mmmmm...I am using most of my wall real estate to hang things like garden tools, a push reel mower, wheel barrow, folding ladder, 2 edge trimmers, battery charger, power strip...plus I have some tall shelving units that each take up about 4ft of wall space.

There is one spot where that may fit...but I was going to put up one of those tool holder wall thingies...maybe this can go over it. It is unfinished in that area though...so the feet would have to line up with the studs, or I'd have to put something there...




I REALLY need to clean out the garage though. I have too many things in there. Once cleaned out, I can stack some wheels if I go in that direction.

 

You need a shed for all that lawn & garden stuff.

Garages are for cars. Granted, I also have a kayak in mine... but that's only because it doesn't fit in the shed.

Eh, count your blessings... at least yours is attached, I'm guessing. Although I suspect we'd both kill for a heated 3-car.

 

Heated and cooled

 

Hotchkis are installed

I started with the rear (get it out of the way). Everything was easier than I expected, but a nice Nitrocat impact wrench makes lots of things easier.

My biggest issue was getting the mufflers connected. It took me close to an hour to get the passenger muffler back on. I even have a small injury from it. This shows my general lack of experience with things like that.

I eventually needed 2 clamps to hold everything together while I screwed the coupler back on. The driver side was a breeze, maybe because I already did the passenger side. Afterwards, I noticed that I had put one of the passenger side hanger brackets on the bolt but didn't screw it down. This may have had something to do with it being so hard. I should have left it dangling.

I left that rusted clump of crap exhaust joint alone...Didn't need to loosen anything there thankfully.

I've only driven it maybe 20 miles so far. Took many damn leisurely Saturday drivers in the way. I was able to feel the improvement in that time though.

The torque settings in the fsm were different than everything I read in these forums. The front end link nut gets about 85 ft lbs (I forgot the actual)


One question...The stiffer holes are closer to the middle of the bar right? The looser settings are closer to the end?

 

Correct. Weak to stiff, outside to inside. Don't get me wrong. The outside holes are somewhere around 20% stiffer than stock, if I remember correctly.

 

OP, go ramping. Then come back all breathless and tell us what you can do now that you couldn't yesterday.

 

I can hear my tires gripping, but haven't heard them chirping, barking, or whatever else they do when you lose traction. As I get a feel for the limit, I'll push them harder in safer areas where I can see oncoming traffic. On my way home from work tomorrow (no wait, going to the gym...make that Tuesday) I have a place where I can push it, as long I don't get a slow poke in front of me.

 

Turn off the TC. Then punch that throttle like you stole it.

The way you're talking now, I suspect you haven't really thrown that car around much. Have at it, man. It's really a very capable car for its class. Even more so now with those sway bars. And even more so in the future when you get some good summer tires on it. Just be sensitive to traffic, pedestrians and police. You know, common sense, but the kind that would probably get you in trouble if a cop were watching.

Here, look at it this way. The best possible way to take charge of winter is to put snow tires on an AWD car that has a lot of HP and high-tech nannies. Similarly, if you put high-performance summer-only tires on that same AWD car, but turn off the nannies (somewhat)... that's quite a combination. IMO the only thing that's a downer is your old 7AT. Otherwise, the right tread on the AWD G is a pretty potent combo.

 

Waiting on my hotchkis, ordered a week and a half ago and my estimated shipping date just got pushed back until the 1st week of March!! Hoping the underside of my car isnt looking too much like that though, this winter in Buffalo has been brutal!! Anyways, nice job OP look forward to throwing mine on soon.

 

There is only one vendor I could find with stock on the AWD Hotchkis. I called several places, and one place said they had them on order, and that Hotchkis was going to ship by Feb 13th to him. Rather than risk it, I decided to get it from the only source with stock. I got them on Amazon via Concept Z Performance. I could have went direct, and they are cheaper if you buy direct from Concept Z…but the shipping they charge was much higher. The total shipped from Amazon was $385. I would have paid $9 more if I went direct…but that also would mean setting up an account, and giving my CC info to yet another online retailer.

Not saying they aren't trustworthy…but anyone can get hacked…and I figure Amazon probably has my CC info on lockdown…so anytime I can get something from Amazon, I do it. My CC info is already there, and I don’t need to create another account.

So I’d suggest that you call Concept Z and verify stock…then order from them or Amazon. They will most assuredly ship same day (I ordered mine Friday Jan 30 at like 3pm, and it shipped same day...received it the following Wednesday), and depending on your location, you can probably have the sways by the weekend. Maybe they can give you a discount code to keep you from buying on Amazon. Amazon probably keeps at least 10% of the sale.

I could have saved money though…I think one place had them for close to $350 shipped, but no stock. I wasn’t willing to wait though. The call is yours to make.

 

I think you're forgetting where OP lives. It hasn't snowed here yet this year. We get about 6" TOTAL accumulation a year. Snow tires would be a waste of time, money and driving enjoyment for the couple days a year it snows here.

A better option, assuming OP needs the capability to get around in the snow, would be all seasons on his OE wheels from December-March and then another set of wheels with summer tires. But thats a big cost and requires some extra space.

I wonder how awd would do with summer tires in a pinch?

 

It's funny you mention this. I've just started doing research on winter tires, and learned that they now call them "winter" tires instead of "snow" tires. Why? Because the rubber compound in winter tires doesn't only help in snow, they're designed to work best under 45 degrees. The rubber in all season and summer tires gets too hard below 45 degrees, but winter tires are much softer and remain soft at colder temperatures.

So using a winter tire isn't that crazy down here, but could still be a little tricky to get good tread life as we typically start the winter mornings in the 30s, then heat up to 50 in the afternoons. We were in the 60s this weekend...

I was just looking at a weather chart for Charlotte, and we get at most 4 months of sub 45 degree weather each year. Interspersed in that 4 months are 50 and 60 degree days.

This complicates things I think. Does anyone in the south simply run winter tires when it's cold, without the fear of snow? Any results to share?

I don't recall getting snow more than twice a year (if any) and the main roads are usually cleared within 2 days. I live off a back road , so I can have lingering snow or ice for a week in my development after a storm.

Knowing what I know now about winter tires, I am intrigued if they would provide better performance in the winter simply from the fact that they work better when it's cold.

In a nutshell, if it's 30 degrees outside and the street is dry, it seems a winter tire will perform better than a summer tire...

 

I'm pretty sure we actually hit 70 on Sunday

I run summer tires year round, and have for 4 years. I do have the flexibility to work from home if it snows, and/or carpool with my wife and her awd suv.

My parking lot is littered with 335s, 535s, a M6, couple Porsche Caymans, AMG Benzs etc all running summer compound tires year round

 

I wasn't recommending snow tires, Lego. I was trying to make an argument for best setup, and using winter vs. summer as the example.

OP, you're correct that tire compound is critical in freezing temps.

 

Enter slow, exit fast, let the car settle into the corner then keep applying maintenance throttle until the exit. Roll into it then.

Reminds me of the good ol' 2 wheel days. Enter a sweeper at 50/60mph, exit at 100+.