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How feasible is a mustang or other similar rear wheel drive muscle/sports car in winter in calgary?
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Feb 3, 2015 15:27
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Eau de MacGowan posted:How feasible is a mustang or other similar rear wheel drive muscle/sports car in winter in calgary? I drove a Lexus IS-F through winter in Calgary and it was fine. Just buy good winter tires and don't forget to turn off traction control when you want to have some fun.
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Feb 3, 2015 15:56
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RWD cars are fine with proper winter tires and prudent driving.* *Empty parking lots, etc exempted.
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Feb 3, 2015 17:17
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Eau de MacGowan posted:How feasible is a mustang or other similar rear wheel drive muscle/sports car in winter in calgary? What the two above me said. I had a BMW 328 (RWD, more power than I needed, lots of fun) and with decent winter tires it was fine. People who are afraid to drive their own drat cars get no respect from me.
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Feb 3, 2015 18:12
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I drove a Z31 for several years in a GP winters and it was OK. In my experience, the biggest issue is ground clearance. Driving down unplowed roads where you are just following the tracks of previous cars you're going to hear all sorts of horrendous sounds as the snow/ice impacts the underside of your car and/or your front valance will start acting like a quasi-plow. If that bothers you don't or really try to avoid those roads.
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Feb 3, 2015 19:57
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The biggest thing about RWD winter driving is to accept that your rear end is going to do strange things and just make sure you're heading in the direction you want. First year driving my E34 I was fishtailing and tank slapping everywhere. By the second year I had grey hair and was the northern tofu delivery drift champion. Also tight cornering with throttle steer never gets old.
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Feb 4, 2015 08:28
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8ender posted:The biggest thing about RWD winter driving is to accept that your rear end is going to do strange things and just make sure you're heading in the direction you want. First year driving my E34 I was fishtailing and tank slapping everywhere. By the second year I had grey hair and was the northern tofu delivery drift champion. Also tight cornering with throttle steer never gets old. It doesn't matter what the drivetrain is: look where you want to go, and things will work out for you. Target fixate on a pole, and your day is going to get a lot worse very quickly. Assuming you've had enough practice getting loose and catching it, the rest should all be body memory.
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Feb 5, 2015 18:38
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Tires are 100% what determines if your car is drivable in winter. I much prefer my shitbox scirocco with studded winters in heavy snow to my SVX on some older winter tires. Much easier to control and stop despite having garbage brakes.
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Feb 5, 2015 19:52
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So I have this ram 3/4 ton pickup longbox that I dont use. I've driven it 3 times I think since I purchased it. Thinking of putting it to use when I'm not working hauling poo poo to Vancouver and back. Any idea if i'm just entering a world of pain or if I could make some bucks ? I'm thinking if i'm only moving stuff or people once in awhile the insurance might cost me more than the profit potential. Less concerned with making a profit, more I just want to offset my traveling costs to vancouver and open up some opportunities for tax writeoffs. Thoughts ?
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Feb 14, 2015 03:02
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That's a big ol' can of worms. Expecially traveling into BC. Legally, you'd need commercial plates, prorated plates at that, and a CVIP and safety fitness certificate because you're over 4,500kg and crossing a border. Although, you're unlikely to ever get caught unless you drive by a scale hauling something that looks vaguely industrial. Still, you'd need liability to cover any gently caress-ups, and cargo insurance apart from that. Moving people for money is an even bigger shitshow of regulations. If it's just casual stuff offering half-gas rideshare on kijiji, i'd say go for it. Otherwise i'd find something more constructive to do. Does that truck even get more than 15mpg highway? doing it in a 30mpg car would already cut your traveling costs in half.
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Feb 14, 2015 04:08
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Powershift posted:That's a big ol' can of worms. Expecially traveling into BC. Damnit all I want to do is get a nice tax return. Basically, I'm going to Vancouver all the time anyways, but I don't want to do it in a small car because, really do you want to travel hwy40 at night in a Ford Focus ?
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Feb 14, 2015 04:15
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jonathan posted:I'm going to Vancouver all the time anyways, but I don't want to do it in a small car because, really do you want to travel hwy40 at night in a Ford Focus ? Or drive in Richmond?
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Feb 14, 2015 04:16
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jonathan posted:Damnit all I want to do is get a nice tax return. Basically, I'm going to Vancouver all the time anyways, but I don't want to do it in a small car because, really do you want to travel hwy40 at night in a Ford Focus ? It doesn't have to be a ford focus. My thousand dollar beater beemer does 30mpg. I'd take the increased risk of moose decapitation over a boring vehicle to drive. That and it would be a lot easier to get around Vancouver in something that's not a crew cab long box truck. If you filed a tax return stating you used your vehicle for business without having an actual business to use it for, the gumbent would kick down your door and politely demand their GST cut of it.
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Feb 14, 2015 04:22
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Powershift posted:It doesn't have to be a ford focus. My thousand dollar beater beemer does 30mpg. I'd take the increased risk of moose decapitation over a boring vehicle to drive. That and it would be a lot easier to get around Vancouver in something that's not a crew cab long box truck. I know, but if i'm offering ride shares or importing light bars or something from vancouver, I could operate at a loss. Basically I paid way way way too much tax in 2014. I have the worst white people problems.
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Feb 14, 2015 04:31
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Anyone in Calgary got an M12x1.25 tap and die they could loan me?
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Feb 14, 2015 23:14
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Seat Safety Switch posted:Anyone in Calgary got an M12x1.25 tap and die they could loan me? Haha, the universal call for help from a Subaru owner...
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Feb 15, 2015 00:13
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Seat Safety Switch posted:Anyone in Calgary got an M12x1.25 tap and die they could loan me? Canadian tire has that in the smaller tap and die set, the bigger set surprisingly is missing it. If you don't find one to borrow then that would be your best bet I think.
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Feb 15, 2015 00:18
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Bajaha posted:Canadian tire has that in the smaller tap and die set, the bigger set surprisingly is missing it. And guess which one I have... Like really. They have loving machine screw taps in that set (two of which I've broken already) but the only 12mm is 1.75. (and the Kia rocks both 1.25 and 1.5, but not a 1.75 in sight)
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Feb 15, 2015 01:03
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I think I have one but I am in lethbridge.
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Feb 15, 2015 01:34
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Bajaha posted:Canadian tire has that in the smaller tap and die set, the bigger set surprisingly is missing it. Yeah, only one of the sets had it - and surprise, it was full price today. $140  I already had the biggest possible set - bought it on sale years ago for fifty bucks, thinking it would contain everything else. I took real good care of it though, and bought it from the ghettoest Canadian Tire. I'm going to just return it tomorrow morning and wait for it to go on sale. Near as I can see, CT owes me for the last decade of buying poo poo from them, plus the tap handle already had a bunch of paint missing from it from the previous use-and-return  Went through eight of my Subaru friends, 6/8 of them had the exact tap and die but were out of town for the long weekend. Dudes at Subaru Calgary hooked me up with replacement bolts, even though they couldn't order in new ones or had new ones in stock - ended up rooting through the mechanics' private bolt repositories until we found an M12x1.25 that might work. I will have to take back a lot of the mean things I said about that entire dealership. Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Feb 15, 2015 |
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Feb 15, 2015 02:19
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Seat Safety Switch posted:Dudes at Subaru Calgary hooked me up with replacement bolts, even though they couldn't order in new ones or had new ones in stock - ended up rooting through the mechanics' private bolt repositories until we found an M12x1.25 that might work. I will have to take back a lot of the mean things I said about that entire dealership. Subaru Calgary did a good thing? Did you have to trade your first born's soul or something?
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Feb 15, 2015 02:28
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1500quidporsche posted:Subaru Calgary did a good thing? Did you have to trade your first born's soul or something? I'm still a little bit in shock, honestly.
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Feb 15, 2015 02:43
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Anybody have experience shipping stuff to Sweetgrass Montana and driving down to pick it up? Ordering some suspension stuff and most of it appears to ship by UPS from the states, I'd sooner hang myself than pay their brokerage fees again.
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Feb 19, 2015 16:35
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1500quidporsche posted:Anybody have experience shipping stuff to Sweetgrass Montana and driving down to pick it up? Ordering some suspension stuff and most of it appears to ship by UPS from the states, I'd sooner hang myself than pay their brokerage fees again. Yeah, I've done it about half a dozen times. Do you have any specific questions? One thing that most people miss is writing down the country of origin of the poo poo they are importing. You also want to make sure everything is in the same currency when you go to declare it. I usually put together a spreadsheet, and staple it to printed-out copies of all of my receipts with the totals highlighted and the currency written on the receipts. If you're going to buy suspension from the US, try Shocks.com and its sister site JustSuspension - RockAuto sometimes beats them by a few bucks after shipping, but only when you order a kit.
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Feb 19, 2015 16:49
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1500quidporsche posted:Anybody have experience shipping stuff to Sweetgrass Montana and driving down to pick it up? Ordering some suspension stuff and most of it appears to ship by UPS from the states, I'd sooner hang myself than pay their brokerage fees again. Yeah, I did that for a bunch of parts that I ordered from summit for the coronet. It was painless, create an account at the receiving company (I think I used the Montana shipping outlet or something) let them know who you are and what/how much is coming, then buy the stuff and ship it there. Drive down, pick it up, pay the mso fee (minimal) drive back to the border and pay the customs folks whatever they figure you owe in duty/tax. Keep your original bill if you can, makes poo poo easier. I just showed them my emailed bill from summit. I hear the drive to eureka location is way nicer. The long slog down through Lethbridge way is pretty monotonous. Lethbridge itself makes for a nice and very welcome pit stop though. There's a delicate balancing act here, can you get down there and back, while paying gas, duty (if any) tax, etc for less than the ridiculous brokerage fees? I had no problem because I ordered over a thousand dollars worth of poo poo, and have a tiny gas sipping car, biggest issue was getting everything into the tiny car. Also mso isn't open every day on weekends, check their hours of operations.
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Feb 19, 2015 16:54
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Yeah, you have to manage the economics. I don't go for less than filling an entire Dodge Caravan with stuff to the roof. I'm talking like multiple Tire Rack orders. I'm currently saving up for the next spurt.
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Feb 19, 2015 16:57
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I've kinda ballparked it at roughly $1300. Maybe I'll get some tire rack tires too to even it off. My biggest thing is just the logistics of it all. I'm probably going to have to order from two or three different places to get the stuff I want. How long do they hold packages for?
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Feb 19, 2015 17:17
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They held mine for a few weeks, iirc. Call or email them and ask, can't hurt.
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Feb 19, 2015 17:29
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I used to do this every week, for years. I had the fortune of going through the coast border crossing though. A trick I learned, if you want to suffer an hour wait in the border lineup, 70% of the time they will wave you through after you attempt to declare. I've saved thousands in tax and duty fees. The bigger the order the more likely hood they don't want to do paperwork for all your poo poo.
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Feb 19, 2015 21:02
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I use Montana shipping in sweetgrass all the time... Once a month or so when the dollar wasn't so lovely. Haven't for a while now because of that. If you can avoid Saturday as it is a zoo. E: They will hold items for quite a while no problem
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Feb 19, 2015 21:50
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jonathan posted:I used to do this every week, for years. I had the fortune of going through the coast border crossing though. A trick I learned, if you want to suffer an hour wait in the border lineup, 70% of the time they will wave you through after you attempt to declare. I've saved thousands in tax and duty fees. The bigger the order the more likely hood they don't want to do paperwork for all your poo poo. This. Last time I attempted to truck a bunch of stuff through the border I got out of my car and excitedly started showing the customs agent all the stuff in my trunk and they couldn't get me to shut up and drive through fast enough.
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Feb 20, 2015 06:13
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This shipping info is great guys, thanks. I have two and potentially three big orders of stuff for my E46 that I'm going to need in the next six to nine months; even if all I get is free/discounted shipping to an American address (which Pelican and the other big Euro parts häuser offer), it'll probably be a net savings in the end.
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Feb 20, 2015 06:29
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So I somehow found Bilstein struts cheaper in Canada and they actually have some for my VW. Which kind of destroys my sweet grass run. Very shocked that they're actually cheaper here. Usually US parts are miles cheaper and ends up comparable with Concept 1 once you factor in shipping.
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Feb 20, 2015 17:33
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^^ Link! I can't believe Concept 1 is cheaper than anything. There is a lot of loving variance with customs agents though. I have had ones that are like "COOL CAR poo poo LET'S TALK ABOUT CORVETTES OKAY YOU CAN GO," but the last border agent I had, she interrogated the poo poo out of me about oil-spill mats and charged me full freight for everything. I ended up eating a hundred bucks in duty on a US-built seat because I couldn't show the country of origin which (along with some other incidentals) very nearly made the trip underwater. That said, on that trip a bunch of people in front of me got hauled out and had their poo poo seized, there were screaming matches and one guy got arrested and deported, so maybe she was just on edge. Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 17:36 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Feb 20, 2015 17:33
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Seat Safety Switch posted:^^ Link! I can't believe Concept 1 is cheaper than anything. They aren't really. You end up +/- a few dollars to them once you factor in shipping and brokerage fees if your stuff ships by UPS. But that was before mk1autohaus had a website, I'm sure if I checked now it would be pretty clear their pricing is way off. The only time it actually made sense to buy poo poo from them was when I was buying a shitton of stuff for my 16v swap and it was going to ship from the states by UPS. Even then you had to deal with their lovely attitude and the fact that you always get the vibe that they don't want to deal in watercooled stuff.
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Feb 20, 2015 17:43
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What are people's experience ordering from rockauto into Canada ? Some searches say brokerage and shipping etc are all included in the price. I need some u-joints, ball joints etc.
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Feb 20, 2015 22:09
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Yeah they don't ask for more at the door. Totally pleased with rockauto so far. About to do the first return they haven't paid for shipping for so hopefully my opinion doesn't change.
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Feb 20, 2015 22:12
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They ship quick, but even stuff ordered from the same warehouse in the same order shipped on the same day sometimes ends up getting split and shows up on different days. Even after shipping and customs and the exchange you're likely to be at half the cost of getting stuff locally.
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Feb 20, 2015 22:31
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Another point is that they do their own brokerage, usually you'll see it arrive with a series of very well done customs forms that have been handled by someone in the RockAuto international shipping department or one of the regional offices (they have one in Calgary and one in Edmonton at least). They have one hell of a slick operation. I think if they could start asking Amazon-level shipping costs for things they could basically break the back of AutoValue permanently.
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Feb 20, 2015 22:33
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Auto value is all kinds of useless, and I question how they're still in business. Looks like most scirocco stuff is out of stock on rockauto though  Edit: looks like that's mostly exterior stuff, have some decent stuff in stock. F1DriverQuidenBerg fucked around with this message at 22:43 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Feb 20, 2015 22:40
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