After running the Isis on the Michelin Pilot Sports 3 tyres for 2 weeks, the fuel consumption has increased by about 10%+, from average of 10.5km/L to only 9.2km/L. This is likely due to the much higher grip on the road, which makes the driving very much better feel and safer.
Mum and dad will be joining Gene in New York for a few months, so we sent them off to the airport last night. We had a little supper at KFC, but Joseph was already asleep by 11:00pm.
Last weekend, Esther and David worked together and finished the Lego Medieval Castle set.
They had fun cycling around the neighbourhood, too.
Joseph was also able to put together the Lego wizard set (meant for 5 years plus) with very minimal guidance.
Today, we met up with Wei Yeu and Wei Lian for dinner, then visited Yan’s family. Wei Lian, based in Taiwan, is in town for Medical conference.
This is Joseph dressing up as Pororo. He wore the police helmet and declared, “I’m Pororo.” Grace said Pororo wears goggles and Esther found the goggles for Joseph.
With the Michelin Primacy LC tyres running close to 40,000km and 21 months, plus balding and and also the hydroplaning on the highway, it is time to change tyres. We are also planning a trip to KL soon, plus vehicle inpection for the 3rd year by April 2012. So we go for an upgrade to 17″ and better tyres. After looking around for about 1 month for 2nd-hand Prodrive 17″ forged lightweight rims (about $1500 rims only), we finally settled for a Volk Racing replica gunmetal coloured.
Rims changed from RSW 16″-7.0″-ET40 to Volk replica 17″-7.5″-ET42 (about 8.3kg each, $700 for 4).
Tyres from Primacy LC 205-55-R16 to Pilot Sport 3 225-45-R17 ($250 each).
Lugnuts changed from standard to black (special adaptor, added security against theft).
Weight reduction about 4kg each set of rim and tyre, so the car weights about 16kg lighter now.
Total cost after trade-in $1650.00.
We did it at Arrow Tyres, Ang Mo Kio, First Centre Building.
Here is the set and lugnuts.
And the new look of the car:
For comparison, the old look:
And the look when we got the car:
The initial feel is stability, very good wet grip (it rained on the way back home), sharp turning response, but can feel every bump on the road due to the rigid tyres. Nice feeling to drive; gives confidence of safety.
The original Isis air-filter is about $45, so we decided to try out unbranded OEM ones from China at $13 each. We bought 5 pieces as they are the same for the Altis (Gene’s car)
The old one has 31,000km on it, and the previous change was also at 30,000km.
YowCH bought a bike rack from Bike Connection, a simple Bell tripleback. This rack holds up to 3 bikes.
The children were really excited as we can now drive the bikes to cycling places like East Coast Park.
We took a family photo today, all the Yows, 3 generations.
The sudden flash of afternoon rain also gave us a case of double rainbow!
Tagging along with the TYLin China annual dinner at Chongqing on 17 Jan, YowCH and Grace had a short work/holiday trip from 16 to 19 Jan 2012.
Click on photos for the dedicated page.
