Moving from Chicago to Boston

[bobaab]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to say hello before my wife and I make the move to the Boston area this December! We'll be moving our things via a shipping pod and then make the 1000 mile journey in the BRZ.

Very much looking forward to living in the New England area. We'll hopefully find a decent place to call home in the next few weeks.

That said, I was just curious about a couple of things...

-What do they check on the yearly car inspections?
-Do you guys have any issues with window tint?
-Any other advice for an 86 owner in Boston?

Thanks!

Bob

[why?]

Hi, I'm sorry you have to move here.

The inspection stations plug into the obd port so they see everything. Not sure what this effects for us yet though. Inspections are yearly. Pretty sure we follow carb, which sucks.

Mass tint law is 35% all around. It can be a problem depending on the police. You cannot drive around with limo tint and not expect to get pulled over. No one will give you an inspection sticker if your car is blatantly obviously darker. Some inspections places love to fail everyone for tint even if it is legal because they are morons. Technically every inspection station must have a light meter and must check no matter what. There are some inspection places that will be lenient if they can, but no one wants to get kicked from being able to do inspections because it is a cash cow. I had a car at the legal limit all around for a long time and I was never pulled over, but there were inspection places that would still fail me.

If it is a dd winter tires are a must. There is a rather active owners group which is awesome.

[86life]

Hi, I'm sorry you have to move to New England.

[M-17]

^Shuddup you two. ^^

Massachusetts isn't all that baaa..... okay maybe there some things that could change for the better.

[86life]

new england isnt that bad
as long as you have a heater and air conditioner and are prepared to use both of them in one day
and are prepared to throw your 86 away when the deadly snow salt comes in
and your prepared to realize that you should have stayed in chicaglo

[hguerrero]

Just brought up a few weeks ago my FR-S from Puerto Rico to Mass.. and I had to take the windshield tint =(((.. now it looks like a fishtank from the front. I'm hating some of the streets here with all the potholes -.-. I'm yet to drive it in the snow. It's going to be my first experience driving in the snow! Wish me luck!! Any other advice??

[AznBRZer]

Originally Posted by hguerrero

Just brought up a few weeks ago my FR-S from Puerto Rico to Mass.. and I had to take the windshield tint =(((.. now it looks like a fishtank from the front. I'm hating some of the streets here with all the potholes -.-. I'm yet to drive it in the snow. It's going to be my first experience driving in the snow! Wish me luck!! Any other advice??

Dedicated winter tires. It's going to be a rough winter this year.

[86life]

Originally Posted by AznBRZer

Dedicated winter tires. It's going to be a rough winter this year.

Winter?
RIP New England

[nmastereal]

Also from Chicago and living in Boston. Come to a monday night or thursday night meet up. Dont forget to join the facebook group, 86 owners of new england. Welcome.

[Timmy_Jones]

I dont think the winter and driving can be that much worse around here than Chicago. Don't let these guys scare you...we have the ocean over here, its beautiful if you drive up North. Maine is only about an hour away and worth the drive.

[Timmy_Jones]

Originally Posted by hguerrero

Just brought up a few weeks ago my FR-S from Puerto Rico to Mass.. and I had to take the windshield tint =(((.. now it looks like a fishtank from the front. I'm hating some of the streets here with all the potholes -.-. I'm yet to drive it in the snow. It's going to be my first experience driving in the snow! Wish me luck!! Any other advice??

My absolute honest advice is at the first snow, slowly drive to a parking lot and really drive the car until you feel it slip and slide. I've driven in snow since I started driving and it can still surprise you with ice hidden underneath. Just take it easy and learn the limits of your car. Also, there are ZERO excuses, go get snow tires today. Don't even wait. Don't skimp on them, just buy them.

[PollosHermanos]

Originally Posted by 86life

Hi, I'm sorry you have to move to New England.

Don't listen to this guy;NE s a great place to live.

Buy winter tires, don't drive like you're invincible, dodge potholes like a baus.

[MuseChaser]

Originally Posted by Timmy_Jones

My absolute honest advice is at the first snow, slowly drive to a parking lot and really drive the car until you feel it slip and slide. I've driven in snow since I started driving and it can still surprise you with ice hidden underneath. Just take it easy and learn the limits of your car. Also, there are ZERO excuses, go get snow tires today. Don't even wait. Don't skimp on them, just buy them.

^^^ What he said. I was about to type pretty much exactly the same thing. I learned to drive decades ago in the snow belt on regular ol' all-season tires, but not in cars with the power/weight ratio of these cars. RWD, in my opinion, is an ASSET in snow, rather than the scary unsafe setup lots of folks make it out to be (none on this forum, I'm sure). You just need to learn to feel the car out, and driving in a large, unobstructed snowy/icy parking lot is the best way to do that. What's great about RWD is that it reacts predictably when you break traction, and you can correct beautifully.

GET SNOW TIRES... and practice away from other drivers and obstacles until you get the hang of it... then enjoy. Winter driving is really fun. Leave AT LEAST four times the distance between yourself and other cars as you would on dry roads; more, MUCH more if you can. It's the other idiots that'll kill ya.
Barry

[rba]

As far as snow tires go, I've been very happy with my Blizzaks. Town Fair Tire will do free switch-overs for winter/spring if you buy your tires from them.