"Once these get to 100%, you're gonna feel some serious heat."
Sorry, watched a BTTF reel earlier.
"Once these get to 100%, you're gonna feel some serious heat."
Sorry, watched a BTTF reel earlier.
Get that weak shit off my track
I decided to get new winter wheels and tires because my old 17" set that's 6 years old was due for replacement. Two had leaks that required adding air every week; one from a dent, the other probably from rim corrosion. The tires had plenty of tread, but were showing cracking between the tread blocks. I ended up going with some 16" Sport Edition CS1s and General Altimax Arctic tires in 215/55-16, because 16" wheels and tires are cheap, and maybe I'll be less likely to dent a wheel this time around. The Generals did surprisingly well in Tirerack's testing for a cheap tire, so I figured I'd give them a go.
The dog is destroying a dried leaf there, because that's what he does with dried leaves.
I also got an oil analysis on the Mazdaspeed3 back from Blackstone Labs. I had 3,120 miles on the Mobil1 synthetic, but I replaced it because it'd been 6 months. Trace metals were at good levels, though the analysis also said that the engine using 6 quarts of oil may cause some dilution of those levels. There was also no fuel or coolant contamination, and the total base number suggests that I could easily go for longer oil change intervals.
I changed the CX-5's oil so that I'd know for sure when it needs to be done, and also so that I'm not due to change it in February. Janelle would be all whining that she can't change the oil because it's cold and she just had a baby. I ended up going with the OEM Mazda "0W-20 GF5 with Moly" oil, which I've found cheapest after shipping from a dealer that sells a kit with 4.8 qts and a Mazda filter made by Toyko Roki Co. Ltd. As I've said before, supposedly the Mazda oil has triple the molybdenum level that most other 0W-20 synthetics do, which oil forum weirdos find intriguing. Anyways, the change went uneventfully apart from the drain plug having been cranked on by the usual dealer oil change gorilla and the upside-down orientation of the filter making for quite the mess when removing it. Oh, and that 0W-20 pours like water compared to even 5W-30.
Those wheels make that car look remarkably plain.
I always thought that the stock 18" wheels made the car look plain, even if they did a decent job of filling the wheel arches. The first time that my father rode in it, he told me to give it some gas on a long straightaway. He was quite impressed, saying, "It doesn't look like it would be that fast!"
Thanks to it being on sale and getting a $50 off holiday coupon, I picked up a Shoei GT-Air for $40 less out the door than the Revzilla price today:
Shoei.jpg
Noice!
To keep water from getting sprayed onto my back post tail chop, I ordered a Storm Aeroparts fender off of a Thai seller on eBay. It was listed for the Monster 795, which AFAIK was a 796 engine and the lower 696 chassis for Asian markets. Shipping was fairly steep, but it did get to my house in a week. The metal arm has a few nicks that occurred before powder coating, and the ABS plastic fender had one of the holes drilled out of line (I simply enlarged it with a round file), but other than that it was fine.
IMG_20160416_170827.jpgIMG_20160416_170737.jpg
Sharp, unique and functional.
Hopefully, I have yet to test it by riding through rain/puddles.
Yeah, that's pretty decent looking - nice find!
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