Thursday, August 31, 2006

Eyelid for New Face Lift Wish

Seems like more eye lids are now available for the new face lifted Toyota Wish. Here's three new models recently seen in Japan.

Type 1 - Pointed version



Type 2 - Thin Version



Type 3 - G Square styling but narrower


Here is the pre face lift version from G Square for reference. You can see that it covers a lot more of the head light, making the car look meaner.



I wonder when will these new goodies reach our shores. But at about S$120 a pop without spray painting. I don't think we will see the ABS version here. Probably the pirated fibreglass version from Malaysia. I think I prefer type 3, followed by type 2. As you can see, even without a bodykit, it looks alright as the designs are not too exaggerated.

Cheers,

Sunday, August 27, 2006

More Toyota Wish emblems!!

This is the Toyota Wish X emblem. Seems like this is the correct one for X model when you reference it with Z Aerotourer emblem. Not common and extremely difficult to track down.



And this is the 'Limited Edition' Emblem. Also Original Toyota. Selling in Ebay for US$27. Hot item too!



And this is the TRD emblem that's quite common in the market. Considering it for my ride too.



Anyway, tonight, the guys are going to stick some emblem on Lim's pure white ride!! Let's see how this will turn out. Going to be fun!! Watch this space!
Cheers,

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Eyelid for New Face Lift




The new face lift Toyota Wish has been out for about 10 months now, but the eyelids for this model is still extremely difficult to find here. So far, I've only seen these from Stage2 and they are JPY15750. You can see from the headlights that they are the newer type. They look similar to the styling for the G Square version which I like. Unfortunately, G Square don't have the one for the new face lift yet.

The problem with using pre facelift eyelit is that the curvature of the front head light is different. As such, they don't fit well and have to be "forced" with tape or silicon. Shame..

It's quite strange that the styling companies are rather slow with the styling kits for this revision.

Cheers,

Rear door garnish




Stage2 from Japan has these unique rear door garnish to personalised your ride. Definitely not the common stuff you see outside and makes your car outstanding. But requires a bit of work as you have to spray to your body color. I prefer the second one to the top one. At JPY 15750 each, they certainly don't come cheap!!

Alternatively, there is the Taiwan version which is also quite pretty and it does not have the Wish word. Lim, Henry and Novoal has already install them on their car. Much more understated compared to those above.

Should I, shouldn't I? Decisions...decisions.... It's a good thing I am financially challenged. Solves all the indecision.

Cheers,

Friday, August 25, 2006

TRD launchs new Fuel cap cover



Seems like TRD Japan just launched a new fuel cap cover last month. Expected to go on sale by the end of this month.

Priced at JPY3990, the new model includes a safety catch that prevents the cap from dropping. neat! Previously, the safety catch had to be purchased separately. Anyway, the part number is 77315-SP010 for those interested. This version will be good for those with the clear fuel tank cover.
Cheers,

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Steering assist knob on Wish Taxi

I've always wanted one of these when I saw it on the Taiwan Wish Taxi.. This one is from Chris' ride. So far, the Korean ones are the best looking.



However, a lot of the guys says it looks damn "beng".. and also, you can potentially hurt your finger when you release the steering after you make a turn. Hmmm... so now it's on the KIV list.. Should I or shouldn't I? Beside, I'm going to have a nice ash grey wood trim steering wheel soon and I've not seen a matching knob so far.

Anyway, here's a picture of our beloved ride as a taxi in Taipei that was taken two months ago.



Let's put it this way, if it's not reliable and fuel efficient, it would not be a taxi right? Self consolation! Ha!
Cheers,

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Wish Tail Light modification

Something interesting. Taillight LED conversion for pre Face Lift wish..



Obviously, you have to dismantle the whole assembly to get to the light set. And below is how the back looks like. Incidentally, the inside of the taillight is clear!! So pretty!





And this is the finished result. It's suppose to be brighter. I wonder if we can do the same for the new face lift Toyota Wish. Brighter is nicer!
Cheers,

Turn your Wish into a tent!



Fancy that! You can convert your Toyota Wish into a tent! Retailing in Japan for about S$150, this kit allows you to open your boot and add a mosquito net for ventilation. There is also 2 window panel for the front door too!

All you need is to fold down the seats and add an inflatable bed. Voila! Toyota Wish Camper Van!

Cheers,

Eagle Eye side marker

Ah Lim installed the smaller BMW style eagle eye side marker on his Toyota Wish. Here's a close up of it on both white and black Toyota Wish. Much nicer than the big one in my opinion. But it actually uses a blue bulb!





And this is what it looks like on the actual ride. Nice! The guys were toying with the idea of doing a wolf sticker on the side of the car and using this side marker as the eyes. Radical! I suppose only the "Wolfman" ride can pull this off.


Cheers,

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Going 18 inch?

Tempting, especially after looking at so many Toyota Wish with sporty 18" sports rims.

However, searched around and realise that it's not just a case of changing the rims. The following is an extract written by unrice from addmorehp.com which explained why this is so.
Modifications to your running gear really depends on how your car acts out of the factory. Factory-tuned sports cars basically has an out-of-the-box mods that you don’t really need to do anything else to it. Regular passenger cars on the other hand, are not factory-tuned to handle excessive performance. Therefore, redoing your regular car’s running gear is not a job you can do overnight, and as simple as cutting your springs or changing to larger rims.

Most vehicles will look significantly better with larger rims, that is exactly why show cars and concept cars often use large wheels. But show cars are show cars, and concept cars are concept cars, they are not for road use. I never agree with the reason that cosmetic is above safety. Wheels that are too large while improve traction with its wider stance, they usually decrease your acceleration. Why? Well, it’s simply basic physics, it has a higher rotational inertia. It could also make your car’s handling worse because of the extra unsprung weight.

What is rotational inertia? And what is unsprung weight? Rotational inertia is comprised from the equation of:

I = mr²

Where I is inertia, m is mass, and r is the distance from the rotational axis. The logic is a higher amount of mass and distance equals a larger inertia.

Torque is required to start your car from ground zero to a specific speed that you want. Torque came from the equation of:

T = Iα

Where T is torque, I is inertia, and α is acceleration. Therefore, with the same amount of torque your standard car has and bigger inertia, you’ll get a smaller acceleration. The concept of rotational inertia is as simple as that.

On the other hand, unsprung weight is the total amount of weight of wheels, tyres, springs, wheel bearings, disc brakes, and other parts that are directly connected to them but not supported by suspension. So the larger the wheel, the more energy you require to sustain the unsprung weight when moving, and therefore decreases the
quality of your handling.

Another problem for excessively large rims is your braking ability. If you stick to stock brakes, you’ll stop slower, because the bigger your rims, the bigger your momentum. And the bigger the momentum, the longer you’ll stop, simply because your stock brakes cannot provide the power needed to stop those wheels from turning.
Hmm...so judging from the above, I should consider brakes before I consider 18" rims. Anyway, really need to look at the brake hose in the next few weeks if I have the time. Perhaps the Swage-Line brake hose from Plot.

Cheers,

Clear Side Signal Marker


Ok. Finally got around to getting the original Toyota side marker. Cost only S$18 each from Ric Tat at Owen Road. Compared to the original version on the Toyota Wish, this one looks a lot nicer. Definitely water proof and carries the E13 marking. Unfortunately, I didn't realise that this marker is totally clear, which means you actually need an orange bulb. So I didn't buy one. Robin is going to help me buy the bulb later today.
The original Toyota Wish version actually has an orange panel so it uses a white bulb. I should have checked before I picked up the side marker as the bulb were also available. Oh well, it doesn't matter. I'll fix everything up later tonight if the guys are meeting up. I'm sure Robin would have bought the bulb by then. I already have the chrome trim pictured above. It's from Welstar and cost only S$15. Actually, the above picture is from wireless' car during one of the earlier gatherings. Ideally, I would like this thick chrome trim. Not quite common in Singapore.
Incidentally, the above is the common crystal tail side signal marker commonly available here. Terrible quality and it's not waterproof. Understand that it's from Thailand.
Anyway, I'm going to pass my original side market set to Grant from Taiwan as he's coverting his Taiwan Wish to the JDM model. Besides, it will look great on a white Wish.
Cheers,

More profiles pictures

More pictures taken from the Lim Chu Kang Farm trip. Here is Lim's White Wish, now complete with matching white sports rim and the bonnet lip garnish has been changed to G Square.





And this is the door handle ornament that he recently installed. Goes by various names such as crab craw, etc. Somehow, it does not look that outstanding on black rides. Shame. Otherwise, I'll consider.





Oh. This is from K. H. Lee's car. That is an original Toyota number plate frame from Japan. Not cheap, but really adds a touch of class.




And finally, my black Toyota Wish. As you can see, nothing's changed on the exterior for the longest time, except for the addition of the mud guards.
Cheers,

Monday, August 21, 2006

Ash grey wood cubic printing

I have decided to go ahead with the cubic printing since I'm in town for the week. Ideally, the finished product will look something like this.



Currently, only the Toyota Wish X Limited and the G model has ash grey wood paneling. The other alternative from Toyota is Carbon Fibre, which is on the X Aerosports and Z model. These panels can actually be purchased separately from Toyota as original accessories, but ordering it is a hassle and it takes for ever to get here. Also, it's almost S$700 for a set too. Now, I get the 6 panels PLUS the steering wheel cubic printed and wrapped in leather (including the 2 piece on the steering wheel) for only S$680. Same quality. However, the original ones include the two passenger side air con vent cover. Win some, lose some.
So, drove the car in to Classic Auto Deco at Commonwealth this afternoon and they took out the 4 door control panels, 2 instrument and air con panels as well as the steering wheel and 2 panels. Total of 8 panels and the steering wheel. The car looks weird with so many gaping holes and foam sticking out.
They provided a spare steering wheel for me so that I can still drive around in the interim period. Expected delivery in 7 working days. Can't wait.
Cheers,

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Toyota Wish Farm Tour!!

9 Toyota Wish went on a farm tour at Lim Chu Kang today! It was a short half day program. Since the boys were kind enough to schedule it on the day that I'm back, I joined in the fun. Obviously, Justin, Robin, Victor, Lim was there as well as K.H. Lee and Jason.



I think all the cars that were on the convoy are pictured above, except for Justin's car. The camera lens was just not wide enough.

First stop, Hay's goat farm!! This was simple as it was our first stop. No hick ups. Here, you can see the goats being miked as well as get purchase some fresh goat milk. It can't get any fresher than this.





You can also visit the goat holding enclosure and even feed the goats. The kids sure had loads of from judging from the squeals of delight.





Here's Billy, obviously impressed by the Toyota Wish Club T-shirt. And no Billy, it's not edible!

Next stop was the Jurong frog farm. But the traffic was quite congested getting out of the goat farm and the three blck Wish went ahead to lane 8 instead. We merry up soon enough and it was not a problem. This is probably the only problem we had on the trip.





Here's Victor with his new friend. Don't know who looks happier. Victor fondling the Toadie or Toadie being fondled by Victor!



This is for the guys crazy for white LED lights! Converted frog with white LED eyes!!!



And this is what they do to those that don't work. Must recycle the LED. Just kidding!!

Last stop on the trip is Hausman Marketing, which is actually a fish farm of sorts. They have a large pool for fishing as well as feeding. There's alongs a small excuse of a man made 'longkang' for kids to catch fishes!






Here the kids are having fun feeding the kois in the large outdoor pond. And they are greedy! I mean the fishes of course. And there are other reptiles and amphibians too, like these red ear slider terrapins.




All in all, a great day, but it was a bit hot. Hopefully, they will do this again soon. Heard there are talks about a bird park or zoo trip.
Cheers,