Days of Thunder

By Francis Lloyd Sauza

Photos from Joebel Sia

Road trips are one of my stress busters. It makes me inspired and extra motivated to work after a day of road trip especially in the countryside. I remember during one of my road trips in Antique a couple of years ago that our car's engine overheated in the middle of the hilly zigzag road near the boundary of San Joaquin and Antique.

Hence, we asked for some water in the houses around the side of the road where we parked. And after pouring some water on the radiator area, the system eventually cooled down. 

TOP UP THE COOLANT

For this reason, it is really important to top up the coolant. This must be done when the engine is cold, preferably in the morning before driving off. First, check the level of the coolant in the radiator reservoir. If it is low, open the reservoir cap and pour coolant into the container.

Here's what you're going to do when you engine overheated: you need to have a radiator coolant, if it's possible, or if you don't have a coolant on the time that your engine overheated, you can also use water instead like what we did and rags.

If your car is overheating, park your car on the side of the road and turn off the engine. Be careful when opening the good as steam can burn your hands, fingers or face. Pour water on the water on the radiator area to cool down the system. Use a wet rag to slowly and carefully open the radiator cap by half a turn to release pressure.

Once the pressure has subsided, completely open the cap and pour water into the radiator until it fills. Drive immediately to a gas station, replace your coolant and have the engine checked for possible damage.

Ilonggo drag racer, Joebel Sia, a member of PerformanceManiaX Racing Team

Just take it from Joebel Sia, an Ilonggo drag racer from Sta. Cruz, Arevalo, Iloilo City. He is a member of PerformanceManiaX Racing Team. Joebel always check his car's radiator water or coolant level, so as to prevent it from overheating. "Always check the level of your brake fluid, check the air pressure of your tire, check the radiator water or coolant level, change oil, oil filter and sparkplugs every 10,000 kms, and lastly check the ignition timing."

He got into drag racing through self motivation and determination. He started racing since year 2000. And since 2008, he's been driving a Honda Civic SiR, a sport compact/hot hatch version of the Civic built by the Japanese automaker Honda. When asked if what makes his race car stands out among other race cars, he said: "Nice to ride, simple and quite fast. I think every car has a different design and uniqueness. It depends to the owner on how to accessorize their cars and modify the engine to get really fast."

His Honda Civic SiR is a coilover sleeve type, has a fiber glass hood and trunk, spoon side mirrors, type R bezel, spoon shift knob, mags. On the other hand, Joebal shared that he rarely hangs out with his fellow car racers these days. "I rarely hanging out with them because I'm quite busy attending my business. At 10 pm we meet at gas station Star Mart Jaro and hang out there talking with each other about cars and engines. And after a while we find ourselves having conversation and negotiating with other groups to race with us and then after that the race begins."

DRAG RACING TIPS

Drag Racing is a very fun and exciting sports. Those of you who want to get into drag racing just know your car well, start from basic steps on how to set up your engine until to the time that your engine needs more power and you can't help yourself to stop buying racing parts until the last drop of your money. But it’s all worth it after a successful project.

DRAG RACER'S ADVICE

Always be prepared before the race, always wear safety gears like helmet and seat belts, race on strip not on street, never race on wet and a crowded road. Don't drink and drive, falling asleep while driving is really a bad idea.

Follow the writer on Twitter.com/FrancisLloyd