WHAT’S the trouble with those people managing the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) these days?

Thousands of motorists have been angered by the very heavy traffic brought about by the busy reconstruction of a long stretch of highway inside the SLEX. Motorists have also had to contend with the sloppy, muddy and even very dark stretches of road (at night) along the way.

When the work began several months back, motorists started to feel the pain of going through the SLEX shortly thereafter. The traffic seemed to ease somewhat several weeks back when many started to air their complaints in various media. I was even amazed one day when we simply cruised comfortably on the SLEX without encountering any traffic on the way to Carmona.

Unfortunately, the bumper-to-bumper traffic has returned and, these days, it starts at the entry of the tollway near Sucat, Parañaque.

In fact, last Saturday, it took me almost two hours to get to Carmona, which is unusual, since in the past, I used to traverse that short span in about 30 minutes.

Will they be able to solve the problem in the near future? I doubt it since the extension of the skyway has already started and that would surely contribute a lot to the traffic buildup even on a Sunday.

So, if you can help it, avoid the SLEX on a Friday or Saturday when the volume of cars is at its heaviest. I heard that many residents of Metro Manila, who want to go on vacation during weekends, are now trekking to the north instead of the south because they don’t want to get caught in heavy traffic, which occurs even in the early hours of the morning.

I think it’s an inspired idea since the North Luzon Expressway gives motorists excellent service and many great vacation spots are now sprouting up in various places up north. So, if you are planning to go on a vacation on a weekend, take a trip to the north.  You will not regret it.

This is the very same reason I took the offer of Kia’s Felix Mabilog and Chut Velasquez to try out their newest Kia Carnival in going to Subic this weekend. I drove the vehicle for a few minutes during a Cagi testfest one Saturday and I was really satisfied with the ride. My family will surely feel the same way, too, assured Mr. Mabilog and Chut! 

THE merry months of the last quarter bring not only joy but also excitement to the motoring media now with the coming of the Honda Media Challenge.

Last Sunday, the first of two motor racing clinics were held at one of the closed streets of the FTI Alabang where several new faces gathered for a daylong lecture on high-performance driving. Team BusinessMirror will be back this year with new talents in Randy Cabangon and Dino Datuin, who will join this writer in the team competition. Our colleague, Ira Panganiban, will be competing in the Individual Category.

BusinessMirror came in second overall last year and we hope to focus once again on not only maintaining that position but also in trying to win the championship this year! (Quite a heavy task, huh!) But given the proper support by the management, we might just pull off a big surprise.

The three-leg series is scheduled on November 10, November 24 and December 8.

Meanwhile, Honda Cars Philippines president and general manager Hiroshi Shimizu was all smiles all day during the 2007 Honda Media Golf held last week at the beautiful west course of the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.

Shimizu, who swore that he was just starting to play golf, teed off with the media golfers who trooped to the annual golfest and even stayed up to the late afternoon for the awarding of prizes to the winners (and also the raffle!)

Orly Trinidad of dzBB/GMA 7 was the Class A champ with UNTV/Abante’s Jay Sonza as runner-up, while Philippine Star’s Jeff Reyes was the Class B champion with Inq.net’s Chupsie Medina as runner-up.  Bandera’s Pompeyo Navarro bagged Class C honors with Malaya’s Duckie Paredes as runner-up. Auto Review’s Ron de los Reyes went home with the grand prize during the raffle, which we failed to attend because of an earlier lunch meeting. Congrats to all! 

WITH big car manufacturers introducing new diesel-fed vehicles featuring new and modern technologies, car buyers are thinking twice about buying petrol-fed vehicles simply because of the ever-increasing cost of gasoline.

As I have told you before, we are at a crossroads in the motoring industry. Every day, new products are being introduced. One will never know when the next breakthrough will render current vehicles obsolete.

But as of today, diesel-fed vehicles are enjoying an advantage over their gasoline-fed counterparts in most showrooms and dealership nationwide. Europe embraced diesel-fed vehicles since long before and the United States is slowly but surely going down the same road. Will the country follow suit in the near future?

DURING the recent Chicago Auto Show, MotorWeek, a popular television series in the US, named the Kia Carnival as the “Best Minivan” in its Drivers’ Choice Awards.

HABITS are developed after long exposure to a certain activity. And then these habits are carried over generations.  The 2007 Honda CR-V is most probably one Filipino motoring habit that is hard to break. Although it is now the fourth-generation model, it still moves the hearts of Pinoy drivers.

Eyes on the Road: Are we following suit?

WHAT’S the trouble with those people managing the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) these days?

Thousands of motorists have been angered by the very heavy traffic brought about by the busy reconstruction of a long stretch of highway inside the SLEX. Motorists have also had to contend with the sloppy, muddy and even very dark stretches of road (at night) along the way.