u/UK_Kim

I was visiting Geoje Island in South Korea to see my mother, enjoying the beautiful weather and some great food.

Unfortunately, my timing couldn't have been worse. The typhoon that had previously hit Japan and China had already dissipated, but its aftermath remained. Starting on the 16th, extremely heavy rain began pouring down across Geoje, the neighboring city of Tongyeong, and Busan.

This wasn't just a lot of rain—it was reportedly the worst rainfall in 200 years.

My mother's apartment is located halfway up a mountain, so flooding was never supposed to be a concern. The problem was that the apartment complex's drainage system had been neglected, and the drains became clogged.

As a result, the parking area directly in front of my mother's building was the only part of the apartment complex that flooded. Around five or six cars, including mine, suffered flood damage.

My car was perfectly fine the night before. When I woke up the next morning, it was sitting underwater...

Did you know that Top Gear Korea, which aired in South Korea many years ago, featured a stunt performed with a Chevrolet Spark?

In the episode that aired on December 2, 2012, the team attempted to successfully complete a 360-degree spin in a Chevrolet Spark.
The stunt was driven by Jinpyo Kim, a Korean singer, racing driver, and one of the hosts of Top Gear Korea at the time.

Here's a timeline of the video: (The audio in the video is very quiet. Sorry about that.)

• 2:40 – Construction of the 360° track (30 engineers worked for one day; 12 meters high; total weight: 20 tons)
• 3:40 – Introduction of the stunt-prepared Chevrolet Spark
• 3:46 – All windows except the windshield were removed
• 3:57 – A special fuel tank installed in the trunk
• 4:18 – Roll cage installation
• 4:40 – Rally-spec tires
• 5:08 – Steel wire installed on the track
• 11:25 – The stunt begins

After successfully completing the stunt, the Spark was still fully drivable with no apparent mechanical issues. To the cheers of the audience, it drove back to the front of the track, bringing the show to a memorable finish.

There are also Post with photo from someone who watched the filming in person.

Years later, Jinpyo Kim mentioned on his YouTube channel that another identically prepared Chevrolet Spark had been built for rehearsal before filming.
He also said that the Top Gear UK team really enjoyed watching this episode. :)

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Racing driver Jinpyo Kim collaborated extensively with Chevrolet at the time,
performing numerous stunt driving demonstrations on Top Gear Korea.
You can watch videos featuring his Chevrolet stunt performances in this Instagram Post.

A few days ago, GM Korea produced a limited batch of sport pedals again for the first time in nearly 10 years.

It seems that global demand, including orders from Korea, finally met the minimum production requirement, leading to this limited re-production.

Unfortunately, they are already sold out again, and only one accelerator pedal remains on Amazon.
I was lucky enough to barely secure one set of sport pedals for the manual transmission model.

In Korea, passenger cars are required to undergo a mandatory periodic vehicle inspection 4 years after purchase, and then every 2 years thereafter.
(Trucks and buses may be inspected as often as every 6 months depending on their size and commercial use.)

The inspection process is appointment-based, so it was very quick and convenient. The entire inspection took about 20 minutes.

Regulations on vehicle modifications are also quite strict, and the inspections themselves tend to be fairly rigorous. However, my car passed without any issues since it has only been driven 35,650 km over the 4 years since purchase.

Some of you may already know this, but in Korea, GM supplies genuine ACDelco activated carbon cabin filters as OEM parts.

Of course, Korea also has many aftermarket automotive parts manufacturers.
Some even offer filters that meet the HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) H13 standard.
Brands like Mahle, Mahn, and Luftt come to mind — though products at that level are naturally several times more expensive.

Unfortunately, GM’s genuine activated carbon filters seem to be supplied only in a very limited number of countries.
It appears those markets tend to be countries with severe air pollution and strong demand for premium, high-performance filters.

Anyway, I just wanted to share the interesting fact that Korea has these unique GM genuine parts available.
There are also many genuine and aftermarket accessory parts available for the Spark,
and I hope I’ll have a chance someday to introduce them along with their part numbers.

It’s been raining pretty hard for the first time in a while, so I took a short break in the back of my car.
Actually, it's not very comfortable, and the sound of the rain is quite loud.
But it still somehow felt warm and cozy.

It’s been raining pretty hard for the first time in a while, so I took a short break in the back of my car.
Even though it’s a cheap car so not very comfortable, and the sound of the rain is quite loud.
But it still somehow felt warm and cozy.

When I came out after visiting city hall, there was a blue Spark parked right next to my car.
Judging by the simple bumpers, No fog lights, No rear spoiler, Mat black Sideview Mirror cover, and 13-inch steel wheels, it seemed to be the base LS trim.

Starting from the LT trim, the character lines became more pronounced and the bumpers adopted a more “Transformer” style design.

However, neither the LS nor LT bumpers of the M300 were ever launched in North America.
That’s because North American sales only began with the facelifted M350 model.

The “Daewoo Matiz Creative,” which began sales in 2009 when GM Korea was still called “GM Daewoo,” had its emblem changed to Chevrolet in 2011 when the brand transitioned to Chevrolet.

Then in 2013, it received a facelift into the M350 design that North American owners would be more familiar with.

The M300 was sold from 2009 with the 1.0L S-TEC II engine and the Jatco JF405E 4-speed A/T.

With the arrival of the M350 in 2013, it gained the S-TEC III engine and a Jatco CVT.
(Manual transmission models still retained the S-TEC II.)

In North America, it was initially sold in 2013 with a 1.2L S-TEC II engine and the Aisin AW 40-80LE 4-speed A/T, before switching to a Jatco CVT for the 2014 model year.
(In North America, it was sold exclusively with the S-TEC II engine until the M350 end.)