Uber Garage Track Day

Text by: Ben Photos by: June & Ben

On saturday 17th November, a conspicuous group of car enthusiasts rose with the sun to leave the little island of Singapore and head North for the Über Garage Track day at Sepang International Circuit.

For a few of us, this track day was the perfect occasion to do the first real shakedowns of the rides we've spent our time and money to turn into our very own big boy toys.

Meet John and his 1.5l Swift. After a good dose of tenter and loving care and some applied surgery performed on his Suzuki, John could not wait to get his wheels on track. At the end of the day, this quite innocent-looking machine called for respect with a best lap of 2:57.254.

Darren and Trena brough up their Copen for a spin too, and as we've seen before with Rian's "Small but Mighty" Copen, these midget-sized rides can pack a lot of fun.

After a whopping 22 laps only interrupted by his ATF cooler needing to cool down, Darren clocked in a 3:07.859, a rather satisfying first-shakedown timing that left a smile on his face.

This Über Garage Track day also marked my first time bringing my 1.5l Vios to the track, and while she is not fully ready for some heavy bashing yet, I still had my fair share of fun.

Having to stop every 3 laps to cool down the engine only left me with an in-lap followed by 1 flying lap before lifting the throttle for a cool down cruise around the SIC. The 3:11.917 timing I clocked on my last lap of the day is now my baseline and I can't wait to get back up there after some cooling upgrades!

All in all, the Über Garage Track day had 36 cars going around Malaysia's F1 grade track, with the fastest around clocking a quick 2:41.262 at the wheel of a Honda S2000.

While we were lapping the black top, the entrance fo the SIC had its own fun going on with the Trax on Track. This event brought together music and cars with DJs spinning in front of drifting and gymkhana competitions.

Malaysia has a strong car community, and car clubs like the Honda Fit/Jazz club are always prompt to gather and show off their rides, which made the event all the more interesting and colorful.

There's always a sticker or two that stand out, in this event's case, I particularily liked this one.

One thing that's always enjoyable to see in Malaysia is the freedom they have to building one-off track machines. Compared to the rule-ladden Singapore, they not only have much more affordable rides, but are also rather unlimited as to what they can build. Take for example this widened S13 pickup with a nitrous oxide bottle bolted onto the rollcage. Yummy!

The turnout was still light at around 4pm, but at this time, the real Trax on Track show was only warming up. The show per se was set to begin in the evening, with live concert performances and DJs spinning into the night.

As I was about to leave, this widebody drift-ready Sylvia caught my eye, sitting pretty before heading off to lay a strip of rubber on the asphalt. That's what I call a good day!