The Pit

The Caltex Techron — Burnpavement Reader Survey (Part 2)

BY Azfar Hashim

Our Editor sample Caltex’s Platinum 98 With Techron fuel, using his ‘8 year-old jalopy’ as the test bed

Photos by Joel Tam & Azfar Hashim

Let me begin by being brutally honest – I have been neglecting my car and giving it very minimal care. After all, I have a long list of spanking new test cars on a daily basis, hence why I did not give much attention to this Proton Satria Neo 1.6 with a 5-speed manual transmission, of mine.

During the first few years, I must say it was well taken care of; servicing intervals were adhered to religiously and it was sent for regular polishing. Instead now you see battle scars all over the car’s exterior (thanks to mistakes made at the track, selfish parking neighbours who leave dings and dents and lastly vandals) and washed perhaps only twice a month.

Recently though, I was given a scare when the car’s check engine light came alive and the battery starting to die on me. After sending it to my regular workshop, this was diagnosed: Apparently the wirings were getting loose, a sure sign of wear and tear, which is normal for a car of this age. Not wanting to have the car ‘fall sick’ and inconvenience me anymore, I immediately sent it for thorough servicing where everything was not spared. True it cost me money, but at least I am assured the car would be trouble free, at least, until the COE comes to a tragic end in February 2017.

The exterior left untouched, I have now started to pay a closer attention to everything else though, particularly any funny sounds that decided to just pop out of no where.

Yes I cannot expect much performance out of this car considering its age and how I maintained it previously, but I still need it to run efficiently. And so as a starter for this test, I filled in a full tank of Platinum 98 With Techron fuel.

In my online research, I was told that the difference could only be felt after three full tanks. So lets see how it enhances my aging car, in my next article!