The inaugural Vios Challenge race in Penang on August 12-13 will see top Malaysian racers battling it out with different strategies. Local racing names that need no introduction include Keifli Othman, Boy Wong, Kenny Lee, James Veerapan, Syafiq Ali, Mark Darwin, Mitchel Cheah, Rocky Seow, Akina Teo and “Prince of Drift” Tengku Djan Ley.
The racing will be door-to-door, as all the cars are identical with no mechanical advantage in a one-make race. This was clearly demonstrated during a recent Sepang shakedown of the Vios race car, when some of the top racers clocked lap times within a second’s difference of each other.
“It is going to be a very close race. The Vios is very responsive and easy to handle so newcomers and seasoned racers will have a lot of fun driving this car in the race,” said Keifli Othman, a veteran of saloon and open-wheel racing.
Rally ace Kenneth Koh will be making his debut on a race track in the Vios Challenge, and he was quick to praise the ease of settling into a quick rhythm with the Vios. “The car is so easy to drive, I got used to it after just a few laps. It is very balanced with the right amount of power, handling, braking and acceleration so I think it is equal for beginners and expert drivers to handle the car,” he said.
An early favourite is Boy Wong, who will be racing under Team ST Wangan’s banner. There will be no strategy as far as he’s concerned. “This is going to be a pure pedal-to-metal race from lights to flag. You won’t have any opportunity to think of strategies in the race. Everyone will be jostling to get ahead of the pack so you either keep up or defend,” said Wong.
CY Ong, owner of the Dream Chaser Team that’s fielding three cars, is taking a different approach. No bulldozing through. “Having driven the Vios, I believe that this car will reward the gentle and smooth driver. If you’re too aggressive, you may lose too much momentum and actually fall behind. The way to drive it is by being smooth through the corners. I think that the driver who realises this quickly will do very well,” said Ong.
The expanded field of 40 Vios race cars have been built to identical spec. The rims, tyres and fuel are controlled items supplied by the organisers, further restricting any variables the drivers can exploit.
The race car is based on a Vios 1.5J manual but with a 10% power hike (the 2NR-FE makes 107 PS/140 Nm stock) and track-essential mods. TRD parts include an aerodynamic kit, exhaust system, clutch and limited-slip differential (LSD), suspension system, brake pads, tower bar and lower brace bars, and a full roll cage.
Also on are 15-inch Enkei rims with 195/50 Toyo Proxes tyres, a Motec C125 racing display, a fire suppression system, OMP’s Corsica Superleggero steering wheel, an OMP First-R racing seat and tow hooks at both ends. The cars were prepared by Wing Hin Motorsports in Malaysia.
The Vios Challenge will be the headlining event at the Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) Racing Festival that kicks off on August 12-13 at the Batu Kawan Stadium in Penang. There will be plenty of activities in store, including drift demos, celebrity performances, food trucks, test drives, and a Toyota C-HR showcase. Entrance is free.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Sg Petani race track, on track?
What a great Challenge. All the best racers!
Let me remind all fanboys out there,there will be only Vios cars competing this race,ok? Before the next day Toyota would announce their Vios are the TOP three winners.. and all T fanboys clapping hand saying bravo Toyota,bravo!
Keli vios will come out 1st, 2nd, & 3rd. And Manufacturer winner will be godkompeni
Malaysia masyarakat majmuk, berpisah tiada. Merdeka !!
This race is good. It unites Malaysians.
Agreed. All MY pipu concurs that this race is just proof that vios is ahbeng racecar and the race will embolden them to drive like their heros on public roads. All MY pipu agrees, this race is a unnecessary nuisance.
john…Don’t confused urself w Vios car race & MY pipu as a race. Same same “race” but diffrent racing.
Hoi dun take my name la. Yoi want to poat here use your brain to think other name.
I borrowed a Vios from a friend the other day and was surprised it can reach 190 km/h and maintain that speed for at least 30min. Very steady at that speed and it was on standard tyres without any engine mods.
I hope you are doing this on a track.
Your speedometer spoilt. In reality you driving at 90km/h only stop dreaming
My stock Honda City (2014) can easily hit 200km/h on NSE without any problem bro.
Jangan terkejut apabila exora cfe tapau anda di highway atau corner hehehe.
Exora R3 edisi FireBolt.
Bro, kalau sedan orang tak hairan la bro. Cuba kau banding toyota mpv lari 210kmh dengan exora cfe. Hahahaha. Exora cfe stable macam sedan owh bro. Godcar mpv
190? Hahaha.This T salesman really put his ass off into bucket.At 140km/h the steering would vibrate already.Sorry i don’t believe 107ps can make a 1.2 tonne dinosaur above 160.Try to lie again next time.Good efforts though.
Actually, I’ve once tail gate a dugong Vios running at 180km/h. (I’m in a 1st gen Persona). The female driver maintained that speed from Simpang Ampat, PNG toll all the way till Sungai Perak RnR. Not sure about the Keli Vios, but dugong Vios is a very light car, maybe thats why it can go that fast
eastern & western bypass
Kipidap Djan Ley!!
maybe honda also can do a race like this
Honda doesn’t have manual cars for sale anymore……takkanlah nak pakai CVT?
City India diesel spec has 6MT
Only when it comes to level playing field (similar cars nonetheless) only people realise that these racers are not that much superior but of equal talent and speed. Otherwise tengku djan or keifli will be full 3 seconds ahead of the pack, or something like that. All the results in mereka race and Malaysia super series are showing the differences of cars.
Must be a very slow race:)
No worries. The fengtau music will make it look fast
Keifli love dangdutt~~
The most proper way to use a vios; drive it in an enclosed space and far from the rest of us road users, lest there will be more accidents! If you want to race your God car, do it in the tracks like these pros!
In all seriousness they should’ve bought all of those recon/unreg Toyota 86’s and use them for this event rather than this overrated B-segmenter, much more fun with possible drifting can be had for the event. Way to go to instill the youngsters on their warped ideology about the Vios being the best car ever…
it will be interesting if the car was for sale after the race, good buy haha
UMW should focus their sales rather than racing, a family car makers became Ah Beng wannabe to race, totally wasting time, duh!
Meh. Puchong streetracers can use their vios to tapau all of them, but later end up in longkang.
Orang Malaysia semua dapat gaji RM8143, masuk longkang hal kecik
Basher gaji ciku Rm1500 need not apply. Kekal lah dgn 2nd hand EX5 mu…
Too many unsold vios and don’t known what to do? Let’s have a one make race!
Deswaii gomen build alot race treks.
LOL Vios for racing… what a joke.. how many horsepower did those crappy stickers add? Crappy chassis, lackluster engine and transmission, and these people say it’s a balanced car for racing. Yeah right.
U know right… Rempit more shiok.
Head & limbs, putus sentiasa…
U know , vios was builded for fuel efficient and not for racing. But many ah beng drive their vios like a cirit birit person wanna find the nearest toilet. Some vios ahbeng even thinking that they driving a supra. How smart this people are !
U know , vios was builded for fuel efficient and not for racing. But many ah beng drive their vios like a cirit birit person wanna find the nearest toilet. Some vios ahbeng even thinking that they driving a supra. How smart this people are !
WHAT?! 10% hike only ??? buang p laut la itu vios. sticker banyak2 ala-ala kereta 300hp. typical ahbeng(toyota). add trd stripe sana sini, and now this ahbeng become so stupid thinking his vios is fast. HAHA. cannot sell the vios kah? so toyota want to use it for race? if me, buang p saja maaa
Jelly lettew…P1 CVT sangkut tgh jalan, Kih3
How can jeles? This is racing shiok sendiri with all are Vios. Lol
CVT sangkut kat jalan at least boleh tow.
Rear axle hilang macam mana nak tow tu?
bagi bukti dulu maaaaaa . mana cvt sangkut? cvt sangkut atleast boleh diselamatkan lagi. toyota keta pandai pecut sendiri boleh selamat tak? airbag toyota yg tak berfungsi sampai toyota buat recall, kalau belum tukar, pastu xsiden , macam mana itu owner mau selamat ? ahahahahaha
low sales maybe…
No such event for Honda City… but City still no 1 in Sales… Try to push infleunce all Abeng, to buy and beat city Sales..
vios 1.5J with 10% power hike could be same fast as altis 2.0 only
Even proton preve r3 n/a got 160hp, while proton iriz r3 1.6 n/a got the almighty 190hp. How can this vios dreaming want to race with all that 10% increase + handling sampan ?
Question to Toyota – why do you have 2 racing seats? This is a track car, not a rally car where you need a co-driver.
join the Sepang 1000km race or MME, not race among vios only… takut kalah ngan Proton R3 team?
Proton R3 dh bungkus, lingkup, padan mukak
Sepang MME not just for R3, bodo. Its a more majmuk race than this ahbeng exclusive only kind. What the point of racing when u cant even tune the car? Its just a gigantic go-kart.
Tell those Myvee racers @ Akleh.
R3 dah tutup pun, tapi takda siapa dpt lawan geng R3 masa kat sepang 1000km hehehe
Toyota is the most annoying company . penakut. Only race with their vios car only and not competing with other car. They should winning the syok sendiri awards
Toyota is the most annoying company . penakut. Only race with their vios car only and not competing with other car. They should winning the syok sendiri awards