Well, Happy Belated New Year!
I hope all of you had a good Holiday Season and New Year's Day (as much as can be permitted in these strange times). I have made a few changes around here (such as a new header and intro for future videos) and just completed a Part 2 episode for cleaning headlights at home....
The wife of a friend got a slightly newer car, so I asked if I could do one of my reviews on her old one, before it was gone. Obviously she said yes....
Thanks to Leah D. for giving me this opportunity!
If you were reading last time, you may recall I spent a surprising amount of money getting my 2017 Kia Sportage ready for a winter driving excursion.
The one thing that was left off the shopping list was tires. Although these Cooper Zeon RS3-G1 tires are M+S (Mud and Snow) rated, there are not meant to be driven year round (we called these "three season tires" here). Nevertheless, I had put my foul weather faith into the All Wheel Drive system and hoped for the best.
Right off the bat I was greeted with the most excellent lighting and road conditions as I started up the first mountain pass!
Although the lighting improved, the highways didn't.
I must say that I am very impressed with how the Cooper tires perform in very wet conditions, having driven around the city with heavy, pooling water on the roads. The All Wheel Drive system had plenty of traction to work with as I attempted to pass this truck and trailer.
It is hard to say for certain how this situation came about. One could speculate on the vehicles tires, how fast they were going, the level of visibility at the time, etc. This time of year on the higher elevation roads, seeing vehicles, as pictured above, is a common sight.
No, this clip isn't from another road on a different day. Same highway, same day, just the other side of the mountains. I would be spoiled for the next eightish hours of the trip (I spent just under three hours staring at white and wet roads and welcomed this change).
There was one most "investment" I had to make, new windshield wipers. The old ones worked, but only under certain conditions, such as clearing away roadspray or draining the washer fluid reservoir. The "dry cleaning" capabilities of removing mud or bugs (I noticed this during the Summer, but forgot it when I switched vehicles) was nonexistent.
Better to be safe than sorry and prepared for whatever the next mountain roads would drop on me.
Also being this time of year, day doesn't last long and darkness can come on very quickly. As I neared my final destination, the roads took a turn for the worse as the sun faded fast.
As the old saying goes, "I couldn't even begin to guess how that happened."
There are a lot of contributing factors to winter driving mishaps, such as improper tires (Yes, I am a hypocrite on that), poor vision (like bad windshield wipers, dim or burnt out headlights and of course, weather/day/night conditions), but speed seems to be number one on the list.
There are a lot of people who don't adjust their driving habits to the change in seasons. Late Spring, Summer and early Fall usually have longer days and clearer roads, which is good for driving at (or even above) posted speed limits. The flip-side for late Fall, Winter and early Spring are shorter days with roads potentially suffering from compact snow and slippery sections. For me, I knock off anywhere from 5 - 15 kph (say about the same in mph) from whatever those speed signs say during those conditions, more so in corners that look suspicious.
Funny thing, Winter hasn't even "officially" started yet....
Not one of mybetter pictures, but you should be able to see the sticker price of a new Sportage SX Turbo through my refection and bright background lighting.
My original plan in August 2020, was to resurrect this 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier and try save money by driving it from home to work and back, a distance of over 2,200 kilometers (or over 1367 miles for you other folks), round trip. In fact, the first couple of excursions paid for the car (to be more precise, the "transferred value" coming from the agreed price of the motor-home, insuring and maintaining that and then trading it for the "Yellow Beast," collecting that 3 years later). The latest voyage should cover the new winter tires that were purchased before restarting the cycle for the umpteenth time (technically, 3 times down and two times up with just the Cavalier, thus far).
Since the onset of this Covid-19 pandemic, I made the decision to not take any chances (first the airlines weren't flying at all, then "social distancing" as in every other row would have people, separated by empty rows, finally with a "mask them up-fill the plane up" practice that is happening now) and just hit the road in an uncrowded vehicle. In the beginning, it treated like an adventure, reconnecting with scenery and memories. Then, I made a few road trip videos (those can be found by looking around here ), which was something I had wanted to do for a very long time.
Those adventures took place behind the wheel of my 2017 Kia Sportage.
I don't have any major complaints about that experience, other than I my expectation of getting better fuel mileage didn't meet the reality when I paid at the pump. Although I was getting, let's call it a very "generous" fuel allowance, I wanted to put a little more into my pocket. Depending on gasoline prices (and how the market likes to move those metrics around), my Sportage could cost anywhere from $120.00 to $150.00, one way and the same back. Yeah, that 2.0 litre and turbo (even on "eco mode" doesn't help much) isn't a very thrifty combination.
Based on my research (along with hopes and prayers), the Cavalier was advertised to be way better on gas than my Kia and after I was brought back to life, all the claims were vindicated. BUt, if you have been following this blog over the past while, I covered this in much greater detail in previous posts.
I don't know if it's chronic or degenerative (I am truly afraid to hear what a doctor would say), but my lower back (right where the lumbar support in car seat would touch) is always in pain, from one degree to another.
Up until the recent change in weather and tires, the driver's seat and fine tuned driving position in the Cavalier has been very tolerable. Despite not having tilt/telescoping steering, nor lumbar support, the only real fatigue and soreness came from just being in the vehicle over great distances and time. However, the last trip home from up north has thrown my whole body out of whack, especially my lower back.
Since I came back, I have been driving both my wife's Kia Sedona minivan and my own Sportage without any pain or other discomfort issues. I have been trying my best to rationalize/quantify what has changed with the Cavalier to bring about this combination of issues.
The new winter tires would change the ride quality immensely, since the traction and sidewall flexing would be very different from the all seasons they replaced. With the temperatures dropping this time of year, the suspension would be a little slower to react to the changes in road conditions. Perhaps the seat itself, with the foam padding and springs relaxing that much further. All that and the fact I am not a young man anymore....
Since I put my 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier back on the road, there has been one issue I wanted to deal with, the headlights.
Although I had concerns with the tires (replaced and covered here), wiper blades (so far, so surprisingly good) and the brakes (just starting to feel the fade), the open and exposed headlight lenses weren't as clear as I liked. So, like many others out there, I priced out a set of replacement units and watched a few YouTube videos, because I just didn't want to spend the extra money and/or go through the tool-aided effort.
So, I tried two different "home fixes" to see the real world results for myself....
Unfortunately, I never thought to take a before picture of how badly the headlights illuminated the road, but trust me, the low beams are now quite bright, more so than the "pre-treatment" high beams.
Lights, tires, winter action!
