Uncle Luqman Drives

There have been times where I find myself behind the wheel of someone else's vehicle for varying reasons. Normally, I would take gentle care so as to not risk breaking anything - especially if said vehicle is older than the owner itself. However, there have been exceptions to that rule, and as the title of this article suggest, this is definitely one of them. For a brief period in March 2019, I came in possession of a 2013 Proton Inspira 2.0 Premium. It wasn't mine, though. The history of the car is long, complicated and a little personal so I would not dive into that. What matters, though, was that I got the chance to drive this car on my own on several occasions - most notably, going to and back from college - therefore able to evaluate for myself what the Inspira is like to drive and oh boy, it was quite a treat. Going through the back roads of USJ Heights from my college back home, the Inspira presents itself with eagerness to be pushed around the bends. The way it just pul...

Stepping out of the door of my home, I'm often met with the familiar sight of having two iconic executive compact saloons of the 1980s out on the porch. It's an odd feeling - on one hand, there's this "wow" feeling in me, having two identical cars on the driveway. On the other hand, I felt like it's nothing special. Perhaps because I'm used to having old Mercs in my family throughout my life - something I wrote about here . Don't get me wrong - W124s are good cars. Despite getting on with the age, it still remains largely relevant today. With plenty of spare parts available (exception for 300E-24), maintenance is comparable to that to a modern-day D-Segment Japanese cars. Performance is best described as "adequate" for daily driving, with a wide variety of engine choices that you can get to suit your need. A frugal, rough and ready diesel? A peppy four-cylinder or a smooth, creamy six for those highway runs? If you live in LHD markets, you ...

After four years of relentlessly thrashing my Wira, it finally happened. I was just driving along, maybe pulling from 60 to 80 km/h when there was a loud "TICK" and the engine just cut off. I tried starting through various methods - turning the key and using the clutch to jump start the car. While the car could be jump started (I had enough momentum to do that), the engine would immediately cut off as I go full throttle.   I let my Wira gradually roll to a safe spot shown above and once I'm stopped, I open the bonnet and retreated to a residential area just next to it. With no hopes of starting the car up, I called my dad and also made arrangements to call a tow truck. This is my first time that my Wira has ever needed to be on the back of a tow truck. Having been informed that the tow truck would only arrive in 45 minutes, we decided to go tapao food at KFC and then eating at home which is just a few metres away from the breakdown site. However, I didn't get to ...