LOL Why not, the snow is a blast. Actually last week it was 55* which is odd for January, and this was our first real snow storm. I thought for a while I wasn't going to be able to test out my snow tires.

I moved away from Mi as soon as I could after college, but somehow my husband and I ended back here. I think the warm beach breeze with 80* temps in the summer did it, oh and family. I now find the snow enjoyable, although I am ready for it to go away in March or so.

This is from Wed 1/11 A nice 55* sunny day at the beach





And 48 hours later, 30* with 8" of snow. Went back in the daytime and had more fun.

 

I was born in Pittsburgh - in the middle of one of the city's worst blizzards and spent the next 30 years developing a deep dislike of the stuff. DC is too far north for me, but I can tolerate it. I do get amused when it does snow and everyone panics, they shut down the city, and the grocery stores empty. A couple of feet of the stuff is a typical day back in P-burgh.

 

I actually had an ex-bf that lived in Penn Hills/Monroeville area so I spent a bunch of time in Pittsburgh for a while and I remember some of those roads. They were a ton of fun in the summer, but not so much in the winter. I lived in Cincinnati for about 8 years and everyone panics there too, sometimes over just rain. In Mi, people are ok for the most part, but he first snow usually weeds out a lot of idiots

 

Sometimes, those are the best kind.

 

LOL In that case, yes it was.

 

This is a photo I snapped up at fall creek falls in Tn. It was fun drive!

 

I'll post my red 2012 CMS4 pics soon. I think I got a bit aggressive with the stripes, but heck they come off if I feel that way after a while.

It doesn't look very orange to me at all - something I was worried about. I'll still call it
"El Gigante" or something like that after my beloved SF Giants.

edit: I meant CMS4

 

I have finished blacking out my trim and added the roof rack to mine. I think I am going to leave the door handles alone though since they go coordinate with the metal lip on my hells and the roof rack bars.

 

Well, if you have to have a PR and Black, this may be the way to go. Nicely done.

Sealy - Who's too much of a chrome queen to even try it.

 

Thanks chrome queen. ;-)

 

Your roof bars aren't placed correctly, they are too far back, otherwise your's looks a lot like mine, so I like it a lot.

 

I wasn't aware they had to be placed in any certain position. I just briefly glanced at the installation instructions and remeber them talking about the distance from one another and which one goes to the front and back. Does it matter about the position?

 

Yup 260mm from the leading edge of the rail to the front of the cross bar, then 705mm from the back of the cross bar to the front of the back cross bar.

 

You are right. I went back and read the instructions. I wonder why they state that specific position? I like mine where it is and think I will leave it there unless something horrible could happen.

 

Because that's where the engineers calculate the best location for the load on the cars roof. The last couple of cars I've had roof bars on (Volvo V70, BMW 3er touring) were also pretty specific on where the bars should be mounted.

 

[QUOTE=Bmtespar;3446267]I have finished blacking out my trim and added the roof rack to mine. I think I am going to leave the door handles alone though since they go coordinate with the metal lip on my hells and the roof rack bars./QUOTE]

Looks great

 

New Stripes.

 

Here are the photos I took with my iPhone when I picked the car up from the dealer. I got the red interior with the red cloth/leather seats, rear bench.
If anyone is interested in seeing in the interior, I'll be glad to take a pic and upload it.

Specs:
S All4
Pure Red
Console/Trim in Anthracite
FLF
White Turn Signals
Black Roof/Mirrors
Leather/Cloth: Pure Red
Rear Bench Seat
Technology Package (Mini Connected w/o Nav - debated the hell out of this, will probably get one of the new Garmin Prestige navs some day)
Adaptive Lights
Heated mirrors and washer jets
Rain sensors & auto headlamps
Xenons
17" Anthracite with All-season tires
Sunroof
Alarm
Wheel locks
Sport stripes
Side stripes
Tire/Wheel protection

Purchased aftermarket:
Mini OEM rack (got on ebay for $180)
Thule Flat top 4 snowboard/6 ski attachment
Custom cut sun shade (found ebay, fits perfectly, but annoying to roll up, ugh)
SF Giants license plate frame!

Waffled on: Nav, Auto-air, 18" wheels, sport suspension

Impressions after about 500 miles:
I love the car, now that I'm at 500 miles, I am going to open it up.
I've been keeping the RPMs down, that has probably affected my impression, making me feel like there isn't a lot of low-end torque.
It's very go-cart-ish though, and I know it has guts once I open it up.
It's very sensitive to the steering wheel, so it's tought to mess around with anything while you are dirving, like your phone. That said, I think Connected is pretty cool, even without the nav. The fact that it just works soooo much better than previous iPhone factory integration is nice. I wish there were more plugins, and I wish you wouldn't lose Pandora after multitasking away from the app. As an iPhone developer though, I understand the limitations. The bluetooth handoff is pretty good, very easy to continue listening to your music/phone call when not in the car.

Regarding handling, I wish I had a little more stability, and I guess that would have come with 18" wheels. But the ride is rough enough already, and I wanted all-seasons right from the get-go, so I feel I made the best choice I could at the time, and can always upgrade after-market. I may also do some suspension stuff one day. Doing those things in a few years would probably be like getting a new car.

Other hesitations:
I Took the tire/wheel coverage, but I can cancel it. Dealer claims the tires are $400 each, but obviously half that on tirerack.com...so I question if $1150 is even worth it.

 

Congrats! Looks real good.

I had no idea the tires had that much grip.



As far as the tire insurance - depends on how the roads are in SF and if you intend to drop the RFs. If you are leaving it stock with the RFs, the insurance may very well pay for its self.

 

Looks awesome. I hate the chrome, and they seems to peeled on R60 anyway. This way they are all well protected from the elements. Good job

[QUOTE=Bmtespar;3446267]I have finished blacking out my trim and added the roof rack to mine. I think I am going to leave the door handles alone though since they go coordinate with the metal lip on my hells and the roof rack bars.

 

Well, those streets get pretty slippery in the fog of the summer...

 

hahaha

 

Hey fupaking - did you ever post any pics of your aggressive stripes?

 

 

Mine is pure red with black top and black bonnet stripes and the dark wheels. I had a chili red clubman before and this time I chose the dark wheels because the wheels were always looking dirty. Love everyone else's pics of theirs - they all look great! Do love the white stripes on you're Chrunck! How did you get them on the sides?