Progress and development have a price

By the year 2017, commuters to Eastern Metro Manila, which includes Pasig, Marikina, Cainta, Antipolo and other parts of Rizal province, would have the additional convenience of an extended LRT line with stations to be located in Cainta and Masinag.

The P9.5-billion project would have a 4.2-kilometer elevated guideway extension from the present terminal of LRT Line 2 in Santolan all the way to Masinag.

This infrastructure project would inevitably increase land values and trade and commerce in this part of the metro and most importantly further commuter convenience, but then such would have to come at a price – horrendous traffic for the duration of its construction.

Started in June, the project is expected to cause peak traffic congestion in the area by the third week of September and would last in the next two- and-a-half years.

Two lanes of Marcos Highway on each direction are set to be closed and those who travel through the area should expect a delay of at least one-and-a-half hours.

Well, most of the time it takes some form of sacrifice in order to achieve progress and development. At least there’s promise of some good times to look forward to.

Some practical thinkers believe, though, that before considering an extension of where the rail system goes, the government should first look into how the system presently works or how it doesn’t.  

We hope this extension would not mean an extension of rail commuters’ agony that they are presently going through.

But then, let’s give the government a chance.

The sporty Ford EcoSport Trend gets sportier

We just got some exciting news from our friends from Ford Philippines. A limited edition of the Trend model of the very popular EcoSport has just been recently launched.

The Ford EcoSport Trend with Urban Pack features seven new interior and exterior accessories that give it a new look. These are multi-purpose roof cross bars, a new spoiler, rear parking sensors for easier maneuverability, front and rear bumper appliques, illuminated scuff plates and eye-catching sports pedals.

“The Urban Pack gives the EcoSport Trend added features and a sportier look that make it the perfect SUV companion in the city. The winning combination of premium accessories and the proven performance of the EcoSport will enable you to take on more adventures,” said Minnie Valencia-Bustamante, the dynamic and charming lady vice president for marketing of Ford Philippines.

The Urban Pack is valued at P40,000 but comes with the EcoSport Trend for an additional P10,000 only. This limited edition is now available in select dealerships nationwide at P845,000 for the manual transmission and P895,000 for the automatic.

And here’s an early heads-up for sporty SUV enthusiasts, only 500 units of the EcoSport Trend Limited Edition will be sold locally from August to October. Don’t say we didn’t tell you!

New sharply styled Lexus ES is here

The invitation sent by our good friend Danny “Sir John” Isla, president of Lexus-Manila, was for a ‘Chinese Lauriat lunch’ to mark the formal unveiling of their latest offering in the local auto market, specifically for lovers of elegant, stylish and luxurious premium automobiles.

When “Sir John” calls, the motoring media comes running and they do for several plausible reasons, namely; Danny, because of his very friendly, easy demeanor is one of the very few top auto industry executives that’s undoubtedly closest to most if not all motoring journalists. Sir John also goes out of his way to send personal invites to all his intended guests, some as far as even having to call them on the phone to get an assurance of their presence and he never gambles on event organizers or agencies to do this for him, unlike many in the industry that rely on their agencies to do this, some of which are not at all knowledgeable as to who’s who in the motoring beat.    

The automobile that took center stage during the event was the new Lexus ES. The chief engineer of the new ES, Toshio Asahi, sent his best compliments from Japan together with these words, “Our development concept was ‘Take the ES to the next level of elegance and progressive luxury.’ The Lexus ES is renowned for its innovative exterior and interior design. We wanted to build on that and make it more elegant and tailor the car with the latest technology Lexus has to offer. We’re confident that the new Lexus ES will be a leader in its class and attract a lot of attention.”

Spencer Yu, marketing head of Lexus-Manila, also highlighted during his notable presentation that for the new ES, engineers from Lexus applied structural reinforcements to increase stiffness in the vehicle’s unibody construction. Adapted from the Lexus IS sports sedan, this form of chassis tuning arms the new ES with a significantly enhanced ride quality and improved handling, it was emphasized. 

The perennially young-looking Lexus-Manila chairman, Alfred Ty, was there to welcome guests to the launch that was exclusive to the motoring media. He took the opportunity to first thank journalists for always being present in Toyota affairs despite overlapping schedules in the now ever-busy auto industry.

Instead of the usual elegant and expansive Lexus-Manila showroom, the launch venue this time was the equally elegant and well-appointed temporary building housing the very impressive demo units of the very luxurious soon to rise Hyatt Residences, of Federal Land of which our good friend Alfred is president and CEO.

Word is there aren’t that many new Lexus ES units that’ll be made available and owning one actually means exclusivity.

Battery chargers are now vital for vehicle owners

In the past, automobile battery charging meant just a short trip to the neighborhood battery shop just around the corner. But as vehicles become smarter and continue to develop, an increased level of strain is placed on the battery, making battery charging an essential part of vehicle maintenance.

There are battery chargers and there are battery chargers but a newly launched brand in the country from Sweden, CTEK claims to be engineered for compactness and charging accuracy, making it “the world’s most intelligent car charger”.

During its launch, the CTEK battery charger was presented as simple to operate, as all one has to do is connect the clamps to the battery post and select a charging mode using push button controls. The modes include: Normal, where the battery goes through seven phases of charging beginning with the desulphation phase and ending with the maintenance-charging phase; the Snowflake, for charging in colder weather; Supply for batteries that must maintain a high capacity at all times like those for golf carts and floor sweepers; and Recondition, which is specifically designed to recover deep discharged and flooded batteries. 

It was also presented during the launch that one of the best features of the CTEK car battery charger is its ability to charge nearly every battery type available. This includes the common acid-lead batteries found in most automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, golf carts, lawn movers and boats and also deep-cycle, gel-cell and automated glass mat or AGM batteries.

I guess this unique automobile charger is worth checking out.

Public voting for most popular automobiles

This year’s Auto Focus People’s Choice Awards honoring the country’s most popular vehicles for 2015-2016 will be determined by the end of September after the final figures of units actually sold and the votes cast are collated. The annual exercise, which started as far back as 2005, will award ‘the most preferred models’ in each of the categories that incude sedans, vans, SUVs, pick-ups, MPVs and sports cars and also the much-coveted distinction of being the year’s ‘most popular automobile model’ or the Automobile of the Year, each for Standard and Luxury categories.

The awards shall be determined by combining the actual unit sales of each participating model, which accounts for 20 percent weight together with votes cast that carry an 80 percent weight.

You can still help your favorite automobile model win by casting your vote once every day up to midnight of Sept. 30 in the voting website (www.autofocus.com.ph) or via our Auto Focus Facebook account.

TV schedules

If you still don’t know, your “Sunday viewing habit,” the longest-running motoring program on Philippine television, Motoring Today now airs at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, while Auto Focus, the country’s premier auto TV news and features magazine airs every Thursday evening at 10 o’clock both on Solar Sports, which is being telecast on Sky & Destiny cable networks and Cignal.

The shows are also online (www.motoringtoday.ph / www.autofocus.com.ph) where you can watch all past episodes any time of the day.

Happy Motoring!!!

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