A total of 160 participants in 80 cars signed up for this year's Torque On The Move, one of the biggest turnouts in the six-year history of the annual event.
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the magazine launched in 1990, this year's event is for the first time ever, 25 hours long. Since its debut in 2010, Torque On The Move has brought its staff, readers and advertisers together in a yearly automotive telematch that is unique, exciting and memorable.
The event started the clock at 8pm on 28th August, 2015, with the release of 25 unique Torque Bonus Challenges on social media. The 80 teams checked in at 10am the next day at SPH Media Centre, where they were flagged off to find the five compulsory Torque Junctions and score more points. The locations were confidential and participants had to guess the locations with the clues provided.
Challenge 1 - Spot It!
The first location we arrived at was the Hyundai Showroom at 253 Alexandra Rd where the teams had to identify the eight correct features of the 2015 Hyundai Sonata.
Not just that, but the task had to be completed within a mere two and a half minutes. How hard can identifying eight features on a car be?
Well, try it while staring at a ton of bogus features plastered all over the car with cameras snapping away at you.
Challenge 2 - Be a T-Touch expert
Racing off to the Tissot boutique at Marina Square Shopping Mall, the task was to memorise the 15 functions of the Tissot T-Touch Expert timepiece and recite them all in 25 seconds.
While most contestants can easily recite the parts in a car, naming in order the 15 functions of a watch under pressure and after driving hours in the sun is a feat not many found easy.
The functions, activated by a touch on the screen included an altimeter - wait what were they again? Challenge 3 - Identify your tyres
Set at a Goodyear authorised dealer at 3 International Road, this challenge saw the teams cracking their brains to identify the correct model of the three Goodyear tyres - the EAGLE F1 Asymmetric 2, Assurance TripleMax and EAGLE EfficientGrip - as well as the respective benefits of each tyre.
The teams were given a couple of minutes to remember what each tyre felt like and their specifications before proceeding into the game room. To make things worst, there were two charming Goodyear models that proved to be quite a distraction for the teams.
Challenge 4 - Be a Formula One driver
Every year, we eagerly anticipate the excitement and drama of the Singapore Grand Prix. The teams got to experience the race first hand at the KTI GP Centre, where they had to complete a lap of the Marina Bay circuit on the race simulator in the shortest time possible.
Both team members had to participate and each was only given one chance to clock his or her fastest lap.
From what we saw, it definitely is not as easy as Sebastian Vettel makes it out to be! Challenge 5 - Laser Shades
The heat can get unbearable at times, even in the air-conditioned confines of our cars. When the weather calls for some shade, how fast can you get them mounted?
This challenge at the SPH News Centre required the teams to figure out and fit the Laser Shades onto the correct car windows in the shortest time possible, with a little shuttle run in between that could really throw you off focus. At any one time, only one team member could leave the game table with a shade in hand to fit it on the correct window.
After 25 hours, the event concluded with the three top-scoring teams on the winners' podium. They were:
1st Team 34 Justin Mai & Rayson Yim
2nd Team 29 Ho Yizheng & Olivia Cheong
3rd Team 32 Benjamin Yap & Jared Lim
The team in pole position drove away with a pair of Tissot T-Race MotoGP watches, a set of Goodyear Assurance TripleMax tyres, a driving-simulator party at KTI GP Centre for up to 16 people, and a week-long drive in a selected Hyundai passenger car. Even though the day was tiring to say the least, demanding on the teams both physically and mentally, everyone went home with smiles on their faces and 25 hours of their weekend well spent.
Mr. David Ting, Editor of Torque, commented, "Our title's signature event scaled new performance heights this year with the supersized 25-hour edition. It's a great way to mark the 25-year milestone of Torque, the authority on all things automotive in Singapore."
