Ask GTP About Your Car Problems/General Questions

[nk4e]

Don't be ridiculous, they don't come with any Mugen stickers.

I always thought JDM stickers always improved your Aerodynamics and chick level.

 

[Casio]

Don't be ridiculous, they don't come with any Mugen stickers.

They actually reduce your horsepower, because they're authentic, rather than generic ones with Mugen stickers on them.

 

[Perfect Balance]

They actually reduce your horsepower, because they're authentic, rather than generic ones with Mugen stickers on them.

THAT'S IT!

That would explain why all the mad tyte jdm cars in the US only sit around at car shows, since the power has been reduced to such a level that the car no longer moves!


It's all so clear now...

 

[Giancarlo]

Speaking of horsepower increases; anyone think this looks good, or is it a little awkward?

Keep in mind that this is the real one. Obviously the real one looks better, but do you think i could get away with a sticker like the former, which is a fraction of the cost?

 

[Paulie]

Your car is not a Type R, I think it therefore looks quite horrible.

 

[Prosthetic]

They actually reduce your horsepower, because they're authentic, rather than generic ones with Mugen stickers on them.

THAT'S IT!

That would explain why all the mad tyte jdm cars in the US only sit around at car shows, since the power has been reduced to such a level that the car no longer moves!


It's all so clear now...

Oh god.

 

[Thatman]

Opinions on 195-205 tireprint for winter conditions in my 7? I think I should go with the smaller tire

 

[Biggamehit]

wider is better .. if you can go to 225-235 in rear and 215 up front that would be optimum. what size are your rims??

 

[TheCracker]

Wider is not better 'for winter conditions'. You'd aquaplane more in the wet and not cut into the snow as well with wider tyres.

It depends on what tyre it is. A 205 with a winter tread is going to be better than a 195 with a semi-slick trackday tread.

 

[Biggamehit]

Yea well it is better for my car and conditions im in here in northern japan, it snows and hardens almost instantly... spikes will be bought soon because I can't run chains. also i race in the winter..

so yea disregard my statement about width. for daily driving.. slightly smaller is better.

Snow tires on my skyline

255 in the rear 215 on front I had the best time of the day for an FR vehicle.

 

[Thatman]

Ill be using my Ugly stock tan rims which are 15s, I figured wider was always better if your dealing with all snow but then I thought about Ice racing on Ralli-sport challange2 and those had discs for tires, not that it will make a giant difference I just wanted to be sure, but should I also go with as big as sidewall as I can get or lower? On a side note, the rear tires can go surprisingly big on the 7s(265 w/o going too far out)

 

[Biggamehit]

yea those tires also have studs on them for traction.

 

[Stotty]

Narrow is always better on snow as it allows the tyre to cut through to the base surface better. A prime example is WRC cars... they use a very narrow section tyre (around 185)...

Of course it doesn't matter how wide your tyre is when you're 1 meter off the ground

If you go narrow you'll need to use a higher profile to maintain some semblance of rolling radius... or your speedo will be miles out.

 

[Thatman]

Actually I most likely could have answered my own question there. Dont want a low car in high snow. But I don't car if the mile would be off, after all on super bad days ill use my big ol' Buick. So use of the 7 will be half anyways im putting on winter tires for my safety and for all the people that say im going to fail something hardcore with a RWD sports car in the snow.

 

[Biggamehit]

^^No you will not lol.... I have a 2way/welded differential in both my cars lol.... 4wd guys crash more believe it or not.. because they think that the car will save them from silly mistakes.

Also with all the narrow tire talk, suspension setup is vital. your daily car is no where near a wrc suspension setup and once again those tires are studded.

 

[Thatman]

I do believe you, judging by google maps id say you have winter about as much as we do and I always see my far share of 4wd vehicles strewn across the highways and in town as well. As for the suspension setup you are talking about, not too sure what you are getting at there...I understand I dont have a suspension like a WRC but i would assume I would want my car in sport mode to be slightly stiffer since there arnt any hills here.

 

[Biggamehit]

What I was getting at is camber, ride height, psi levels etc will determine how your cars weight is applied to the ground through your tires. What kind of car and suspensions do you have?

 

[Stotty]

He has an RX7 I believe... doubt he has the option to adjust camber and ride height unless it's got aftermarket suspension. However, WRC cars run hard suspension on hardpack/ice and soft suspension (to aid weight transfer) on soft snow.

I understand the tyres are studded, but the principal of narrow tyres working better in the snow is still correct.

The 2 best cars I've driven in the snow...

Fiesta 1.1... low power, low weight, 145 section tyres.

Subaru Impreza... 4WD, low weight (compared to a SUV), LSD across the rear axle, relatively narrow (205) section tyres.

Edit:

Worst cars I've driven in the snow...

Current Mondeo 2.2 diesel... big, heavy, turbo diesel instant torque, 235/40's. Absolutely no traction whatsoever.

Current 911... no front end grip, no rear end grip, 265/35's on the back. Frightening.

 

[Biggamehit]

No doubt brother. FR does suck in the snow. its the only time I would like AWD or even FF lol. I was about to ask thatman what kind of snow he gets. You have explained the hardpacked vs soft/slush theory that I was going to tell him. good stuff.

 

[Thatman]

Minnesota, generally our winter is filled with about 0-20s degree Fahrenheit and snow can be bad but our plows are on that like flies to .... well you know. So its generally fluffy snow except for the road which get heavy doses of sand so there is a lot of slush And the stock Rx7 suspension adjusts the stiffness and the rear already has like -.2 to -.6 camber in the rear. Psi on the summer generals are usually around 33-35psi. Again its because Im not storing my 7 since i got no place to put it(sorta) but when it would really come down I would simply use my Buick that although has crappy tires, will still bust through snow with its weight and FF.

 

[EA11R]

Hello, this thread seems to be dying down a bit, eh? I've got a couple of questions:

I drive a 99 Altima, and the top of the steering wheel appears to have been exposed to too much sun; it's all rough and cratered. Is there a product I can apply to fill in the gaps?

And, we've just discovered that my friend's 1990 Civic (Wagon!) is having a few engine problems, namely low compression on one cylinder and a whole lot of oil on the spark plugs when we removed them. It typically runs with a bit of white smoke (verified as oil). I'm assuming the compression is difficult to fix, but what gets too much oil up there?

 

[Rotary Junkie]

Same thing that causes the compression.

Rings.

 

[Duke]

Hello, this thread seems to be dying down a bit, eh? I've got a couple of questions:

I drive a 99 Altima, and the top of the steering wheel appears to have been exposed to too much sun; it's all rough and cratered. Is there a product I can apply to fill in the gaps?

And, we've just discovered that my friend's 1990 Civic (Wagon!) is having a few engine problems, namely low compression on one cylinder and a whole lot of oil on the spark plugs when we removed them. It typically runs with a bit of white smoke (verified as oil). I'm assuming the compression is difficult to fix, but what gets too much oil up there?

On the Honda, I'd say that RJ is right; it's probably got a cracked ring or two on that cylinder, and the others are worn out. How many miles on the car?

Also, there's not going to be much you can do for the steering wheel. Invest in the nicest cover you can find (which isn't going to be very nice) or starting scouring junyards for a better one. The good thing is that the wheel and airbag are separate pieces.

 

[nk4e]

Do we need the undercarriage or the heat shield? I want to take mine out but I don't have any clue if the law will use that against me( mainly the heat shield)

 

[Paulie]

On the Honda, I'd say that RJ is right; it's probably got a cracked ring or two on that cylinder, and the others are worn out. How many miles on the car?

Also, there's not going to be much you can do for the steering wheel. Invest in the nicest cover you can find (which isn't going to be very nice) or starting scouring junyards for a better one. The good thing is that the wheel and airbag are separate pieces.

If you found some nice enough, couldn't you probably get it wrapped in leather also?

 

[EA11R]

Same thing that causes the compression.

Rings.

Yeah, that's what I feared. And only 75K miles.

 

[niky]

White smoke, low compression on certain cylinders and oil plugs are a good sign of worn piston rings. That engine is going down.

Do we need the undercarriage or the heat shield? I want to take mine out but I don't have any clue if the law will use that against me( mainly the heat shield)

You mean the skid plates underneath?

The heat shield is not a requirement for emissions, but it does help... leave it on. Heck... if you're in Cali, you can mock up the stock heatshield to fit over tubular headers... hiding the fact that you've got non-CARB legal items on you r car... hypothetically, of course.

Same for the shield underneath the engine compartment... it helps direct airflow under the car, and in most cases, as far as I remember, works to provide the proper vacuum to pull air out of the bay, enhancing radiator function.

 

[CyborgGT]

We just got snowed on hard and now my tranny's fudging up. It's done it before in the heat of summer, but this first issue is new to me: I can't shift out of Park with the engine on. With the key on/engine off, I have to start it in Neutral and go from there. Second, it won't downshift into second gear (or therefore first) on its own, neither while slowing down or when I gas it. I have to take off from 2 just to keep up with traffic. 2 seems like it'll rev up to redline (I wasn't about to break any speed limits in town on an icy day; the gear went up to 50mph and didn't redline before I decided to go into third), but it rises too slowly for such a low gear. D3 and D4 don't seem to want to pass 2500rpm. Any ideas what's wrong? Tranny fluid was replaced a few months back. The car's got something like 231k miles on it.

For those that don't know, I did rear-end someone just over a month ago, but as far as the engine goes it only damaged the radiator and its support. The AC system was also discharged during the rebuild, and I didn't think it was worth fixing right now. The car was then out of commission for a month, but ran just fine the other day when I drove it to a junkyard about two cities over. I haven't gotten around to topping off and bleeding the power steering, but I wouldn't think that has any connection to the transmission.


EDIT - It may be the TCU. A burned resistor(s) and leaking capacitor(s) seem to be a fairly common issue with this Accord year range when they're still kicking at so many miles. I'll see if any of mine are damaged, then decide whether to solder in new ones or buy a junkyard TCU. Would there be any further problems to worry about with disconnecting a TCU? Such as the computer throwing codes and/or not working at all after it's been unplugged? If not, I'll take a peek before work in the next couple of days.

 

[niky]

Does it feel like it's slipping?

Your number one problem is it's an Accord automatic. Your number two problem is you've got 231k miles on it... I didn't even know those trannies actually lasted that long...

If it ain't slipping, the TCU could be it.

 

[CyborgGT]

Your number one problem is it's an Accord automatic. Your number two problem is you've got 231k miles on it... I didn't even know those trannies actually lasted that long...

Hmm...

And I don't think the clutches are slipping, or it would rev up and I wouldn't go anywhere.