Cars We Drive!

[ridethecliche]

I'd say if your wheels lack curb rash and are in good shape, you should be able to at least make a couple bucks. Those wheels you posted look pretty solid, but any idea on the maker?

Just did some research and it looks like they're stock miata wheels from the mid 90's. I think they're 14's. Might be too small tbh.

 

[horndog]

Grab some 949 6ULs or Enkei RPF1s for trackdaybro goodness. Congrats on the car.

 

[ridethecliche]

Grab some 949 6ULs or Enkei RPF1s for trackdaybro goodness. Congrats on the car.

I doubt I'm doing a trackday anytime soon tbh! We'll see though.

The current wheels have a fair amount of curb rash. I might have to file them down in some spots. It seems to not affect things at this point though. They were definitely ridden into a curb at some point. I might start wheel shopping in earnest when I need new tires. Usually people sell wheels with some life on the tires. That's what I did when I 'upgraded' the wheels on my subie.

These are listed for 600. Rota's I believe.

 

[horndog]



I doubt I'm doing a trackday anytime soon tbh! We'll see though.


The current wheels have a fair amount of curb rash. I might have to file them down in some spots. It seems to not affect things at this point though. They were definitely ridden into a curb at some point. I might start wheel shopping in earnest when I need new tires. Usually people sell wheels with some life on the tires. That's what I did when I 'upgraded' the wheels on my subie.

Good plan. Those were the two wheels came to mind when I thought about aftermarket Miata wheels. With such a light car you will definitely feel a difference if you can drop wheel and tire weight.

 

[mike1445]

Maybe I'm being too picky for your budget brapcar, but black w/ silver accent wheels on a navy car seems pretty heinous...
edit:though perhaps better than what it came with.

 

[ridethecliche]

Maybe I'm being too picky for your budget brapcar, but black w/ silver accent wheels on a navy car seems pretty heinous...
edit:though perhaps better than what it came with.

Yeah, I'm in no hurry. Just posting what was around.

Also, just figured out that my car was probably the 'convenience' package. The stock wheels are 16's which are definitely aftermarket and a different size. The convenience trim has some of the stuff that the suspension package has, but no upgraded struts, shocks, and torsen.

 

[GreenFrog]

My A/C has been blowing cool, but not cold, air lately and I thought it was low refrigerant. I finally bought one of those refrigerant kits in a can that has the pressure gauge and whatnot. I plugged it into my port and it says my refrigerant is not low at all! The pressure reading was at the low end of the red marker indicating DO NOT RECHARGE.

I see the compressor engaging when the A/C is on though... what the ****!

Any thoughts? Did some google fu and couldn't find anything concrete.

Again, it doesn't blow warm or hot air. It blows moderately cool air that does a good enough job of cooling me off when it's not blistering hot out. But when it's hot af, it's not adequate. It should be blowing ice cold air from what I know.

Edit: pls 2 halp as ASAP as possible!

 

[jcman311]

Check the condensor in front. Does the car have 2 fans? If so do both come on when ac is on? Is there crap in the condensor? Take a hose and wash out radiator and condensor. (I think you mentioned some overheating as well). Make sure nothing is restricting airflow to the front of the car. That would be where I start.

 

[SirReveller]

Rtc:
Likin the new rims.

*if you can't find a buyer for those god-awful circle design old ones, I'd suggest soldering them into a pillar and using as lawn ornamentation. (optional: telling guests it has religious significance, is a legit Dali, etc)

 

[SirReveller]

Edit: I see now you're still shoppin wheels. I vote for the black ones. If it's a dedicated fun car for the summer, go with the louder choice.

 

[ridethecliche]

Took the car out for about 50 miles today.

It wasn't terrible, but I definitely stalled a few times, did the noob thing of trying to shift without fully engaging the clutch leading to the transmission making all sorts of a fuss (sorry transmission), and shifted poorly at times making the entire car buck and lurch.

Other times, things were pretty uneventful and all the shifts went well, including the downshifts surprisingly.

Then on the way home I tried to start from a light in third by pushing the shifter forward instead of left and forward and found out what burning clutch smells like.

Ugh.

Hopefully not too much damage done, but I think I'll get the hang of it pretty quickly. I think I'm going to go into a staff parking lot tomorrow night and just practice with the friction zone of the clutch. There's also a small hill in the parking lot so I can practice uphill starts. I did okay with a few of them today but also stalled a few times with those.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, but I obviously want to pay mind to the fact that the car has a 100k miles on it and I don't want to make the transmission or clutch explode... I definitely also did a few burnouts without meaning to. Sigh.

 

[Thrift Vader]

@GF. Your a/c has a high pressure, and low pressure valve. With the smaller one being high pressure(hot) and the larger one being low pressure(cold). Run your a/c. Touch both the pipes to see if there is a temperature difference.

Fill a spray bottle with water, add dish soap. As much as you deem worthy. Spray each join in your system. Search for bubbles. Another method is to turn off the lights in your garage. And use a blacklight to search for leaks.

Closely inspect your condenser for "wetness". :foo:
If there is a leak, the telltale sign is usually compressor oil.

Part 2 after work. . . (Coffee break now)
-in the meantime, remove both the caps on the hot and cold lines, use a key or something to depress the valve briefly, (keep your face away) see if there is infact gas in your system. Read the instructions again. Look at the system. And study it a little.

Back later with more info, and descriptive pictures. Although my car is different, a/c is much the same.

 

[ramuman]



I'd argue it saves gas too, though at a negligible level. Coasting in neutral causes the engine to continue revving whereas coasting without throttle in gear deactivate the throttle bodies.

The gas savings probably amount to nothing; it likely does help stress on the drivetrain a bit more tangibly.

 

[ramuman]



http://en.yibada.com/articles/150888/20160813/chinese-driver-autopilot-error-caused-tesla-crash.htm

Tesla autopilot was on, car got into accident. Tesla say's its drivers fault he didn't resume control to prevent accident.

My question is - is there any situation at all in which tesla would accept responsibility? (It seems like there have been a few accidents when self-driving mode is engaged)
Or is it pretty easy to always say 'the car isn't 100% self driving, you must always be willing to take the wheel at a moment notice' and Tesla has no responsibility

While I love what Elon does, he's such a god here in Si valley that people give him a ton of creative latitude. While he did say autopilot assumes someone is holding attending the wheel (the wheel has sensors to detect if your hands are somewhere near it), I think his ego is too big to clearly set the record straight on what it can and can't do.

I think it's been marketed too much as a cool 'look ma, no hands' thing versus what it is - a helpful driving aid. Naturally, combine the cool thing and the average idiot driver you're bound to get this.

Also, this is conjecture: initially all Teslas were expensive, now you have a lot of affordable second, third, and fourth hand Teslas which lowers the barrier of entry so the stats are going to come back to reality because of the broader range of people that are getting them.

Ars had an article on the matter:

http://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/08...itics-of-the-word-autopilot-and-ceo-promises/

 

[Thrift Vader]



I doubt I'm doing a trackday anytime soon tbh! We'll see though. These are listed for 600. Rota's I believe.

Instakop. Not a fan of Rota's as a wheel company, but those got dat "Watanabe Steez" which is a modern take on the JDM trad wheels. Black with polished rims on a navy miata? I think it would look really good.