JOY RIDES IN A SWIFT Derrick Koh helps drive the BMW brand at

D20
life motoring
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| THE STRAITS TIMES | SATURDAY, JULY 30, 2016 |
MeAndMyCar
Joy
rides in
a Swift
Derrick Koh helps drive the
BMW brand at work, but
his choice of carriage is a
nippy Suzuki Swift Sport
Kong Yongyao
Derrick Koh is a product executive
at Performance Motors’ unit for
BMW i, the Bavarian manufacturer’s electric and hybrid subbrand. But his choice of car has so
far been Japanese, largely because
of budget constraints.
His current ride is a Suzuki Swift
Sport, which was preceded by a
Toyota MR-S.
There were only two alternatives
to the Swift, he says – the Toyota 86
and Subaru BRZ. “But those were
out of my budget,” Mr Koh says
with a sigh.
The young man took delivery of
his new Swift Sport in March, just
days after he turned 27.
“It was the best possible present
to myself,” he says.
Why the Swift Sport?
“It is affordable, driver-oriented,
with a manual transmission and a
non-turbocharged engine, which
gives a much sharper throttle
response,” he says.
Those were the attributes of his
MR-S two-seat convertible, a car he
decided to give up when its
certificate of entitlement expired.
“I still miss my MR-S,” he says.
“While both cars are light, the
Toyota turns in with less inertia,”
he notes. “Also, my best motoring
memories were from cruising with
the top down.”
Still, having a car with four doors
and a sizeable boot is an advantage
he cherishes.
“My girlfriend and I are very
outdoorsy. We go for hikes
practically every weekend. If you
asked if I could now live with a
two-door, the answer is no,” he
says, adding that the Toyota had a
tiny storage compartment.
“Now, we can finally take our
footwear, foldable bikes and
scooters with us,” he says. “Also,
our friends can finally come along
when we go out.”
Mr Koh says his stealthy silver
Swift is “unidentifiable as the Sport
version to the untrained eye”, so he
does not encounter many “challenges” to race.
“That said, I get honked at more
in the Swift than in the MR-S,” he
says. “Maybe it’s because with the
top down, I could turn around and
look the perpetrator straight in the
eye.”
Mr Koh invites The Straits Times
to go for a spin with him. On an
empty stretch of road, he opens up
the throttle, rowing gratuitously
through the gears.
“The joy I get driving a manual far
outweighs the grind in traffic jams,”
he says. “Plus, I can crawl forward
with millimetre-perfect control on
the clutch.”
He clearly enjoys the car. “The
seats hug you, the steering is nice
and chunky, yet the car is usable
and quiet,” he says.
“Working for BMW, I get to drive
the i8 supercar. Within a few
seconds on Alexandra Road, I have
to back off. In my Swift, I can
exploit the car’s performance
without breaking the law,” he
notes.
Does he plan to modify his car to
up its performance, as many Swift
Sport owners often do?
“I do not ‘zhng’ my cars,” he says,
using the Chinese slang for souping
up. “I like to keep them stock as
their engineers intended.”
He continues to wax lyrical about
his Suzie. “If I had a 10-car dream
garage, the Swift Sport will be in
there, alongside the Honda Civic
Type R, McLaren F1, Porsche 911
GT3 RS and Ariel Atom,” he
declares.
Evidently, budget constraint is
not the only reason for this man’s
choice of car.
[email protected]
• The writer contributes to Torque, a
motoring monthly published by SPH
Magazines.
Performance
Motors product
executive
Derrick Koh with
his Suzuki Swift
Sport. PHOTO:
KONG YONGYAO
What’s in the boot?
• Electric scooter
• Running and hiking shoes
• Work shoes
• Backpack containing
miscellaneous items for work