The Wilds Of Winter Driving

As I mentioned last time, I was going to switch out from driving my 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier to my 2017 Kia Sportage for this next "to and from work" trip. However, there were a few neglected issues that needed to be addressed first....

....and those were going to have to be looked after at my Kia dealer.

The list was pretty short, or so I thought, which consisted of an overdue oil change and a wheel alignment. Turns out I needed something called a Service 1, on top of the already listed.

While the service technicans were taking care of my vehicle, I wandered around the lot and took a look at what was there. Finding a new Sportage, Seltos and Soul parked beside each other was definatly a good comparision photo opportunity.

Based on what I have been reading recently, the 2021 model year Sportage will be the last of this generation. As a "send off," Kia gave it a refresh on both the front and back ends.

Here's my 2017 to compare with.

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.

After three hours of wandering and waiting, the Kia dealer was finished with my Sportage. I paid the bill and went home to take a much closer look at what had been done. As you can see in the above picture, my wheel alignment was out, badly. However, I am puzzled to why the "fixed" numbers turned out like they did.

So, the expected things such as the wheel alignment and the overdue oil change, done. That brings me to the unexpected items, like the sparkplug replacement (part of the Service 1), a ECU update (everything digital was reset to miles and fahrenheit, annoying but quickly corrected, by me) and the installation of a block heater with a decent length of cord (my wife's idea, since I was taking the Sportage into a very cold environment).

I am sure it was $745.49 CND well spent....

....it was going to have to be....

....the wilds of winter driving were awaiting me.

Rapid Roadside Review...er....Parking Lot Review - 2017 Kia Sportage

Although this vehicle has been covered in road trip videos and a few other posted outings, I figured it was about time to show it off in the new format I have been experimenting with.

The Plan, Twarted By The Pain

 

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).

Why would I subject myself to driving a long distance when I could fly?

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 was going to post up a picture my lower back from a recent X-Ray, but....

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....

So, in one week's time, I will trade economy for comfort and consider my options for the Cavalier.

Not So Bright To Slightly Better

 

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!

The First Big Expense

It has been almost three months since my 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier was awaken from a very long slumber.

Since dropping in a new battery and topping off the tank, I have put on the mileage. Pictured above was the odometer when the Cavalier was first started mid-summer.

 Here are some more recent numbers.

From then until now, the only money spent on the car had been insurance, gas and an oil change (along with a new air filter and that was just under $100.00 CDN).

In my part of Canada, winter tires are mandatory on vehicles traveling on most highways and mountain passes from October 1 to April 30.

Although the General Tire Evertrek RT that came with the car had pretty decent tread and were M+S (Mud and Snow) rated, I decided I wasn't going to take any chances with the near future changes in road conditions. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, I have been driving, as opposed to flying, from home to work and back, a distance of around 2280 kilometers (or about 1416 miles for you other folks), round trip.

When the deal to get the car was made three years ago, the previous owner threw in a set of winter tires on rims. However, Goodyear Ultra Grip Winters sat uncovered outside and had questionable tread (that stack of tires on the left side of the picture, that would have been them).

I didn't trust myself to find the time or the motivation to try and swap the tires and rims on my own, so an appointment was made (by my wife) to take the Cavalier to a tire shop. After the technician took a look at what I had in the trunk (and backseat), I was told the tires were no good, being badly weather checked and from 2006. Alrighty then. To add insult to injury, they wouldn't have 195-70-R14 sized tires to replace the bad winter ones for at least a week (too late for me), but the could mount 195-65-R15 on my summer rims, same day. 

So now, after spending $824.10 (I could have replaced the entire car at that price, based on what is currently for sale in my local market), I now have a complete and matching set of  15 inch Sumitomo Ice Edge on the Cavalier (the price includes the storage of General Tire Evertrek RT's that used to live on those very same rims).

Without sounding too over confident, bring on winter!

Rapid Roadside Review - 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier

The car is the star, I do all the talking, with my son shooting and editing the raw footage. This was the result....

Arise Yellow Knight, Part 4

 

The story continues from here.

After a three year slumber, being rudely woken up by having it's old heart ripped, replaced with another and a splash of life giving fluids, the "Yellow Beast" was ready to go.

Although sounding a bit on the dramatic side, that's in essence how that part happened.

 

The only thing that would have come close to being an issue for departure was a seized brake on the driver's rear. After all that time, the emergency brake didn't want to just let go and after a few attempts of rocking the car (clutch, forward, brake, clutch, reverse, brake, etc), freedom was negotiated.

I don't recall if I have ever had General Tires on anything I owned in the past, so this was going to be a rapid introduction to the brand (albeit on aged tires).

Ah yes, the gear stick of motion.

 

It has been well over a decade since I owned a vehicle that had a manual transmission, the last one was a used, bought over the internet 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser, back in 2008.

The last time I attempted to drive a manual equipped vehicle was on an aborted test drive for a 2016 Kia Soul in June of 2018. I wound up buying a Mitsubishi RVR with a CVT instead.

The drive from Chetwynd (okay, just outside and to the East of the town) to Fort St. John was a forgettable experience really. No fuss, no muss, the car operated as designed and manufactured. I had both the passenger and driver's door windows  rolled about halfway down to allow fresh air to circulate in the stale interior and to listen to the engine and exhaust, for any surprise problems. After about 20 minutes of that and hearing nothing of concern, I tuned in a local Country music station on the FM dial and listened to that for the remained of the trip.

10 days had past before I would drive the Cavalier for the trip home.

Oddly enough, there was one important piece of equipment I didn't check, the windshield-wipers. Now, the first thought that some people might have would be "After all that time, they have to be ruined!" Well, it turned out they weren't and I can't explain it. 

Part of the time on the voyage South was to take an inventory of what didn't work on the car, which was a pretty short list. The CD player in the factory AM/FM stereo failed, inserting a disc created a "Err" display on the clock readout and the disc would be promptly ejected. The passenger door mirror was multi-cracked in the middle, but I could still see if something was coming up behind me. The final non-working item was the burnt out  reverse lights (I would discover those much later).

It was a late start that day (around 4:30 pm), so when I finally rolled into Williams Lake (about 10:45 pm), I was exhausted and noticed the Cavalier was a bit low on gas. I would get a good night's sleep and deal with that in the morning.

Just outside and to the South of Fort St. John is a small village called Taylor and it was there I gassed up and reset the tripmeter for the first time since the Cavalier was resurrected. This picture was taken right before I reset the tripmeter again, after fueling up in Williams Lake. A 17 year old car, sitting 3 years without running and having oil of questionable vintage (but at a full level on the dipstick) produced that kind of mileage?

There is much to tell about the journey from Williams Lake to Home, no problems or even minor issues to report. Even after a few days of sitting around, the Cavalier was given a much needed oil change, air filter replacement and a really good wash, still nothing bad has happened yet.

In fact, I just made a video about the car, with me driving it....