Motorists take care — the rains are here

With the visible changing of the seasons please allow me to pass on to you some very practical tips to help you through the rains and floods.

First of all, with the rains inevitably come slippery roads. I suggest you check your tires. If they are "kalbo" or have practically lost their grooves, better have them re-capped, or if affordable, it’s best to have them changed. The feeling of loosing traction while driving, regardless of speed can be a harrowing experience, not to mention the possible serious consequences.

It’s also wise to make sure that your windshield wipers are working well. Not having a clear vision of the road while driving through hard rains, especially at night, can be very dangerous. Now, if in case you don’t have properly working windshield wipers, and you know that you are about to go into some driving rain, you can try getting hold of a cigarette and rubbing the tobacco shreds on your windshield. It can significantly but temporarily keep the water flowing on the surface of the glass thus improving your visibility despite the raindrops. You can also use detergent to have an almost similar effect. But then, have your wipers changed at the first chance.

It’s best to avoid driving through a flooded street but should you find yourself already in its midst, your engine would subsequently cease when your distributor or spark plugs get wet and when the water enters your engine through the exhaust manifold. Now, stalling is inevitable when you drive through really deep waters reaching up to your electrical system. However, if the waters are not that deep to affect your electrical system, you can avoid getting your engine’s internals wet by keeping your engine revs up with the resulting exhaust preventing the water from entering through your pipes and manifold. This is easier done with a manual transmission, as you just need to make "timpla" with your clutch and accelerator as you go through stop and go traffic. Having a vehicle with automatic transmission can be a little trickier. You would need an experienced play of your left foot to do the braking and coordinated movements of shifting to "neutral" and then to "drive" as you stop and go.

Driving slowly through flooded streets is a must not only because doing otherwise can cause the violently disturbed waters to reach your electrical system and cause you to stall or the waves of flood waters created by your hastened speed can make people wading in the flood wetter than they already are and these adversely affected pedestrians can cause your life system to stall or cease permanently. It is also important not to go fast simply because you do not see the road surface. Driving unsuspectingly into an open manhole can be very disastrous for your vehicle. Some people have the nasty habit of opening up manholes in the belief that it would hasten the drainage of the floodwaters. If it works, you would be in a safer situation, as you would see the swirling floodwaters as they drain into the manhole. But if the manhole is clogged you can just drive clueless into it.

Still on visibility, I would also suggest that during hard driving rains it would be best to turn on your hazard lights. This would warn other motorists who may have visibility problems about your presence from afar. However, remember to turn them off long before you make a turn and instead turn on the proper signal light to warn them of your intention to turn to such direction. Put the hazard lights back after you make the turn.

We have more practical tips for you, which may prove useful as the rains and the almost inevitable subsequent floods again become a part of our daily lives with the advent of the rainy season.

Watch for it in our future columns.

Toyota raises its ante in the country’s economy

Despite the uncertainty being faced by the local automotive industry due to the delayed passage of the long pending new excise tax law, Japan’s leading carmaker, Toyota Motor Corporation, recently announced its additional investment to the country of Php 3.34 billion for the expansion and modernization of its manufacturing facilities in Toyota Sta. Rosa Industrial Complex.

The commitment made by TMC president Mr. Fujio Cho to President GMA in October last year to source from Toyota Autoparts Philippines (TAP) transmission units for export to Japan accounts for 1.016 billion pesos of the total new investments for TAP’s plant expansion.

The balance of the new investments shall be used for the expansion of present production lines, CBU yard and the construction of a new Administrative Service Center and other employee facilities in the Toyota Sta. Rosa Plant.

Many business observers view this milestone additional investment as a visible testimonial of Toyota Japan’s continuing confidence in the country’s leadership despite the present challenges that its economy faces.

Be a proud Isuzu Trooper owner and enjoy it too

"We envision this club to be a venue for exciting activities, perks, privileged information and social connections for you in the future. And this vision starts tonight."

This is part of the very encouraging welcome remarks made by Mr. Kazuhiko Sho, the new executive vice president of Isuzu Philippines Corporation to the first party of the fast shaping up Trooper Club, established primarily for those who bought Isuzu Troopers from IPC’s dealership network from 1997, to include their immediate family.

Prior to the formal establishment of the Trooper Club, many Isuzu Trooper owners got together September 7 of last year for a medical mission for the Dumagats in the Karahumi Settlement Area in Bulacan, a worthwhile civic activity considered as a fitting "first step" towards the formation of the club.

The patio of the Casa Manila in the famed walled City of Intramuros was the setting of the successful Trooper Club’s formal launch attended by a whole slew of satisfied and proud owners of Isuzu Troopers including invited members of the motoring media.

For more information you can log in to [email protected] or call our very charming friends from Isuzu Philippines Corporation, Ms. Myrna Gonzales or Ms. Timmy Naval or ever service-oriented Rommel Cortez.

F1 Pit Lane Notes

What a way for Juan Pablo Montoya to come back into Formula One’s winners’ circle — winning the glitzy Monaco Grand Prix and even having his name etched permanently in a trophy together with such legendary names like Jackie Stewart, Alain Prost, et al.

And the win is also very timely and reassuring in the wake of rumors that all’s not well in the BMW-Williams F1 Team, what with the Team’s technical director, Patrick Head expressing his disappointment with some individuals from their engine partners BMW for "rattling our cage with the press" after an unimpressive showing in the previous races.

The Monaco Grand Prix, a much-awaited event in Europe’s playground of the rich and the famous, has always been known as a driver’s race more than the machine’s considering the known difficulty of maneuvering through the street circuit that requires millimeter precision that makes it almost impossible to pass an uncooperative "back marker" more so one who’s ahead of anyone. The famed Jackie Stewart was heard saying in his time, "to win in Monaco you have to drive slow", supporting the contention that it’s a circuit that requires deliberate racing to spell success.

Next stop is the Canadian Grand Prix, which is bad news for the out-and-out enthusiast considering that "live" viewing time of the actual race is at 12:30 early Monday morning.

If you missed the race "live" last Sunday evening, you can still catch its exciting highlights this Sunday on Motoring Today (11:30 AM, Channel 4 Manila and nationwide on the National Broadcasting Network).

Incidentally, Motoring Today marks its 16th anniversary on June 7, our first airing in 1987 — the longest running motoring program on Philippine television. We have been serving motoring enthusiasts, motor sports fans, the motoring industry and the general motoring public for the past 16 years and enjoyed every minute of it. What the heck — what’s sixteen more?

Happy Anniversary to Motoring Today!!!

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