Let’s give it a try

As we write this piece for a Monday deadline word has it that the ORB or the Organized EDSA Bus Route or the single dispatching system is set for implementation this week. It was noteworthy that the MMDA opted to conduct seminars for bus drivers to make them better understand the system before its re-implementation as it came out as a dud when first experimented on sans the required information efforts.

Notwithstanding, we still expect further birth pains before all the glitches would have been smoothened out and for this we urge everybody — from the drivers, the operators, the enforcers to the riding public to have extended patience until we see the success of this traffic innovation.

It’s only after we have explored all avenues to make it successful and still see the system as "unworkable" should we decide to drop it and try a new one. After all, life is a constant struggle to improve on what we have especially on what doesn’t work.

CR-V 4x4 Passes Test With Flying Colors

We drove it hard up to Baguio through the winding but infinitely safer Marcos Highway and back down through the more scenic but perennially tentative Kennon Road and through dusty loose gravel up and down roads to Ambuklao Dam and Mt. Data in varied weather conditions — dry, drizzling and pouring rain and the new CR-V 4x4 did not fail us — it passed with flying colors.

The CR-V Peak Drive, which invited local motoring journalists to test drive the new CR-V 4x4 in varied road and weather conditions to validate its claims of power, performance, reliability, maneuverability and comfort, had two legs done a little more than a week apart.

The first leg was a grueling drive from Makati to Baguio and on to Mt. Data and the second was the shorter but nonetheless challenging drive from Makati to Baguio and on to Ambuklao Dam.

I joined the second leg, which left Tuesday, November 25 and came down Thursday, November 27. I was joined by my coverage staff and crew, which not only documented the test drive but also took the opportunity to tape an episode of the TV show Auto Focus (shown last night on NBN Channel 4), composed of production manager/director Jenny Bleza, segment producer Jenny So and top-notched cameramen Raul Promeda and Dodong Desamero.

The over all performance of the CR-V 4x4 was really tested to its limits as some of the speed-crazed journalists in the group, and there were many of us, floored all the way in the flat highway leaving dust for every vehicle in its path, except the lead car, which we were prohibited to pass under pain of not being made to drive at all, and that’s like a death sentence for any true blue motoring journalist.

For torque, the hard but again speedy climb through the Marcos Highway showed the CR-V’s wares with the "real-time 4x4" kicking in without fail whenever the front wheels skid in the wet and slippery portions of the road.

The same attributes were put into fore on our drive to Ambuklao Dam through dusty roads with loose gravel on many portions as all of us just kept on going despite such slippery conditions of the road due to the loose gravel.

There was even an occasion where all the CR-V 4x4s were deliberately made to go down into a dry river bed through such an awesomely inclined road that the trusty compact SUV took almost like a "walk in the park" on the way back up.

The brakes took center-stage on our way back through the more challenging Kennon Road. They remained fail-proof while the all-automatic transmission CR-Vs were taking the famed snaking decades-old road down.

I was behind the wheel for three straight days, except for the drive back to Manila from Clark Field to EDSA where Jenny took the wheels for my short well-deserved nap. No complaints, not only for being a true blue motoring journalist, but also for the truly exciting and enjoyable drive.

Pit Lane Notes

Former F1 world champion Damon Hill feels that BMW-Williams should have kept Juan Pablo Montoya in the team. The Brit whose racing championship genes he got from another former racing great and father Graham Hill, was quoted as saying that the Williams’ management should have paid out in order to keep the highly-rated Columbian in its stable. Be that as it may he feels that having JPM racing instead beside Schumy in Ferrari could mean a lot for TV ratings. Juan Pablo, as we reported here last week, has signed to race for McLaren in 2005.

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Remember that much vaunted M4-19, that which McLaren failed to launch last year, which some racing observers said could have considerably influenced the results of the past year’s series? Well, David Coulthard, he who is to be replaced by JPM, broke the lap record aboard it while testing at Valencia, edging out, ironically whom else but JPM himself. With the feat being done on a car that’s straight out of the box, expectations may run high for McLaren’s performance in next year’s series.

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There’s a new racing tire heater using microwave theory, which can get a tire at the right temperature in 10 minutes compared to the 25-year old current procedure that takes two hours. But despite visible savings, the FIA has decided against the new technology due to possible increase in airfreight costs for the teams.

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Korea has indicated its intention to join the bandwagon of countries that wish to host a leg of the World Formula One Series. This is in the face of having the Middle East (Bahrain) and China into the racing fold next year and Turkey provisionally joining by 2005 and Russia down the line.

Motoring Tip Of The Week

As more people get to the streets for the traditional shopping frenzy that comes with the holidays the criminal elements likewise increase their nefarious activities victimizing motorists. It is worthy to note some precautionary moves that would lessen your risk of being victimized, i.e., a) Do not leave any item of value especially items you just recently bought in full view in your vehicle while parked. It would be better to keep them in the trunk unseen and not tempting. b) Do not park your vehicle in areas that are not visible to people or to security personnel. It may worth the extra drive around or a long walk just to find suitable and less risky parking space. If there’s a guard around, it would help to point out your vehicle and promise an incentive if you find it in one piece or still there when you return. After all it’s Christmas — time to share. c) While driving and especially while stopped for a traffic light, have the frame of mind that there are elements out on the prowl. Be constantly on the alert for they thrive on people who could easily be distracted. d) Always keep all doors locked and never leave your vehicle in any eventuality on the road, unless in an extreme emergency when your discretion dictates that staying inside would be more hazardous. More of similar tips in the weeks to come.

The Pledges Are In

We would like to thank some of our friends from the automotive industry for their unqualified support for the coming out projects of the Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists, first of which is the 1st SPMJ Golf Invitational to be held in February next year.

This "golf for a cause" project would help fund projects of the group that are geared toward "traffic education" for the youth.

We look forward to similar spontaneous reactions from our other friends in the automotive industry in supporting these worthwhile socially relevant ventures of the group, that are not really for us but for our children and their children.

Happy Motoring!!!

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