tercel road trip, wish me luck!

Mac · Post by **Mac** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 2:10 am

well, I'm about to embark on a 15 hour road trip up to Hazleton BC with my gf to see her family for christmass with my (precious) Tercel.

all the fluids have been checked, i have a huge ass batery, Blizzak snow tires, so i've taken care of all the majour things, but i'm a little worried about having something happen, like coltarms's road trip when his alternator died. but I still have faith in the terk and this will be a real test for it and the new 4A-C. Hopefully i'll be abel to take lots of pictures for the site.

merry christmass!

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 2:12 am

Good luck indeed.

takza · Post by **takza** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 4:33 am

Best to have a small ceremony before you leave?

I usually get up at dawn...light a stick of incense...and bow several times towards Japan. Then ask the Toyota gods to bless my Tercel.

This has worked every time.

brianp · Post by **brianp** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 3:18 pm

Have fun! I'm sure you'll be fine; I've done many 5 hour trips with no ill effects, and I'm sure it could go a lot farther too.

thebigbread · Post by **thebigbread** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 4:03 pm

15 hours... i wish i could bring my bottle rocket to gatlinburg on our church trip, its a 12 hour drive

Mac · Post by **Mac** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:15 pm

I found some internet in Smithers, tercel didn't have a single problem the whole way up. there was a small coolant leak, but I just had to tighten the hose clamps up a tad and its fine. The Blizzacks suck, really unimpressed with these tires and after talking with people up here I found out that Nokian snow tires are what everyone uses here because hey still grip to the road when its covered in ice (alot of my driving has been on a road with literally a 2" [think skating rink] layer of ice and a bit of snow on top)

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:55 pm

My experience with Blizzaks has shown they do well for about 5-10 degrees below the point where the water or watery salty muck freezes. Reason is that they have enough of their own heat to melt the surface and take their little funky pocket-pore effect thing into use. Below that and they are nothing special. Also, past about 45% wear they are past their special compound and are as useless as a set of all-seasons.

Never used Nokians. Have Hankooks on mine and man do I love them. They only have a few studs left but they grip incredibly well.

skullone · Post by **skullone** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 5:16 pm

I'm seriously looking at Nokian Hakkipillatta studless tires, for my Mazda3 or tercel, havent decided yet.
They get better reviews than any other tire, its not well known, so theyre kinda hard to find though.

Gasoline Fumes · Post by **Gasoline Fumes** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:55 am

I've been really happy with Blizzaks on a 2WD Civic, but mostly on snow/slush. I haven't been on much ice with them. I bought 145/80-13 Nokian Hakkapeliitta Qs for my Metro, but I haven't used them yet. I got a great deal from rholtzer@tirefactory.net, $89 shipped for a set of 4.

Their eBay auctions:
http://motors.search.ebay.com/_W0QQsass ... torydirect

skullone · Post by **skullone** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:59 am

OMG :O
How does he sell tires for so cheap?!?!
Those are awesome prices, I'm really considering buying from him!
Gotta find out my mazda3s tire size and see if he has any.

Mickey_D · Post by **Mickey_D** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:10 am

Since we're on about tire reviews, I'll give mine for Cooper Weathermasters.

Can't say enough about them. I've had them for over two years now, andone of those they were mounted year round, so they've got quite a bit of wear on them being such a soft rubber compound.

Even now I can go out and romp around in the snow and ice and not have to worry about traction issues.

They are stable down to -40 degrees (from personal experience) and are still rather quiet on an asphalt road at 65mph in the summer.

Yes, they are expensive, but considering they are still VERY useful after two years and close to 40,000 miles, I would say they've paid for themselves already. And since I'm still using them, I figure they're paying me now.

They were absolutely fantastic on the Neon, giving full traction on that little 2WD car when I had trouble in 4WD with the Terc on el cheapo tires. And the truck was a nightmare in comparison on $300 worth of good tires.

I then stole them off the Neon when it blew a head gasket and cracked the block because I needed tires on the Terc to get to work (the original 13's had a massive bulge on the inner sidewall). I then used them through the winter and liked the performance enough to leave them on through the summer. Then the next winter again and then another summer. They are on thier third winter and still going strong.

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:59 pm

My Hankooks are wearing faster than I'd like, but consider I bring their little "S" speed rated selves up over 100mph on occasion. S is good to 112, which is also good on a snow.
I opted to have them studded, but they didn't have to be.

I've put near 20k on them, through a full year and going on 6 months on top of that. I've taken them off for maybe 200 miles worth of driving my belts-showing tires on the Escort rims. Considering that, they've done very very well.

They still have awesome grip on snow and ice and I can't personally complain about tire noise, but I'm not as picky as some.

For something like $41 a tire, mounted, at my local Discount Tire, I'd say they've been a value and a half.

Did I mention I run them at 48PSI, year-round? Rating is 44.

ctishman · Post by **ctishman** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 7:25 pm

I remember my dad using Nokian Hakkapeliitta to drive from Vermont to Alaska and back in the middle of winter, in a 1970 Dodge Dart. Apparently they were amazing. Endorsed!

2manytoys4menow · Post by **2manytoys4menow** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 8:58 pm

I picked up a set of (4) steel 14" mazda miata wheels with almost new 185-60-14 hanook studded snow tires for $100 cash . I've got them on my 84 terc and they work great . They actually ride nicer at 80mph than my 14" street tires

. They have some pretty decent siping .

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Sun Dec 31, 2006 12:02 pm

Yeah, they do ride pretty smooth don't they?