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...

Mustang V6 1000 Lap Challenge

I know it's been a little over a week since they did it, however, it's outstanding and I'd like to comment. The 2011 Mustang V6 is the first car in history with 305HP to exceed 30mpg. On one tank of petrol not only did it go the 1000 laps of the challenge, but set a new record by going a total of 1457 laps. 776.5 miles at an average of 48.5mpg, with the aid of fuel efficient driving techniques.



You may be think to yourself "My hybrid does that already", but this is a muscle car folks. To be able to pull these kind of numbers in this car is a big thing.

"A team of Ford engineers prepared for the challenge by implementing fuel efficient driving tips including minimizing the use of air conditioning, steady and consistent driving, avoiding sudden stops/starts and keeping the RPMs low. The engine in the Mustang is powered by a lightweight, all-aluminum 3.7-liter dual-overhead-cam V-6 engine that uses advanced engineering to deliver its combination of power and economy. Twin independent variable camshaft timing adjusts the valve train in microseconds depending on driver inputs, further contributing to the engine’s overall efficiency. The Mustang used in the challenge is a stock production vehicle that can be purchased through a Ford dealer."

Now lets see if they can do that with the new V8 they just came out with in the 2011 Mustang GT...

Mullinax Ford Car Show, July 3, 2010.

After watching the weather all week wondering about the chance of rain for today, decided "late afternoon rain" would not spoil the fun one bit. Woke up this morning bright and early to go meet some members of the MFMC for breakfast: Jim, Vic, and Val as usual... However, there were other members that showed up to the show: Steve, Jeff, and a member unknown to me.

Mullinax Ford enlisted the Muscle Car Network to put on their show with them, and had the start time advertised as 10am. Jim noticed that at the dealership it was advertised as 9am so we got there earlier than pretty much everybody, we were awarded with a nice shady spot by a tree. More cars turned out than I had expected, we filled up the small lot they had us in pretty quickly. There was a wide variety of makes of car in attendance, mostly muscle cars, classic cars, and hot rods. I have been to 2 MCN organized car shows, and am a member of the network. I thought both shows were a good time, and enjoyed them, but the lack of anything to do with late model cars is a little disappointing.

There were a few cars that stood out as something special for me, they are as follows:

A group of early 70's Mustangs owned by a family with the last name "Speed".


A 1954 Ford "Skyliner".


And a MG "Midget".

Mullinax Ford had a few cars on display as well, mot surprising it was mostly Mustangs. A couple of Shelby 500's, a Roush stage 1 & 427R, and some of the new 2011 GT 5.0's were out. Amongst all that muscle was a car making a comeback for 2011, the Ford "Festiva" is back!

At the end of the day, I had a really good time. I saw a couple of people I haven't seen in a while, and some folks I see all the time and enjoy their company. Also, I was able to take more pictures of cars, which is always fun for me...