What Did You Do With Your Kizashi Today?

pakizzie2015 · Wed Dec 09, 2015 1:41 pm

A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU TO REMAV. It is the correct saying by the way.. I wish I had those tires mine are ok for now but will not be that great in snow. (lack of funds) will have to just take it slow and in awd . I really wish they exchanged them before I bought it but it was in late Sept and wasn't thinking of snow. (here in PA we are having a snowless winter so far and to be honest I am thrilled!. Your picture here is very amazing.. To our Jewish friends. Happy Hanukkah!. I have many.

KansasKid · Wed Dec 09, 2015 7:11 pm

Thanks Remav! Man the hood vent on that Kizashi is sexy.

DesRado · Thu Dec 10, 2015 2:15 pm

Got my brand new (as of Saturday) Nokian WR G3 tire patched because of a screw puncture. Not even 200 miles on it yet. Ffffff

Sentenced1979 · Fri Dec 11, 2015 6:02 am

Today, I washed mine and had mud flaps put on it.
If you can call them flaps. They are more of the rigid kind.
Went to the Suzuki dealer and that's what I got.
Doesn't look too bad. They are paintable, but I'll leave them as they are for now.
I'll post a pic when I get some light outside.

A side note. I mentioned getting winter tires. Am happy with the choice I made. Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2, studless.
Went down in rim size too. Again, they will be visible in the pic when I get it.

The heater system is working nicely too. I just hope winter will get here. Yet to see the snow.

Remav · Tue Dec 22, 2015 1:05 am

Finally got my hands on a 6 spd MT for a test drive. Definitely more fun off the line! It's sitting in Denver at A&A if anyone is interested. '10 se in Fair shape w/ 121k mi on it. Cheap. I've been looking for 8 mos. 2WD just doesn't make much sense around here, so understandably rare. Just wanted to drive one to compare. It's a shame the cvt steals so much fun out of the car.

Woodie · Tue Dec 22, 2015 11:10 am

Remav wrote:2WD just doesn't make much sense around here, so understandably rare.

All wheel drive doesn't make sense ANYWHERE. If you can't get the car going with FWD and good snow tires, then you have no business being on the road. AWD does absolutely nothing for stopping or turning, just helps you get going faster than you can stop or turn. Rear wheel drive was ten times harder to deal with, yet people seemed to survive for the most part.

Tue Dec 22, 2015 4:05 pm

As one who has owned and driven 4x4, AWD, FWD, snow tires, chains, etc. on snow, I'd say they all offer different benefits. AWD is great because it gives good winter traction without requiring winter tires. FWD without winter tires or chains/cables on snow is nearly useless once you have to go up a considerable hill. In contrast, AWD with decent All Seasons will likely get you up most hills. It makes a huge difference when you get that light to moderate snow but the roads aren't plowed yet. I truly see no point in getting winter tires in regions where snow amounts to only several days to a few weeks out of the year. AWD makes much more sense.
While winter tires alone may offer better traction than AWD with All Seasons, they are horrid in dry road conditions. I used to live on a mountain with snow during the winter, but off the mountain, there was no snow as it was in Southern California. AWD with All Seasons offered the best scenario of snow traction when needed without the compromise of rapid wear and poor traction of winter tires off the mountain on dry pavement. That Subaru AWD let me confidently drive past many stuck in snow; most of which were either FWD or RWD. While it's true that AWD doesn't help stopping or turning, it works marvels in uphill and acceleration traction, even on flat surfaces. It's something that's hard to appreciate until you experience it. Many of my friends grew a new appreciation for my old Subaru after a drive in the snow and the only difference was the AWD.

I'd also say that snow tires are underwhelming from my experience compared to the traction chains offer in adverse winter conditions, especially in mountains. In fact, I'd skip the snow tires for chains in alpine snow conditions because chains do more than grip; they pound in and break the ice for traction. Of course chains aren't practical nor legal in all areas but trust me, a vehicle with AWD plus chains on will only be stopped by ground clearance. Been there, done that.

Remav · Wed Dec 23, 2015 4:32 pm

Woodie wrote:

All wheel drive doesn't make sense ANYWHERE. If you can't get the car going with FWD and good snow tires, then you have no business being on the road. AWD does absolutely nothing for stopping or turning, just helps you get going faster then you can stop or turn. Rear wheel drive was ten times harder to deal with, yet people seemed to survive for the most part.

Yes, I'll admit that I used to quote nonsense like this too. ... But then we started seeing the facts & data come in. Unfortunately, there's not a single statement in this quote that holds true (although it was "more true" in the past before traction & stability control.). http://Www.tinyurl.com/o7vwge9 . I've seen data showing not only 20% advantage on cornering, but even giving awd 5% on stopping. (And "no" I don't know where the 5% comes from. Maybe that time between gas & brake where engine compression is acting on all 4 tires?) But I still do make it a point to tell anyone I hear bragging about the grip their 4x4 gets to remember that it doesn't help you stop any quicker. Funny how many of them seem to have never fully pondered that point.

Speed_Racer · Wed Dec 23, 2015 6:46 pm

Woodie wrote:
Remav wrote:2WD just doesn't make much sense around here, so understandably rare.

All wheel drive doesn't make sense ANYWHERE. If you can't get the car going with FWD and good snow tires, then you have no business being on the road. AWD does absolutely nothing for stopping or turning, just helps you get going faster than you can stop or turn. Rear wheel drive was ten times harder to deal with, yet people seemed to survive for the most part.

If you live anywhere with snow plus hills, you will find AWD invaluable.

Wed Dec 23, 2015 7:45 pm

Remav wrote:
Woodie wrote:

All wheel drive doesn't make sense ANYWHERE. If you can't get the car going with FWD and good snow tires, then you have no business being on the road. AWD does absolutely nothing for stopping or turning, just helps you get going faster then you can stop or turn. Rear wheel drive was ten times harder to deal with, yet people seemed to survive for the most part.
Yes, I'll admit that I used to quote nonsense like this too. ... But then we started seeing the facts & data come in. Unfortunately, there's not a single statement in this quote that holds true (although it was "more true" in the past before traction & stability control.). http://Www.tinyurl.com/o7vwge9 . I've seen data showing not only 20% advantage on cornering, but even giving awd 5% on stopping. (And "no" I don't know where the 5% comes from. Maybe that time between gas & brake where engine compression is acting on all 4 tires?) But I still do make it a point to tell anyone I hear bragging about the grip their 4x4 gets to remember that it doesn't help you stop any quicker. Funny how many of them seem to have never fully pondered that point.

The linked "study" is correlation at best. The same methodology can be applied to claim blue cars are safer because less fatalities occurred in blue cars.

And I would love to see more details on AWD improving stopping.