Dexman PE PMP
Internationally PMP'n his PE-ness
$580 installed for the fronts. (245/45/ZR20)
$635 for the rears (275/40/ZR20)
$635 for the rears (275/40/ZR20)
The Automotive Thread
- Thread starter envirotex
- Start date
Help Support Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum:
Dexman PE PMP
Internationally PMP'n his PE-ness
It would have been worse if I stuck with the crappy Pirelli PZero's.
knight1fox3
Jedi MASTER & Friend of Capt. Solo
Master slacker
Something awesome.
Damn... If I paid near that amount for tires, I'd throw up. Of course, now that I looked it up, my tires have gone from $104 each to $139 each. Grrrrr...
Of course, my beater's tires are $49 each. :lmao:
Of course, my beater's tires are $49 each. :lmao:
Dexman PE PMP
Internationally PMP'n his PE-ness
I find it equally perplexing when someone goes out and buys an expensive sports car and wont pay the extra $0.20 per gallon to fill it with the right octane fuel. You spent how much on a performance car and refuse to fill it with the stuff that allows it to run the way it should?
I won't go cheap when it comes to making sure my car has what it needs to run properly. Sure, I will shop around to find the best prices, but I wont go with cheap stuff just to save a buck.
I won't go cheap when it comes to making sure my car has what it needs to run properly. Sure, I will shop around to find the best prices, but I wont go with cheap stuff just to save a buck.
Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
Tell me about it. And I got upset about paying three c-notes for a full set of 225/55/16 Goodyears for the Maxx.
Dexman PE PMP
Internationally PMP'n his PE-ness
^^^ And because they're being installed on the Camaro, the tread-life mileage warranty is automatically voided. The joys of staggered wheels/tires and the inability to rotate them.
Master slacker
Something awesome.
^^^ 92 Tracer FTMFW. After 40k miles I just rotated my tires and the tread still looks brand new.
Man, what a weekend.
Car had been working flawlessly... until I got to the race. In line for my first run up the hill, car starts sputtering and popping, won't maintain an idle. Voltage is dropping fast. Turned out to be a dead alternator. Went into town during the lunch break, picked up a new alternator and swapped it in.
Recharged battery, car was running fine, made a GREAT run up the hill despite it raining, and their timing system went down, so I got no time for the run.
Next day, go to start car, battery is dead! Pop the clutch to get her going. Sitting in line ready to go, car starts dying again. The incline from the hill and sitting too long is now making the carb flood. Get pushed back to pits, fix carb, pop clutch, get up to line.
Am making a SCREAMING pass up the hill, and I come into the spectator two turn. POP. Somehow managed to shave off enough speed that I didn't hit the cliff face (I dropped two tires off the road, mirror was within probably 6 inches of cliff at approx. 80 mph.) Straighten car out, get back on it, and see smoke. Coast to side of the road, have event crew come look before I unbuckle, blew the front left tire going into that turn.
Wrecker pulls car down hill. This is Sunday in the middle of nowhere in the Smokey Mountains. Old guy with 3 foot beard offers to take my wheels back to town, dismount tires, and put my street tires back on them. He does just that. Car dies again on line. Get full charge while pulled off to the side, and make my fastest timed run of the day on rock hard street tires, which slowed me waaaay down.
Go to make last run of the day on a borrowed battery. Get around turn one, starts breaking up bad. Car now popping/backfiring even at low RPM's. Believe that I took out something in the top end of the motor, i.e. valve spring or exhaust valve.
In any case, it was a catastrophe of a weekend, the crowd was really into it when I got the car going, they gave me the unofficial "persistence under duress" award, and everyone was nice as could be, chipping in to help with whatever they could. Also managed to take third in my class despite the crappy street tires, so I'll take it. Had a great time, met some great folks, and will be back up there in June with a fixed motor, reworked electrical system, and fuel injection. Haven't seen anyone post any pics up of the car yet (at least moving under its own power...) but I'll be sure to post up if I find one!
Car had been working flawlessly... until I got to the race. In line for my first run up the hill, car starts sputtering and popping, won't maintain an idle. Voltage is dropping fast. Turned out to be a dead alternator. Went into town during the lunch break, picked up a new alternator and swapped it in.
Recharged battery, car was running fine, made a GREAT run up the hill despite it raining, and their timing system went down, so I got no time for the run.
Next day, go to start car, battery is dead! Pop the clutch to get her going. Sitting in line ready to go, car starts dying again. The incline from the hill and sitting too long is now making the carb flood. Get pushed back to pits, fix carb, pop clutch, get up to line.
Am making a SCREAMING pass up the hill, and I come into the spectator two turn. POP. Somehow managed to shave off enough speed that I didn't hit the cliff face (I dropped two tires off the road, mirror was within probably 6 inches of cliff at approx. 80 mph.) Straighten car out, get back on it, and see smoke. Coast to side of the road, have event crew come look before I unbuckle, blew the front left tire going into that turn.
Wrecker pulls car down hill. This is Sunday in the middle of nowhere in the Smokey Mountains. Old guy with 3 foot beard offers to take my wheels back to town, dismount tires, and put my street tires back on them. He does just that. Car dies again on line. Get full charge while pulled off to the side, and make my fastest timed run of the day on rock hard street tires, which slowed me waaaay down.
Go to make last run of the day on a borrowed battery. Get around turn one, starts breaking up bad. Car now popping/backfiring even at low RPM's. Believe that I took out something in the top end of the motor, i.e. valve spring or exhaust valve.
In any case, it was a catastrophe of a weekend, the crowd was really into it when I got the car going, they gave me the unofficial "persistence under duress" award, and everyone was nice as could be, chipping in to help with whatever they could. Also managed to take third in my class despite the crappy street tires, so I'll take it. Had a great time, met some great folks, and will be back up there in June with a fixed motor, reworked electrical system, and fuel injection. Haven't seen anyone post any pics up of the car yet (at least moving under its own power...) but I'll be sure to post up if I find one!
Master slacker
Something awesome.
Ouch on the $$$! Cool that you had fun and an experience at that. Also... carbs... changing elevations... fast turns... ? Ever thought of Mega Squirt?
Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
I can't believe folks are still futzing around with carbs...
They're still pretty danged reliable, it's the steep inclines that it had some trouble with. Ran great once I got going, it was the idle that created issues.
MS - If I go with anything, I'll probably go to the new FAST EFI setup that is self-learning. Supports up to 600 HP N/A, don't even need to run a fuel return, and never have to make any manual adjustments to the fuel maps. Cost is around $2k for the full conversion including throttle body (with injectors in the TB, but nothing like the old TBI setups), lines, and fuel pump. Kauffman Racing did a back to back dyno comparison with that system vs. a well tuned carb, and difference in peak HP was within 2HP on the dyno.
MS - If I go with anything, I'll probably go to the new FAST EFI setup that is self-learning. Supports up to 600 HP N/A, don't even need to run a fuel return, and never have to make any manual adjustments to the fuel maps. Cost is around $2k for the full conversion including throttle body (with injectors in the TB, but nothing like the old TBI setups), lines, and fuel pump. Kauffman Racing did a back to back dyno comparison with that system vs. a well tuned carb, and difference in peak HP was within 2HP on the dyno.
snickerd3
Taking suggestions
Good to hear you are still alive!!! Expensive hobby...
Tell me about it. In actuality, it wasn't that bad. I built the car for the race, and bought all my safety gear, for under $6k. I figure for around $10k when all is said and done, I will have a very stout, reliable car that will need nothing but routine maintenance. Actually much cheaper than it cost to build my drag car, since this type of event is much more so driver skill and handling than it is power. There were cars with WAY less power than me with great suspensions and drivers who waxed my ass out there. A lot of the cars out there also shared drivers, e.g. buddies or husband/wife teams that both raced, so it's not a bad investment if that's what you're into. You can also get into this type of racing much cheaper as well. There were quite a few Miatas out there running great times in the $3k range.
knight1fox3
Jedi MASTER & Friend of Capt. Solo
^ this
