The Manic Mechanic

This is the resulting visual upgrade to the rolling stock on my '00 Stratus. Gone are the 15x6 original rims shod with Michelin MX 195/65R-15 tires that admittedly had a ton of tread left at 30k. Problem is, at six-and-a-half years had taken their toll on the rubber, leaving spidery cracks everywhere and making them harder than hockey pucks. The slightest spirited driving in turns resulted in an operatic production of squeals and screeching. Worse still was the performance on wet roads, making it seem that the street was covered in televangelist hair oil. After having a tire of similar age on my truck blow apart and nearly send me off the road at highway speeds, I was not about to let old tires cause me grief again.

Being that I use the internets for just about everything, I turned to my faithful Tire Rack and ordered up a set of Kazera KZ-V 17x7 rims in silver with machined lip wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position XL 215/45WR-17 directional tires. The difference is like night and day. Tight ride, improved road feel and incredible performance in wet and dry conditions. Already I have had various sports coupes and sedans surprised going through my trio of roundabouts on the way to and from home here. And on the way home tonight the new, nimble handling and sharp response got me out of a potential scrap on I-95 from someone not watching what they were doing and cutting off traffic in front of me and sending everyone into other lanes.





As usual, such upgrades are not without the seemingly never ending chain of complimentary upgrades. The car would look better lowered a bit, and the handling would be made a bit more balanced with a beefier rear sway bar and some poly bushings. That will probably happen in the future after I take care of other automotive and non-auto projects.

In related news, the replacement rims for the Mini that were damaged when I was run off the road are due in a couple weeks. I'll be glad to get that project taken care of as well. While I think nothing of working on other's rides, I still relish the satisfaction of keeping my own 'fleet' (and all told, I have five cars and a truck) operational.