NorthGeorgiaWX

Also discovered that the rear sway bar had not been tightened down at all. The nuts were not even finger tight. So as good as the car felt, there were many things not right with the car. Can't wait to try again with everything fixed. The car goes tp the dealer tomorrow (01/25/21) for the clunking in the left front of the car. Knowing what I know was wrong, I could easily see a two second improvement in the times.

I have two audio files of a cold startup, one of my car and one of the the wife's car. These were recorded at 44khz so it's CD quality if you decide to play them on a good sound system (which I recommend), otherwise they lose all the lower frequencies. I played it on mine and it sounds exactly like the car is sitting in the room. 🙂 

Driving, I like my setup better. The wife's car has a loud rasp every time it shifts, where the sound from my car is smoother. They both scream once you get on it. 🙂

This one is my 2017 with Renick DP's and stock exhaust.

2017 ATS-V.wav

The other is my wife's 2016 with NEP downpipes and Vibrant 4” resonator with custom 4” single mid pipe and stock exhaust. 

2016 ATS-V.wav

Honestly, the paint was perfect when I took it to the place to have it done. The car only had about 12,000 miles on it (only 16,700 right now) so he had to do very little correction. 

I use GTechniq Quick Detailer and the citrus wash. So far I like there products and the car looks awesome. I had two people come up to me at the BMW autocross and ask me if I just washed it before I got there. 🙂 I said, no, it just stays that way. 🙂 It also stays in a garage. 

2 hours ago, Bose said:

Which areas of the car was it the most difficult to correct the paint? I have to assume your car is free of all scratches and swirls? What products do you use to maintain the exterior?

And go figure. This morning I got the GoPro, pressed the power button and it turned on. 😡 I have no idea.

After watching the videos, the power sounds different after 4-5 runs. Either air in the intercooler, which is common and easy to fix, or there is a leak in the intercooler piping. The hoses are clamped on and can come loose, so another thing to consider. 

These are the new wheel/tire weights.  While the entire combination of wheel/tire increased, the increases were relatively minor. The front wheels, despite being larger, were lighter than the original OEM wheels. The new rear wheels are much wider and larger diameter, but only 0.4 lbs heavier than OEM. The greatest part of the weight increase came from the tires, but I'll take that for what I've gotten in return. 

A slight change of plans. The wheels I had ordered were destroyed (long story), so I am getting these wheels instead... same size and offset. 

I plan on giving that a try. 🙂

I've been PRETTY HOT on this date.

Wow. We certainly had it good the day we went up. People don't realize how dangerous those mountains are. 

Quote

Mount Washington is one of the nation’s most perilous hikes, with nearly 150 people killed on the mountain since 1849. That’s nearly half the death toll on Mount Everest where the tally is an estimated 308.

There is a Severe Thunderstorm Watch to the west of Lincoln, but there is no indication at the moment that it will be extended east.

Quote

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
   Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 257
   NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
   545 PM CDT Sun May 26 2019

   The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

   * Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of 
     Central Kansas
     South-central Nebraska

   * Effective this Sunday afternoon from 545 PM until Midnight CDT.

   * Primary threats include...
     Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible
     Isolated large hail events to 1.5 inches in diameter possible
     A tornado or two possible

   SUMMARY...Multiple clusters of strong to severe storms should spread
   east-northeast into central portions of Kansas and Nebraska this
   evening. Scattered severe wind gusts, isolated severe hail, and a
   brief tornado are the most likely hazards.

   The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 45
   statute miles east and west of a line from 30 miles east southeast
   of Dodge City KS to 20 miles west of Grand Island NE. For a complete
   depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update
   (WOUS64 KWNS WOU7).

   PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

   REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are
   favorable for severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area.
   Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening
   weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible
   warnings. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce
   tornadoes.

Hope everything us secure on site. The bulk of the severe thunderstorms are about 80 miles away.

Lincoln in the upper right side of the image.

Light showers riding along the stalled frontal boundary

I hear ya. I really believe this will be a different winter.

Another forecast added... I'm liking most of this and the new one is good! 

Added another forecast or two! They will start coming in quickly now

I think it's going to be a great winter... but I'm always optimistic! ❄️

1 hour ago, SNOW said:

Glad I finally got signed up! Great info! I’m starting to hear that this El Niño May be heading to the moderate to strong levels, instead of the weak/mod level. How do you see this affecting the winter outlooks?

There is definitely a warmer signal, but location will be more important. As long as the heat stays centered in the Pacific, we should be fine. 

I have a post on the other blog site that my friend Larry compiled. He took a look a look at 26 cold winters here and went back and matched the ENSO state up with them. Here's his analysis of the 26 cold winters by ENSO state: 

• Strong Nino: 0 of 26 (0%)
• Moderate Nino: 1 of 26 (4%)
• Weak Nino: 9 of 26 (35%)
• Neutral positive: 4 of 26 (15%)
• Neutral negative: 5 of 26 (19%)
• Weak Nina: 6 of 26 (23%)
• Moderate Nina: 1 of 26 (4%)
• Strong Nina: 0 of 26 (0%)

Here's some additional comments from the blog post:

"Notice that out of all the cold years, the majority of them occurred during weak Nino's (35%). Also notice that out of all of those cold winters, none of them occurred with a strong Nino or a strong Nina. 

The map (see attached image) on the left depicts the temperature anomalies that occurred during a Weak Nino. Due to the data only going back to 1948, all of the years are not depicted, but this will give you a good idea. 

As you can see, a weak Nino is what we'd like to see come Dec-Feb. If the current one stays too strong, it could severely limit our cold this winter based on past analogs. keep in mind, Larry's study is based on temperatures, not precipitation. "

Here's the link to the blog post: http://blog.northgeorgiawx.com/weather-blog/a-look-at-the-effects-of-ninos-on-southeast-winters

I think I'll share it here on a blog post. 

Another addition made today. Between now and the end of the month, there will be a bunch of forecast getting published.