New Rims And Wheels, July 28, 2010.

I finally was able to get new rims and tires put on my car, I got them on Wednesday. I decided on a set 20" Lorenzo rims that are all black with chrome rivets, and Nitto high performance tires. I had been looking at black cars with all black rims, black rims with a machined lip, and neither option was very appealing to me. That is until I found the Lorenzo rims, they looked hot, and Tire Kingdom has a "visualizer" on their site so I could see approximately what they would look like on my car. I ended up going to Wheel Unik on 17/92 over in Casselberry to purchase them and have them installed. Once they were on my car I was instantly impressed with the new look...

DIY Steeda Cold Air Intake and CDC Light Bar, July 26th, 2010.

After buying a few things today I decided that 2 of them I had the confidence to do the install by myself. I have a mechanic that lives right across the street so if I hit a road block I had him to talk with, but did not need to consult him. I called Vic first then Jim to talk about the SCT tuner, but will have to talk directly with SCT tomorrow.

First up on the DIY was a brand new Steeda cold air intake, that requires a tune to work properly. At least I got the sucker in to the car, which I found to be incredibly easy.

Stock:


Process:


Installed!!!:


However, until it's tuned it will sit in the garage, thanks to this little warning at the bottom of the instructions. It's a good thing we have more than one car...

For the second DYI project of the day, I installed a new Classic Design Concepts light bar. I have been looking at these for months, on other cars and in pictures, going back and forth on if I wanted one or not. I came in under budget on the other parts I purchased, so I decided to get the light bar after all. I am very pleased with my decision, I really like how Beatrix looks with it installed.





The other parts will be discussed in a future installment of the Accidental Car Enthusiast. Perhaps when they get installed...

EDIT:
Tune uploaded to car, and it works too. Noticeable horsepower and torque gains, and she growls a little more from the engine. I am very pleased! I will get her on a dyno after the other power addition is installed...

The Fiat Is Coming Back

Watching the news earlier and this story caught my attention, apparently the Fiat is set to return to the US market later this year. The Fiat "500" will have a regular version and an electric version. Chrysler acquired the company from the government when it went belly up, and dealers in 150 markets will be able to apply for Fiat sales. They are choosing markets that have a lot of small car sales, and could support the sales of the Fiat.

Chrysler dealers will have to set up a separate area for the Fiat, including showroom and sales staff. They expect to have about 200 dealerships in 41 states, cities being the likely spots where small car registration is higher.

Looks like a fun little car, an electric version would be nice for city drivers...