Cars and Bikes

Car Review : Timor S515i DOHC 1997
Bought this brand new car at 1997. Actually the real brand is KIA Sephia, a Korean manufactured vehicle. In Indonesia the brand changed to TIMOR with a lot a controversial matter with it. This car was cheap compared to its rivals likes Honda City, Suzuki Baleno or Toyota Soluna. Why cheap? because this manufacture had a special tax deduction from the government. At the beginning, people little bit reluctance to bought, korean car reputation was not really reliable at that time. I don't really care, KIA made a lot improvement in the last 5 years. The brief specification of Timor S515i as follow:

engine 1500 cc, DOHC (double overhead camshaft)
power 110 hp
manual transmission
fuel injection.
front disc brake and rear drum brake.

The reason to buy this car:

1. Cheap, Rp. 10M cheaper than suzuki baleno or honda city
2. Good model and design in its class
3. Better interior quality and functions
4. The engine power is enough for daily use
5. Fuel injection system, low maintenance
   

I did some upgrades for this car: change the EOM head unit with "sony", change the EOM speakers, installed additional power amplifier. The original 14" rim wheel changed to five spokes 16" wheel fit with 205/50 R16 tires.

Used this car for 6 years with regular service maintenance, I can resume this car as:

1. Very reliable engine, never had a problem with engine
2. Cheap spare parts, easy to find, can used other brand parts likes mazda or ford
3. Enough power, used to run at 140-150km/h at toll road.
4. Good handling, bit over steer when cornering.
5. Poor brake system, should be very careful when using this car in high speed.
6. Poor quality plug wire, torn easily.
7. After 4 years, I feel a mild vibration in lower rpm after release the clutch. Its cause by unbalance flywheel surface. Its suggested to change the flywheel immediately, not expensive.
8. Sticky clutch if the car not use for long time.
9. Fuel consumption around 1 ltr/9 km for city driving and 1 ltr : 12 km for extra urban driving

Generally I'm satisfied with this car performance, excellent value for money. Sold the car at 2003 with 57.000 km on odometer.