Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

The month of December is often characterized with a lot of vehicular and Human traffic especially in the city of Lagos. Lastma is Lagos state Govt's solution to the managing the chaotic traffic situation commuters experience here in Lagos.
Like almost every conceived initiative by Governments in Nigeria, the idea is always terrific, the roll out and implementation leaves a rather disturbing feel about if we can ever do anything right in this country.
While shopping for a Christmas gift for my beautiful wife, i was shocked to find Lastma officials(at 10am) shopping for Perfumes in the same shop as i was!!!!!!!!!!





This shows that all claims of bribery and corruption about this agency is true, or how do you hope to explain the ability of these men to buy perfumes from such an expensive shop with the salary which they are on?
While Fashola and Hitech prepare to milk the residents of Lekki with the Shortest Toll interval in Africa, Lastma boys are preparing for a wonderfully scented smell for Christmas.

Pearl Harbour

It was Pearl Habour all over again, only this time it wasn't the Americans the Japanese bombed to smithereens, it was the Germans. The convoy that represented Omtis and Co. that headed for Ibadan to Attend Sheriff Opeloye's wedding took the Epe-Ijebu Ode route. 4 cars, four different types of drivers all with one purpose, be in Ibadan on time to join their very good friend Shevshenko in celebrating as he leaves bachelor hood behind.



Shev and Zee

Point man was the CEO of LAY records Layi Oke Salako, driving a 1.4L Skoda Fabia a 5 speed manual putting out 75bhp, cleanly followed by Jigga driving the Green Hornet, a 1999 Toyota Camry V6 with 197bhp, Okufi who had as his Co-Pilot; Mad man Dapo Adisa drove a Skoda Octavia MPI, with Tip-tronic transmission putting out 101bhp. whiplash Olasemo dipo drove the Coja BMW 3 series 1.8; BMW's Horse power values are irrelevant because they're so well built a straight 6 BM will out manoeuvre and then out run many V8's.
Such was the convoy line till we got to Epe, where the gas guzzler of the group; the Hornet had to fill its belly. we were pulled over several times by the 'Capable' men of the Nigeria Police who insisted we shared some of our Beer fortune in the trunk with them. we definitely declined and opted to pay a fine of 200card per car.
As we left the coastal town of Epe, Doc. Okufi took point as the fuel sipping Fabia could not just take the pace of the cars behind it. much to the apprehension of a few in the convoy Okufi did excellently well. He was so good that i had to flag him down to slow the pace as the other two cars, the Fabia and the BMW were struggling to keep up. The reason being the road between Epe and Ijebu Ode was really rough and as such there was a lot of braking going, this didn't go down very well with the Fabia and the BMW as they had to shift gears frequently.
The Ijebu Ode- Ibadan leg had a much better stretch of Road, and soon it became a two horse race between the Octavia and the Hornet. The fuel gains Layi experienced during the week in traffic could not compensate for the lack of power on the open stretch of Road. I was Jigga's Co-pilot and i soon became bored and i guess a few others too, Layi took Jigga on the outer lane and was now in pole position 2, we dropped to third. Layi was hungry for bragging rights and soon overtook his bigger and much powerful sibling the octavia to take pole position.
At that point i knew the prefect scene had been drafted to show "there's no replacement for displacement", (though the oldest, Jigga's car had the biggest engine) a tiny stetch of road opened up and in 1 clean swoop JIgga opened the taps and cleaned out the octavia. Layi had gained a little advantage but the lack of real power from that miserly engine failed and with very little effort the green Hornet was back at in front.
The CEO says he was doing 150KM/h when we blew past and at the time i begged Jigga to ease up a bit so we don't get lost as we didn't know the way, he'd clocked 185Km/h.
At that point, there was no rattle and no obvious sign that this green baby could not attain its 220Kmh limit.....
What ever the Japanese have done, they've definitely done very well!!!!!!!
Yo-ishnai, yo ikangnai


From L-R: Jigga, Sheriff, Okufi, Olasemo, Dapo Adisa, Vas1, Jide Nigwo

4 against 2

Ever since my Power bike experience I've developed a new respect for these beasts. This prompted a heated argument between I and a few friends when Kelli showed up in his cruiser. The beef, would the fastest bike in the world outrun the most power production car in the world?
These video's might help make things clearer.

Ducatti Desmosedici vs Ferrari 430 Scuderia


Nissan GTR vs Kawasaki ZX-14

I can make out 1 thing from these videos, on a track (twisty roads), if the power to weight ratios of both bike and car were similar, the bike stands a much better chance of out pacing the car for the simple reason of quicker acceleration. Flat out, the car will eat the Bike up. The reason, Cars always have higher end speeds than Bikes.

The solution to this debacle depending on where you stand is to see a comprehensive test against the fastest and most powerful production car(the Bugatti Veyron) go up against the Kawasaki Ninja ZX -14.
All Bike loving fans shouldn't expect much though as the GTR in the video above has about 1/2 the power output of a Veyron.... pretty sure that wouldn't be a battle!!!!!!!!!

Topgear Vs. Pimp my ride

Having a blog affords me the opportunity to interact with a lot of people on car matters. There’s a question I detest most among all the frequent questions I ever get asked. What can I do to Pimp my Ride?
People often say Nigerians Love cars, that Nigerians drive some of the choicest cars in the world. If I’m sitting whenever I hear that comment I always fall back into my seat( I get weak from hearing that sort of biased, mis-guided and un-informed comment). Now let me ask how many times have you ever seen a Ferrari in this country, any Ferrari at all? Ok, how about a Lamborghini? an Aston Martin? an SLR McLaren? In all my many years crisscrossing Nigeria, I have only come across 1 ferrari and it was 360 Modena. (That means old) it’s since been replaced by the 430 and even that’s been replaced by the 458 Italia.


Topgear or Pimp my ride, who takes it?

Now how do we arrive at the “we drive the baddest cars in Africa” notion come from? I’ll tell you where. It’s from that Lame program called Pimp my ride. Yep you heard me right. The only thing good on that show is the Host. Xhibit hosts the show and is one of my greatest rappers of all time and its no suprise he was recruited to make a lame program cool. The show focuses on restoring beat down, low end scraps to much more "fly" condition. But what do they succeed in doing, they add more gadgets in the form of all manner of LCD screens, sub woofers that weigh more than the moon and rims that are bigger than Mars on these cars and then do little to offset the additional weight burden with more power.
Now a real Car show should focus on the CARS. Cars by their very nature are meant to be driven. So any enhancement to these cars on any show should aid their drivability. Mercedes spends a million pounds a day on research and development!!!!!!!!!!!!! So how on earth do you think a 2 bit part builder from some obscure part of the earth will make a part that could replace one developed with that kind of budget?????
That’s why I love Topgear. It’s hosted by a bunch of Middle aged English men who clown around all day with all sorts of toilet humour and Judge a car based on its performance, its connection with the driver and how much soul it has. Any episode on Topgear that involves restoring a car, the 1st thing that is done is to up the power, reduce the weight and fit bigger brake discs that help with slowing the car down, Pimp my ride would add winged doors(more weight), LCD+mega speakers+sub woofers+huge rims; fitting huge rims on cars are cool but have you asked what it does to the driving dynamics of the car? Well 1st up is this, bigger rims no matter what they’re made from means more weight. Now because you’re just tweaking the rims alone, you have to still fit that rim into the same wheel well as the former one, it means you have to use low profile tyres (remember fities line “low pro’s so it looks like I’m riding on blades”), that then means your tyres have a smaller side wall. The side walls help in absorbing some of the harsh surfaces on our roads. What you’ve simply done is take that part of the dampening effect out making your car more noisy, 1000times more uncomfortable and finally because we have such bad roads, you’ve sunk a well in your pocket because our bad roads will tear up your “low pros” like Jigga tears up a Biggie( remember that the next time you watch Pimp my ride). Ask MTN big boy Gboyega why he took out his 22” rims from his Murano
Before you ever consider "Pimping your ride", please put it in a road worthy condition deserving of a 100% and then if the thought of it crosses your mind be sure not to call me.................
With that point made, I award the car show award to Topgear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Omtis Celebrates

Homo sapiens by nature are built to associate. When I was in the university I belonged to a group of noble men called the 3 musketeers (well we became 4 after inducting 1 more member). We were Yemi Coker, Henry Egbunike, Biodun Elemide and the inducted member was Eyinaya Mbagwu. Our sole aim was freeing men from the depression associated with studying Zoology and just having a really good time.
By that same association I was talking about, I became and inducted member of OMTIS, to which my brother was one founding members. They stood to for the cause that man’s true identity could be traced to the bottle. In reality they were a bunch of mutants whose threshold for alcohol was so high very few souls rarely saw them get to their limits. (My induction ceremony was a nightmare)
On sat the 6th of November we ushered one of the last few single members of OMTIS into marriage. Wola Oyesoro was getting married to Moradeyo Adeyemi.

Shevshenko& Wola


From L-R: G. o gbo, Vas1, Wola, Jigga

When OMTIS gathers for any occasion you’re guaranteed to find 2 things, Beer and lots of cars. I got an opportunity to drive for myself 3 cars, the new series Toyota Camry, the 2003 Nissan Xterra and Jigga’s own speeder.
The Toyota camry owned by G.O gbo, was really a sweet car, it came with leather seats, steering mounted controls for the audio system, cruise control and a really cool feature that adjusts the audio system to match the engine noise as you increase speed on the highway thereby ensuring engine noise never drowns whatever it is you’re listening to. It also came with Toyota’s in line 4 Cylinder engine. What that means is that you get 30MPG which is great for your wallet and 169HP. unfortunately as a driver’s car; you might want to sacrifice those MPG values for the 6 cylinder engine putting out 268HP. There is such a long delay between stamping flat on the accelerator and that throw back feeling into the seat I experience everytime in Jigga’s (penciled eye) camry. It makes you hesitate when you want to instantly overtake. Other than the lack of power the camry has so much rear room you can throw a party in the back seat.
After driving the Xterra it further stengtened my belief that bigger isn’t always better. The Xterra had a 3.5L v6 that was eager to go. The ride height was so high up that I felt I was driving a 10 storey building and the hood was so long that it felt I was driving from the back seat of Slama. I have always said short of driving an X5, or a Porsche Cayyene all other SUV’s were nothing more refined than a Toyota Hilux. The Xterra proved this. The Suspension was so out of date hat it felt I was driving a dinosaur. It could do only 1 thing, go in a straight line and that wasn’t even very fast. Avoiding any of the potholes on ikorodu road at top speed was met with so much dip and dive that I wonder why anyone would ever buy any of these relics from prehistoric times.
Jigga’s speeder ofcourse proved itself 1ce more. We attempted to have a go off a green light with a G55 AMG(it packs over 500 hp), we were met with a nothing more than a huge embarrassment. We didn’t even have the decency of seeing the guy’s red light go into the distance. We could only here the sound of that roar from Mercedes 5.5L supercharged beast. Really Jigga’s car proved to be the better of the three from a driver’s perspective. It’s decently fast, which inspires you to throw it harder everytime.
From a realistic point of view, I’d take G.o Gbo’s 2007 Camry. The reason being, it’s newer, and for everyday driving in Lagos it’d be more than sufficient for all the overtaking you’d need to do. Next on my list would be Jigga’s speeder. As a gift I wouldn’t take the Xterra. It’s very thirsty on fuel and I don’t trust the handling one bit.
We all had so much fun at Wola’s wedding ceremony, it was filled with so much Swagg. Happy married life Wola and Moradeyo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Make that Paper

Just one day after writing a piece to celebrate Land Rovers 40th anniversary I get to witness the original 1970 series breakdown right before me.

kai.. dis Moto Heavy o!!!!!!!!
Quite often we’re told that Nigerians are a bunch of resilient, hard working, never say die people but when you witness this kind of determination by my friends over at Lastma to make that ‘paper’ you’ve got to ask yourself am I doing enough for my hustle?
This guys actually helped the unsuspecting driver of this classic push this 2Ton+ monster unto the kerb and then bill em’ while askari stands watch…..

Stop dia my evening cheda has come

Evoque

Other than its utilitarian origins, Land Rover has best kept its Heritage. Of the 4x4 vehicles you see on the road, Land Rover is the 2nd oldest brand, being younger only to the founding father of 4x4’s (Jeep). If you’ve ever been to Oniru beach you probably would’ve seen what the ‘prehistoric’ Land Rover looked like ( you know the ones that are used in transporting machine vibrated blocks) they’re called the Land Rover Defender and it hasn’t really changed much from the series 1 that launched the brand in 1948.

1948 Series 1 Land Rover
Land Rover 2008 Defender

On Land Rover’s lineup is the Discovery now popularly known as the LR3 or 4 depending on what model you bought.

Land Rover Discovery 2000 Model


LR3 2005 Model

The Free Lander is the baby of the range and the flagship model is the Range Rover.

Land Rover Free Lander 2000 model


Land Rover Freelander 2

Range Rover is Land Rover’s Luxury division. The 1st Range Rover was designed in 1970 to further help Land Rover move upward the Luxury market. The secret was to build a vehicle that could take Land Rover’s best customers everywhere in style and comfort, be it a camping trip out in the mountains or take a cruise in style and comfort on the back roads. Till date, only 3 generations of Range rovers exist!!!!!!!!!!!

Range Rover Generations

Range Rovers most popular stint probably came up under BMW ownership in 2002, but unfortunately like Jose Mourinho in Chelsea Bmw did not last long enough to reap all her rewards for the fine work it had done. To celebrate her 40th anniversary, Range Rover introduced the EVOQUE.

Victoria Beckham at the unveiling of the Evoque

The EVOQUE is the 1st Range Rover to come in an optional 2WD mode. They say it’s the most fuel efficient and most environmentally friendly Range Rover yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s so hugely celebrated that Victoria Beckham was involved in the design phase just to up the Swag a little bit more. You want one, you'll be able to get one from next year when it goes on sale!

Flying Spur

The Bentley Continental flying Spur
In the picture above, there are basically two objects, me and if you get the other I’d be impressed. It’s a Bently. Do I hear you say the Bently Continental? *bell rings* you’re so wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s the Bently Continental Flying Spur!!!!!!!!!!
Merely looking at the picture above, almost no one could tell it was the flying spur. It shares the same platform as the 2 door continental, but it has two more extra doors. Also up on offer is the famous W12 engine from Volkswagen. The Flying spurs has all of the advantages of the coupe and none of the draw backs.
The Bentley continental is what Volkswagen used in relaunching the Bentley line, its to Bentley what the Cayenne is to Porsche. The Continental has a monumental 12 cylinder engine in the form of a W12. Its every footballers dream car and almost all your favorite EPL players have one or have owned one in the past.

Bentley Continental GT

Bentley Continental Flying Spur
Its what you’d call a real executive super saloon. With a 12 cylinder naturally aspirated engine with over 500Hp, it’s no slouch!!!!!!!!!!!! 0-100 times are under 5seconds and with prices starting at 180 grand($), its not for everyone. This one seen here was quoted at 28Million naira!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s about all the money our Naija boy won in the Big brother all stars, now thats a worthy way to spend $200,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS: I’d have given u’all more pictures, but my regular Camera man (jigga) was unavailable. I had to make do with Bode who’s an Amateur

Get out of the passengers seat

After a pulsating ride on a Honda power bike, I discovered a new respect for the 2 wheeled monsters. I was with Jigga and we were waiting for the CEO L.A.Y records when ever so suddenly I heard the vroom…brraaa..brooomm sound from a power bike. I and jigga walked over to examine and admire the bike more closely. The bike revved all the way to 14,000 RPM and the speedometer was digital.

Suzuki Monster
According to the biker he said he didn’t know what the limit was because he’d never maxxed it out. It had a 17L tank and it lasts him for 4 days!!!!!!!!! (that’s a miserly 1,105 naira with all that thrill).
I was busy taking pictures with the biker and believe it or not,’ Lagos lookers’ were gathering.

Vas1 and the Day Walker
(Well most were drivers caught in the dreadful Ozumba traffic heading towards the mainland) While taking pictures with the biker i was fortunate to witness the new method LASTMA officials devised in harrasing motorists in Lagos. The picture below shows it all.

Drop off man
There’s a drop off man. He gets off the bike, orders the driver to come to a halt and then attempts to get into the car.

Park.. Park!!!!!!!
Two years ago I had a similar experience on Akin Adesola- Adeola Odeku intersection. I was working from Sagamu then and wasn’t too familiar with the lastma rules; yes, LASTMA rules. Their rules are always contrary to the Highway Code. They make it up as they go along and if you Guck it.. you’ll pay up like the CEO. Before I could say Jack Bauer, two of them got in. 1 in front and the other behind. They ordered me to pull over right there by their post. I thought fast, l loked around for more officers and a tow truck. There was none. I hissed and became Vaswani MAD!!!!
I said who gave you guys permission to enter Slama? Did you buy her for me? I screamed in a very loud Elemide voice ‘get out’ or I’ll move. The idiot behind pretended to be on the radio doing the Charley 1 –roger 2 thing. He forgot he was holding a mobile phone and it takes at least 5 seconds for calls to connect on any network… Olodo!!!
I drove straight towards the bar beach and stopped around Karimu ikotun, the next thing that came out of my mouth was get out or I’ll drive straight to the beach and tell awon boys you tried to rob me( ofcourse, I was shouting), the shameless numb nuts started begging.. “oga please, we no know’…I said out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.. The more shameless fool in front then said please find us something to take a bike back to our post. I hissed opened the door, waited for them to put one foot on the floor and I zoomed off…
I’m sure one of them bruised his elbow from the fall. Now before you go and pass judgement on me. Where in the law does it say, for committing any offence. A LASTMA official gets to sit in your car. Sometimes they even order the passenger in front to go to the back seat????? They come up with offences that are bogus and fines that are insane.
I hate those guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baby Boy

I’d say I’ve had my fair share of Adrenaline filled moments. I’ve loved cars from as far as I was a toddler; I loved the thrilling effects the sound of a powerful engine produces as its revved silly from a green light, it sends chills down my spine, knowing that I can run any one slower than me off the road.
It’s a passion I and my brother picked up from our Dad. Fixing my Dad’s car in his workshop was a really great bonding experience for three of us. I thought the most beautiful thing I had ever seen was a Supercharged V8 Mercedes E class melt rubber on the streets of Abuja.
I was wrong, I witnessed the birth of Akinolu Adeniyi Elemide come into the world right before my very eyes on a raining Sunday morning. The gentle cries of Mother and Son after delivery was more sonorous than any sweet sounding V8 I’d ever heard. Time stood still for me right there!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Akinolu Adeniyi Elemide
Niyi’s growing with pretty much with some of my interests. He gave a deep smile from his sleep on the journey back from the hospital as Dave powered past three cars in his 3.5V6 Acura RL( the only time he did so the entire journey) and he does wake up 3 or 4 times a night.
Here’s to another generation of Father –Son bonding through the love of Cars, I love you Son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Madness going on!!!!!!!!!!!

10, Adeboye ELemide Street, that’s the location where my Dad sighted his “Castle”. Pretty serene neighborhood, safe (except we got robbed just once, I was slapped to silly that day). Growing up in a neighborhood that’s quiet and peaceful somehow shapes your preference for a location when you’re about to make your own family.
I attended the University of Ibadan, served in Bauchi state and got a Job working with a multinational company in Sagamu. I was there for 2 years before relocating back to Lagos. Upon my return to Lagos, I stayed with Jigga in Lekki by the Sea side at alfa beach. It was a natural Habitat for me. It was peaceful, quiet and very safe Neighborhood. Everywhere I had stayed in prior to that time was relatively similar. I was so settled in that losing a house in Gbagada and getting one in Ajah did’nt seem like mch of a disappointment to me.
On a terrible day, the journey to work and back while I was at alfa beach (alfa beach is closer to Vi where I work than Ajah) lasted no more than 1.45mins (now, 3 hours seems the best time you can achieve). The reason, the ongoing repair of the lekki road by the state Govt. a project overseen by Lekki Concession Company (LCC) and construction work carried out by Hitech. The Job, expansion of the existing 2 lane road to a 3 lane road, the length of road, no more than 30Km to Ajah from VI, the duration of the project thus far, over 4 years!!!!! Going by the pro’s, of staying on the island, it’s been bearable; Spending close to 2 hours getting to and from work. It’s been hard but bearable.
I’m a firm believer that we take a lot for granted in this country and that we have little or no value for life. You want examples, the carnage that happened so very recently around the Berger axis of Lagos. A trailer lost control, rammed into a bunch of cars. Over 20 people died. How did this happen? Unconfirmed reports say that road blocks set up by police to collect 20 naira suddenly stopped a car; he slammed on the brakes… a pile up ensued!!!! How did the police men collecting 20 naira at the scene respond? They shot sporadically in the air and sped off. There are countless examples, so to save your time and mine, I’ll move on.
The said lekki road was constructed 28 years ago. An addition of just one lane is going on now, and over a distance of just under 30Km, there will be 3 Toll collection points!!!! The reason, LCC needs to recoup the money spent on constructing the road!!! The duration of collection, 30 years!!!!! The most annoying thing is this; these loosers constructing the road are backed by the Govt of the day!!!!! After suffering untold hardship, for such a long time, upon completion of the road, the hardship continues in the form of paying the Toll for most people, till they die!!!!!
The reason for my anger you might ask? I pay my F**Kn taxes. How do I explain the logic of this action by the govt supposedly elected into office by the citizens to my kids? Look around you, even in West Africa, the rest of the world is moving on. Today if a Governor constructs any stretch of road, you’re sure to find a Bill board of him somewhere along it, or in the dailies commemorating the achievement!!!!! These are basic amenities and if in 2010, we celebrate such in this country, it only tells you how far behind we are.
There’s a popluar saying that goes, a people only get the kind of leaders they deserve. I’m afraid it’s true in the case of Nigeria, because we celebrate Mediocrity in this country… and don’t even go there by asking “what would he do if he were there”? That’s the very tactic that’s been used to keep us so backward for so freaking long!!!!!!
Nigeria turns 50 in just under a month, what’s with all the money being borrowed for the massive celebration? It’s sad, what will you tell your kids if they ever ask, “Dad, why didn’t you do something”?

Road Rage

At the peak of his Career, Toni Tetuila did a song called “u don hit my car”. If you live in Lagos, I’m pretty sure you know what follows after hitting some1’s car? It’s almost always ends in a fight. The medical term for this behavior is called Road Rage and it’s defined as an aggressive or angry behavior by a driver of an automobile or other motor vehicle. It’s characterized by rude gestures, verbal insults, deliberately driving in an unsafe or threatening manner, or making threats. Drivers who suffer from this condition usually flare up and become un-usually angry while driving on the road, not letting anyone or anything get in their way even when the right of way is clearly not theirs.

I'm gonna bash your face in

If you’ve ever responded in any of the following manner below on the road, you most likely suffer from Road Rage:
• Generally aggressive driving, including sudden acceleration, braking, and close tailgating.
• Cutting others off in a lane, or deliberately preventing someone from merging.
• Sounding the vehicle's horn in intimidating or threatening melodies.
• Flashing lights excessively.
• Yelling or exhibiting disruptive behavior at roadside establishments.
• Driving at high speeds in the median of a highway to terrify drivers in both lanes.

I say this a dozen times on the way home
• Rude gestures (such as "the finger", or "mean face").
• Shouting verbal abuses or threats.
• Intentionally causing a collision between vehicles.
• Hitting other vehicles.
• Exiting the car to attempt to start confrontations, including striking other vehicles with an object.
• Threatening to use or using a firearm or other deadly weapon.
• Throwing projectiles from a moving vehicle with the intent of damaging other vehicles.

Well it’s safe to say then that almost every driver in Lagos suffers from Road Rage.


A lady flipping someone off
Here are a few ways of dealing with Road Rage;
• Get sufficient sleep. Quite a good number of people in this town sleep less than 5hours a day!!! Small wonder they get pissed off so easily.
• Plan ahead. If you meant to get to work at 7.30am, you need to incorporate the extra amount of time you’ll spend in traffic to get there. So get everything you’ll need the night before.
• Don’t take your anger out on the road. If your boss got you really angry back at the office, please leave the anger there. Do not take it out on the next fellow whose spouse probably pissed off and is trying to contain it.
• Turn down the music. It’s believed that loud and aggressive music influences our driving style. If you feel a rage coming on, listen to some Michael Bolton songs or I-FM
• Breathe in and out. Martin Lawrence tried same in the Bad boy’s sequel. He’d been under pressure from work and his therapist advised he tries the breathing technique.
• Pray every morning before leaving your house. There are a lot of really messed up people out there. People who have problems you cannot imagine!!!!!!!!!!!! Your prayer should always be that you never come across such people.

Half full-half empty

If the glass below appears to you as half full you may not agree with my next comment; not having a car does have its perks. You’re never sure of just how you’ll get home. You do know you will but you’re not sure how. As Jigga always says, no1 ever sleeps at the bus stop!!!!
It seemed like any other day. I’d hitch a ride to about 70% of the way home then fly a bike for the rest of it. It was panning out to be one of such days, the sky had turned really dark and it looked like I was gonna be beaten blue-black by the rain which was coming fast. As I got out of the Car, I stood briefly at the bus-stop. The Okada guys had hiked up the fares because of the rains which were fast approaching. I couldn’t even get one to take me home.
From the back ground I heard the rumbling sound of what was clearly a monster!!!! It was a Power Bike, in retrospect I don’t know if it was the fear of being drenched, I flagged the biker down as he was about to get on to the Highway( I naturally have a fear of bikes, I’ve had 2 bikes accidents, the last one less than 2years ago) . I said dude, can I go with you? He nodded yes and revved the Engine so violently… oh my, I was scared!!!! In my state of confusion about getting on the bike or not, 1 other skinny chap waiting for a bus or something said “chairman if you no wan enter commot make I follow the guy”.
I needed no other push, I got on the Bike and ohhh my!!!!! It was to be the most Adrenaline filled 5 minutes of my Life!!!!! It was a 500CC Honda bike. It clocked out at 280Km and the engine Revved all the way to 14,000 RPM. Just to give you an idea of how mad the engine revved, take a look at the next car you get into, it’s not going to rev past 7000 RPM before it red lines. This bike was a screamer and so did I also scream all the way till I got off. In less than 5 seconds we were already doing 180KM/ hour on a stretch of road that a regular car will struggle to attain 100Km/ hour.
This bike had more gears than D-Banj has sun glasses. As if the biker knew it was my 1st time on a power bike, he was riding like he was mad, overtaking everything in eye’s sight!!!! Leaning from the left to right, the bike pitched and dived as he got of the clutch to the brakes and back again. I’ve been in quite a number of cars, some fast some slow, some really fast. But nothing has the kind of acceleration this thing had!!!! It’s got to be illegal???
I can confidently tell you, that short of owning a Lamborgini Murceilago LP 670-4SV, there’s nothing that can accelerate that fast. I was still screaming by the time we got to my stop and didn’t stop for another couple of minutes… it was a pleasant one….. I loved Slama, but I’m glad she’s gone. Only your exit could’ve paved the way for such a mad and obscene ride!!!!!

Blow out

Blow out may be defined as a sudden escape of a confined gas or liquid. As a driver, there are a few things you’re never trained for and one of them is a ‘blow out’. For me it was a much more cold experience than a robbery incident that had a pistol jammed right in my stomach. It can be a scary experience and often you see your life flash right past you as you hear the loud deafening sound of your tires as they rip to pieces and you struggle to bring your car to a stop. You remember every movie you’ve seen where someone lost a tyre and the car somersaulted.
The most common causes of blow out’s are usually aging tire’s. Experts say that the life span of a tyre is 4 years from its date of manufacture!!!!! In a country where we have challenging roads it’s safe to say that this value must be lower here. Our roads do make our cars take a beating and the tire’s which connects cars to the roads must suffer the worst of it. Incorrect tyre pressure, worn tires from alignment issues also aid blow outs.

Blow out on a 4x4 vehicle
I was lucky as the Blow out I experienced (twice) was below a 60Km/ hour and at both times the rear tires were lost. My brother, Jigga had his at a much more interesting speed of a 110Km/ hour. He’d been travelling at 170Km /hour but felt the need to reduce his speed. That must’ve been God speaking to him. He recalls that as he dropped to 110km/ hour, he saw his left rear tyre explode and rip to pieces in his rear view mirror. He said it was like time had been slowed down. All he remembered at that point was that our Dad said don’t stamp on the brakes…don’t stamp on the brakes if you ever have a blow out.

High speed blow out on a Ferrari
Normal braking requires an even distribution of brake force in the car, when you experience a blow out, the brake force is no longer uniform as the tyre that has lost pressure from the escaping air will not find traction. This is made worse when the driver stamps on the brakes. The car simply loses control and depending on the road speed and tyre in question, you may somersault!!!!
In the event of a blow out;
1st thing you should do is not to panic.
2nd do not step on the brakes. (Your natural instinct is to brake…DON’T)
3rd grab your steering wheel with both hands.
4th take your foot off the accelerator.
5th look for the clearest stretch of road ahead of you and point the car in that direction
6th let the car coast to a stop (let it come to a stop on its own)
7th put up the necessary caution signs and change to your spare (hope fully you’d have 1)
Its essential to bear in mind that as you service your engine at intervals, tyre maintenance is also a must and should not be left to road side vulcanizers. This must be done at a service station where the alignment and wheel balance is checked by professionals( i and Jigga once met a road side vulcanizer who swore he could simply by looking at your tires set it to the right pressure). If you suffer an engine failure from neglect, you most likely will survive it, a tyre failure from Neglect? Well I don’t know..........

Be Smart

Slama bowed out of my possession in the week just passed. As a result of our very un-reliable transportation system in this country I’ve had to hitch a ride with anyone heading my way. On one of such trips home I got into an argument with the occupant of the vehicle I was in. Namely Jigga and one Igbo Boy.
The loud mouthed Igbo Boy made a very offensive comment. He said if he were in a Discussion continues (Honda Accord 2005) and someone pulled up to him in a Skoda Octavia, He’d laugh real silly at the Octavia guy. Needless to say, I was angered by his comments as this is the Lame, un-informed and un-spirited loyalty that makes cars like Honda and Toyota’s so very expensive the world over.

Skoda superb

Toyota Camry
How did Honda and Toyota achieve their reputation for reliability? : By building cheap and dependable cars spanning over 60years. So what is so funny when an Auto Company with a humble background (19 years since Vw’s owned Skoda) that makes sensible cars so funny? I promised him that other than my love for German cars I’d prove him wrong with Statistics.
The Following day I got digging and got the following:

The figures speak for themselves, in a previous article the reason people are killing themselves for certain brands isn’t because they like them it’s because others are buying them. At 3million Naira the 1.6MPI Octavia is more than a worthy bargain. It’s as far as I’m concerned a better car than the Corolla (I didn’t even bother getting the cost of the corolla just to show you how confident I am)
Let’s also keep in clear perspective that Toyota isn’t as reliable as it used to be. According to caranddriver.com, Toyota lost the Accord/Camry battle with the launch of the last generation Accord. A record it held for the previous 5 generations. Then there’s the UIA, un-intended acceleration that a good portion of Toyota’s line suffered which led to a world-wide recall ( I don’t remember any Toyota’s being recalled in Nigeria).
On a final note, let’s not get carried away by the success of the day, else you risk loosing it to harder, more committed and ever dynamic competitors. The winner here by any milestone is clearly the Skoda, even demonstrated by its Superb name.

Want more power????

Man’s quest for power ultimately sent Him out of the Garden of Eden, when he sought knowledge what he actually sought was power. The race for power is ever evident in the auto industry as with most manufacturers that have products in same groups tend to out-do each other with almost every model they release. BMW’s M3 and Audi’s RS4 are typically good examples.
The power war between the car giants is worse than what ensued between OBJ and Atiku in the last dispensation. These brilliant car manufacturers have arrived at the pinnacle of this battle by various means; vehicular weight reduction, improved aero dynamics and advances in engine design with stuffs like direct injection. But one common denominator that is ever present in almost every car that chooses to go berserk on its power numbers is that the engine is always charged up.
If you remember clearly the very 1st memories you’d have of a sports car is the Toyota Supra. It was fast right? The Supra employed one of two available means of charging up an engine, it used the Turbocharger. The other alternative more commonly in use is the Supercharger. Both are basically the same thing just differentiated in the means of achieving their aim.
Basically both turbo and Superchargers are compressors that compress air that is fed to the engine. The advantage of compressing the air is that it lets the engine stuff more air into a cylinder. More air means that more fuel can be stuffed in, too, so you get more power from each explosion in each cylinder. A turbo/supercharged engine produces more power overall than the same engine without the charging.¬

Single scroll Turbocharger

Superchager
The key difference is that the Turbocharger uses waste exhaust gases to drive its turbine while the Supercharger uses a regular belt or chain and pulley system like your alternator or water pump. Turbochargers are actually cheaper to fix and for an engine not producing any boost power increases the efficiency of the engine by atomizing all of the fuel (ensuring no fuel leaves the system un-burnt). The downside is that the power band on the turbo chargers tends to be in the higher rev range of the engine. Meaning that if you need instant power from stand-still, you might not get it; a feeling often described as Turbo Lag. Superchargers have a more linear power curve but actually are more expensive and use up a considerable amount of the engines power. The Super charger on the McLaren Mercedes SLR actually uses up to 126Hp!!!! That’s more than a Corolla puts out.
Engine power is increased by either of these chargers. Sadly fuel consumption also increases, but this is more than a welcome sacrifice for the increased power?

I don't get it!!!!!!

Searching for a worthy replacement for Slama has been a very daunting task. 20 years ago in Nigeria if you had to buy 2 similar cars that were only differentiated by their transmission(manual and Auto) the Manuals were always more expensive because no one wanted a Slush box.Today the story is very different.
Every available web site I’ve been to reflected this new trend. No 1 wants a manual anymore. Almost every car model in the market has an option of Automatic on sale and in a few brands like the Camry; the Auto-box is standard, relegating the manual transmission to an option. One of the rarest manuals you can find is the 99-2001 camry that has a manual transmission.
Thus making that old famous economic principle of Demand and Supply affecting price, markedly true; it is so bad that you can almost not find any Toyota product with Automatic transmission for 300k. If you wanted a manual you’d get, (NICELY). I predicted then that we’d all 1 day buy automatics but I didn’t understand that Nigerians are probably the largest collection of people on earth with the band wagon effect. What pains me most is that I thought people were buying Auto’s because they’d come to understand that this was the right choice (in Lagos we live in traffic, for the working man, we spend close to 4 hours every workday on the road. That’s 17% of our active time!!!! What good is a manual transmission here?) But I just realized that 20 years ago everyone was buying a manual so a new car owner would buy 1. Take the pure water example, there was a time in this country every Tom- dick and harry was into the business. You want another, take web design. There was a time this really horrible car was so popular; the Opel Omega. I was in the university at the time and it was so popular in Oyo state that when the state Government of Lam Adesina was doing some kind of Bonanza for its workers, the car of choice was the Opel Omega.
Let’s leave my examples of cars and go to entertainment, do you remember the time that everything you saw on Nigerian Tv was some kind of Reality show or the other? How did it all start? Some very smart guys brought the apprentice show to Nigeria and whooommm every one Jumped on-board the Reality Tv craze. The problem of Piracy of Nigerian artistes started in a similar way. My secondary school was next door neighbors to traders in Alaba Int’l. A few people left the TV/ video sale business because the market had become overcrowded and decided to go into sales of CD’s. They started off with foreign artistes and today we all know the rest. Big Bros Jiggaman is probably lounging somewhere in the Bahamas while the likes of Raskie watch in Hunger( Really no1 pirates Raskies work, who’d buy it?).
You want a hit in this country, start, pioneer or better still rebrand or repackage a new thing!!!!!!!!

Toyota's Bug

3 years ago when I was shopping for a car, I was what you could call a Nigerian-German. Let me clarify a few things. I knew that the name Mercedes Benz was coined out of Carl Benz’s name and the daughter of a prominent sponsor of Gotlieb Daimler before I was 7 years old. My Dad was a practicing Auto Mechanic. He had a regular 9-5 Job in an oil company (Conoil), but Serviced and repaired his car himself. We took a great liking to Cars at a very early age. And 1ce it was time to buy mine, it was definitely going to be a German Car. I couldn’t afford a 3 series, so I settled for the next best thing. A Golf!!!! The Golf provides a fair balance of Power, reliability, durability, simplicity and it definitely has a Fun factor to it. For me, Performance comes before anything (well I thought so).
Change they say is the only constant thing in Life, within this time I’ve gotten married and strangely I now realize that reliability in a car seems to be a more important factor than performance. The Golf is a really great car (its Volkswagen’s largest volume seller) and I’ve not for 1 bit regretted buying it, but something happened that has set me on a slippery slope. I discovered early in the day that Slama (my Golf) is scared of water like a Dog is. At the slightest site of it, she passes out. This has been made worse now by the constant rains we’ve been experiencing on the Island. Like a Navigation system I plot my movement, keeping clear of places that tend to have drainage issues. This even affected my choice to settle in Ajah over Gbagada!!!!!!
I’ve slid up to the point that I am considering the route that Jigga took, getting a Toyota to replace Slama. 3 years ago, such a thought I would consider to be sacrilege. But I’ve done a bit of research on Toyota’s in Nigeria and discovered that they hold more than 80% of its value after 3 years. i.e you buy a tiny light Camry for 1 million and after 3 years, if you use it well you can still find someone to buy it for 800,000. That’s insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

07/07/2010

On 07/07/2007 i walked from the Redemption camp to Berger Bustop a distance of Over 50Km's. I had 2 reasons to complete that journey 1, Man-Mekus was throwing a Binge-drinking Party and My colleague was walking the Journey with me. Had i turned around and gone home i'd have been the Laughing stock in my office. James(my colleague) was Skinny, i was Big-bonned( a natural bias was already in place). He's Dad was a Police man and you can be sure some of the Drilling he got at home worked for Him, through the 50Km walk James never looked like he was going to break down. I on the other hand stopped countless number of times,Cursing the people responsible for the traffic on a supposed Expressway. The trafic was out of this world. The reason for it, is better left for another day. Three years after that Horrid day i had a terrifying reminder of just what happens when over 15 million people travel solely on the Road, It rained Elephants and Lions on the 07/07/2010 in VI which got me thinking there's got to be an alternative to us all driving?

The Terrafugia Flying Car
What you see in the video is absolutely real!!!! its called the The Terrafugia flying car. Here are the Stats: The two-seater vehicle uses its front-wheel drive on roads at ordinary highway speeds. But once it arrives at an adequate take off spot, it can extend its wings, take off and glide through the sky at 115 mph.The vehicle can go 460 miles and carry 450 pounds, but requires a runway that is at least a third of a mile long. It fits into a standard-sized garage. This Flying car was created by MIT Engineers!!!! Getting around in Lagos in 1 of these things will be a beauty. From Epe, to Badagry in no time. Nigeria, we're almost 50... we gotta sit up?????

Mileage

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about a possible replacement for Slama and as such I’ve had to go through quite a number of web sites that sell cars in Nigeria and 1 thing I’ve taken away is that Nigerians place emphasis on just how much accessorized the car is; i.e how much its “pimped up” tends to affect the way they negotiate pricing over the actual under the bonnet condition of the car.
Abroad where most used cars come from, Mileage plays a key role in pricing. Mileage in this case is simply the distance which the car has covered in its life span in Miles. The more the Mileage, the lower the price (irrespective of how many DVD screens it has). Out here it seems not to matter?
Very few cars are known to keep all of their components going beyond 250,000 miles (250K miles). A lot of cars sold in this country especially the ones originating from the American continent that are closer to being 10years and above are already over the 100k mileage. Most lie in the 150k mile range. Analysis shows that 3-5% of cars under their 1st 10 years have their mileage adjusted. Most people buy used cars in Nigeria with pricing around the 1 million naira mark (mostly from salary advances). That will get you a car of around 10 years. At an average of 10k miles per annum you’re going to get a car around a 100k miles (most, already have their mileage adjusted and it’s easy to see why. There’s so much self help tool on the internet that teaches you how to adjust your mileage yourself).

A 76,000+ mile car
So if in effect you buy a car with around 150k miles, take a loan of 1 million to pay over 4 years, drive an average of 10k miles a year, you should after 4yrs have pushed your car to the 200k mile mark? So after paying for four years, the vehicle is now in a not very reliable condition. Thanks especially to the not too good roads in Lagos.
So what’s the Sense in all of it, after paying back the Banks loan, you now have a car that’s no good? It’s simple. If you must buy a Toks, buy one that will be good to you after the bank has taken its pound of flesh from you. My advice, buy a damn brand NEW CAR!!!!!!!

Direct injection

Fuel injected engines received a similar kind of discrimination that automatic transmission cars got back in the days. Buying a car equipped with a carburetor was the way to go. My perception of fuel injected cars changed when I, my brother and my Dad worked on getting “Lord Lugard’s” carburetor engine replaced with a fuel injected engine. (Lord Lugard was what we called my Dad’s 5 series). Yeah, it was an un-popular move and other than the fact that my family is not known to go with the flow, we were well aware of the benefits of petrol injection over the use of a carburetor. Instantly noticeable was an improvement in fuel economy. Early morning start ups were now easier than ever.
A petrol engine burns a mixture of petrol and air, this mixture is via a carburetor or an injector. The basic difference between a carburetor and fuel injection is that fuel injection atomizes the fuel by forcibly pumping it through a small nozzle under high pressure, while carburation relies on low pressure created by intake air rushing through it to add the fuel through the intake manifolds.

Fuel injection
Fuel and air mixture rush in to the engine through the inlet valves(blue)
Direct injection takes the advantages of fuel injection further. It injects fuel directly into the combustion chamber of each cylinder as against having the fuel and air mixture rush into the chamber through the intake manifolds. What this simply does is that it takes fuel efficiency and power up while lowering emissions. Power delivery is more linear and the engine runs smoother.

Direct Injection
Injector squirts fuel directly into the engine as air rushes in
While you order your next car, do try to get 1 with direct injection. It works for both sides: the petrol heads get more power and the green people can sleep better at night because they know they’ve done their bit to save the planet.

Whiplash

I was 10 at the time when I told my BFF that one day all Cars will come in Automatic transmission. It seemed crazy at the time. Three years after that my Dad bought his 1st automatic transmission. It was a Mercedes Benz 200 (4 cylinder, 3 speed auto box. The list of options that weren’t included were ABS, A/C, power windows, Central Lock, Power steering was however standard). This was a 1976 model car and current lineup of Japanese cars still can’t match the kind of feedback you get from the Merc. Colored in Banana like yellow it had the ride height of a Rav 4. It basically swam through water.
Most memorable was the transmission shift gate PRNDSL. No fancy Manu-matic shift option that you can find in almost all modern Auto boxes. Shift through Reverse, Neutral unto drive from a standstill, Dump the accelerator pedal to the floor, watch the Speedo rise all the way to 40Km/H and brace yourself for the worst kind of Whiplash( you can feel a minor kind in a manual when you shift through gears hard). It’s that forward and backward motion that throws your head and neck backwards and forwards.
Whiplash gets more pronounced in an autobox as the car gets older. On my Dad’s Benz, it got so bad you could feel it even when the car downshifts to 1st gear. Prevention: make sure you service your gearbox at regular intervals (oil and filter change). On a happy note Whiplash is much reduced in modern Autoboxes. On a sad note, Slama (my Car) has begun showing signs of Whiplash. I guess its time to start saying Bye-bye.

20 Year Cycle

On Tuesday on my way to work in lekki traffic, on the other lane I was passed twice by 2 Brilliance Bs4 cars. That in itself is not such an event, but just further down the Road was a ‘Tear Rubber’ Honda CRV which had broken down by the Side of the Road. Only then did I actually start thinking.

Brilliance BS4
As kids, I remember that when my Dad was short of Cash and wanted to change his Car at the time, the only viable option (as far as we were concerned) was a Peugeot GL, getting a Mercedes Benz 200 was the target or a BMW 5 series would’ve been just fine, but a Japanese Car was totally out of it, it was dimmed “Cheap”. Such was the discrimination for Japanese Cars 20 years ago, they were reliable, but people just didn’t like them. They were the Whipping boys of the Major Car manufacturers. Considering a Korean Car was nothing short of heresy at the time, i remeber a friend saying that the Daewoo Racer was not safe because it was made of plastic.
Today we know that Toyota, (a Japanese Car) is the number 1 car manufacturer in the World. And 20years down the line, the Koreans have done better at gearing up their image than the Japanese did. It’s a dream come true if you can afford to buy a Korean “Brand New” car today!!!!! Hyundai has the Genesis which Targets the likes of the 5 Series and the E class (imagine that!!!!!).
The sighting of the Brilliance Bs4 car, made me recognize the 20 year cycle. Now let me ask, how many Brilliance Bs4 cars have you seen on the Road? Quite a few I assume your response will be. Now, how many have you seen broken down by the side of the road? None I’m sure you’ll say. The reason you haven’t seen any broken down isn’t because they’re so few, it’s because of the quality engineering that goes into it. Let me add here, that the Bs4 is actually Chinese!!!!!! Brilliance Auto partners with the Bavarian Boys, BMW to make the BS4. At its launch a few years back, the BS4 actually failed the Euro NCAP crash test. At the time I ranted and abused the Chinese for trying to make cars instead of sticking to making noodles that they’re known for until I found out recently that the Ford F150( the Fastest Selling Vehicle in the World) is not mandated to undergo crash tests because it’s a truck!!!!

Ford F150
So what if the BS4 fails the Euro NCAP tests? To heck with the crash ratings, even more outstanding is the fact that India now makes cars. If you remember 20 years ago, what was the name on the Okada your neighbor had? It was likely going to be Honda. Today, we don’t have Honda bikes in this country. What you’ll find as you board the next Okada will likely be a Lifan, Jincheng or the new one Bajaj plastered so proudly on the tank. These are all Chinese and Indian.
Its pretty much the same thing in the Generator scene, you cannot find an original Honda anymore, it’s all Jin Ling (as the case with mine and my brothers) or some Xing Xang Xu Name.
The 1 question I ask is if it has taken about 20 years for “this revolution” when will Nigeria start with hers???

The owners Corner

A local name used to describe the diagonally located backseat occupant in relation to the driver’s seat in a car in Nigeria. Imperials, Royalties and affluent people from time have always ridden in the back seat as they were being chauffeured around; be it in a Horse drawn Carriage or a Ford Model T.
This transcended to the Auto Era and as with the time when the Horse Carts had just 1 Hp, the back seat of Luxury cars were actually the most comfortable place to seat these cars as no expense was spared to keep these high profile occupants happy and comfortable to their next destination (which might have been to witness a Firing squad ( Idi- Amin had a Mercedes Benz 600). Today, these luxury cars come equipped with everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The connecting Dot here is Luxury and Car. So in summary for it to qualify to be an ‘owner’s corner’ it must be a luxury car. For the singular reason that in every other car model, the back seat occupants are not considered to be Semi- god’s and their comfort is not really paramount when designing the car.
For several years I have had to watch and see Nigerians abuse this hallowed position. I have seen people claim owner’s corner in Toyota Hiace Buses. When I was in Primary school we had a neighbor who rode constantly in the owner’s corner of His Molue!!!!!!!!!!! All of this was bearable until I saw a marketer in 1 nonsense microfinance bank claiming owners Corner in a Kia Picanto!!!!!!!
I was Livid to say the least, and even without technical knowledge of cars, anyone could see that the back seat of a Picanto is CRAMPPED!!!!!!!!!!!! Afterwards just like the eyes of a newly deflowered teenager I began seeing even more violators of this sacred position. I saw 1 lady push all the way to the limit the front passenger seat just so she could be comfortable in the “owner’s corner” of a 2005 Toyota Corolla. Her P/A’s frontal’s was right all up squashing the Dashboard (I won’t even tell you the sex of her P/A), but I can tell you if the Human rights people saw it they’d make a case for her (P/A).
Why on earth would you risk the life of another for a freaking status symbol????? If you own anything less than a Luxury car: and by definition that is a Mercedes S class, its equivalent and above and have a driver don’t even get in the “owners corner” because its half as comfortable as the front passengers seat.
Please, please this covers all you Camry, Accord owners. Yes even if it was yesterday’s model, these cars are classified as Mid size cars. So do us all a favor and get back in front. Pleaseeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

Dilution!!!

There a few things that as an individual you know as a fact. As a Nigerian, you’re almost sure that once your leaders ascend a political post, they’re almost gonna be unacccessible. I know for sure that on my way home to Lekki, everyday I’ll drive through traffic; you know that PHCN will interrupt Power supply everyday as well as you know you’ll get Hungry if you do not have a meal on time: so I also thought that the proud heritage of BMW not meddling in the business of Front wheel driven cars will continue forever!!!! (Front wheel driven cars; FWD are a compromise of driving dynamics over perceived efficiency)You see with the Front engine RWD, the Weight of the Car is spread along the lenght of the car; i.e the Engine is in front, the transmission is in the middle and the Axle is right in the Rear. With the Front Engine FWD layout, you have the Engine, transmission and axle are in the front. Its like having your eyes, Hands, stomach and legs all in your Head!!! No way on earth you'd be comfortable?
Bmw Claims that if you could mount the 3 Sereis right in its middle on a Pin( that could carry the weight)it won't fall off because it has a 50:50% weight distribution over its its Front and Rear axles. Small wonder it has such Phenomenal Handling!!!
Every other Car manufacturer has fiddled with the Front Engine, Front wheel drive Layout, even Mercedes Benz. BMW was the only Manufacturer that kept the Front Engine RWD layout which was largely responsible for the heavenly driving response achieved on its line up. All of that is set to change now with the introduction of the new 1series with FWD or AWD layout.

2012 BMW 1 series

I cannot begin to come up with excuses on why BMW has chosen to go the way of the others and dilute the BMW driving experience? But a close answer comes in the knowledge that for the 1st time in its History, Land Rover will have a FWD model in its much anticipated LRX.

Land Rover LRX Concept
The closest I can come to telling you why is that Both BMW and Land Rover are trying to adjust to the times. Porsche, Ferrari both have Hybrid models in the works. This was un-thinkable just a few years back.
Please make no mistake, there are Advantages in the Front engine FWD layout: improved Fuel consumption being the chief one, but I thought the reason we bought a BMW was that you wanted a car that you could go round a corner at any speed? And the whole Logic behind a Land Rover was that it could go where Nature you’d rather you stop and go back Home? What use is a Front wheel driven(only) Land Rover?
It’s a Sad time for us pure motor enthusiasts!!!!!

Honda Insight

Toyota followed by Honda sit pretty at the top of the Japanese auto market by sales volume. Following are Nissan and Suzuki. The rivalry between Honda and Toyota goes back several decades. Fuel economy, low price, low running costs and reliability have all Helped Toyota topple GM as the Largest Auto maker in the world.
The fuel economy battle is at an all time high and car manufacturers try to do more to get their cars to consume less fuel thereby saving money for your pocket and the environment. The most popular, not essentially the most efficient fuel saving technique is the use of Petrol engines and an electric motor to power these cars: thus the term HYBRID.
Toyota practically defined the Hybrid market with its Prius.

2010 Toyota Prius

1st generation Honda insight
It wasn’t the 1st hybrid car to be made ( Honda actually released the 1st insight 7 months before the original Prius) but its launch was timely and the fact that it had rear seats probably helped secure its position as the Poster car for Hybrids.

2nd Generation Honda Insight
The insight now in its 2nd generation has grown in character and size, even taking a cue from the styling of the prius. Honda seems to have overcome the major draw backs from the first generation Honda insight. Lack of driver involvement, no rear seats, wary styling: all gone. Honda also thought it necessary to “UP” the power. The original insight had a 1.3L 3 cylinder engine putting out 67Hp mated to a 13Hp electric motor. This was good enough for 3.9L/ 100KM of road consumed. Honda this time around features a four cylinder engine doing 88HP while keeping the 13Hp electric motor is good for 5.5L/ 100KM of road. A fair trade for economy for better driver feel and rear seats.
Honda’s second attempt at making a mass market hybrid is a worthy one. Its sleek styling, better driving manners and over all grown up feel could just assist Honda surpass its 17,000 unit sales for the 1st insight.