Bought me a Metro...

[thatguitarguy]

Done did it!

Looked at a POS that somehow the guy thought was a gem, and then I looked at gem in the rough that the guy thought was a POS and I bought it.

He was the original owner and he took pretty good car of the car, but he ran it into a curb on icy roads with bad tires. The top of the curb set off the airbags, and dented the bottom of the front clip, but didn't set the radiator out of place or cause any leaks. Dented the exhaust, and flattened one of the tires, but when I drove it it didn't wander, it rolls straight with no hands, and seems to handle fine.

It needs tires right off the bat, but it comes with a new cat and resonator that hasn't been installed. He had replaced the 5 speed when it started popping out of gear with a used junkyard tranny, and at the same time had the clutch redone, so I won't have to mess with that for a while.

Needs a little body work, but it's a Colorado car that hasn't rusted, it runs well, shifts well, drives fine, passed emissions with flying colors, so I have an empty canvas to start ecomodding for $350!

[JonnyG]

Great job finding a diamond in the rough!!

Is it a 3 cylinder or 4?

What mods do you have planned for it?

[MadisonMPG]

It has the 5 speed, and 4 cylinders were rare with that, so my guess is 3.

Good job, be sure to get a +10 cam gear.

[thatguitarguy]

3 cyl, 5 spd, hatch.

Tires first. I might go with bigger and wider. I know it's less efficient, but safety comes first, and here in the mountains we have a lot of snow and bad roads.

Some kind of wheel disc covers and an air dam/block in the front, but I have to keep it high enough that I'm not plowing snow with it.

Then maybe a belly pan and kammback. If I can find a cheap hatch I'll experiment with some boattail shapes.

Thinking about WAI, but on this site Metro drivers don't seem to notice an effect from this. Just having a quick warmup on cold winter mornings would be worth it.

[bombloader]

Originally Posted by thatguitarguy

3 cyl, 5 spd, hatch.

Tires first. I might go with bigger and wider. I know it's less efficient, but safety comes first, and here in the mountains we have a lot of snow and bad roads.

Narrow tires are actually better in snow and ice. Provided you get a good tread pattern, possibly w/studs if you get a lot of snow.

[thatguitarguy]

Originally Posted by bombloader

Narrow tires are actually better in snow and ice. Provided you get a good tread pattern, possibly w/studs if you get a lot of snow.

I've heard arguments both ways, but the last time I had a car with 13s was an 80s Subaru, and I ran 185s on it, but it was also a 4x4 and heavier.

I've read that Metros don't handle very well partly due to the 155s. But I don't want to go with too much tire because the suspension isn't very beefy. It doesn't take too much inspection to see why these cars are so light.

I'd like to be able to use this car for commuting, but I have to climb up a pretty steep pass at 11,300 ft, and if it won't cut it I'll have to stick with the van. I've been stuck and stranded and hitchhiking enough to know that I don't want to do that anymore. Saving a few buck here and there isn't worth standing out in the cold.

[bombloader]

Originally Posted by thatguitarguy

I've heard arguments both ways, but the last time I had a car with 13s was an 80s Subaru, and I ran 185s on it, but it was also a 4x4 and heavier.

Saving a few buck here and there isn't worth standing out in the cold.

The reason that narrow is usually better is because you want to concentrate pressure to break thru ice and packed snow. Think what chains and studs both do-concentrate the cars weight on a on very small points. Also, if you've ever mountain climbed, think crampons. Wide tires, ceterus paribus. do the opposite. I'd focus on getting good quality snow tires in a similar size to what you have. If you want to improve handling on dry roads, wide tires are a good idea.

[Ryland]

In snow you want narrow tires, not wide, wide tires float on top of snow and narrow cut through the snow to the road.

[brucepick]

I've been driving pesky rear-drive cars in New England winters for about 15 years now. My recipe for success is snow tires on all four wheels. You need traction for your non-drive wheels because they help you control the car. With rear drive I put extra weight in the rear for traction but I think you can probably skip that part with a front drive car.

My Volvos with 4 snows generally pass everything else on the road, seriously. With regular tires they are lousy snow cars, the difference is night and day.

I dunno why people don't talk enough about snow tires. If you're gonna drive in real snow, that's what you need. If you're going to have glare ice you need studded snows. Worth the cost. It's also worthwhile to get a second set of rims/wheels so you don't have to swap tires on and off teh wheels when the seasons change.

[JonnyG]

My dad used to drive a rear wheel drive Lexus 800 feet up and down a mountain every day to and from work. He used snow tires and never had a problem even in the worst of conditions. I don't have snow tires for my RAV4, but using basic fuel saving techniques like easy acceleration and DWB make winter driving pretty simple.