NSFW

Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice update... see a few posts above for part 1. I ran them through my calibrated test puddle (well, sorta calibrated - it's just really consistent on rainy days) and they do much better than the stock tires or the Blizzak WS-45s on my old car. No hydroplaning, and much less resistance felt. Spent almost an hour in slush the other day... As noted above, these are much better in slush than the stock tires. They didn't get squirrely until much higher speeds (like 60 vs 40). I had no incidents, but I think they inspire too much confidence.

Assuming 168 hours in a week (a safe assumption, I think ) your power supply will consume 168 * 0.003 = .5 amp-hours if you leave the car untouched for a week. I'm not sure how many amp-hours the stock battery is good for, but I'd guesstimate 40-60AH. So, you'll probably be fine under normal conditions. If you're going to leave the car sitting for more than a week, consider unplugging the (fuse for the) power supply just in case. It wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion on this though, I'm no expert.

I like to SPOON ...after I FORK. On a bumper sticker last weekend. Cracked me up. Makes me want custom plates: FRKNSPN

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. - Carl Sagan (I'm pretty sure) Absence of evidence is not evidence of abscence. - Carl Sagan (I less sure) Show me the data! - Susan Friedman, PhD (absolutely sure) Science. It works, bitches! - http://xkcd.com/store/

No my idea, but heavily paraphrased... not sure where that original came from. I hope it's true.

Looks great.

Thanks for posting those pictures, I was just ogling those wheels at tirerack.com. Any idea how hard would it be to remove the "WEDS SPORT RACING WHEEL" lettering from the edges of the rims? Is it just a couple of stickers on each wheel, or is each letter painted on, or is it etched into the metal, or...? Thanks! (The lettering would disturb the 'dark on dark' look that I'm shooting for. )

GENIOUS!!!!

#1) What tire? Goodyear Ultra Grip GW3 winter tire, paid $157 each about 3 weeks ago #2) What is your geographic location? Seattle, WA #3) What types of driving events if any (Track, AutoX, Commute , etc): Commuting & snowboarding trips #4) Percent of highway vs. city driving: Half & half #5) Tires used previously: On this car, RE92s. Previous car, Michelin MVX4 & Blizzaks #6) Your review and personal comments (Dry, wet, and snow, if applicable. Also, please compare to other tires used) Dry roads: these are winter tires, so I haven't pushed them on dry roads. Road noise and ride comfort are just fine though. On a mildly rutted stretch of freeway, tramlining was almost undetectable. I probably wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been deliberately wandering in my lane looking for it. Wet roads: better grip for sure - there's a couple places I go frequently where I could get the stock tires to spin and slide a little, and these won't allow that. There's a place I've been looking forward to testing them in standing water (a freeway onramp that consistently gets about 1/4" during heavy rain) but it's not been wet enough lately. I'll update this when I've had a chance to run it through the test puddle. Snow: better grip than stockers here too, and less sloppy in slushy snow. They'll spin, but powerslides are harder to induce and not as fun. That's a price I was hoping to pay though. I haven't had a chance to A/B test on snow with the Blizzaks on my other car but these seem comparable. I'm not sure if they brake quite as well, but my other car weighs less, so it's hard to get a fair comparison. I got them in 205/50/17, but at the widest point they're actually wider than the stock 215/45/17s - I don't have to worry about curbing the wheels at all (it's probably possible but I'd have to try).

Someone has reported success with using the AP cable to do logging with Enginuity (just not flashing), so built-in support for the display/logging via the AP cable is technically do-able. If you run Enginuity on your car PC, you're set; otherwise it's a question of whether or not your front-end vendor chooses to support the AP.

Awesome thread. Sebbery, you can get acrylic laser-cut to your specs pretty cheaply from http://www.pololu.com - that only gets you 2D panels, but with some tabs and slots you can build boxes with panels that fit together like a 3D jigsaw puzzle, and clamp it all together with standoffs between two opposing panels. It's a neat fabrication technique, I've built a couple of non-car-related projects this way.

The pictures at the link in #129 look great, as of a couple minutes ago.

Battery, or car? Start car, drive around, stop car. Remove battery. Come back next day. put that battery into car. Does it start? If it did, you wouldn't have asked... Put fresh battery into car. Does it start? If the fresh battery doesn't work, then it isn't holding a charge very well. Dead battery. If the fresh battery works, take it for a drive (8hours) and come back. Does it still start? If not, you have something leeching power from your car. Pull all accessory fuses, find the minimum set that leaves the car drivable. Drive around, see if the battery builds up a charge. I like the metered approach much better though - watch what does in/out of the battery each time you add a fuse or turn an accessory on or off.

Thanks for blazing the trail! How much did the 07 unit cost?

I collected the drops and rates for standard springs (not coilovers) from various sources online, and compiled them all on this wiki page: http://www.subiwiki.com/wiki/index.php/BL_%282005-2009%29#Handling_Modifications There's some data missing, for example I suspect more of them are progressive than those I've marked with a (p). If anyone notices anything wrong or missing, update the wiki yourself. That's all numbers though, and those are only what the manufacturer claims, not necessarily what the springs really are. And with progressive springs, a single number isn't really enough to describe "the" rate. It would be interesting to see if anyone's subjective impressions of ride harshness for two different springs are any different from what you'd expect given the relative rates on that page.

Does anyone know of a brighter upgrade for the DE3175 map/dome lights? I found something here... http://www.eautoworks.com/html/ORD-1-1-1-33261.cfm ...but I refuse to buy from anyone who makes claims like:

I've been compiling a list of springs with their drops and spring rates, here: http://www.subiwiki.com/wiki/index.php/BL_%282005-2009%29#Handling_Modifications Enjoy.