Little car gets new shoes

[growler_south]

I took the MR2 in today to get some new shoes*. The tyre shop is run by a nice beefy lad who comes to the bar on occasion, and the... err... *educational* calendars on the walls all feature firemen and similar hunky blokes.

Anyway, he did a superb job of fitting the tyres, he didn't even object to using the torque wrench I left in the car, preset to the correct setting. (MR2s warp brake disks if you go over 100ft/lb.)

The new tyres have made a hell of a difference, and this is before they've bedded in properly. I can now use full throttle almost anywhere in the rev range in 2nd gear without things getting interesting (as in, "Oh God, oh God, we're all going to die!"). Great if you enjoy the horizon- it gets closer much sooner now. And corners are smoother, it seems the new tyres break away more gently than the old, hard ones.

Very happy.

*Dunlop Direzza DZ101's. 195/50/15 on front as usual, upsized to 205/50/15 on the back. Pictures coming, I'm sure.

Comments

[smellykaka.livejournal.com]

Want ride!

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

I need to put at least 2 new tires on my truck, the back ones are almost to the tread wear indicators so when wet, they loos grip a little too easily now. (2x4 w/ little to no weight outside of the canopy and maybe half a tank of gas at any one time).

[cuboz.livejournal.com]

I don't know what it all means, but I'm enjoying the butchness. :-)

[terminalcase.livejournal.com]

and which tyre shop is this? ;-)

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

Pics!

I was considering the Direzzas for the MINI but stayed with what I had before (the GS-D3s). Now I have to fidgure out why I have a slow leak on the left rear. Cant find anything stuck in the tyre (MINIs cant be fitted with 'tires', ya know), so I have to pull the whole thing and plop it into my wash basin and look for bubbles.

[growler-south.livejournal.com]

I really liked the look of my existing GSD3s, but they don't come in 205/50/15 and I *really* needed some extra traction at the back. Further reading indicated that MR2s respond well to block-tread tyres, and longitudinal treads like the GSD3s exacerbate the MR2's tendency to tramline due to the MR2s lack of power steering.

Sounds about right. The MR2's lost a lot of the wrenching twitchiness and steamrolls over bumps where it would have used to be yanked off course. Mind you, having soft new rubber probably helps.

[bazbearnz.livejournal.com]

I hope the pics are of the beefy tire shop man. I think I may need to drive to Auckland and get my tyre pressure checked. What is the name of the shop? :):)

[sinnabor.livejournal.com]

Note to self: bring extra anti-nausea powdered ginger capsules.

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

"It's not so bad ... you got most of it out the window...."