Hey guys,

I have not posted in ages, I guess that happens when you have almost 5 year old twins!!

I have a few questions, that I hope I can get answers to.

1. I have the wheels and tires in my sig, and they rear driver always rubbed a bit when going over traintracks, etc. I ignored it. Funny though that I just got new tires and the problem moved to the rear passenger only, not driver side. I assume they moved the wheel. Whats up with this?

2. I need new front brakes and I plan on doing it myself. I have never done anything with ABS brakes though. I have new factory pads, rotors and spring clips. I am also thinking about putting in stainless lines. Any tricks or problems I might see? Also, are the new lines worth it? How?

3. I have already had 3 trannies and I now have 85,000 miles. Should I get a tranny cooler? Which one? Who can install it?

4. Is it okay to use <91 octane gas? I tried 87 and got knocking, but 89 seems fine. Am I being penny wise and pound foolish by ruining the engine? FYI, gas here is just under $3 for Supreme.

Lastly, does anyone know of a good audio shop in the east bay? San Fran that is! I put in a system, but I need some expert help with building a mouting system in trunk. Right now everything is screwed down to a sheet of 1" MDF.

Hey guys, thanks a lot for taking the time, I really appreciate it! If anyone needs computer help, from home stuff to the biggest business/internet systems, I now own a consulting company, and I would give you a great discount for the help. www.OnTargetSolutions.net, if you want to see about it!

...Michael

 

1. where the fender meets the rear bumper... there is a small piece of plastic that is pretty much there for nothing. you can cut thta piece off with a knife and check if that takes care of that.

2. cant help you there.

3. i believe comtpech makes one. im not sure how hard it is to install though.

4. i think middle grade gas is ok to use, but dont quote me on that. you could always mix them... supreme and mid grade.

4. ask around for recommendations.

 

1. Try what car_lost said.

2. Shouldn't be too hard. Haven't tried it yet though. There is nothing special about doing the brakes on an abs car vs. a non-abs car so you should be fine.
SS lines will help improve pedal feel of the brakes. Some say they're worth it, some don't. I can't comment as I am waiting to install mine.

3. Trans cooler won't help. Read a little of the trans section, some of the posts by EricL and you'll see why.

4. The car will automatically pull timing if it senses knock, but its best to use the highest grade possible. You should be ok with 89 though.

 

I know this is off topic and all but how does your sound system sound? Give me your rating on a scale of 1 to 10. 10 being the Highest and 1 being the lowest. I'm thinking about buying diamond speakers but not so sure about quality because of the fact no one around me has em. All I heard some far is JL subs with mb quart Q-series component surround sound.

 

The Diamond speaker sound very good. I looked at the MB's but I thought that they were overpriced for what you get. If I recall, they had an annoying high end, that gave me a headache.

I learned a hard lesson though, which I'll pass on. When you listen to stuff in an audio store, you can really hear the difference and you are able to make a subjective choice. Once that stuff is installed in the car, the sound is completely different, and no better.

I have tried to use sound deadening materials, etc, but cars are just noisy places and the speakers are not placed in an ideal layout.

So, I would rate my system a 10 in the store and a 7 in the car. If I did it all again, I would have spent less and not obsessed over every little detail.

I would say that the headunit should be chosen for features at a certain price. What I mean is that I had an Eclipse originally, but replaced it with Alpine, because I wanted XM, MP3 and CD-R support and Eclipse did not have it. Most good quality headunits in the $300-$400 price range are going to sound good, so pick the features you want.

Anyway, these are thoughts, take them or leave them!

 

i always run 87 octane and my car seems to be fine....i used to run the higher grade and i saw no diff from low to high grade so ill just save my