Sunday morning and an age old comparison
Discussion
Fun Sunday morning run over to Johor with a mate who decided on bringing two wheels rather than four.
Ducati Panigale V2 with Termignoni full system and wearing sticky Bridgestone Hypersports pared up with a stock A110 GT on standard PS4s.
Interesting to see how two wheels stacked up against four with the Panigale predictably walking away from the Alpine on the highway. Roles then reversing on the twisties through the jungle and palm plantations with the Alpine disappearing off into the distance. Noticeably stronger under brakes, carrying higher corner speeds, cleaner exits and dealing better with the sometimes wild undulations of Malaysia’s B roads.
515km, 22.3mpg and back before Sunday lunch.
Ducati Panigale V2 with Termignoni full system and wearing sticky Bridgestone Hypersports pared up with a stock A110 GT on standard PS4s.
Interesting to see how two wheels stacked up against four with the Panigale predictably walking away from the Alpine on the highway. Roles then reversing on the twisties through the jungle and palm plantations with the Alpine disappearing off into the distance. Noticeably stronger under brakes, carrying higher corner speeds, cleaner exits and dealing better with the sometimes wild undulations of Malaysia’s B roads.
515km, 22.3mpg and back before Sunday lunch.
I’m Singapore-based and yes the import duties and taxes are pretty horrendous like Malaysia. But if you’re based here it just needs to be factored into the cost of living, or you don’t drive.
If you combine the import duties with the COE (a permit to drive the car) then you are looking at 3-5X the price of UK/Europe.
The COE is a flat SGD 120k which all cars pay no matter how mundane. That lasts for 10 years, so view it as a 12k per year/1k per month tax. After 10 years you have to either deregister the car (and scrap or export it) or stump up for another 10 years. If you dereg the car mid-term you do get the pro-rata balance back and of course the remaining life of permit constitutes a chunk of the value of the car.
The bill of sale for the A110GT for the first owner was SGD 499,995 (ouch) or roughly GBP 290,000. The dealer probably offered them a bit of help on that figure.
I bought it a year old with 8k km up for SGD 283,000 (GBP 165,000) but that still included 9 years of COE which is worth SGD 108,000 (GBP 65,000) so the man maths stacked up.
Where the Alpine scores well is road tax which is based on engine capacity. 1.8L is $950 a year whereas if I had my V12V here that would be another $10k pa on top.
There isn’t a single good piece of road in Singapore and the speed limits here even on the highway are a max 80 & 90kmph. But over in Malaysia there are some cracking roads and let’s just say law enforcement is pliable.
But the roads over the border are somewhat more adventurous (surfaces and s
t happens). So if you’ve coughed up a chunky seven figure sum to get something more exotic - would you really want to risk it, or pull up in it for coffee in a village where the average income is a four figure sum.
If you combine the import duties with the COE (a permit to drive the car) then you are looking at 3-5X the price of UK/Europe.
The COE is a flat SGD 120k which all cars pay no matter how mundane. That lasts for 10 years, so view it as a 12k per year/1k per month tax. After 10 years you have to either deregister the car (and scrap or export it) or stump up for another 10 years. If you dereg the car mid-term you do get the pro-rata balance back and of course the remaining life of permit constitutes a chunk of the value of the car.
The bill of sale for the A110GT for the first owner was SGD 499,995 (ouch) or roughly GBP 290,000. The dealer probably offered them a bit of help on that figure.
I bought it a year old with 8k km up for SGD 283,000 (GBP 165,000) but that still included 9 years of COE which is worth SGD 108,000 (GBP 65,000) so the man maths stacked up.
Where the Alpine scores well is road tax which is based on engine capacity. 1.8L is $950 a year whereas if I had my V12V here that would be another $10k pa on top.
There isn’t a single good piece of road in Singapore and the speed limits here even on the highway are a max 80 & 90kmph. But over in Malaysia there are some cracking roads and let’s just say law enforcement is pliable.
But the roads over the border are somewhat more adventurous (surfaces and s
t happens). So if you’ve coughed up a chunky seven figure sum to get something more exotic - would you really want to risk it, or pull up in it for coffee in a village where the average income is a four figure sum.I used to take a 964 up to Malaysia now and again, in the very late 90s and it was the only way to experience the car but I got tired of the Malaysian police asking for bribes. They would even do it at the border crossing if they could think of an excuse such as having some random bit of consumer electronics in the car trunk (bringing consumer electronics in without declaring was allegedly illegal). They'd ask for a cash bribe, right on the spot. Also for speeding, of course (whether or not you were). Cash please, or come back to the police station for paperwork. It was tiresome. The Singapore plate and expensive car was basically like a big kick-me sign on your t-shirt.
I did enjoy the new grand tour episode set in Singapore then Malaysia, though.
I did enjoy the new grand tour episode set in Singapore then Malaysia, though.
Things are better these days. I’ve only been pulled over a few times - call it under one drive in ten - and only when genuinely speeding. Never any trouble at the border which tends to be pretty efficient if you hit it at the right times of day. Sometimes you come across road blocks but I’ve not been shaken down.
The times I have been pulled have been hidden speed traps with follow up dragnets. One of those was 242kmph in a 110, but then being able to carry on having parted with a bit of kopi money and smiles all round. Even these are a bit of a rarity but at the weekend they’ll usually set up on the last stretch of highway before the border to collect a bit of exit tax from the Singaporeans. But at least you can press on a bit when conditions allow without the spectre of sizeable consequences hanging over you.
The times I have been pulled have been hidden speed traps with follow up dragnets. One of those was 242kmph in a 110, but then being able to carry on having parted with a bit of kopi money and smiles all round. Even these are a bit of a rarity but at the weekend they’ll usually set up on the last stretch of highway before the border to collect a bit of exit tax from the Singaporeans. But at least you can press on a bit when conditions allow without the spectre of sizeable consequences hanging over you.
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