Story by Ronnie Trinidad of Sprocketph.com
Red Bull driver and 2005 Formula D Champion Rhys Millen invaded the streets of Manila last April 30, 2012 as part of the world's biggest energy drink's “Action Attack on the Philippines” event to launch the brand in the country. While thousands of spectators, a couple dozen security officers, and a handful of hired extras were able to watch the 39-year-old New Zealander burn up some rubber up close, I was one of the few lucky people who were able to personally meet the man himself.
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Features
26 March 2012
The Porsche World Roadshow: A day with 10,000 horsepower
Words by Ferman Lao | Photos by Christopher Kho
Ok, perhaps it's not exactly 10,000, but with the least capable vehicle available for testing producing almost three times more than your typical subcompact, while the most powerful easily over 500, to it's easy be lulled into thinking that the day's selection had a total power output was within that region... or a bit more. In fact, the experience could undoubtedly be the automotive equivalent of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's “The Greatest Show on Earth.” This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Porsche World Roadshow = a day wherein every model in the Porsche catalog are driven in the manner they were designed to be driven, made possible only by Porsche AG and PGA Cars Inc.
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20 March 2012
Can E-Jeepneys solve Manila’s transport woes?
Words by Niky Tamayo | Photos courtesy of www.ejeepney.org
It may seem hard to believe, considering the state of the economy, but there are now nearly seven million motor vehicles registered in the Philippines. While the sheer numbers should make for greater mobility and productivity for our workforce, there is the little issue of all those vehicles being on the road at the exact same time, causing massive traffic jams. As they still burn fuel when sitting still in traffic, this situation costs us billions of Pesos every year in oil imports, as well as cause massive air pollution. And that's where the E-Jeepney comes in.
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22 February 2012
An Isuzu is Born: A day of building world-class trucks
Words and photos by Christopher Kho
If you've watched documentaries such as National Geographic's Mega Factories, then you probably know, more or less, what goes inside a vehicle production line. But unlike the plants they feature on TV that roll out exotic Italian supercars, Isuzu's facility at the Laguna Technopark in Biñan, Laguna assemble more modest AUVs, pickups, and trucks. What sets them apart, though, is that every single brand new vehicle they produce is proudly Philippine made. And to celebrate the plant's 15th anniversary, Isuzu Philippines Corporation (IPC) invited us for a plant visit to see just how much love they put into each Isuzu vehicle.
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Words by Christopher Kho
While everyone's mooning over Jeremy Renner, Edward Norton, and Rachel Weisz at the set of Bourne Legacy in Manila, there's one celebrity member from its crew that prefers to stay low-key. But thanks to Rockstar Philippines, we got the chance to meet first-hand its stunt driver and two-time Formula Drift Champion Tanner Foust. Of course, we also took the chance to get some autographs and pictures with the champ.
Tanner Foust is an accomplished international rally, drift, and road racing racecar driver from the USA that competes under the banner of Rockstar Energy Drink. He also works as a stunt driver on his time off, plus he has appeared in several TV shows such as Redline TV and the North American version of Top Gear. He's a six-time medallist in the X Games Rally Racing (three of which were gold) and Formula Drift National Champion in 2007 and 2008. Due to his busy schedule as a driving stuntsman in Hollywood and campaigning the Rockstar Ford Fiesta in the European Rallycross Series full-time, however, he has temporarily retired from the drift scene since 2011.
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16 February 2012
The Chinese car doppelganger invasion
Words by Jose Carlo R. Sapera
After the Spanish, Japanese, and Americans invaded the Philippines over the past centuries, it's now the Chinese who are keen on invading our country, not to claim new territories, but rather to dominate the local automotive industry. These new Chinese car manufacturers have been around for a few years now and have been making waves in their own different ways. But because they're still relatively in an infancy stage as compared to the Koreans and long-established Japanese, some have yet to rid themselves of their bad habit of coming up with tongue-twisting names and very peculiar designs. And to tickle your thoughts, here are some of the most intriguing look-a-likes we've found.
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07 February 2012
Boysen paints a shot to KNOxOUT pollution (w/ video)
Words by Jade Lu
To those wondering who might be responsible for the wall-tall murals along EDSA is, wonder no more. MMDA has teamed up with Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines, Inc. and TAO, Inc. to realize the Boysen KNOxOUT Project: EDSA, which features the pollution-eliminating capabilities of Boysen’s KNOxOUT paint and is the world’s first large scale public art project using anti-noxious paints.
The project aims to set up eight large scale artworks (approximately 1,000 square meters each) along EDSA’s 24-kilometer stretch, conceptualized by 11 international artists: Jose Tence Ruiz, Asuncion “Baby” Imperial and Damien “Coco” Anne, Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan, Virgilio “Pandy” Aviado, advertising agency TBWA, Erika Tan, Tapio Snellman, and Christian Grou.
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03 February 2012
Car names defined
Words by Christopher Kho and Jade Lu
Car makers across the globe name their latest models after elaborate words from the English dictionary (except for the Europeans who use a labyrinth of letters and numbers) to somehow reflect its prominent characteristics and dazzle their patrons over its obscure moniker. But after a multitude of brochures, advertisements, test drives, and car reviews, have we really given some thought what some of these nameplates really mean? Thankfully, the internet - and notably the guys at Dictionary.com - has put together a list of definitions for some of the most prominent and memorable car models ever to grace this planet.
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