What Did You Do With Your Kizashi Today?

BLyons · Sun Oct 08, 2017 8:11 pm

I'm not sure which plastic you're referencing, but if it's the underside or wheel well plastic I would recommend waiting until spring. Mine have been destroyed during winter in the past.

SamirD · Mon Oct 09, 2017 2:37 am

PaKizzie2017 wrote:Drove on highway and ran over part of a truck tire retred and got a few breaks in the driver side plastic panel. Gorilla taped the holes for now and ordered new one, damn those things
I can put the new one on easy have friend with lift. However was wondering if I should leave this on on until spring. It really is OK looking and protected with the tape. I am just mad. I baby this car.

Agh! I feel your pain! I once had to run over an ice block in winter that was in the middle of the road and the same thing happened. I've actually not replaced mine yet, but it wasn't bad enough to need being taped as it only cracked in one section.

I'd wait to replace it until after winter if you have snow to the point they plow. If not, I'd replace it now before it gets cold.

redmed · Mon Oct 09, 2017 2:19 pm

Where do you order a replacement from?

SamirD · Mon Oct 09, 2017 2:56 pm

Discovered the driver's side brake light doesn't light when brakes applied--probably the bulb as the 2nd filament looks like it might have broken. Also noticed driver's side side marker on the bumper is also out. Not bad for bulbs from 2011.

LPSISRL · Mon Oct 09, 2017 5:27 pm

DiggerDerrik wrote:
PaKizzie2017 wrote:Drove on highway and ran over part of a truck tire retred and got a few breaks in the driver side plastic panel. Gorilla taped the holes for now and ordered new one, damn those things
I can put the new one on easy have friend with lift. However was wondering if I should leave this on on until spring. It really is OK looking and protected with the tape. I am just mad. I baby this car.
As a guy who drives a truck for a living I’ll say those are called tire caps. Also about 90% of those tire blowouts are due to the driver being too lazy to check them before driving. Sorry about your misfortune.

I've heard them called "road alligators".

Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:57 pm

SamirD wrote:Discovered the driver's side brake light doesn't light when brakes applied--probably the bulb as the 2nd filament looks like it might have broken. Also noticed driver's side side marker on the bumper is also out. Not bad for bulbs from 2011.

The rear bulbs are easy to replace and the front side marker bulbs don't require the bumper to come off. Simply remove just the top bolts and the screw in the wheel well. It will give you just enough clearance to replace the bulb.

Tue Oct 10, 2017 7:44 pm

Last Friday, I took a drive on the Ortega Hwy which is a mountain highway connecting Orange County to Riverside County. It's a nice low-elevation mountain drive popular with motorcyclists for the curves and the views. On the Riverside Co. part, it overlooks Lake Elsinore. I've driven this road a number of times in the past when I lived in the area for college. However, it was my first time in the Kizashi and it was wonderful. The Kizashi does really stand out on roads like this given Suzuki designed the chassis to be as close to a FWD-based sports sedan as possible. I didn't stop to take photos given it was dusk/night time, but here are some on the web of the route.

Sat Oct 14, 2017 4:13 am

The TPMS warning was going off so I checked the tires. Right rear was below 30 PSI, but looked okay. Filled it up, but the warning went off again a few days later. I looked at the tire again more carefully and saw a nail in it.
I just got done removing the nail and plugging the hole with a tire plug.
The nail is pictured below.

: KIMG1168.JPG (3.15 MiB) Viewed 8648 times

Also took the opportunity to take a photo of the slotted rotor. Someone asked me to do so a while ago so better late than never.

: KIMG1165.JPG (1.73 MiB) Viewed 8648 times

golftango · Sat Oct 14, 2017 9:26 pm

KuroNekko wrote:Last Friday, I took a drive on the Ortega Hwy which is a mountain highway connecting Orange County to Riverside County. It's a nice low-elevation mountain drive popular with motorcyclists for the curves and the views. On the Riverside Co. part, it overlooks Lake Elsinore. I've driven this road a number of times in the past when I lived in the area for college. However, it was my first time in the Kizashi and it was wonderful. The Kizashi does really stand out on roads like this given Suzuki designed the chassis to be as close to a FWD-based sports sedan as possible. I didn't stop to take photos given it was dusk/night time, but here are some on the web of the route.

Nice. So many beautiful drives in SoCal. Angeles Crest, Rim of the World,etc. Not to mention PCH once you pass Malibu.

Sat Oct 14, 2017 10:14 pm

golftango wrote:
Nice. So many beautiful drives in SoCal. Angeles Crest, Rim of the World,etc. Not to mention PCH once you pass Malibu.

Wow, you know Rim of the World! It's actually on the mountain I'm from (at least in CA) and I graduated from Rim of the World High School. A local tip: If you are on the Rim early in the morning shortly after sunrise, you are often above the clouds. The photo below is what it looks like.

We lived up there from the late 90's to the early 2000's until a wild fire took out our house in 2003. I know all too well the experience that many Californians are going through right now. This photo is actually of our house. If you look closely at the stones above the fireplace, one is shaped like an arrowhead facing downward. I've seen this photo many times on the internet of the "Old Fire" but I recently verified with family photos that it's actually of our house.

The photo below is a famous one of the fire and actually from our lane. That house belonged to the family of one of my classmates who lived several houses over. That's her mom's Miata. It didn't survive and was just a metal skeleton with a puddle of melted aluminum under where the engine used to be when we were allowed to return.

I love that mountain and have many fond memories of offroading in the Suzuki Sidekick or driving through the snow in my Subaru Impreza. I haven't been up there recently, but it's an awesome drive as you know so I'll have to do it in the Kizashi soon.

As for the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway), yes, it's nice north of Malibu but in my opinion, the best segment is north of San Francisco. Once you cross over on the Golden Gate Bridge heading north, it gets really nice. I've been all over this state and most of it in the family VW camper.