What did you do to/with your vehicle today?

[MetroMPG]

Replaced the white crapcan with the red crapcan for the remainder of the summer & early fall.




Serviced the rear brakes of the red crapcan.


Doesn't qualify as an ecomod!

[M_a_t_t]

I realized the rear axle on the Fiat didn't have the protrusions in the centerbores like the front wheels do. So I put 2 of the mercury's original wheels on and got 2 of the Fiat wheels to hold air. Moved it onto the driveway. It rolls really well. I almost hit the Nissan with it on accident. I assumed it was going to be kind of stuck so I used a strap and hooked it to the back of the van and idled forward. Well when I stopped it kept going (and it wasn't even on pavement yet). So I disconnected the strap and pushed it the rest of the way. I put wood blocks under the front suspension so the flat tires don't deform enough that I can't fill them back up. It looks really high up front still even though the car is resting on the suspension. Maybe the rear is just squatting? I think the mercury wheels don't look bad on there either. I wonder how much it would cost to get them bored out to fit on the front?

[California98Civic]

That squat does not look normal, but maybe it's an optical illusion.

[freebeard]

Hold a straightedge up to the screen. The chrome strip in the rocker pane points to the wheels centers plus/minus one or two inches.

Do the wheels center on the hub or the lug bolts? If it's the bolts you can just hog out the centers.

[M_a_t_t]

I haven't driven it, so I can't confirm but, there is no center hub on the back so they must be lug-centric. Those wobble bolts have a little bit of a learning curve too. It took a few minutes for me to figure out how to get all of the wheel bolts threaded in properly.

[MetroMPG]

Those Mercury wheels look a lot like the 15" Civic alloys I've been using on various cars lately (Miata & Mirage).



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Did a synthetic oil & filter change on the MPGiata today. First in a couple of years @ ~10k km = ~6k miles interval.

[M_a_t_t]

I bought another astro. This should be more efficient than the 04 awd one (selling soon after I decide to fix or sell as-is). It is currently missing the engine, but I am going to find another to put in it. It's the 4 cyl 5 spd manual. It is very clean though. There is a few spots of rust on it, but not bad and no through holes. There is a 327 in the back which is why it's squatting so much.

[Blacktree]

I upgraded the sway bars in the Prius. The 2nd gen Prius has really soft sway bars, and they're setup for massive understeer. It makes the car drive like a school bus. Sway bars from the Corolla / Matrix are a direct drop-in. And they significantly improve the handling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO59ib1ealc

I doubt this will have any effect on FE. But it will make the car more enjoyable to drive.

[Vman455]

I'm curious, if you wanted less understeer why did you put a bigger bar in front?

I removed my front bar and added the TRD rear bar a couple years ago. Still understeers (some things, like distribution of mass, aren't changed so easily), but not as much as it did stock. Looking forward to the Green Grand Prix autocross this year.

(Also, I would be very surprised if those bars are solid. I cut open my front bar just to see, and it was hollow. If you don't have any plans for the old bar...).

[Blacktree]

Originally Posted by Vman455

I'm curious, if you wanted less understeer why did you put a bigger bar in front?

Because I wanted less body roll. Also, the Corolla / Matrix sway bars are balanced differently. They don't cause as much understeer as the Prius ones.

With a McPherson strut suspension, you need to be mindful of camber changes as the suspension articulates. If the suspension is too soft, the outside wheel can gain positive camber in a turn, which will reduce grip. On the front suspension, that can actually cause understeer. You may want to reinstall the front sway bar, and see if that helps.