TGP article

I hope TGP doesn't sue me for posting this in my blogsite. Peace.

http://www.topgear.com.ph/blogs/head-over-wheels/?p=411

7 cool cars for cool dads
Written by Dinzo Tabamo of Top Gear Philippines
June 17, 2010

When I was growing up, I recall that my cousin Dylan was one of the coolest kuyas I had. He was funny, had good taste in clothes (he was a bit brand-conscious, but it was the 1980s), and he always looked younger than his actual age. And while I wouldn’t call him a certified car nut, he knew a lot more than the average Juan when it came to machines on four wheels.

After he got married, he purchased a Toyota Revo. It was a very capable vehicle, but I chided him for getting a daddy car. He just grinned and acknowledged that he has other priorities now. When he upgraded to a Honda CR-V, I thought he finally decided to get a more hip ride, until I found out he got the automatic transmission variant.

I like fatherhood. I grew up with a kind and forgiving dad. I also understand there are new responsibilities and commitments that come with it. The sporty two-seater might have to go and be replaced by something with a more practical purpose. But it doesn’t have to be vanilla compact SUVs or minivans.

Here are some cars for dad that can be used by a family of at least four but can still make him feel like a teenager with a new driver’s license. I’m sure when my cousin Dylan’s cute children Kobe and Chloe graduate from college, he’ll make a beeline for one of these fine cars.

1. Subaru Legacy Wagon – Symmetrical all-wheel drive and a torquey turbo will redefine your definition of a midsize sedan. The wagon variant is a good excuse to tell your wife it’s just a plain station wagon, just tell her the hood scoop is an eco feature of some sort.

2. Porsche Panamera – Profit is the reason Porsche created the Panamera. But the result is a superbly engineered four-door with the soul of a 911. It can only seat four, so yaya will have to be left behind.

3. Hyundai Sonata – The most likely candidate to topple the Camry from its throne. Based on looks alone, the Toyota midsize sedan should start worrying.

4. Lancer Ralliart – It’s not the most hard-core Lancer in Mitsubishi’s lineup; that distinction belongs to the Lancer Evolution X. But this 237hp compact sedan with dual clutch transmission is more than enough to make one feel like a driver in the WRC.

5. Land Rover Discovery 4 – The Disco is the right balance between the hip-hop luxury of the flagship Range Rover and the mountain goat utility of the classic Defender. Even though the most off-road action it will get is probably Manila’s post-election potholes, the feeling that the ability to crawl rocks is there makes all the difference.

6. Lexus GS460 – To some it resembles the Toyota Camry but when you drive it, all the Camry comparisons fly out the window. There’s a reason this car is being aimed at the BMW 5-Series. Here’s a hint: a 322hp V8.

7. Nissan Grand Livina – At first glance it looks like a failed attempt to steal market share from the best-selling Toyota Innova. However the Grand Livina is one of the most underrated cars in the market. Select the variant with the six-speed transmission and it will do wonders with the 1.8-liter engine. And since it’s smaller than the Innova, what the Grand Livina loses in space it makes up for in handling and sportiness.

City Lights

Overheard in an elevator are two officemates who recently got 3rd gen Honda City. They were talking about other officemates who also got a similar car model:
J- Naka City din siya.
L- Ha? Naka City lang siya? Bakit City lang kinuha niya?
J- E siguro yung lang ang budget niya.
L- Pero kahit CRV afford niya.

In our culture, the top 3 determinants of success are 1- house, 2- car and 3- clothing. The car and the clothing is the most visual. Actually, it may be a general rule but not always the case. There's this retired couple living in a Makati CBD condo and has two 7-Eleven franchised stores but drives a mid 90s Honda Civic. On the other hand, there's this young couple living in an apartment and "trying to make ends meet" but drives an early 2000 Ford F150. I wonder where they get the budget for gasoline. I reckon from his rich parents.

The reality is priorities of people vary hence what you see is not what you get.

Impressive Impreza! Impressive Impreza?

Last June 26, the DSL family trooped to Motorimage in Edsa, Ortigas to test drive a potential next family car - the third generation Subaru Impreza 2.0 R-S. It was a two-months-in-the-making scheduled test drive courtesy of Jesette of Motorimage who arranged it. The unit was color black and if we decide to get one in the future, we're eyeing the lightning red color.

ROUTE
The test drive route was from Motorimage's Ortigas Edsa office to Christ the King and back. DSL drove from the showroom to Corinthian Gardens then JML from there to Christ the King Church. From the midpoint and back to the showroom, the wheel was back to DSL.

PRO & CON
The Pros:
* For P1,2M, you get a fully made up sedan that has a personality disorder...is it a sport car or a family car? It will definitely turn heads esp. the non car nuts. Car nuts would probably say it's a rice car.
* When asked "So what do you drive?" The proud answer is "I drive a Subaru Impreza." If asked if it's a WRX or STI, just say "Next question pls."
* Contrary to popular belief, preventive maintenance cost is within range. A 10,000 kilometer check out would cost the owner between P4K to P5K.
* It's a cult car with serious followers. While the resale value is a scale or two below Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, there is second hand market for this car. You just have to exercise patience. It's a virtue anyway.

The Cons:
* The 3rd gen was released in the US in 2008 while it was released in the Phils in 2009.
* It's underpowered, walang sipa. Cruising at 40kph, I floored the gas pedal and thought that I was driving a diesel powered full sized SUV w/o turbo intercooler.
* Imagine a 2010 model poging poging ride but sports a 4 speed auto tranny. What that?!?! BMW uses 8 speed A/T for crying out loud. My former ride, a 1993 Mitsubishi Galant MPI A/T had a 4spd tranny!
* If the car breaks down, you better have tons of tissue paper para umiyak ka na lang because there's only ONE SERVICE CENTER in the 7,107 island Philippine archipelago.

It's 23 months to go before we change our primary ride however Mr. Excitement is excited again. In case we do opt for the Subaru, it will be our closest thing to a European luxury car having owned 5 Japanese cars so far since I made my own money. It's still not the Euro dream car pero pwede na.

Sakurabashi Superman

At around 7 o’clock in the evening in the busy JR Osaka train station, an “undressed” Superman wearing a black suit approach me and asked “Do you want to go?” I wasn’t really sure what he meant: (a) Did he have the hots for me? Or (b) Was he asking me to leave? I reckon that since I was holding a map, he meant that he wants to help me get to my destination.

Sakurabashi Exit
We just came from Universal Studios Japan on day 2 of our Japan trip and on our way back, I was trying to figure out our exit point since this will be “our point b” for the next 3 days of our lives. Point B a.k.a Sakurabashi exit is a few steps away from the Righa Royal Bus Stop. In economic terms, this means savings of Y1500 per trip of taxi from JR Osaka Station to the hotel.

Helpful Tribe
During the trip, we came to realize that being helpful is a trait common to Japanese. That was not the only time we were approached and offered help. The biggest challenge is the language barrier as a tourist need to communicate their objective to mostly non-English speaking Japanese.

In parting ways, I could only say Thank you as Arigatou gozaimasu slipped my mind during that brief encounter with the Sakurabashi Superman.

A quick lesson in Majority and Minority

The 15th President of the Philippines Benigno C. Aquino III was inaugurated in simple albeit historic rites today in Quirino grandstand. His political resume shows 9 years as Tarlac Representative (District 2) and 3 years as Senator. He is still considered a political neophyte. On the other hand, newly minted VP Jejomar Binay has 18 years of being Makati city Mayor under his belt plus 3 years as MMDA Chairman. In the national election last May 10, Aquino garnered 15,208,678 votes or 30.4 % of the population while Binay got 14,645,574 votes for 29.3% of the voting populace.

B5 is this school year’s class Vice President. He got 45 votes out of the 50 class population and that makes him the majority VP with 90% of the votes. This is his 7th year in DB and he has been Prexy 3X and Veep 2X already.

MC is the class President. She got 17 out of 41 votes which makes her a minority Prexy with 41% of the votes. Her classmates who ran against her got 10 votes an the 3rd placer got 7 votes. Her friend and namesake nominated her for class prexy. This is her 3rd year in CS.

Majority is considered 50% plus 1%.

Photo Me again

I am joining my Nth photo contest in the last 3 years. I’ve actually lost count how many times I’ve joined but recall submitting entries in CNN, Air Asia, Sea Air, Havaianas, Smt Photo Club and now Philippine Star. Prizes range from airline tickets, electronic gadgets and gift certificates.

Last month, I joined the two Philippine Star photo contest with themes: (1) I Love the Philippines http://www.philstar.com/microsite/ilovephilippinesyear3/home.html and (2) I Love Nature http://www.philstar.com/microsite/ilovephilippinesyear3/ilovenature.html. The Phil Star contest runs until end July 2010.

My win ratio is a bit low since I’ve only won one first place in a photo contest that I joined last year. But that doesn't discourage me from joining more contest as long as there's no joining fee and I become richer in experience.