This right here. The taller, thinner tire you can get, the better traction you willhave. Tire Rack may also be showing you the options they have for the best tire they have, which might not fit on 19's. It's hard to get large, pure, snow tires. They also might have a really really good deal on that combo that they're pushing. In other words, that combo might not technically be the best offer they have, but it might be the best option from a business sense (availability, cost, etc).
Generally for winter rims you want steel, and the smaller the cheaper. And your car may come with 19", but I bet you that the base model comes with 17". Take my Explorer(Limited) comes with 20" rims, but the base Explorer comes with 17".
If you run a smaller diameter rim with the same or larger diameter tire, you'll have a taller sidewall, and therefore less chance of snow building up in your rims and turning your vehicle into a washing machine with a brick in it. I dealt with this when I had a truck with 20" wheels and 32" tires. Smaller rims solved the problem.
Well, I think I'm sold at this point. Especially since tirerack has a deal that will save me over a thousand dollars if I go with their suggestion instead of a second set of OEM rims and winter tires.
If you're a total gearhead who likes to work on cylinder heads, I just found a site that has a SHIT-TON of cylinder head flow numbers available. It's not the best laid out/organized site, but it has A LOT of information, and I'm not just talking about typical Ford/Chevy/Mopar numbers. Categories include imports, less popular domestic engines, bikes, and jet-ski engines: http://users.erols.com/srweiss/tablehdc.htm
I have a question for those how are more mechanical than I am. I recently bought a 97 wrangler with a 4" lift and 33x12.50 15 tires. It has a recently rebuilt steering gearbox and is in really good shape but i'd like to tighten up the steering. No death wobble or any of that, its just loose. When I get hit with cross winds or pull out to pass and go over the crown of the road I tend to drift and have a lot of play in the wheel. Any thoughts on what is the likely cause?
Was your steering box rebuilt or upgraded/tightened? Not necessarily the same thing. Do you have a steering brace in it? Not really a requirement, but it will help with the 33's. This is assuming that you don't have any issues/weakness with the frame. If that's the case, you'll have issues with sloppy steering. This is assuming you've already checked proper pitman arm fitting, tie rod ends, etc. If the lift was cheap, odds are the geometry is out a bit, so you'll experience some play.
I'll have to check the receipts. The guy kept everything he did to it in an envelope so that should be easy to check out. I know the front axle was rebuilt as well and I feel like the guy did things right but there may be some wear on the steering components. I know it has a quick disconnect steering damper. There isn't a lot of rust, at least what I've seen so far but I'll take a closer look when I crawl under it this winter to clean it up and repaint the frame.
For anybody interested, I just found out that Ford is going to have a special 5.2L V8 with a 180-degree ("flat plane") crankshaft on the 2016 Shelby Mustangs. https://media.ford.com/content/ford...526-horsepower-ford-shelby-gt350-mustang.html A 180-degree crank is something that has been unheard of with American V8s from the dawn of time (they have all been 90-degree cranks), the only exception being custom, full-on racing applications, and even then, they are very rare. Personally, I'm skeptical of any benefits, because it's been tried before, and if it was so good, wouldn't everyone be doing it? What do you guys think? Here's a link with a video that explains the difference between the two crankshaft designs that will explain more than I ever could. http://www.enginelabs.com/news/ford-offers-just-a-little-insight-into-the-gt350s-new-5-2l-v8/ Regardless, it's hard to argue with 100 horsepower per liter and an 8,250 rpm redline.
The F430, 458, California, Maserati Coupe, Quattroporte, GranTurismo and GranCabrio all have a flat plane crankshafts, they all sound amazing too. Not a Ford guy but flat plane cranks just flat out sound mean.
I FINALLY got my wheels back from the powdercoater's today: Spoiler Spoiler Those are 16"X8" rims off of a '92 Camaro RS, if anyone is curious.
I've been checking out some Carfaxes for cars I'm interested in, but to be perfectly honest I'm not entirely sure what all I should be looking out for. Since I'm looking for a certified pre-owned car, should I be concerned when there are repairs/replacements of parts that shouldn't need to be repaired so soon in the car's life? On the other hand, if a Carfax has hardly any service records, should I be concerned that the owner didn't really care about the car? For example, how would you evaluate the Carfax for this car: Audi A7
FWIW, when I was buying a car this past June and they were evaluating my car for trade, they ran a carfax on it and the most major thing that ever happened to it, theft and then wrecked causing 8 grand in damage, was not on the report. But a damageless fender bender was.
I did one on one of my cars a few years back and there were reports of annual smog checks and the vehicle's mileage at the time of the check. The only problem was there was sometimes a two year space between annual smog checks. Also, I found evidence of a front end wreck with substantial damage repaired, and not a thing about that was listed.
A Carfax will tell you about what was reported to the insurance company or documented by the state cops. If somebody gets into an accident, and the cops are never called, and pays a body shop in cash to fix it, that won't show up. If the car is in a flood, and they pay a mechanic in cash to fix it up, that won't show up.
Personally, I don't give a shit about Carfax or other such reporting. Just hire a knowledgeable mechanic to do a PPI and go by what he says. The only thing I really kind of dig into are high-mileage things like timing belts, etc. If you're buying an older car, they could very well be that it's at that stage in its life that it's needing that $7,500 engine/power-train refresh or it will grenade on you, and THAT is the reason the owner is trying to sell it. New stuff, I don't really worry about unless there's a known issue that's not under recall. Anything less than 5 years, unless its a lemon, a quick PPI should be fine, and should point out any major structural issues and repairs. $0.02
Yeah, what Nett said. Regardless of the Carfax, get it checked out at a shop before you buy it. Also, like he said, don't be surprised to spend a little bit of money on the car after you buy it for maintenance items that may need to be done. Trakiel, you're looking at newer Euro cars that will probably still have warranty, so I'd feel fairly confident about your chances of finding a good car.
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/12/03/pro-drivers-go-headset-to-headset-in-vr-race/ Pretty interesting. Two drivers race head to head in virtual reality, while drive real cars on identical tracks right next to each other.
Will be taking the front wheel drive SUV to Colorado this January for a skiing trip. Expected highs will still be below freezing, and I'll be there for a week. Aside from getting a good set of tire chains, what fluids do I need to change out to get the car ready for freezing temps and altitude? (It currently has all-weather tires on it.)