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Its been two days since I got the car back from the workshop. Having had the chance to drive around in it, I noticed certain changes that resulted from its time in the workshop. Some changes are good while others are simply goofs.

The Good
The car moves. No seriously, it wasn’t moving previously.

There has been a considerable increase in performance. Replacing the clutch plates, the car now has more power and pickup due to less slippage when the gears are engaged. As a result, the car runs smoother (or so WL tells me). They have also adjusted the tension in the clutch pedal so that it is not as stiff. It used to require abit of effort to depress the clutch pedal fully. Personally, I didn’t think that it was a flaw but it could be a pain when you’re stuck in traffic. It also made it difficult for girls to drive (case in point WL). With the tension tuned down, the clutch now depresses with little effort. Changing gears only requires a kick to the pedal instead of an all out battle between the spring and your calves.

Good response time, better pickup and power, better handling. Good job.

The Bad
While swapping out the clutch kit, they had to (for some obscure reason) do some rewiring of my car’s electronic system. When I got into the car, the first thing I noticed was that the clock had gone back 6 hours. The station presets on the radio had also reset themselves. That means that either the battery was disconnected or the wiring had been temporarily severed. Not a big deal. All I needed to do was to readjust the clock and tune the radio.

It was only on the second day that I noticed something else that was odd about the wiring. The door’s auto-lock was offline. It used to be that when I started the car engine (or rather when the ignition was turned on), the central locking would automatically lock all the doors. Likewise, when the ignition is turned off, the doors will unlock. This no longer happens. I suspect that they have disconnected the switch. So now I have to make a concious effort to lock and unlock the doors manually. This might be a problem when picking up passengers as they have a tendency to pull on the lock to get it to open when they want to get out. The sad thing about the Tiara’s central locking system is that it isn’t designed to be open manually. Doing so messes up the locks (my back door locks jam occasionally because of this mistreatment). The people I pick up have learned to wait long enough for me to switch off my engine before trying the door since they expect the doors to unlock then. Now with that offline, its back to pulling on the damn locks. Maybe I should send the car back in to get that fixed.

The Ugly
Lastly, the car is an ugly mess. Dark greasy fingerprints can be found all across the car’s body (especially around the front and bonnet area). Inside, the stearing and gear shift is sticky with residual grease and there are smudges around the doors. I found a greasy rag under the driver’s seat. So what is it with workshops that they can’t return a car to you in the same condition (albeit with problems fixed) that you sent it in? They seem to have a tendency to greatly mess up the car’s exterior AND interior.

Anyway, I am happy with the work that they did on the car. Except for a few minor screwups, the car came out better than when it went in. The most important thing, I suppose, is that the car moves again. Its alive! Now the only question is how long can I keep it that way :D