KW (Tri-Cities) Thread

[thorlius]

Originally Posted by engsr

I know those buildings. I'll keep my eyes open since I live in that area.

So, was it worth the wait?

Of course - there was no doubt of that. I have to try and refrain from driving stupidly while the engine breaks in and while it's equipped with the value brand 205-wide winter tires.

I just found out this thing doesn't have automatic headlights though and I'm pretty surprised. This is the eighth car I've owned in about ten years and only the second one that didn't have this feature - and some of those cars were terrible econoboxes. I'm now forced to draw a comparison between this and my first car; a 1995 base model Pontiac Sunfire.

[Demandred7]

[quote=thorlius;579740]Got my car this afternoon. There may have been an extra hour after I drove off the lot where my co-workers thought I was doing additional paperwork.

Man, the winter tires do not stick at all. And the car feels floaty at any speed above ~120km/h. It's less planted than anything I've ever driven. Maybe the tires just need some wear on them. Or maybe I should've spent more than $80/tire. I had traction issues accelerating when I was at 60km/h.

And before anyone says the post is worthless without pics, I present the following imgur album of my brand new Firestorm FR-S with 16" winter steelies and TRD exhaust:

http://imgur.com/a/3nF3Y

Here's one pic from the album:


Firestorm ftw.

What type of winter tire did you get?

Not that crazy about winter tires either. As long as they keep me out of the ditch and away from curbs, they will suffice, but, they are definitely more like driving on balloons and not representative of the car on OE rubber. I am slightly exaggerating, I bought Michelin X-Ice Xi-2's, they are decent, but, I think that while they are good for a Corolla, a Pilot Alpin might be more in line with a car like this.

Congrats on the car again. :happy0180:

[Demandred7]

Originally Posted by thorlius

Of course - there was no doubt of that. I have to try and refrain from driving stupidly while the engine breaks in and while it's equipped with the value brand 205-wide winter tires.

I just found out this thing doesn't have automatic headlights though and I'm pretty surprised. This is the eighth car I've owned in about ten years and only the second one that didn't have this feature - and some of those cars were terrible econoboxes. I'm now forced to draw a comparison between this and my first car; a 1995 base model Pontiac Sunfire.

It is kinda surprising in this day and age, but, sometimes there are some without. My Acura RSX didn't have auto lights either (and you would think an Acura would).

[Slartibartfast]

Originally Posted by thorlius

Got my car this afternoon. There may have been an extra hour after I drove off the lot where my co-workers thought I was doing additional paperwork.

Man, the winter tires do not stick at all. And the car feels floaty at any speed above ~120km/h. It's less planted than anything I've ever driven. Maybe the tires just need some wear on them. Or maybe I should've spent more than $80/tire. I had traction issues accelerating when I was at 60km/h.

And before anyone says the post is worthless without pics, I present the following imgur album of my brand new Firestorm FR-S with 16" winter steelies and TRD exhaust:

http://imgur.com/a/3nF3Y

Big congratulations on finally getting your car!! Sorry to hear about the tires. Being 205 they should be better in the snow though. Just wait til spring! You'll be able to put the Michelin Primacy's back on... oh... wait... ummmm, nevermind.
(245 Michelin Pilot SS going on mine in the spring)
I put mine away for storage today. I miss her already.

[thorlius]

Originally Posted by Demandred7

Firestorm ftw.

What type of winter tire did you get?

Not that crazy about winter tires either. As long as they keep me out of the ditch and away from curbs, they will suffice, but, they are definitely more like driving on balloons and not representative of the car on OE rubber. I am slightly exaggerating, I bought Michelin X-Ice Xi-2's, they are decent, but, I think that while they are good for a Corolla, a Pilot Alpin might be more in line with a car like this.

Congrats on the car again. :happy0180:

Thanks. I cheaped out and got Federal Tire Himalayas for something like $80 each from Quebec. Actually, I was out in Guelph last night and some of the roads were glazed to the point where my runners were slippery, but I didn't know until I got out of the car. So those tires aren't too bad after all.

[thorlius]

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

Big congratulations on finally getting your car!! Sorry to hear about the tires. Being 205 they should be better in the snow though. Just wait til spring! You'll be able to put the Michelin Primacy's back on... oh... wait... ummmm, nevermind.
(245 Michelin Pilot SS going on mine in the spring)
I put mine away for storage today. I miss her already.

245s should help with the traction issues! I'll spend next spring/summer/fall shredding those stock Michelins and then maybe the year after I'll go for 18s and something wider and stickier.

[sal]

Originally Posted by naking

Sal, I think I saw your Celica today between 1-1:30, out on River Rd near Chicopee! Was that you?

Yes! That was me

[mountainside]

Passed a white FR-S pulled over with four ways on just north of Borden on Charles - hope everybody is ok!

[Demandred7]

Passed an Asphalt (could have been Raven) on Bridge. Thanks for the wave. Not sure if you saw mine through my tint. A little too slow to get my window down.

[mountainside]

Originally Posted by Demandred7

Passed an Asphalt (could have been Raven) on Bridge. Thanks for the wave. Not sure if you saw mine through my tint. A little too slow to get my window down.

That was Harbinger and I. Saw your wave - hope the bad traffic didn't slow you down too badly. How was the snow treating you?

[Slartibartfast]

Lenore went into storage Wednesday. I MISS HER ALREADY! But, as much as I love going sideways in the white stuff. I hate overdoing it and hitting a curb. I did that in my MR-2 once. I felt like a schmuck. It's easy to overdo it.

Keep the traction control on everyone. :-)

Have fun too though. I'm jealous!

[Demandred7]

Traffic was more brutal than the conditions themselves. I was heading to the LCBO at King and Northfield for limited run scotch that a buddy told me about. It took me just a little more than 2 hours to go from work to there and back home (about double the amount of time it would normally take). Good to see everyone else somewhat struggling since I was initially concerned that I would be the only one in that boat. As I get more bad weather practice in, I am finding RWD handling is coming back to me and that it isn't worse than FWD in bad weather - just different. The snow mode on the AT helps too.

[engsr]

^ Last night it took me two hours to get from Waterloo to Milton. The 401 was slow, with only a bit of snow coverage. There was one section before Guelph that was ice though - I was following an ILX that started to lose it, and then the back of my car started to slip a bit. He panicked and made the mistake of using the brakes and over correcting, where I just lifted and kept the car stable. He finally came to a stop but right in front of me, so I had to maneuver to the shoulder, otherwise I would have collided. A little bit of a moment but I didn't panic and was on my merry way.

Not completely different than FWD but I know I need more RWD seat time. All my advanced techniques/racing experience is with FWD - the last time I drove RWD in the snow was almost 20 years ago. I guess I expected this car to be somewhat snappy but it's actually really progressive and surprisingly easy to keep planted. Not too sure how the VSC and TRAC helped but I guess I'll just have to play around with them to see how they react. Already know the difference in the dry so I would guess it's the same with just a lower limit.

Good times.

[Demandred7]

Originally Posted by engsr

^ Last night it took me two hours to get from Waterloo to Milton. The 401 was slow, with only a bit of snow coverage. There was one section before Guelph that was ice though - I was following an ILX that started to lose it, and then the back of my car started to slip a bit. He panicked and made the mistake of using the brakes and over correcting, where I just lifted and kept the car stable. He finally came to a stop but right in front of me, so I had to maneuver to the shoulder, otherwise I would have collided. A little bit of a moment but I didn't panic and was on my merry way.

Not completely different than FWD but I know I need more RWD seat time. All my advanced techniques/racing experience is with FWD - the last time I drove RWD in the snow was almost 20 years ago. I guess I expected this car to be somewhat snappy but it's actually really progressive and surprisingly easy to keep planted. Not too sure how the VSC and TRAC helped but I guess I'll just have to play around with them to see how they react. Already know the difference in the dry so I would guess it's the same with just a lower limit.

Good times.

I am glad everything worked out okay for you with no collisions or such. It has been 18 years for me and no HPDE. I am definitely keeping all the nannies activated until I can get more seat time in as well.