but sleek. It's 2.4L engine is under-powered, such that a car far less expensive and less powerful like the Kia Forte 2.0SX can out-accelerate it, which doesn't bode well for the 2.0L version of the Accord.

Perhaps the only major thing the Accord has that's worth considering is the Honda badge.

The quicker the next variant of the Honda Accord comes out, the better.

Big Ass Honda Accord vs Kia Forte

If you are into pissing competitions on the road, here's a bit of advice. Don't buy a big-ass heavy Honda Accord that costs more than RM172,800+.

Why? Because when you meet up with a car like the Kia Forte 2.0SX, you're bound to feel really inadequate.

At slightly more than half the price of the Honda Accord 2.4L, the light-weight Forte 2.0SX has more than enough brake horsepower (BHp) and torque to out-accelerate the Accord 2.4L without really trying so hard.

And how would I know? This morning, on the way to work, an idiot in an Accord 2.4L felt compelled to test his car against my Forte 2.0SX (for whatever reason). Not content with hogging the fast lane, he felt it necessary to cut me off each time I tried to overtake.

"It's ok," I said to myself. "When we reach the toll houses, I'll leave you behind."

As both our cars got through the TAG toll gate, I accelerated my Forte and was overtaking the idiot's Accord. Despite having more BHp under the hood, his Accord was having trouble picking up enough speed to keep my Forte from overtaking.

So, what did the idiot Accord driver do to save his pride, he swerved into my lane and cut me off yet again.

I kept my cool - it's Ramadan or the fasting month after all. And so, I continued to drive at my usual brisk pace, while the idiot Accord driver was doing his level best at zipping in and out of lanes just to keep me from getting ahead.

But you see, when you're driving a big ass Honda Accord 2.4L with inferior acceleration, you're bound to be caught up in traffic. And that's what happened to the idiot in his Accord.

By chance, the lane I was in was relatively clearer than his. And so, I overtook him, finally.

Not content with just letting things be, the idiot did whatever he could to catch up. By then, I was already indicating to get into a via-duct, which clearly meant that the pissing competition was over and that the idiot in his Accord had lost.

Guess what the LOSER did? He blared his honk as he passed, probably out of frustration.

Disgraceful.

And I wasn't even trying so hard in my Forte 2.0SX.