Mike listed one company, here are two others. Stongard is on the net, they make the bra stuff [somewhat expensive] and also headlight protectors [very inexpensive and easy to apply]. Also , I had a 3M product done on my 99M about 3 years ago by my Ziebart dealer [reasonably priced]. Good stuff, hard to see it on a platinum color, and no negatives to report. It has held up well with virtually no care except frequent washing, since I do the car once or twice a week.
because of the simply atrocious wet weather handling. Those tires aquaplaned worse than any tires I have ever driven (except for slicks when I was racing). I never had the dreaded vibration or shimmy problems with mine, although I did have the noise, but I never felt safe when it rained. The new tires I switched to are Goodrich Gforce TA KDW's in 245/45ZR17 size. They greatly reduced the noise problem compared to the Goodyears (even though the Goodrich's have a MUCH more aggressive tread pattern) and the dry and wet weather handling are both phenomenal. These tires provide more grip on rain slick roads than the LS's did on dry, and I have experienced no tendency to aquaplane at all. The drawback to the Gforce KDW tires is that they are, like the tires on the new Special, not recommended for use on snow. Goodrich also makes a Z rated Gforce called the KDWS which is rated highly for use on snow but, since I live in the Dallas area where snow is a rare occurance, I opted for the slightly better wet and dry handling with the KDW's. By the way, to switch to 245/45 tires, I was advised by several sources that the 7" wide Razorstars were too narrow, so I sold mine and bought a set of Konig Tantrum 17" x 8" wheels. I never cared for the styling of the Razorstars personally and I absolutely hated the ones on my car since they were chromed (I've never cared for chrome wheels on any car), so I was happy to have an excuse to buy new wheels. Lynn Flowers McKinney, Texas
I finally saw a Blue Special at my Dealer. It's the second of the 3 he pre-ordered. (He's in Toms River, NJ if anyone is interested.) They got it in the other day and it immediately went to their Showroom Floor. The Charcoal Ground Effects doesn't stand out as much as I thought it would. I still like our Silver one better.
When I questioned whether the 17" wheeled car had PHG, the dealer seemed knowledgeable on the subject and was quite definite that this was a mid-year switch. That, combined with the window sticker showing PHG and a check that the tires were V-rated (it also occurred to me that perhaps the dealer had done a wheel switch with a non-PHG car) finally set my mind at ease. Of course, I later also determined empirically that my car ain't got no 118 mph limiter: http://www.btjdesign.com/300m/speedo.jpg
I am still working the 245/45-17 size issue. As you may recall, Avalanche said long ago that he was running Nittos in that size on his stock rims. Someone else,apjiii, I think is also running that size Potenzas on the stock rims. After your last message, I checked the Dayton website and saw that the Daytona ZR tires in that size are rated for 7.5 -9.0 size rims. I then sent the Nitto company a message on their web site and asked the "hypothetical" question of whether it would be ok to mount the 245/45-17 Nittos on the 7" rims, even if their recommended rim width says 7.5 is the smallest. They came back shortly thereafter and said if the tires are mounted on a rim size not recommended for them by the mfg. it can cause stress on the bead and possible tire failure. Dayton [Firestone/Bridgestone] to the same question came back with a "Check with your local dealer." answer which I consider really wishy-washsy- since their local dealer put them on. Anyway, I have yet to talk to the local manager altho I went by the store yesterday and he was out. One of the tire jockeys and I talked for quite a while and he looked at how they were riding on the car [he didn't mount them] and he seemed definitive that this size rim would not be a problem for the Z rated tires on that rim. I will talk to the manager today, and then decide whether to stay with them of go smaller. Goodrich Scorchers [and several other brands] are rated ok for 7" rims in a 245/50-17, so I could go there for a few bucks more or down to a 235. We will see.
The OEM tires on my 98 Concorde Lxi were GoodYears. I got 54,000 miles out of them.
When I had to change the tires, I decided to go with Michelin Pilots because I had read so much about them. Also, so many folks were turning away from GoodYears. Well, I have not found that the Pilot's are any better. The road noise is the same. I don't see any difference in handling. In fact, I think the GoodYears, when brand new, used to grip better in the snow than my brand new pilots. As for tread life, I don't know yet but how much better can it be than my GoodYears ? As for the price, the Pilots are a lot more expensive than the GoodYear LS.
Im in no way an expert on the hp and torque ratings.But what i do know is that horsepower is a hypothetical figure,which is only derived from a mathematical equation of torque and rpms.Torque is what moves everything,not horsepower.I would take torque over hp any day!i have a 94 gmc duelly 1ton bb454,with 162hp, but it has tons of torque!It gives my m a run for its money!and weighs 2500lbs more!I think if you really wanna feel "seat-of-the-pants" performance,then the gearchange would give that.granted you will lose top speed and gas mileage!
As for the goodyears,I still have mine on the 16" wheels.i bought a set of 20"x8"s and i just replaced my 255/35/20" pirelli p-zeros with the 245/40/20" BFG g-force t/a kdw and they ride much better,even better than my GY`s!lots less noise.now I find the do better in the snow too! Im kinda in a toss-up as to if im going to change them back to stock for winter,as I have not done so yet. I`ll probally do so just to protect my rims.
Illini - I personally consider myself a hard driver most of the time. To me it's taking corners hard and fast, because I can (and it's fun) and if I have an open freeway, my average speed is about 95. Oh yeah, and fast starts off of offramps.
Is it just me, or do any of you find that it takes a feather light touch on the gas pedal to keep the speed down to 65? To me it's just torture and really and uncomfortable position on my foot.
When I bought my 245/45/17 Kumho's Discount Tire said no problem fitting them on the Razorstars. So far no apparent problems after 10K miles.
BINU-glad to see GY made a least two good sets of LS's!
on1wheel-absolutely agree re: torque. We have a 2001 GMC Denali in our company car pool. It has the big V-8 with 360 ft./lbs. Man, you wouldn't believe how quick that 5,000 lb vehicle is. The M is really pretty decent with 250 ft./lbs.
I checked the Tire Rack site on Kumo tires in the 245/45-17 size and they had two performance tires. Both of them listed a mearsured rim width of 8" and the optional mounting sizes of between 7.5" - 9". So if you have one of them you are theoretically in the same boat with me. Are they ok, safe, wear normal?? all good questions that I need to resolve before keeping the ones that I have. I generally run slower than you do--75 tops and don't work the brakes as hard in the cornering, etc. So that could play into the equation too. But it is good to hear that someone was running them at 95 with no problems. Was it summer [heat] or winter [cold]?
Your worrying me man... You mentioned Tire Failure possible occuring, and now that you mention it I did have one tire that formed a bubble and had to be replaced... The tire place I took it to said it was from running with the tire underinflated for a while, but Im starting to wonder if its just because the tires are to big ? I know bridgestone says the smallest rim is supposed to be 7.5" but I saw others who had been running em and figured what the heck... and they really look cool mounted... Im hoping they dont start dying on me... Ive probably got about 30k miles on them already (do alot of highway driving) and they all look great... lots of miles left on them I hope... They just got to last till winter is over, then Im switching them to snow tires and puttin on dubs...
Ive had my 245/45-17's up to 118Mph (Darn limiter)almost daily and drive very aggressively at times... Like I said in my last message, the only problem I had was a bubble on one... but replaced it and everything seems fine... But if I had to do it again I probably wouldnt go with the 245's on a 17" rim just to be sure...
Well, it looks like I've been found out...my mechanical knowledge of cars is definitely in the lower quadrant!
Compression, I guess is not the issue in slowing a vehicle down by downshifting -- it must be the car is high geared? Anyway, my experience is that, when downshifting, I find that the 300M does not slow down as much as other (manual) cars I have driven in the past. That is what I meant by ineffective downshifting -- i.e. it would not effectively reduce speed for slowing in winter conditions, imho.
On tires -- I had Goodyears on my 98 Intrepid and had to replace them at around 17,000 miles due to premature wear (yes, they were rotated every 6,000 miles). I bought some BF Goodrich tires on sale to replace them for the remaining year and one-half of my lease. They were OK.
The Goodyears on my 2000 300M were replaced at 9,000 miles. The car drifted left with these tires. I got a cut that couldn't be repaired in one of the better tires and two of the tires were badly worn. I replaced them with the Avid T-4's. I have had them for 3,000 miles and I like them - quieter, no drift and handle well. However, at 3,000 miles, I got a shimmy at 55-60 mph. I had the 2 front tires rebalanced, but I rotated at the same time, so I don't know if the problem was fixed. There is no shimmy after rotating and the car continues to run true (no drifting).
I have been driving my wife's 2001 300M lately and I have noticed that it drifts left now -- it never used to (currently 11,300 miles). These tires were rotated at 6,000 miles -- rotation is due again soon, so I'll see if the problem persists.
In summary, for me the jury is still out on tires, but I can definitely say judgement has been passed on Goodyears. Noisy, don't run true, wear prematurely and don't have a great price. Michelins are too expensive. I would have heartily recommended the Avids before the shimmy.
Since I had no problem with pulling or drifting with the Intrepid, I wonder if it is something in the design of the 300M -- both of ours have had this problem...
The 245/45 Kumho's are wearing well and they do handle much better than the GY's. The only complaint I have about them is that the aggressive tread does tend to follow ridges and ripples in the road, causing it to require a good grip on the steering wheel sometimes while breaking to slow down quickly (i.e. like when someone in front of you slows down all of the sudden) at speeds over 30mph. I don't think this has anything to do with the width of the tire on the rim though. In reading the reviews about the Kumho's and other similar treaded tires it seems to be a downside to that type of tread. I do keep the air pressure a little higher than than I kept GY's. I put 37psi in (Discount Tire had put 38psi when then installed them). My mileage averages only around 17-18 almost always (lots of stop and go stuff) and I'll take any help I can get.
As far driving 95mph -- uh, almost daily. As a matter of fact I hit 95 this morning just getting on the freeway. I've had the tires since May and the temperatures have ranged from 100 to 40 with no noticeable difference.
Now that the Specials are shipping, will the ground effects kits for the M be available to buy? Anybody know or have any thoughts as to the likelihood of this happening?
I had a part left over from the Joshua Tree kit I installed and broke it apart to see what was inside. It appears that there is about 1/32" of wood with and expoxy coating on top of it. If you want I can pop this part in an envelope and send it to you so at least see the quality and how it matches to the existing wood trim. Just go into my profile and e-mail you address and I'll send it off.
Ok...now that there are no checks coming in I have to afford my "toys" with money earned elsewhere. Just so happens that my eBay auctions are up to a grand total of over $180 so far, with the big last minute surges coming up later tonight. With any luck I'll have enough to buy the dash kit. I just love the internet. LOL!
Went to local 5 star part dept today to see if my seat movement revised screws have come in and ask questions about transmission gear options.
The screws didn't come in, so I have to try next weekend to do the repair and report on the details.
I asked about the drive chain and sprockets (i.e. the gears) for both the '02 Special and the 2.7L cars. They have no listing specific to the '02 special. There are too 42LE transmissions in the system. One is for the 3.5/3.8L and one for the 2.7L. Not sure if Prowler is an exception. More specifically one of the sprocket is different and one is the same. Chain is also supposed to be the same between the two types.
Also, the guys were trying to explain to me that if you remove the sprockets, all kinds of clutches etc would also come loose and I would much more parts. This contridicts what I saw with the Prowler Pro gear kit. I would think the sprocket could be removed and another clip or retainer would be required before you could get out clutches and the drive shaft. They were telling me "you don't want to do this". Can anyone confirm of deny this. The Prowler Pro kit is like two gears, a chain, a special tool and some RTV and it says takes 3 hours.
Finally, I asked about the tool used to spread the chain to install the gears. They said, "yeah you got to have that, but we can't sell those".
Can anyone more familiar with this transmission confirm any of this for us?
The parts quoted for the 2.7L sprockets were 4659233 ($59.75) and 4659831 ($50.64). I did not get a chain part number and price. Either way a lot cheaper than $1400 Prowler Pro wants.
I have a picture somewhere of the gear layout for our tranny. If I can find it again (I had it at photopoint) I'll post it. I remember doing the match and determining that the 2.7 gears would change the RPMs and shift points by around 6-7%, while the Prowler Pro claims 20%. Obviously a more radical difference, but not sure if it's worth the money. I also remember otto stating that a guy in the shop said you can't put the 2.7 gears in the M, but I think he recanted that statement later (but my 40 year old memory may be failing me).
We recently had our 1st snowfall of any significance here in Indy since I got my 2001 300M (with PHG). I have to say that the snow traction of the Michelin Pilot MXM4's is clearly inferior to the Goodyear Eagle LS's I had on the Intrepid ES I traded in. (Actually, the 300M/LHS Chrysler video provided with my car mentions lesser traction on wet/snow with the PHG tires). Personally I had no trouble with the Eagle LS's on that Intrepid, and my father has had nearly 40K of trouble-free service on his LS's on his LHS. I have to agree with BINU on the noise issue. On the same roads, I actually think his LS's are a bit quieter than my Michelins, but those Pilots handle WAY better than the softer (and cheaper!) Goodyears. Anyway, now I'm thinking I may need a set of rims & A/S tires for the snow. Or I could just steal my wife's Gr Caravan ES as a better snow vehicle. Any recommendations out there on A/S snows for the M?
Best bet is to go to Tire Rack and buy a set of plain steel wheels with Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 Winterbiter tires pre-mounted and balanced. You can change them in your garage. Slap 'em on with the first snow, put your MXM4's and OEM wheels back on in the spring. The current WS-50 is a 2nd generation studless winter tire that has a process called "Link Multi-cell". Its basically a rubber compound with tiny entrained air pockets the shape of a Tylenol capsule (oblong cylinder). As the tread wears down, these cylinder shaped voids in the compound open up with relatively sharp edges that really grip packed snow and ice. Pretty ingenious eh? It really works. You won't believe the difference.
Not much point in having a good set of sporting Michelins then just plain old all-seasons, is there?
What's with this dash kit that you keep talking about? I thought you already had the Joshua Kit in your car? I have the kit in my car and it is the same as uxca300M is talking about. Did the US come up with thier own Loonie coin that we have? I like looking for coins with a detector and we now have a $2.00 coin called a toonie, and the talk is that we may soon have a $5.00 coin, by the way it is still worth about 10 cents the last time I checked the markets. I will be having my second service on my M on Monday and I just turned 8000 Kms. (5000 miles). The inferno red is the prettiest car out on the street in my opinion. I hear that silver is the IN colour this year, yet I am seeing quite a few new deep yellow cars running around the city. I won't be trading my colour!!!!!
My interior is stock except for the custom clock face. I've been debating the wood trim for some time now. Yes, the US has a pretty golden dollar to go with the one is often confused with our quarter. The best place to get them (if anyone is interested) is to use a vending machine in the post office to buy a $5 pack of stamps with a $20 bill. KaChing! The machine gives change in golden dollars. My kids love the darned things.
I agree with your opinion of the red...but then again, look at what we drive. lol. When I did the DC customer feedback event ALL of the cars, including all the DC models and all of the competitor cars, were silver with black interior. I have to tell you, they looked great under the bright show lights.
At most it is a 3 hour job. Just remove two keeper rings and the sprockes slide out. I have the tech manual I will try to post latter this evening. I have an gtech meter what was your question about it?
Get the Joshua kit you won't be sorry. I have had lots of compliments especially at some of the DC dealers.I see that Ford is in financial trouble and is laying off 20, 000 people in North America and are also dropping several lines. They are dropping a truck plant here in Canada and the auto worker union is really up in arms. I wonder what DC will do.
braking with an auto tranny will not be as effective as a manual. In the manual, you have direct, hard linkage between parts. In the auto tranny, you have viscous transmission fluid between torque converter plates.
Speaking of 300M's speed - mine was hard to keep under 85-90mph. 300M simply wants to drive at 90mph or so.
By comparison, my Acura TL-S has no problem reaching 100mph or more, but does not feel natural at such high speeds and is not eager to cruise that fast. If you get a little distracted and take a bit pressure off the gas pedal, you are back down to 75 mph or so.
Sorry, I was watching a science fiction movie on TBS. It is the right kit that I put in. Good luck!! Also the sale always appears to be on, and if you have problems, phone Mike at Joshua and he will put it through for the advertised price. I also had some of the pieces replaced that got damaged, with some at no cost.
O.K Mike, I mailed the part to you this morning ( Saturday) by regular mail. Cost me 80 cents Canadian so the next time your in Uxbridge, Ontario you can buy me half a beer As MikeyJohn said these kits are always on sale. I bought mine Dec. 4 and it was 20 % off so I wouldn't worry about ordering it to-day. For you information my order was confirmed on Dec.4 and not shipped until Dec. 19 so I guess they manufacture them on an order to order basis. Now for the really interesting part. My kit was shipped from Spectrum Accessories Distributors at 9770 Carroll Centre Rd, Suite "C" San Diego. Looking on my internet map finder thingy I see that this is only about 5.6 miles from your house! I'm not sure if they build them for Joshua Tree or visa versa. The following is the url to Spectrums web site. Have fun. http://www.spectrumdashes.com/
I live in snow country and drove RWD cars for many years. There is a difference between the two and, actually, downshifting FWD is really counter productive to braking if you're trying to maximize your stopping power.
Downshifting a RWD car helps offset some of the nose dive and weight transfer you get under heavy braking. That's because you're creating drag at the rear of the vehicle. This allows better rear tire contact and helps the rear brakes do more of the work.
The opposite is true of FWD, because your're actually creating MORE forward weight transfer. That's unloading the the rear of the vehicle, lessening tire contact at the rear, meaning the front brakes and tires are doing more work and rears less.
That's what's so odd about the fact that carrying weight in the rear of both types is effective in winter. For RWD it increases pressure on the rear for better traction, for FWD it helps reduce the weight transfer and keep the rear wheels planted.
Guys thanks for the feedback on the gears. As usual, the dealer is wrong or uninformed. Have either of you done the gears or just researched it thoroughly?
I'll probably put the 2.7 gears on order Monday when I pick up my seat screws. I probably won't install until spring when it warms up a bit.
Has anyone seen a review of the Special yet? They've been out long enough for some print or internet mag to have tested one. If anyone knows where, please tell us.
several special owners post on the Yahoo message boards. They've provided some decent information and pictures, but nothing that comes close to a thorough objective review of the product.
I haven't done it but I did some initial research into it. You might want to call a couple of DC dealers and even maybe a tranny shop to discuss what you're trying to do. If you get 5 opinions maybe you'll get a majority decision on whether it can be done or not..heh
I scored on my auctions. I can afford the grande latte. Let me know if I can take you and/or the hubby/kids to starbucks just so I can say hello. Anyone that drives 95 on Hwy 78 is ok by me. lol
If my memory serves me right, I sent you info on these kits last April or May and at that time I had found that they were being made in Tijauana Mexico and then distributed from there as I found a blemish on the center console piece and I had a new one sent out, which came from Mexico. I thought at that time that you lived fairly close to there, and if so you might want to do a deal at that point.I don't know if you can go back on the posts to that time but I believe I sent out the address of the place.
Ok..which one of you inferno red M owners was cruising around in Rancho Penesquitos today? I passed Big Red's clone going the other way, and we both gave a smile and a big "thumbs up" out the window. Oh, it's 82 here today (according to Big Red's temp gauge). What a day!!!
I meant to tell you guys this. Last night I raced another '01 M from stop light to stop light. By the time we needed to slow down I had him by a car length or two. It was about 1/2 mile and we were both going hard (hit triple digits). I guess the exhaust, filter and plug mods have made a difference.
I'd like to say that it was me you saw yesterday, especially with that kind of temp. but it was me only in my dreams. The streets here are sloppy as we have a Chinook blowing in, and you would not like to see my Inferno Red right now. I can hardly wait for spring!!!!
I've had a set of WS50s on for about a month now in Juneau, AK. They go and stop pretty well on snow and ice. That said, they ride godawful on bare pavement,and the car ('99 non-PHG) feels like it is on its tiptoes. Squirmy in a straight line, try to climb any rutting, and the turn-in is abrupt. I'll keep them on as long as I need them, but given the choice, a fresh set of good street tires will get you by. Despite their bad reputation, my LSs got by fine for the first two seasons.
the Sebring Convertable has the same transmission with auto stick as we do, and it has the gears. I did post two pages showing what is involved in the change out. http://community.webshots.com/user/my300m_ and go to the second page under catalog.
I am going to start looking for CTS's, they are a better match for my 300M (0-60 in 7.0 sec). If I ever get the gears 2.7 then I will be in Type S territory.
Comments
The new tires I switched to are Goodrich Gforce TA KDW's in 245/45ZR17 size. They greatly reduced the noise problem compared to the Goodyears (even though the Goodrich's have a MUCH more aggressive tread pattern) and the dry and wet weather handling are both phenomenal. These tires provide more grip on rain slick roads than the LS's did on dry, and I have experienced no tendency to aquaplane at all. The drawback to the Gforce KDW tires is that they are, like the tires on the new Special, not recommended for use on snow. Goodrich also makes a Z rated Gforce called the KDWS which is rated highly for use on snow but, since I live in the Dallas area where snow is a rare occurance, I opted for the slightly better wet and dry handling with the KDW's.
By the way, to switch to 245/45 tires, I was advised by several sources that the 7" wide Razorstars were too narrow, so I sold mine and bought a set of Konig Tantrum 17" x 8" wheels.
I never cared for the styling of the Razorstars personally and I absolutely hated the ones on my car since they were chromed (I've never cared for chrome wheels on any car), so I was happy to have an excuse to buy new wheels.
Lynn Flowers
McKinney, Texas
I finally saw a Blue Special at my Dealer. It's the second of the 3 he pre-ordered. (He's in Toms River, NJ if anyone is interested.) They got it in the other day and it immediately went to their Showroom Floor. The Charcoal Ground Effects doesn't stand out as much as I thought it would. I still like our Silver one better.
When I had to change the tires, I decided to go with Michelin Pilots because I had read so much about them. Also, so many folks were turning away from GoodYears.
Well, I have not found that the Pilot's are any better. The road noise is the same. I don't see any difference in handling. In fact, I think the GoodYears, when brand new, used to grip better in the snow than my brand new pilots.
As for tread life, I don't know yet but how much better can it be than my GoodYears ?
As for the price, the Pilots are a lot more expensive than the GoodYear LS.
As for the goodyears,I still have mine on the 16" wheels.i bought a set of 20"x8"s and i just replaced my 255/35/20" pirelli p-zeros with the 245/40/20" BFG g-force t/a kdw and they ride much better,even better than my GY`s!lots less noise.now I find the do better in the snow too! Im kinda in a toss-up as to if im going to change them back to stock for winter,as I have not done so yet. I`ll probally do so just to protect my rims.
"my two cents also"
Andy
Is it just me, or do any of you find that it takes a feather light touch on the gas pedal to keep the speed down to 65? To me it's just torture and really and uncomfortable position on my foot.
When I bought my 245/45/17 Kumho's Discount Tire said no problem fitting them on the Razorstars. So far no apparent problems after 10K miles.
on1wheel-absolutely agree re: torque. We have a 2001 GMC Denali in our company car pool. It has the big V-8 with 360 ft./lbs. Man, you wouldn't believe how quick that 5,000 lb vehicle is. The M is really pretty decent with 250 ft./lbs.
blonda-I think you missed Illini's point!
Compression, I guess is not the issue in slowing a vehicle down by downshifting -- it must be the car is high geared? Anyway, my experience is that, when downshifting, I find that the 300M does not slow down as much as other (manual) cars I have driven in the past. That is what I meant by ineffective downshifting -- i.e. it would not effectively reduce speed for slowing in winter conditions, imho.
On tires -- I had Goodyears on my 98 Intrepid and had to replace them at around 17,000 miles due to premature wear (yes, they were rotated every 6,000 miles). I bought some BF Goodrich tires on sale to replace them for the remaining year and one-half of my lease. They were OK.
The Goodyears on my 2000 300M were replaced at 9,000 miles. The car drifted left with these tires. I got a cut that couldn't be repaired in one of the better tires and two of the tires were badly worn. I replaced them with the Avid T-4's. I have had them for 3,000 miles and I like them - quieter, no drift and handle well. However, at 3,000 miles, I got a shimmy at 55-60 mph. I had the 2 front tires rebalanced, but I rotated at the same time, so I don't know if the problem was fixed. There is no shimmy after rotating and the car continues to run true (no drifting).
I have been driving my wife's 2001 300M lately and I have noticed that it drifts left now -- it never used to (currently 11,300 miles). These tires were rotated at 6,000 miles -- rotation is due again soon, so I'll see if the problem persists.
In summary, for me the jury is still out on tires, but I can definitely say judgement has been passed on Goodyears. Noisy, don't run true, wear prematurely and don't have a great price. Michelins are too expensive. I would have heartily recommended the Avids before the shimmy.
Since I had no problem with pulling or drifting with the Intrepid, I wonder if it is something in the design of the 300M -- both of ours have had this problem...
Town Hall / Aftermarket & Accessories / Gtech Performance meter
and I think someone here's used the thing. I'm a little interested in it myself...
As far driving 95mph -- uh, almost daily. As a matter of fact I hit 95 this morning just getting on the freeway. I've had the tires since May and the temperatures have ranged from 100 to 40 with no noticeable difference.
The screws didn't come in, so I have to try next weekend to do the repair and report on the details.
I asked about the drive chain and sprockets (i.e. the gears) for both the '02 Special and the 2.7L cars. They have no listing specific to the '02 special. There are too 42LE transmissions in the system. One is for the 3.5/3.8L and one for the 2.7L. Not sure if Prowler is an exception. More specifically one of the sprocket is different and one is the same. Chain is also supposed to be the same between the two types.
Also, the guys were trying to explain to me that if you remove the sprockets, all kinds of clutches etc would also come loose and I would much more parts. This contridicts what I saw with the Prowler Pro gear kit. I would think the sprocket could be removed and another clip or retainer would be required before you could get out clutches and the drive shaft. They were telling me "you don't want to do this". Can anyone confirm of deny this. The Prowler Pro kit is like two gears, a chain, a special tool and some RTV and it says takes 3 hours.
Finally, I asked about the tool used to spread the chain to install the gears. They said, "yeah you got to have that, but we can't sell those".
Can anyone more familiar with this transmission confirm any of this for us?
The parts quoted for the 2.7L sprockets were 4659233 ($59.75) and 4659831 ($50.64). I did not get a chain part number and price. Either way a lot cheaper than $1400 Prowler Pro wants.
***edit***
Nice that we can edit our posts.
http://www.ritchiefamily.com/car/gears.jpg
Not much point in having a good set of sporting Michelins then just plain old all-seasons, is there?
I agree with your opinion of the red...but then again, look at what we drive. lol. When I did the DC customer feedback event ALL of the cars, including all the DC models and all of the competitor cars, were silver with black interior. I have to tell you, they looked great under the bright show lights.
I have an gtech meter what was your question about it?
it also says today is the last day of the 20% off sale, so I hope you get this message.
Speaking of 300M's speed - mine was hard to keep under 85-90mph. 300M simply wants to drive at 90mph or so.
By comparison, my Acura TL-S has no problem reaching 100mph or more, but does not feel natural at such high speeds and is not eager to cruise that fast. If you get a little distracted and take a bit pressure off the gas pedal, you are back down to 75 mph or so.
Also the sale always appears to be on, and if you have problems, phone Mike at Joshua and he will put it through for the advertised price. I also had some of the pieces replaced that got damaged, with some at no cost.
Now for the really interesting part. My kit was shipped from Spectrum Accessories Distributors at 9770 Carroll Centre Rd,
Suite "C" San Diego. Looking on my internet map finder thingy I see that this is only about 5.6 miles from your house!
I'm not sure if they build them for Joshua Tree or visa versa. The following is the url to Spectrums web site. Have fun.
http://www.spectrumdashes.com/
Downshifting a RWD car helps offset some of the nose dive and weight transfer you get under heavy braking. That's because you're creating drag at the rear of the vehicle. This allows better rear tire contact and helps the rear brakes do more of the work.
The opposite is true of FWD, because your're actually creating MORE forward weight transfer. That's unloading the the rear of the vehicle, lessening tire contact at the rear, meaning the front brakes and tires are doing more work and rears less.
That's what's so odd about the fact that carrying weight in the rear of both types is effective in winter. For RWD it increases pressure on the rear for better traction, for FWD it helps reduce the weight transfer and keep the rear wheels planted.
I'll probably put the 2.7 gears on order Monday when I pick up my seat screws. I probably won't install until spring when it warms up a bit.
Jon
I meant to tell you guys this. Last night I raced another '01 M from stop light to stop light. By the time we needed to slow down I had him by a car length or two. It was about 1/2 mile and we were both going hard (hit triple digits). I guess the exhaust, filter and plug mods have made a difference.
Boy do I see a LOT of Ms around here!
I to have not done it yet.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8398159.html
fastdriver