Participants had to drive, run, solve puzzles and create witty dialogues at this signature event.
Participants had to drive, run, solve puzzles and create witty dialogues at this signature event.
TORQUE readers put their car knowledge to the test once again at Torque On The Move (TOTM), Torque’s annual automotive telematch, which began at Tree Lizard restaurant in Dempsey Hill.
This year, apart from deciphering riddles to figure out the location of the four compulsory Torque junctions, teams could also score bonus points by explaining how they solved each riddle.
At the HEVSHOP junction, teams sat through a presentation about hybrid cars before taking a quiz, which required them to decide whether the statements read to them were facts or myths.
What added to this challenge’s difficulty was the time limit for each question, which meant participants had to quickly recall what they had just learnt. Each team’s physical and mental skills were put to the test in the Bridgestone store at Hitachi Capital, located along Fourth Lok Yang Road.
Here, participants took turns dashing to collect individual puzzle pieces, which they then assembled into three puzzles. Just figuring out the location of the Bridgestone junction, however, proved to be a real headache for some teams.
Team 15’s Leny Tham, for instance, confused Lok Yang Road, which is in the west, for Loyang Road, which is in the east! The location clues weren’t all riddles, though. One of them was a rather long math equation. The answer was a sixdigit figure, which participants had to key into their phones.
"EVEN THE LOCATION CLUES PROVED TO BE A REAL HEADACHE."
"TEAMS HAD TO USE THEIR PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND CREATIVE SKILLS."
The older generation that grew up without smartphones were able to deduce that each digit corresponded to a letter on their phone keypad. If they understood it right, they would spell “Komoco”.
At the Komoco showroom, participants found out how “Seoulful” they were by sticking decals on the various features of a Hyundai Tucson sports utility vehicle. Apart from memory challenges, competitors also had to put their creativity to use at the Ultimate Drive junction at Suntec City.
Each team had to have a conversation about the Lamborghini Huracan on display. The catch, however, was that each team member was assigned a specific role that required them to use 20 key phrases during their dialogue. Said roles included “Man”, “Woman”, “Baby” and “Ah Beng”, which resulted in hilarious dialogues between teammates.
Team 50’s Herman Tsai found this junction particularly funny. “I spoke Singlish to my wife and used words like swee and chio on her. We were laughing non-stop!” Coming in third place with 620 points were Abel Tan and Amos Tan from Team 8.
They took home a pair of Nautica A16683G watches, a one-year VIP servicing package from HEVSHOP that included $100 worth of workshop vouchers, and a weekend drive in a selected Hyundai model. Finishing second with 630 points were Anthony Soh and Chen Zhaolin from Team 9.
Their efforts earned them a pair of Nautica Nai 17505G watches, a one-year VIP servicing package from HEVSHOP and $300 worth of workshop vouchers, a set of Bridgestone Adrenalin RE003 tyres and a weekend drive in a selected Hyundai model. Having scored 635 points, Matthew Tai and Kenneth Lim from Team 39 were the class of the field.
Their endeavours earned them a pair of Nautica Nai 24504G watches, two passes to the driver autograph session at the Formula One Paddock Club, a week-long drive in a selected Hyundai model, a two-year VIP servicing package from HEVSHOP, and a set of Bridgestone Turanza GR-100 tyres. The combined value of these prizes is $5300.
Matthew, 26, of the winning team, said: “Torque On The Move 2016 was not only enjoyable and well-planned, the bonus challenges provided an added dimension of fun and entertainment.
“The time spent driving around Singapore while solving various clues along the way was fun, exciting and educational. This is definitely Singapore’s best automotive telematch!”
