General Exclaim UHP Review

Quick review of the tires that I ordered from TireRack.com to go on the MINI. I use 205/50/15s for the MINI for better weight savings (around 150lbs less than the stock 17s). After one good mountain run up to the Tail of the Dragon (US 129 in NC/TN, look it up if you have never heard of it. 318 turns in 11 miles.) I love these tires. They ride smoother than the old Dunlops, track well on the highway and did great on the twisty stuff.

The first run up the Dragon they didn't feel all that good. They felt vague and really didn't grip all that well. Now, the temperature was a nippy 40-45 degrees and the tires only had around 200 miles on them. After a short break we headed back down the Dragon. On this run the tires where completely different. They had great grip and feel. I had to get used to a tire that turned in right away, the old Dunlops had a good amount of flex to them (even when aired up pretty high) so you had to anticipate your turn in a bit and let the car and tires settle before the car would bit in. Not so with the Generals. No bad sidewall flex that I could feel (39psi). These tires do let you know when they are near the limit, talking quite loudly before ultimate grip has been reached. When they do let go it is gradual and not snappy so it is pretty easy to recover from any opposite lock moments.

All in all these are great tires for the money. Sure you can buy tires with more grip but for $61 per tire I'm really happy. Now I just have to wait and see how they age once they have a few more miles on them.

TR Radiator Flush

Finally got around to flushing the radiator on the triumph yesterday. I also replaced the globe badge on the hood and installed a 160 degree T-stat. I am glad that I had bought a can of Loktite Instant Gasket and had it on hand. When I removed the tstat housing the gaskets where toast. I thought I was going to be stuck until I remeber the Loktite I had bought to do the rear differential. Cleaned off all the mating surfaces, bench installed the tstat and two halves of the housing using the instant gasket then mounted it all up to the top of the water pump. The instant gasket worked great. I did have to adjust the mounting of the hose from the radiator to the water pump a few times to stop a slow leak. I also added some Red Line Water Wetter, this stuff is supposed to help the car run cooler by doing something with the coolant? It was just an add on purchase when I bought all the Red Line gear oil and transmission fluid.

Car runs a lot cooler now, guessing this is mostly due to the new 160 degree tstat and clean coolant. The stuff I drained out was pretty nasty. Next two projects are to change the transmission fluid, replace the oil pan gasket and do the brakes. I'll get to the transmission fluid in the next month, do the oil pan next time I change the oil and hopefully get to the brakes next month as well.

If you work on cars I highly suggest keeping some sort of liquid gasket stuff around. I know I will from now on, it saved me the hassel of ordering and waiting for new gaskets to finish the radiator flush.

Car Show prep

I am taking the TR down to the Georgia Tech Car show next weekend. Bought a few things from Victoria British to clean it up a bit. A new hood emblem should really look nice. Plan on trying to clean the engine bay up a bit with some engine cleaner. I know it won't win any awards but it will be nice to show it off a bit. Also ordered a new oil pan gasket and drain plug. Going to change these out next time I change the oil. Next two things that have to get done to the car are the brakes and flush of the radiator (I know, yes I still have not gotten to this). Once I get those two things done then I am going to try to get a few other cosmetic things taken care of. Window seals, new top and tonneau cover, get one of the plate lights working and install a line filter on the radio.

Been digging the new tires and alignment on the MINI the last few days. I had forgotten what it was like to drive a car that didn't have a wicked wheel shake past 50mph. I think the new tires (General Exclain UHP) have really helped out the ride. They seem much smoother over everyday driving than the Dunlops where. Haven't pushed them yet, first chance will be a MINI club mountain drive next month. Looking forward to that to see how they handle some serious curves.

That's it for now. More after the weekend.......