Guys, test drove three cars this afternoon, rainly weather and congestion, not too idle for test drive.
First, the new ford fiesta 1.4, fitted with a selespeed type box. Ben, dont import too many clio 1.4. the new baby ford is far better than the 1.4 clio. I am not joking. Its list price is just $100k, including factory fitted leather seat. And the selebox is really easy and smooth to use. We tried the car to kill time, as we were there in Wan Chai too early, and had 20 mins good fun,
Next Alfa 147 2.0 selespeed. Went to the showroom, a gang of five salesmen were there. Talked to one of them and learned that Gordon was not among them. Anyway, the guy I talked to was very knowledgable about Alfa, he showed me the GTA and we discussed the new parts bit by bit. Our alfa talk made my wife felt dead. Fortunately, Gordon arrived to save the day. The JTS was not ready but he offered a 147. Alright with me, afterall, my main concern was the jerly ride of the selespeed. The traffic in Wan Chai was really bad, but perfect to test the city mode. I didnt have any problem with the box, so did my wife. We then headed towards the Southern district(where your old school is, ben), there was no traffic, I switched the box to manual mode. Along pokfulam rd, after went pass the QM, but before pokfulam garden, theres a quick left bend, I was doing 120km/h, 5th gear. checked brake, pull the level twice, voom, voom, a smooth double declutch was completed within a second. Man, that was quick. another quick right hand bend coming ahead, down hill, the light was green. Gordon was a little nervous, he sat more tightly than before. Right pedal onto the floor in fourth, braked a little later than I used to, pull the level, third gear, turned in, the car was rock stable, existed the bend again with the right pedal on the floor and a BIG BIG smile on the face. The car, the engine, the box worked in perfect harmony. Had the 156 I tried earllier been as good as the one I tried this afternoon, I would have bought an ALfa instead of the clio.
But the down side of the car is its lack of room at the back and the relatively high price, the 156 JTSs $268k price is almost the same as a STi. As my fxxking employer is likely to cut our salary again this year, money is a big consideration.
With this in mind, we visited the opel showroom. Do you guys know, opel in HK is now represented by a taiwanese company, and they only import thai made opel, except the omega. Have nothing against the thai, but didnt have mcuh faith about their workmanship, was about to leave, but was stopped after the guy read out his long list of offers. a price cut from $180k to $150k, first year lic, leather interior or LCD with playstation, and six free services. Put everything together, they are selling a thai made 2.2 Zafira for about $120k. What more can one ask? So we decided to have a go, and was impressed. The seats were firm, very german feel and supportive. The 2.2. engine was smooth, responsive and offered good amount of torque from around 2k, all the way up to 4k. Body control was also very good, on par, or even slightly better than 307. The "flex 7" interior was also very clever.
So the winner is the Zafire.
j/k nah i just think the crap service should not exist thats why I told my uncle about it. I dont get any commission so dont worry ahaha i wont even get a free drink.
