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“This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” – Morpheus.

If the millennium was your thing, you may have already heard of this hit line in the Matrix trilogy, a sci-fi action film about Earth being dominated by sentient machines rebelling against humanity. It was undeniably on the favourite movie list of millions that boasted new camera tricks and ideas, and a virtually immersive story line that pokes deep into the meaning of life.

Since then, the red and blue pill concept has become popular culture symbols representing the choice between embracing the sometimes painful truth of reality and the blissful ignorance of illusion. In this case, the subconscious mind does translate to a perfect fit for our photo subjects – A red Maserati Granturismo MC Stradale representing today’s combustion engine prowess, and a blue BMW i8 that just happens to arrive from the future.
Say hello to the 1.5L plug-in hybrid supercar on the left and the 4.7L V8 petrol engine supercar on the right.

Today, we took the the red pill.

There is no right or wrong but this choice allowed us to experience explosive raw power on tap. This is not just a regular Maserati GranTurismo, mind you. It is a dearer, more powerful, stiffer, lower and lighter GranTurismo MC Stradale. One look, you can’t miss the striking trident that was inspired by the Neptune fountain in Bologna, Italy – the hallmark of Maserati since 1914.

Enter the driver’s cockpit, press the start button, and the 450 odd bhp engine breathes delightfully into life! The Singapore city skyline appears even more astoundingly beautiful with the striking red maser roaring down her boulevards. The owner has tastefully added subtle design touches to the bodywork and the final outcome looks unquestionably fantastic.
As the duo rolls down the underground freeway, it was an absolute sight to behold. Two very different cars but yet serving a common purpose; that is pushing the boundaries of automotive engineering and design, and delivering unparalleled transportation satisfaction for the car nuts.
And this is us ending in Matrix style… If you take the blue pill, your electrifying dream begins. You wake up in your bed and believe you can save the world. You take the red pill, you stay true to fuel addiction, and we will show you how deafening that V8 rumbles.

Till next time when we pop the blue pill!

Our first proper photo shoot with a Volkswagen is a highly rated 5-door Golf GTI Mk VI in candy white. Her proud owner, Isabelle, does not even exude the slightest hint that she owns this ferocious little monster.

Just like her, the GTI looks proper and refined, sometimes demure too. It is almost like a hidden gem – understated, discreet and yet people who know and appreciate them will celebrate her choice. Nobody else will fault her for owning one either because fellow petrol aficionadi absolutely know what a GTI is capable of.


Isabelle reached out to us for a very special moment – a personal gift for herself on her birthday. She brought along a friend too, someone who drives an equally respected car, the Volkswagen Golf R in exclusive rising blue colour.

Now that makes a second Volkswagen for us. We believe good things come in pairs and took the extra mile to shoot both of them within the constraint of time. Both cars looked stunning under the cloudless sky, illuminated by a fairly beautiful Marina Bay skyline. It was a visual treat for us just by positioning the cars for the shoot.

To us, Mk VI Golf GTI is one of the finest in its class, and in our opinion, everything about it was sensible and in its rightful place. Nobody would have figured out how Volkswagen could possibly improve the next Golf mark with every generation. Anticipating how the designers incorporate the characteristic GTI red stripes is also one important aspect to look out for. It just gets better every time.


In motion, GTI emits a deep, beefy growl throughout her rev range. It is certainly music to the engine note audiophile. It is without a doubt an enthusiast’s car and her century sprint time of six and a half seconds is highly competitive. Her willingness to be tossed around is the reason why it is so popular and well-received on our busy roads for that occasional fun, spirited drive.

When you have to give up your beloved ride because of overseas job reallocation, bidding farewell is never easy especially for a petrolhead like Sebastian. He has spent a sizeable amount of effort to spruce up his BMW 116i, or as he affectionally puts it, the “white horse”.

Much of the modifications are inspired directly by the 1er bloodline’s current top performer M135i. It also helps when you have a supportive spouse who incidentally is also the chief finance officer to agree on the approval of fund release. But first, being a passionate Liverpool FC husband-and-wife fan team alleviates most disagreements, anyway.


The BMW 1 Series is a compact family hatchback designed to rival the likes of the Audi A3 and Mercedes A-Class. Despite being the entry-level of the brand, this overall German package is not too shabby. The interior is well-built, handling and engine performance is of BMW benchmark, and we all know where this benchmark stands. With a little “touchup” on this zippy car, the result can be pretty sporty thanks to some clever software management which Sebastian has nicely executed.

By piggy-backing on the available 136 bhp from the 1.6-litre turbocharged engine with Kelleners Sports’ chiptuning setup, an extra 25 horses and 40 Nm torque were extracted. Putting it into sports mode will also make the turbo work harder, resulting in a more responsive drive.



Sebastian has a knack for visual enhancement and performance upgrades too. He upgraded white horse’s stock brakes and rims to M Performance brakes kit and 18″ M135i sports rims respectively.

It is a wholly dedicated transformation with M135i front bumper, side skirts and rear bumper with M Performance rear diffuser. M Performance kidney grilles, door sill, pedal, gear knob, and carbon fibre side mirrors were followed by next.

And it does not stop there. It happens right down to even details like door mats and the full red Dakota leather seats!


We had a chance to be in the car for this shot and was amazed by how solid it felt from the inside. Once the doors closed, there wasn’t hardly any noise from the outside, suggesting a good sound deadening job done. When on the move, the soft engine feedback rumbling was music to the ears too. Manoeuvring around the rear for a shot was also surprisingly unrestrictive – it was pretty spacious for a hatchback of this size.

An enjoyable driving experience is one of the 1er’s biggest selling-points and we are definitely sure Sebastian have had a good and almost visceral one till the end.

It was the year 2011 when Lamborghini first unveiled the Aventador LP700-4 to replace the ageing Murcielago. There were already a handful of pre-orders even before production started.

It did not come as a surprise to many, as the eyes-popping design and jaws-dropping performance swept the world off her feet. The Aventador is born into the two seconds club, responsible for donning wallpapers of car fanatics’ desktops, and is also the most popular “spotted” cars on our Instagram hashtag (See #sgcarshoot link).

Hazel is the angelic owner of this equally dazzling white Mercedes convertible, the SLK 200. She has been featured in a couple of our previous shoots (Ferrari 599 and BMW M3 GTRS5), and thus is no stranger working around cars. This time round, she is totally at ease with her own ride and of course, a little emotional too, as her car falls victim to the dreaded COE expiry.

Until this shoot, abbreviations like EMMA and ESQL were totally foreign to us. Yet, this is one feature car that is no stranger to the podiums at these events. EMMA stands for European Mobile Media Association and is primarily specialised in car sound competitions. It provides a neutral, trend-setting platform to promote and carry the magical world of custom made automobile media installations to consumers.

Through these activities, sound manufacturers and specialists are able to promote themselves and their products to the masses. EMMA has a fast growing network covering 40 countries worldwide. By record, it has held more than 300 events, involving no less than 20,000 cars.


What we have in focus is a black, fully pimped out 2006 Hyundai Tuscani with a music themed livery that is screaming out for attention. A digital artwork of six huge speaker cones and a DJ in psychedelic colours lined both sides of the car, with blue undercarriage lights that created the impression of an alien spacecraft hovering on the roads.

Our model of the day is Makiyo Jaz, a freelance model currently studying in an arts school. Speaking of arts and music, it is perfect pairing for our shoot session happening right at the doorsteps of Aliwal Arts Centre.


This generation of the Hyundai Tuscani is a 3-door front wheel drive coupe designed and manufactured in South Korea, and production ran from year 2003 to 2008. The fresh look of the Tuscani was quite popular among car enthusiasts in Singapore, and it also spelt a major breakthrough for the Korean car manufacturer here on our shores.

Ever since its inception, the Tuscani has laid a solid foundation for the next generation Hyundai Genesis Coup to cater to a market segment of affordable style and performance.
Darren is one owner who appreciates these values of the Tuscani and took it to a higher state of consciousness.

A little history about Darren, he caught the sound modding bug years back and only started competing seriously in 2013. In his first foray, he was represented by TuneAttack and that won him a 3rd placing in EMMA Heat 2.

A year later in 2014, he was represented by Action Auto and that was when things escalated pretty quickly. Four months and more than $10,000 good money was spent on ICE (In-Car Entertainment) customisation and setup, including a full leather upholstery overhaul at THEN Leather. The final icing on the cake was a full graphic exterior wrap done by Agraphic. From then on, Darren went full steam ahead in competing and never looked back.

Here are his impressive accolades:

2014
July – Singapore EMMA Heat 1, 2nd place ESQL unlimited
August – Malaysia EMMA Heat 1, 1st place ESQL unlimited
September – Malaysia EMMA Heat 2, 2nd place ESQL unlimited
October – Singapore EMMA Heat 2, 2nd place ESQL unlimited
November – EMMA Asia 2014, 2nd place ESQL unlimited
December – EMMA Singapore Final, 1st ESQL 2-Woofer

‘Nuff said. The evil COE ran its course in 2015 and we shall stop at that. Let’s just enjoy the rest of the photos with Makiyo’s poses.






For the curious, here is the full list of Darren’s ICE technical setup:

Headunit – Alpine 502
Processor – Alpine H800
Speakers – Rockford Power Series x 2
Amplifiers – DLS reference series
Subwoofer – Rockford T3
RA40 Rockford 1500.1 x 1
Battery – Optima D75/25 yellow top
EPS Power Charger – GTR 6.8 and Evo-10

Halloween celebration has been gaining traction in Singapore, especially in the last 5 years. With big boys Universal Studios Singapore and Sentosa Leisure Management drumming up notable events like Halloween Horror Nights and Sentosa Spooktacular respectively, the western “festival of horror” has never seen such large-scale commercialisation happening in this part of South-East Asia before.

Fuelled by the media, people became more aware and started having their own pockets of horror thrills to “scare” others in friendly fun. Our roads were not spared either with this Halloween-dressed Mercedes Benz SLK250.

We don’t get a lot of chances with thematic cars. So when given the opportunity to shoot, we sprung into recce mode to search for an ideal location for our horror execution, and perhaps some props to set the mood. The result is a dark empty garage, a smoke machine and some essential lighting equipment.

We had contacted our good friends at Top93 Sports Rim to lease us an enclosed garage space for the midnight shoot. Pretty cool guys who readily agreed. So to return the favour, here is a small shoutout. Please click here to check out their awesome collection of mostly European sports rims and other related performance kits!

This 2-seater baby roadster from Mercedes has some brilliant hints of the SL and even SLS. The iconic single horizontal bar that holds the 3-pointed star emblem at the grille brings enough aggression to the front end. With a full body brushed steel wrap and red accents that the owner has given to the looks department, quad exhaust pipes fixed and some tuning done, the outcome is a totally different beast.

Shoot underway, the smoke machine was puffing hard and one of us was fanning equally hard to create that desired smoke screen for that picture perfect frame. Ride owner was also game to pose for an underground triad leader look #swag. Trust me, the sweat on his face is genuine. Speaking of true dedication. Late night shoots in the highway tunnels are the best playgrounds for us. Again, it is business as usual for sgCarShooters as we end off the session with our high speed rolling shots. 

As far as we have shot, this is possibly one of the loudest rides we have rubbed shoulders with late last year. In fact, just a few days shy of the new year, and we didn’t time on purpose such that we could literally send 2014 out with a loud (exhaust) bang.

This is an eight year old 6.0L V12 naturally aspirated stallion that doesn’t look his age at all. The Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano has been one of our favourite cars as far as we can remember, and like all fine wine, it is maturing into a genuine front-engine supercar. Well, not exactly front but still front enough to be considered one. To be precise, the mighty engine is positioned just behind the front axle. The owner has replaced its iconic Ferrari red with an electrifying matte blue wrap that is one of a kind in Singapore, a perfect complement to the black trims.

Like little boys, we were frenetic the moment we saw the first shot fired on our camera preview screen. The unmistakable outline of a Ferrari of this stature and expense needs presence, and the 599 does not fall short.
With florescent light from the tunnel ceiling bouncing evenly off its heavily stylised exterior, the long bonnet that stretches all the way back to the cabin and tail is even more pronounced now.


This version of the 599 is equipped with an F1 automated manual gearbox that discharges gear changes for as low as 100 ms, almost eliminating power interruption and amplifying full acceleration. Luxury swathed the cabin in a mix of leather, carbon fibre, high quality aluminium and a full high spec sound system comes standard.

As we celebrated into the 12th day of Christmas and the new year of 2015, this was one blessed 2-hour session with the Ferrari 599 GTB we wished time had stood still.

As the Mitsubishi Evolution X officially follows the plight of the Woolly Mammoth, JDM lovers flocked to the used car market to snap up pieces of the 2.0L turbocharged 4-cylinders for some boost action. The owner of this mean machine is one of them.

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution has evolved to its tenth version with over 4 rich generations of street rally motorsport heritage. Undoubtedly, the marque has attained an unquestioned legendary status in Japan, if not the world.

It is a shame that Mitsubishi is unable to refresh and present the next generation of Evolution to bridge the current outgoing model in time. With motor head fans left dangling in uncertainty and disappointment, it is effectively killing the brand, judging from the past success the Evolution has brought to the world stage.
We digress. Back to the subject of our photoshoot, this X is fitted with the ever popular Varis kit, and its muscular body in custom frozen blue paint. With 19″ Vossen rims fitted snugly within 1.5 inches of the wheel arches and twin HKS hi-power exhaust pipes sticking menacingly out of the rear diffusers, it is looking outstandingly clean and sharp while she rolled through the tunnel.


It is getting incredibly difficult so pardon us while we go to a corner to observe a minute of silence, perhaps shedding a tear or so for a hero gone…

We are fortunate that the owner is able to provide us an exhaustive list of modifications. These are the lightweight items installed.

– Lightweight Spec C 50-litre fuel tank
– Lightweight Odyssey PC680 battery, relocated to under passenger seat
– Lightweight HKS front subframe brace
– Lightweight L’aunsport carbon fibre side mirrors
– Girodisc 2-pc rotors for front and rear

This is the list of unseen modifications installed towards chassis and suspension optimisation:

– STI aluminium lateral links with pillowball bushings
– CarLabs X-brace
– Zero/Sports front roll centre adjusters
– TSS Fab tubular front subframe with roll centre correction
– MSI tubular rear subframe with roll centre correction

According to the owner, things have also been removed from the car and this is the separation list.

Impressive might be a word too mild for this modified STI because superficially, it does not extrude any hint of it. With that, we decide to confer it with the “Sleeper” award, given the irony that it is a sports sedan to begin with.