MaEsTROs first ride out.

[thatguitarguy]

Well the tire decision was made easier by the fact that I couldn't find any used 155s and the new ones were M&S and not snows. I didn't want to pay a premium price to get a smaller tire. My modding is, by necessity, ECOnomical as well as ECOlogical. So I bought a set of studded Hanooks for $100 on CL. They don't have many miles on them, but they are 185 70/R13, so I was concerned that they would fit in the wheel wells without scraping. Cost $47 to have them mounted, but they fit just fine, and give me a little extra height for driving through the deep snow. I will have to calculate for mileage because of the extra diameter, but it's nice to have a little higher effective drive ratio.

The previous owner showed me some calculations he had done for the last few months he owned the car and since August he had spent a little over $50 for gas with an average of a little over 40mpg. I followed him a bit for a test drive, and it was easy to see that he doesn't spare the whip, so I think it won't be too hard to get 50mpg without any modifications other than the nut behind the wheel.

The next thing is to make sure it's going to make it up to Leadville from Denver with 60-70 miles of climbing with a total elevation gain of about 2 miles. I don't think it's going to be a problem, but it was a car that had been slammed into a curb hard enough to pop the airbags, and the longest trip it had since that accident, was yesterday when I took it to the tire shop to get the snows mounted.

I hope I can keep a fairly accurate log of costs incurred similar to what Johnny Mullet has done.

So, my starting point is 150,315 miles. Purchase price $350. Tires and mounting $147. and a headlight $10.

Starting total $507.

[MetroMPG]

Good deal on the tires. When's the trip?

[thatguitarguy]

I was thinking about today, but I checked the weather and the temp is 4*F and supposed to top out at 11, with a low of -11. Pretty cold if something goes wrong.

[MetroMPG]

Agreed.

Also, OW! That's cold.

It hasn't gotten much below about -4C here yet ... 24 F Practically tropical by comparison.

[thatguitarguy]

It was cold, but the sun was shining so I went. The climb from 5280 to 11,013 was mostly WOT in 4th, with a lot of shifts down to 3rd to stay above 45mph, and a few shifts up to 5th. MaEsTRO is spinning a lot more rubber than he's used to, and it's harder to walk in snowshoes. With the studded snows, I never felt a twitch on some stuff that was hard to walk on it was so slick.



He's a little beat up, but not bad for $350, and I won't feel bad about experimenting with him to make him a true eco-mod.



The previous owner wanted everyone to know, this Metro has balls!

[Christ]

TRUCK NUTZ KICK ASS!

Sorry, just discussed this in another thread...

Anyway, excellent purchase. Mine (if I can ever get it worked out to be delivered) isn't even close to as nice as that one, and I'll definitely have more than you do into it, before I even start.

[brucepick]

One thing to watch for with studded tires is having them skate on non-snowy pavement.
I only had studded tires once ('76 Corolla) and the rear end skidded out when I braked hard once. I was very lucky I didn't hit another car.

But yes - they are great for snow/ice traction.

[Christ]

I quit running studded tires when I found out how easy it was to drift with them... my first year on the road. After that, I just carry traction modifiers in the car if I think I'll need them.

[brucepick]

OK, I'll bite.

Traction modifiers??
Do you mean weight, or chain-type doodads??

[Christ]

Originally Posted by brucepick

OK, I'll bite.

Traction modifiers??
Do you mean weight, or chain-type doodads??

Could be anything from weight, to gravel, sand, salt, chains, traction boards, whatever.

Anything that modifies my traction capabilities without directly altering the vehicle, basically. Traction Modifier.