recent flickr
focus tinted
carrie surprised me with this one day last week:
yep, tinted after owning the car for 6 years. why did i wait so long? when spring arrives i can get the summer wheels & tires back on there, and i’ve got a few more tricks up my sleeve.
WRC 2007 Calendar
i’ve created a Google Calendar of the 2007 World Rally Championship. it’s not really a list of the event dates; rather, it’s a calendar that you can subscribe to so that you see it on your own Google Calendar page. go here: Google Calendar of World Rally Championship (WRC) 2007 to view, here to subscribe, or read more to view it on this site!
focus on the mountains
last weekend we decided to take a “fun day” out from working on the house (and it was raining anyway) so we planned a trip to leavenworth, wa and on to ellensburg, wa to go to Central Washington University.
read on for details — this was the last run through the mountains on my summer tires and rims, so i had a bit of fun along the way.
left everett at 9:30, right on schedule (which is good for us — usually “up and at ‘em” on the weekends is tough to come by). heading east on highway 2. light rain in everett. stopped in monroe, wa at a starbucks for breakfasty things and coffee. moderately heavy rain in monroe.
back on hwy 2, through the cascade foothills towards Stevens Pass. rain getting heavier. traffic is somewhat frustrating. lots of people in big vehicles who can’t go fast in the turns, but speed up to around 80 in the straights (passing zones). got past them, usually in 4th at around 4000-4500rpm. (gosh i need a little more top end).
ended up in 4th for most of the trip, it was pouring pretty consistently so i needed to power through it. this was where the tires were worth their weight in gold — this summer i picked up a set of Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 tires from the Tire Rack. if you look at the tread pattern, you’d guess that they do well in the wet, and they certainly did not disappoint me. faster, harder cornering, they never lost grip, my confidence continued to build as the trip went along.
i was passing all-wheel-drive vehicles, large SUVs, pretty much everything we encountered. you want good summer tires that do amazingly in the rain, check them out. </advertisement> pull them off before winter, however. down in the 30′s i hear they lose grip because they’re summer compound.
after we stopped for cookies in leavenworth, it was route 97 southbound towards ellensburg, other side of the mountains. more of a desert climate in the summer, but it pours in the winter. kinda weird. the trees are different than we’re used to in the northeast, they actually do turn colors but it’s all generally one color — they were all a really beautiful, almost glowing, golden color. very pretty. definitely not new england oaks and maples in bright red/orange/yellow, but still pretty.
had lunch in ellensburg at “The TAV,” total college bar but the only one in town we could find on short notice with at least a few good micros on tap. went on to CWU, hit the bookstore for aforementioned swag. i have to say, CWU seemed pretty cool, but they pointed us to “visitor parking” that we never could seem to find.
we had planned to take US-90 back home, but we onramped directly into stop-and-go traffic. via cell phone browser we deciphered that said traffic continued for 16 miles ahead; we jumped back off the highway and went to retrace our route back up 97 to 2. stopped at leavenworth again at yet another starbucks, and through the pass just after dark. pouring rain, dark, steep grades, standing water. again, the F1s led the day. actually, i was setting the pace for the large SUVs again.
home just before 9. was a fun trip. next time we’ll probably stick closer; i think we put around 500 miles round trip. going to shoot for 2-300 next time – we’ll be in the Escape anyway so not so much fun on the drive itself.
focus has new shoes
so, the past few weekends were dedicated to my car mostly, in preperation for a car show this past sunday (i didn’t place — but that’s okay. i had strong competition).
read on for more boring car-centric details!
the wheels are Team Dynamics Pro Race 1, size 17×7 (45mm offset) in anthracite finish. the tires are Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3, 215/45r17 87W (1201lbs load rated). i purchased the rims used from another focus owner, and the tires new from the Tire Rack for $88 each! (in this service description — the XL load rated tires cost $135).
last weekend we cleaned my paint with a Meguiar’s Clay Bar system — it uses a lump of clay-like material to remove oxidation and embedded contaminants from your paint.
the results are quite astounding. you can literally feel the difference between an area you used the bar on, and one that you did not. of course, my car has had 5 years to build up oxidation and junk, but i plan now to repeat this annually.
after the clay bar, a coat of cleaner wax. i had hoped to then get another coat of carnuba wax over that before the show, but i ran out of time.
the wheels and tires fit quite well and handle nicely too. i’m running, as i said, 215/45r17 size tires, which match the OEM sized tires that Ford ships on the SVT focus. i knew that, since i was running the SVT suspension, this should be a safe tire size. the only real difference is the offset — the stock SVT wheels have a 49mm offset (that is — the measurement from the centerline of the rim, to the inside surface of the rim which mates to the hub). my aftermarket wheels have a 45mm offset. this means that the tire is actually 4 millimeters farther out from the hub, which increases the chance of rubbing on the fender.
i haven’t had any fender issues yet, however. i think the change is so slight that i would only have a problem if i were running with a lower car — if i’d gone with a different suspension that would have dropped the ride height more. from stock ZX3 to SVT suspension is only about 3/4 inch lower (most aftermarket setups start at 1.5 inch drops).
chunk of concrete + focus @ 65mph = ouch!
so, on the way home yesterday on I-5, i was switching lanes just before the exit to get home. it was dark. i saw a lighter colored blob come into view in my driver’s headlight, directly aligned with my driver’s side front wheel. i don’t know if i moved to the right instinctively or not, but…
… i hit it. not so bad in the front, but much worse in the back. i continued off the exit figuring if the tire was deflating, it would at least get me that far. just off the exit i got out and looked — they all still had air, so i drove it home (about 3 blocks away).
end result: impact bruise on front driver’s tire, deep impact bruise & bent rim on driver’s rear. the car’s going back into the alignment shop on sunday to get the suspension & steering components checked out.
rear:
front:
