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195/60-16 Blizzaks filled the wheel wells but left very little clearance (maybe 1/4")  between inner fender and tire at full lock  

No Time said:

In reply to iansane :

Bingo.

A reflection coming through the old wavy glass at church last Sunday. The glass dates back to the 1860s when it all used to be hand-blown. I've been going to church there for 57 years. This is the first time I've seen these. At a guess, it's from a car windshield in the parking lot. 

I saw this newer truck on steelies and old hubcaps and HomeDespot. I kinda like it.

And then immediately see this crazy guy drag racing cars.

He was losing. At a lot of things.

No Time said:

195/60-16 Blizzaks filled the wheel wells but left very little clearance (maybe 1/4")  between inner fender and tire at full lock  

Volvo just adds a metal plate to the fender liner when they get carried away with size.

Right Pete?

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

That's interesting. I'll have to search to see if anyone offers something like that before I shop for summer wheels and tires. 

The Mini won't be out in deep snow and the winter tires are mainly for ice and the packed snow left after the storm, but the access covers for the fog lights were probably the closest part to the tire and I didn't want risk ripping them out if there was some buildup of slush/ice  

The 60 series weren't supposed to installed, but someone screwed up and grabbed those instead of the 55 series from the store room ( even though the paperwork for the work said 55). They were only on for a day before the lower profile were installed. 

Streetwiseguy said:

No Time said:

195/60-16 Blizzaks filled the wheel wells but left very little clearance (maybe 1/4")  between inner fender and tire at full lock  

Volvo just adds a metal plate to the fender liner when they get carried away with size.

Right Pete?

*graunch* *gronk* *grind* What'd you say?

The grind pads did kind of throw me for a loop when I saw them.  Both had holes worn through them.

Curiously, the as-fitted 235/40-18s grind, despite the massive steering stops on the control arms.  And in the rack.  The 225/45 winter tires do too.  But the alternate-size 235/45-17 tires that I use in the summer (on stock 8" wheels, since nothing fits these but stock wheels) do NOT grind.

When I was researching the car, I thought, wow, 2.5 turns lock to lock, it has fast steering!  Nope, it's a standard rack with a lot of lock removed.  Turning out of a driveway is a two lane affair.  I warn anybody who drives the car that you cannot expect to make any kind of tight turns in parking lots. Or downtown traffic.  Or U turns on rural highways unless it's three lanes wide on the other side, and you may still need to drive over the curb...

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

And a tight turning circle is a long time Volvo thing.

I feel that I've been abused here for suggesting an R Volvo being just a wee bit too much of everything.  I like the T5 better.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Now, to the point of my visit.

With a Sean Connery accent:  Drink it down, to the last drrop. 

How about a little wrasslin' match between Krampus and St. Nick? spoiler, Krampus won!

Streetwiseguy said:

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

And a tight turning circle is a long time Volvo thing.

I feel that I've been abused here for suggesting an R Volvo being just a wee bit too much of everything.  I like the T5 better.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Oh, I wanted a second generation S40 to replace my first generation S40.  I loved the car but it was built at NEDCAR, not in Sweden, so it rusted like the Mitsubishi chassis that it was.

Here's the weird thing.  S40s with all wheel drive were $9-10k.  S60 T5s or even 2.5ts (with all wheel drive) were $6-8k.  My R was meticulously maintained and was a hair under $4k.

If I was going to spend $10kish for a Euro car, it'd have been an E46 M3 or a Passat W8.  Dodged the W8 bullet when the R showed up on Autotrader.

I'll take the wide steering and the inability to fit any ol' wheel on it for the Brembo brakes, vs the Ate calipers that need constant rebuilding around here.  The calipers rust around the slide pin bushing, locking it in place, so you have to fight it apart and attack the rust with a die grinder so the calipers can move freely for another year.

Edit: can't find pics of the S40 anymore on GIS or DuckDuckGo.  I am a little sad.  Although not as sad as knowing that the little wing on my old S40 was pretty rare, and if I ever have another one of those cars it won't have the wing.  It made the whole back of the car look better.

Ha! There!

Are roofing nails supposed to be this rusty? I guess (hope) this explains the trickle of water that has been coming in over the garage when it rains...

He's a regular here.