Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Passion pays off

Passion pays off

Club deejay's fascination with Western automobile makes literally saved his life one day

Published on December 19, 2007

Ever since he was a boy, Jerdjaras Kasornboobpa has been impressed with European cars. Now the owner of a communications company in addition to working as club deejay for Bubbles Discotheque in Chiang Mai, Jerdjaras says his father was an Army officer, and he lived in Army compounds as a youngster.

"In the Army camps, there were only European and American autos, and I built up a strong enthusiasm for them, believing they were very good rear-wheel-drive cars," he says. "So when I bought my first car, I chose a European one, because I considered it safer and more fun to drive."

Jerdjaras's first car was a BMW 3-Series E30. When he replaced it, he chose the same brand again, only this time a later version: the 3-Series E36.

"I really liked the E36, but while driving to Chiang Rai more than a year ago, I had an accident. I was driving slowly, about 90kph, and saw in my rear-view mirror that a large trailer was charging up from behind. The lorry's brakes had busted, and I was hit in the rear, causing me to lose control.

I was lucky my car did not go off a cliff, but the trailer came crashing down on the roof of my car.

"At that instant, I thought I would surely die, because the trailer was huge, and it looked like it would crush me to death. My eyes were wide open, and I braced myself to hold the roof up with my hands when the trailer fell on top of it. Surprisingly, the roof was strong enough, and the trailer simply bounced off," he says.

After that, Jerdjaras bought another European car, a 2002 Mercedes-Benz C200.

"After my accident, I decided to change brands, but I still wanted a German car, because of their excellent engineering," he says.

His C200 was later fitted with sporty 18-inch wheels with 235/40 tyres in front and 255/35 tyres in back, which turned it into a sports sedan.

Jerdjaras says despite the lower level of comfort, the low-profile tyres have a wider contact area with the road and offer better road-holding.

"I wasn't interested in getting additional body parts, because the car already looked good. Apart from the alloy wheels, I had the suspension stiffened up with an AMG tuning kit. It really helps the Benz's road-holding and cornering performance," he says.

Thanadol Rila

The Nation

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