Ma6aba

So I was in Bahrain last weekend… and I saw 2 random things that I would like to show to you. the pictures below are an escalator that I noticed was a bit short. it was the escalator of Alyateem mall in Bahrain.. it has to be less than 12 steps long.. it was just funny.

The second picture is a pimped out Land Cruiser that was parked in the building my friend lives in. it’s a Land Cruiser with a rolls-royce front end and some random body kit around it. I thought it’s ugly .. enjoy it

As most of you are hearing, Oil prices have been surging day after day in the past 2 years or so. even though it’s justified that oil prices will go up I didn’t see it happening that it will reach a price of as high as $143 per barrel and expected to reach $170 by year end according to some analysts.

What i’m wonder is how people “especially” in the US and Europe are handling that. I remember when I first moved to the states back in 2001 I used to pay something around $25 to fill my car tank, and 5 years after than in 2006 I filled the same damn car with the same gas grade for $55, that’s 2.2 times the price in just 5 years or less! According to today’s gas prices (where oil is trading at $143) it would cost me a little more than $70 to fill the tank. oh and it’s not an SUV, it’s the BMW 325Ci.

This high oil prices might be good to some economies such as the members of OPEC, but is it really fair for the rest of the economies and consumers?

I have finally attended the Bahrain GP! my over all thought about it..

• Very damn organized.
• The seating is a great coach if you compare it with the one in Indianapolis.
• Great track. (which I have known for a while because I drove on it)
• Nice events and shows around the track. (before and after the race)
• The store had alot of merchandise .. pretty cool stuff.
• When the King arrived they change the flag. (first time for me seeing that)
• There was Akon concert after the race. (didn’t make it)
• Weather was nice.
• Ferrari won both 1st and 2nd.. so thats always a plus.
• The sound of formula 1 cars have definitely changed since 2003.
• Turn 1 is  sexy.
• It was nice seeing  Hamilton lose the car’s nose at turn 1.
• The Ferrari classics tent was amazing.. and that 2003 Ferrari which is worth 6million was just amazing.
• Ear plugs will make the race more pleasant for people who doesn’t care much for formula 1.
• Make sure you sleep early the night before.
• Leave your house no less than 3 hours before the race.
• Drink alot of water to avoid dehydration.
• Restrooms are surprisingly clean.
• I’m definitely going next year.
• No significant traffic on the way in and out of the race. (traffic was seen closer to the city on the way out)

I will post more pictures about the race when I get them from my friend.

Posted by,
Weld El-ma6aba

Few weeks back I purchased my 2008 Honda S2000. and it’s time to review it.

Specs:

• Approx. 240 bhp produced by a 4 cylinder (the fastest 4 in the world from what I know)
• Rear wheel drive
• Manual transmission
• LSD (limited slip diff.)
• Rear park assist
• Convertible
• TINY

Pros:

• Alot of fun to drive.. fast.. handling isn’t bad but I have my comments about it in the cons.
• Great gas mileage if you keep the RPM below 5K.
• Adrenaline hits when V-Tech roars above 6K RPM.. the car just pulls!
• The shifter is short.. you don’t need a short shifter, really!
• Only takes 2 people at a time*
• Easily modified if you are into cars. and parts are widely available on the internet.
• 9K RPM.. for those who understan, you know what I mean!

Cons:

• Even though the suspension is pretty good compared to other stock cars you can feel alot of body roll when you hit the corners.
• since it’s a convertible air leakage from the soft top is just annoying especially above 120 Kmph
• Speakers aren’t that loud and the sound of them can be over come by the air noise at high speeds if volume isn’t too high
• Only takes 2 people at a time*
• Low RPM (before V-Tech point) are weak.
• Breaks are not like the ones I’m used to in my BMW
• Staying below 5K RPM during the break-in period was tough!

What I decided to do is:

• Since the suspension is good but not great, I decided to go ahead and order the KW V3 racing coilovers kit (which I used on my BMW and loved) can wait for this to arrive .. it’s already in my Aramex box
• Air leakage should be solved with C-wing carbon fiber hardtop that I also ordered (35LB.. talk about weight saving!)
•  Lastly I ordered the Invidia V3 Single exhaust with Test pipes… couldn’t resist not getting few extra horses.

Whats next:

• Probably wheels.. some lightweight 18’s, either BBS, HRE, or O.Z.
• Cold air intake (until the warranty expires)
• Sway & strut bars to make sure track day is alot of fun
• Big break kit (probably the first next step) most likely the slotted Stop tech.
• 4-2-1 Headers
• Minor body work (lip, and a trunk lid maybe?)
• After I do most of this things I will eventually go FI and install a Turbo with all the necessary items and officially call it a day on project #2

and this is my new baby taking a bath in the dealership after the 1st service and about 5 minutes before it saw the 9K RPM!I will update it once I install the new parts or find new pros and cons

What would your reaction be if you are the pilot?

Mine: LET IT GO.. if the navigator is interested let him take care of it!

Like the title suggest. watch the video

Today is the final formula 1 race as some of you may know and it is the Brazilian Grand Prix. My driver (Kimi) has a good chance of winning the race if he gets a 1st and something happens to McLaren’s drivers. I can’t really talk about the race now because it start in no time and I haven’t left the apartment yet. i’m going to watch the race at this sports bar in Rotterdam.

Top 5 on the grid:

1. Massa
2. Hamilton
3. Kimi
4. Alonso
5. Webber

Will update it later on today.

 *** UPDATE ***

Kimi Raikkonen Won the 2007 Formula 1 Championship!

The race was an amazing one, great driving, good accidents for some action, AMAZING pit strategies, and great team work like the Ferrari case.

The 2 moment that I almost jumped from happiness were when Massa blocked Hamilton at the green light to open up the track for Kimi. the second one was seeing Hamilton goes back to 18th or something like that. The race was tailored for Kimi! I’m happy .. thats all I have to say

I’m sitting on my laptop yesterday and I was going through some pictures from back when I was in college and I realized that I miss Baybimmers, The BMW car club that I was a member at. we used to go cruise, race (professionally and illegally), have dinners, talk about BMW’s, go-karting, and so forth.

Now i’m having thoughts of starting one here in Kuwait because I haven’t heard of one that I can join. what I have in mind for the Club is to have an organized monthly or even bi-monthly meetings to talk about cars, drive around, exchange some technical knowledge, go-karting, photoshoots, and more.

if anyone is interested in organized something like this with me please shoot me an email at weld@ma6aba.com or leave a comment here.

Today I made my self wake up at 1:30 just so I can watch the formula 1 which I haven’t watched about 2 months. I realized that i’m stupid for not seening every race this season when I realized that there will be only 3 more races this season.

I very excited that i’m watching F1 again an that I have time for it .. (working on sunday usually kills the day..)

What is making me really happy to is McLaren being penalized $100m for stealing Ferrari secret car information.

This picture is from Saturday’s practice, Seems that Ferrari is setting the suspension to the drifting setting

will update after the race.

*UPDATE*

Kimi is 1st…. ! thats all I care about…. congrats Nora ! ;P

A new traffic speeding camera has been installed on Damascus street. the camera is not yet functional and that is proved by my radar detector (Passport 8500) and by testing with my car doing about 140kmph.

I would love to update on the functionality of the camera but I’m leaving on Monday so if the camera isn’t activated by tomorrow I Apologize that I won’t be able to make this update.

Locations of the camera:

Damascus street, between Alrawdha (on your right) and Alodailiya (on your left) if you are heading towards 3rd ring road.