So near, yet so far away

 

Really like the look of the white against the black body, Provides a nice contrast. Good job!

 

Did your daughter make it over to decode the colors for you?

 

Great pics. I spent many hours online months ago trying to find how far back the middle two attachment points on the floor sit. Looks like it's quite a bit farther behind the seat belt/driver's head than itappears in their literature. I assume the blue standard cage is of the same exact design minus materials and possibly diameter. Curious as to your impressions on the overall effect it has on the car. Is the added weight too much for the Fit to carry around?

 

Weight is slightly less than the rear seats, of course some of that sits up higher, but I am not expecting any real detriment in the drive. No impressions yet as it is not really installed, just sitting in there.. The Cusco D1 cages are chromoly, the Safety21 is steel. Diameter is the same between them at 40mm. The Cusco is about 25~30% lighter, but it only comes in up to 8 points without the door bars.

 

Now that's safety! Nice shots! Definitely not for the grocery hauler and t-ball games...

 

No sign of the kid yet, but I'm passing the time with mounting the factory bezel and bracket & JDM hazard switch. Also working on a good spot for the GPS antenna. I'm pleased with the appearance so far. I'll be moving the installation to the ICE forum.

Using factory bezel and mounting bracket from factory Honda navigation set up.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/...8650770018.jpg

Front view with JDM hazard switch in place.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/...8649334382.jpg

 

Thanks! I was going for the heavy contrast when I chose white wheels, so I'm glad you like it!

 

Seems like I see an exotic every time I drive anywhere these days, but this Ferrari California was gassing it from light to light, and happened to be in front of me, so I followed suit. He was puffing smoke, so he was on it a little bit. Pretty funny. I let him go first, so you can sort of hear the glorious V8 before .

You'll have to cock your head, because that's the way my cell phone holder works, sorry..pretty much worst video ever.

 

^^^Ferrari Driver: Nice car. Whats the retail on one of thoses?
Fit Driver:More than you can afford pal...Honda Fit

 

Pretty funny! Next time, pop a side-wheelie first before pressing REC on your cell...

 

Raining here in Montreal today. Blah! Ordered JDM red H emblems and the RS back emblem looking for a reputable seller for a front one...


https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...rs-emblem.html

 

Got 4 new General Altimax HP's put on this afternoon, feels so much better than the factory Dunflops. At 31k time for them to go. Now the car has a liquid-smooth, luxury-feel ride, running them at 45 psi. No more out of round, zero vibration. Hands off steering tracks dead straight. Had the same tires before on my old Civic and loved them, great wet traction, long life, even wear. Directional tread works well.

For a little under-hood TLC, I decided to clean the mass airflow sensor and throttle body to see if it will improve MPG. Right now MPG is 35 city w/AC.

CRC MAS cleaner and TB cleaner were used. With 31k on the car, the MAS didn't show any sign of deposits, but they are sensitive devices. TB was also quite clean and no buildup. Stock air filter was recently replaced about 1k ago. Had to crank several times to un-flood the throttle body cleaner, but ran fine after it cleared its throat. CEL came on for a few minutes, but went out. I'll get a MPG check after the next tank. Time for a quick spin to fill up and enjoy those new tires!

 

In addition to the Ferrari, I got to park next to my old car. I sold it to a family member, and every once in a while they are in the same place at the same time and I have to take pics. Crappy ones, of course. I should change my name to crappy_pics.

 

Picked up some nearly new wheels and tires off craigslist for <$500. Still not sure If I like 'em but they'll probably grow on me. Now I'm one of THOSE loser people with the mexifrushness... but wheels are only 10.9 lbs! How could I turn that down? Tires are 205/50/15 for a nice 5% bump in gear ratio and not the remotest chance of rubbing

Reduced rotational weight by 25 lbs but I hardly feel a difference. I think y'all have been drinking the kool-aid about wheel lightening.

 

205/50/15 ?

Translates to a 23.07" diameter. That's overall 1" diameter small than your last tire... no?

Are we to assume that the 25lbs is overall?

I think part of the problem is... while you might've gained something from getting lighter wheels (allowing easier rotation)... you lost something in the fact that each rotation now translates to less actual forward motion due to the overall smaller tire (23/24th, or just 96% of original).

Maybe, just maybe, you'll feel a difference if you lost the weight while keeping the overall tire size at 24" diameter.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of going with a smaller overall diameter to lose weight.

 

Smaller diameter tires only affect the effective gear ratio not the amount of torque applied to the pavement (well actually, through torque multiplication, it technically increases the amount of torque applied to the pavement but there is an averaging effect). It is a benefit to use a smaller diameter tire. Think of it like increasing your final gear in the differential without actually having to change final gears). I really don't know how to explain it in words. The diameter (really the circumference is what matters but if we know diameter we know circumference) of the tire is a gear. The tire turning against the pavement is a gear. A bigger tire makes for a taller gear and a smaller tire makes for a shorter gear. A smaller tire allows the engine to achieve a given speed with more absolute revolutions. This is good on nearly any IC engine. IC engines must achieve a certain number of revolutions per minute before they can produce maximum torque ... Actually, I'm not typing this out. It gets you in the power band faster and keeps you in a narrower band. This is good on a free spinning engine.

The absolute simplest way I can put this is... Nobody goes slower from changing 3.9:1 to 4.11:1 unless the engine has a cliff like high end torque drop off. (or you hit the absolute gear limited speed)

 

In the case of tire diameters, if one were to use a larger tire than their stock application they'd be increasing their final gear ratio (higher number, increasing top speed gear wise but decreasing torque multiplication); much like going from a 4.56 final gear to a 4.11, but not as drastic of an acceleration difference.

On the flip side the same is true, if one were to use smaller tires the final drive would be decreased in the same since of swapping from 4.56 gears to 4.76s. Which decreases the top speed gear wise but increases torque multiplication for during acceleration.

 

Another factor is while the new setup is lighter, how much of that mass has shifted to the outermost part; in the tires? If the tires are a lot heavier than the ones previously on, then benefits will be minimal. But with the smaller diameter alone, the car should feel more eager.

Some of my favorite wheels though.

 

I love this shot , Question did you already take the side air bags out? I know the cage isn't in yet and its a test fit I was just wondering.