TRC & ESP - What Are The Differences?

Traction Control System (TRC) and Electronic Stability Programme (ESP or ESC) – both are active safety features found in cars to provide maximum wheel traction when the system detects wheel spin. But what are exactly their differences since both systems also has the same main function?


As for TRC, which is usually found in Toyota cars like Toyota Altis and Camry, helps maintain traction on wet, icy, loose or uneven surfaces by applying brake force to the spinning wheels. This will ensure a smooth acceleration from a stand still and prevent wheel skid at the start of acceleration.Let’s say in an event, few of your wheels came upon muddy surface and TRC detected wheel spin, TRC will limits engine output and applies the brakes to the spinning wheel. Engine power will be supplied to the wheels that still have traction so that you can drive away from the ’sticky situation’.

Electronic Stability Programme, on the other hand, helps prevent wheel slip and loss of traction by reducing engine power and applying brake to the wheels to regain traction. When the vehicle is not going where the driver is steering, ESP monitors your steering angle and the direction your vehicle is actually traveling and calculate the exact force needed to be applied on the brake of each wheel.

Stability programme such as the ESP is important in reducing accidents on the road, especially in Malaysia's tropical weather. The installation of ESP in a car also influences the car's crash test result at EuroNCAP. More and more car manufacturers install ESP as standard in many of their cars, this shows that airbag is not the only essential safety item anymore!

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Malaysia's 2012 Honda Civic!

Finally the shots of the non-US (and Malaysia) 2012 Honda Civic has been released! It's a huge disappointment as our version doesn't have a different JDM design compared to the US version like what Honda had done for the Civic's past few generations. Only very minor tweaks were done to the front end of non-US Civic, as you can see and compare the non-US Civic (top) with the US Civic (bottom).


The outgoing Civic's taillights were not my cup of tea, but the replacement model's taillights are certainly not my cup of 'drink'! The extra 'taillights' on the boot lid is an unnecessary touch, like our Honda Accord. The overall design became more mature than the current youthful looking Civic.


Malaysia will be getting the same design of cabin like the above (except it might be without sat-nav at the centre and will be right hand drive, that is) if there's no changes from the US version Civic. Same two tier instrument panel concept like the current Civic, but with driver-facing center part of the dashboard. However, it looks a little bit plasticky too. I somehow still prefer the current Civic's cabin design...

While the wheelbase for the all-new Honda Civic will be 30mm shorter (2670mm), but Honda promises its interior space is not affected, and even increased! Width, length and height of the car does not differ much compared to its predecessor. There's a bad news for the all-new Honda Civic though: Consumers Report rated it below the 'Recommended' rating.


What a beauty... The dream car of most young executives and young-at-heart consumers. Even after 6 years on the road, a 2005 Honda Civic will still be able to turn heads when it passes by. Too bad its replacement model won't be as stunning as the current design...

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Kai Jern's Wedding @ Bankers Club !

This was one of the cutest wedding cake that I had ever seen!

I was in a penthouse, Bankers Club located just opposite of Times Square to attend my mom's old friend's son, Kai Jern's wedding.


For the first time I had a wedding dinner in a penthouse, and we were placed in a lounge with beautiful view of Jalan Imbi and KL night view before we move to the dining hall.


The bride and groom of the day, Rachel and Kai Jern!


This was where I took a family group picture together :) They have really nice deco in the club!


Get the awesome night view of KL that I was talking about? Of course the view will be better with a handsome guy ;)


It was 8pm and time to cut the cake! After cutting the cake, we moved on to the dining hall!


Everyone was greeted with a beautifully decorated table with a pair of bear toys for every attendee.


Lastly, a picture of me and my 'kai mah' (foster mother XD)

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2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid Exposed !

Finally, the most anticipated midsize family car's sucessor - Toyota Camry's replacement model was captured nakedly by spyshot photographer during its commercial shooting. The 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid was in its birthday suit and therefore we get to have a clear look on how the all-new Camry Hybrid would look like. You can expect the normal variant of Camry to have minor differences compared to Camry Hybrid too.

Akio Toyoda, current President of Toyota, had teased the all-new Camry's headlight to the public and we gotta tell you when he has unveiled is the real deal. The front end of the 2012 Camry has a little resemblance to the facelifted Corolla (Altis), while the bumper is design with cues of Toyota Estima Hybrid's bumper.

The side view still looks as conversative as the outgoing Camry; it has the same window shape except the 'mini-kick' at the front window. While the overall shape doesn't not grown a lot in size, but it has become more boxy and squarish.

The rear end design of the all-new Camry reminds me of Subaru, hope it doesn't look weird when we get to have a better look at it. Nonetheless, it still look better than the current America version Camry's rear end.

If you don't like what you saw above, no worries. We are likely to get a different front and rear end design (JDM version), as well as other Asian countries.

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