Cars & Bikes, Driving & Riding

[NTP66]

What kind of car are we talking about again?

[faftorial]

Subaru Vivio Kei car.

[NTP66]

Never heard of it before. That’s an interesting little car.

[Shyster]

I have Michelin CrossClimate2's on my car now and hate them. I won't be purchasing them again.

I've seen those tires get excellent reviews. What don't you like about them? Are they loud?

[NTP66]

Yeah, they’re very loud. The reviews that I read that said they were quiet… I don’t know what they were talking about. These are almost as loud as my Altimax winter tires. They’re also so large that they rub, which I guess isn’t a valid criticism of the tires.

[Willie Kool]

Yeah, they’re very loud. The reviews that I read that said they were quiet… I don’t know what they were talking about. These are almost as loud as my Altimax winter tires.

Maybe it's just you...

http://fifthavenueforum.com/forum/viewt ... 03#p185803

[Shyster]

Huh. Yeah, that's contrary to what I've read about the tires. They've been the #1 rated tire in their category on Tire Rack for something like three years now. I don't doubt your experience, though. They do have a pretty aggressive tread design.

Does anyone have thoughts about replacing tires due to age? I see recommendations out there from manufacturers and retailers that tires should be checked around six years old and replaced at 10 years regardless of tread. My snow tires have plenty of tread left, but they're now seven years old. I'm pondering whether to replace them after this winter.

[NTP66]

Yeah, they’re very loud. The reviews that I read that said they were quiet… I don’t know what they were talking about. These are almost as loud as my Altimax winter tires.

Maybe it's just you...

http://fifthavenueforum.com/forum/viewt ... 03#p185803

Ahh, now I remember. Could have just been that set, but they were just so awful that it really turned me off from getting another set from them.

[dodint]

They generally break down because of UV exposure. So if you store them indoors most of the year and only drive them the months of the year that has the least amount of sunlight you can extend their useful life.

I wouldn't hesitate to continue using them under those conditions.

[mac5155]

Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. If stored indoors or under cover, rock on m

[Shyster]

The snow tires in question have always been stored indoors in a garage. Heck, even when they're on the car they're inside most of the time because I park in a garage both at home and at work. Doesn't sound like the age will be an issue. Thanks, everyone.

[NTP66]

@dodint have Minis always had the Union Jack in the brake lights? For the life of me I swear last night was the first time I had ever seen that, driving behind one. Looked pretty slick.

[dodint]

No.

They're sold like that in the UK and can be retrofitted to US-spec cars. This is a relatively new thing for them.

[mamaemeritus]

Hey, nerds. Need some help. I want to upgrade the halogen headlights in my husband's Jeep Renegade to LED. Does anyone have any recommendations? Also, are fanless better?

[dodint]

I just bought these for the racecar this week, I should know on Sunday whether they're any good or not:

Both of my daily driver cars have LED conversions but they were done before I bought them. The lighting in the Saab is fantastic, but the guy that installed them never figured out the resistance piece so the dash always says the bulbs are out. The ones in the TrailBlazer work as normal.

[mamaemeritus]

Thanks, dodint. One of the reviews says you need to install a decoder for Jeep products. What does that mean?

This is the set I was eyeballing: https://www.lasfit.com/products/ls-plus ... 67EALw_wcB

[dodint]

The decoder talks to your car's computer and tells it to ignore that the new lights don't need as much power as the old ones. It suppresses the warning lights like I get in the Saab. I don't really care if the racecar complains about bulbs so I don't know much about them, unfortunately.

[mamaemeritus]

Ok thanks, that's helpful. I was just chatting with someone on the website. They said that no aftermarket LED is street legal. Will I have any issues with law enforcement?

[dodint]

I sent your link to the guy that installed the LEDs in both of my cars. He hadn't used them, but sent this back as a recommendation saying he really likes them:

He's a very fussy guy about this stuff so I take his word for it.

Both of my cars passed inspection this year with aftermarket LEDs. That's anecdotal but unless they're horribly misaligned and blinding people I can't see that law enforcement would care. I did a quick reading of Title 75 Chapter 43, "LIGHTING EQUIPMENT" in the PA Vehicle Code and there is no mention of a prohibition on aftermarket LEDs nor does it proscribe limits on output, etc. You've piqued my interest so I'm going to poke around a little more and I'll let you know if I find anything.
I do keep seeing this verbiage on websites selling lights but I can't find the primary source yet:
"The headlamp total low beam minimum candle power must not be less than 7,500, the headlamp high beam – less than 10,000. The total candlepower for headlights and auxiliary lights must not exceed 150,000. Headlamps are to be white."

[NTP66]

I've had aftermarket Xenon lights in a car previously, and never had any issues with PA inspections. I'd honestly be shocked if somebody failed you for that.

[DigitalGypsy66]

It's probably like window tinting. If you get pulled for something else (speeding, running a stop sign, etc.) and notice the illegal tint or LED lights, they'll tack on another violation. But I'd let Counselor dodint check this out first.

[NTP66]

How the hell is a cop going to know that you have illegal headlights? Seriously. I'm not opening the hood for him to check, either.

[dodint]

Yeah, that was where I assumed we'd end up. With the lighting being a secondary offense. But a standard still needs to be expressed in the law. Similar to the 70% tint threshold, etc.

[Morkle]

I have aftermarket LEDs on my jeep wrangler. Have had them for years, passed multiple inspections and no issues. Same with doors off which is technically illegal in PA, knock on wood, never been pulled over and I leave them off from Spring to fall.

To me those are cop discretion things, give them no reason to pull you over and they won't hound you for the small stuff unless they're radically misaligned.

[robbiestoupe]

I remember doing some research on LEDs back in the day for work. I had the task of replacing the maintenance lighting on the Newark Monorail guideway. They were old incandescent bulbs, so every time the monorail went by, the superstructure would vibrate and these lights would go out all the time.

The spec asked for a specific candlepower (foot-candle) measurement for each light. But I found it was already an antiquated spec as I delved deeper into LED lighting. I read a lot of papers about how cities were changing to LED lights to save on electricity and maintenance costs, even if the up front costs of LEDs were more expensive. What I learned was that the old system of measurement using foot-candles (I mean, just think about where those measurements must have come from) don't take into effect how the human eye sees light.

Anyway, my tif-ism is basically saying the law that dodint posted is dumb, you can't compare lights using that measurement system. LEDs will always put out a lower foot-candle number than OEM lights. So if a cop pulls you over, tell them you replaced the lights on the monorail system one time and he has no idea what he's talking about.

Oh, to the monorail story, we ended up using HID lighting. Couldn't convince the customer that spending on LEDs was worth it.