| meshuggah |
Hey prelude ppl, I've been a long time member of preludepower, and signed on here to get some info on ludes and weather out west.
I'll be moving to Calgary to manage a store for my company by the end of October. I have a 2001 SE Prelude with the mods listed in my sig. I have a few questions, here goes:
-Should I get a block heater installed for those cold winter starts?
-I have high performance all season tires with lots of good tread still on them, are snow tires an absolute must if I'll be only trekking around the area of Calgary and as far north as Olds during the winter?
-Are there any reputable shops that do tuning? I'm running slightly rich on my 310cc Accel injectors and I know my power band could be further tweaked, I'd like to get tuned on Crome.
My only other question is what the culture is like out there with regards to disrespecting foriegn cars and their owners. Years ago down here in the polluted hell pit of Windsor Ontario, a feircely domestic auto worker town, they used to smash your window or key you up because you drove a Honda or Toyota. I know Alberta is pick up truck & cowboy country, just wondered what to expect in this regard. I don't take shit from anybody, least of all ignorant people who want to be tough guys because I don't drive a Ford.
Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! :thumbup: |
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| 92_WhItE_H23 |
your car will be fine here lol, we arent hickish and we dont drive pick up trucks..although this site is predominantly edmontonians. calgary is another story..provided your attitude is adjusted to be a little less thuggish your car will be all good in alberta.
oh and for tuning you can go to speedtech in calgary..they do alot of hondas. |
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| mike3 |
| You might need better tires for winter. You wont need them all the time, just when we get randon huge dumps of snow |
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| meshuggah |
quote:
Originally posted by 92_WhItE_H23
your car will be fine here lol, we arent hickish and we dont drive pick up trucks..although this site is predominantly edmontonians. calgary is another story..provided your attitude is adjusted to be a little less thuggish your car will be all good in alberta.
oh and for tuning you can go to speedtech in calgary..they do alot of hondas.
LOL, I'm in no way thuggish, I just don't take well to bullies. My old man taught me to stand up for myself, and I never forgot.
A friend of mine lives in Olds, and she teases me about my little silver Honda running the streets amongst pick ups galore piloted by farmers set in their ways. So knowing what the a$$holes are like down here, I started to wonder. The window smashing/keying/harrassment thing used to happen a lot to import drivers around here.
I'll look speedtech up though, thanks for the lead on a tuner, I didn't have time to get properly dynotuned before I leave.
What about a core heater? I've heard from many many people one of these is a neccesity because it gets so damn cold out there, any truth to it? I just need to be able to start the rocket to get to work every morning. |
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| 92_WhItE_H23 |
| youll soon find out, rural alberta is hickish but in the cities, its not a whole lot different then ontario. youll see more hondas then pick up trucks in the cities hah. as for a block heater, yea i would get one, calgary tends to get winter pretty rough too. unless you have a heated garage. |
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| lovinthespeed |
| ya speedtech is a good shop i just stoped by last weekend really nice people and a great attitude towards hondas. and winter tires is a must there is alot of ice and you want that car to be the best it can be in shape. have fun over here and come upp to edmonton we are more friendly and flames suck lol |
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| lovinthespeed |
| ya speedtech is a good shop i just stoped by last weekend really nice people and a great attitude towards hondas. and winter tires is a must there is alot of ice and you want that car to be the best it can be in shape. have fun over here and come upp to edmonton we are more friendly and flames suck lol |
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| DEVO |
quote:
Originally posted by mike3
You might need better tires for winter. You wont need them all the time, just when we get randon huge dumps of snow
best to have some winter tires! I drive mine all season, all over the province and winter tires have saved my ass countless times! |
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| DEVO |
| Alberta is doing a lot of road construction, and we use sand/crushed rock on the roads instead of salt so you'll prob get a few rocks flying your way. |
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| buh_buh |
Calgary winters are much more tame than Edmonton winters, you shouldnt have to worry about a block heater in Calgary.
I winter drove my Prelude one winter a few years ago on Paradas (not such a good idea) and parked in a non-heated garage. I'd get a set of winters if possible. I got through all winter on summers, but I had to be pretty careful all the time and couldn't drive on the odd day (I'd say 4 or 5 days out of the entire winter). |
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| 92_WhItE_H23 |
| past few years edmonton winters have been far better then calgaries...we get your weather reports up here hah |
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| Shady_Pro |
| i havent plug in any of my hondas overr the last 5 years once and never had a problem once...don't waste your money....and it snowed twice last year and if your not a stupid fuck you don't need winter tires :D...has anyone actually had a problem starting there cars?...maybe if you drive a neon or a sunfire but other then that keep gas in the tank and your fine...it doesn't even get that cold average last year over 6 months was -11... |
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| kellyk75 |
I disagree with some of the posts here. If you park outside for any length of time, I would get the block heater. The car may start fine and easily, but it is very hard on the engine if it isn't plugged in. They are not that much $$, and well worth it IMO. I guess it depends on how picky you are with your car. Calgary winters can be just as bad (sometimes worse) than Edmonton winters, although they are usually a few degrees warmer.
As for tires, I have high performance all seasons and they SUCK in the winter compared to my snow tires. You can give your all seasons a try but I would put some money asside incase you find them as bad as I have. Plus you will probably be going to the mountains occasionally...... better safe then writing off all of your work and money in one slide. There is a HUGE difference in the way a 2nd Gen & a 5th gen drive in the winter...... I've had both. I wish I still had my 2nd for the winter. |
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| meshuggah |
quote:
Originally posted by kellyk75
I disagree with some of the posts here. If you park outside for any length of time, I would get the block heater. The car may start fine and easily, but it is very hard on the engine if it isn't plugged in. They are not that much $$, and well worth it IMO. I guess it depends on how picky you are with your car. Calgary winters can be just as bad (sometimes worse) than Edmonton winters, although they are usually a few degrees warmer.
As for tires, I have high performance all seasons and they SUCK in the winter compared to my snow tires. You can give your all seasons a try but I would put some money asside incase you find them as bad as I have. Plus you will probably be going to the mountains occasionally...... better safe then writing off all of your work and money in one slide. There is a HUGE difference in the way a 2nd Gen & a 5th gen drive in the winter...... I've had both. I wish I still had my 2nd for the winter.
I'm not sure where I'll be living yet so I'm unsure if the lude will be outside when parked, guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Snow tires appear to a be a must, I might just do the fronts and put my best treaded all seasons on the back. Can anyone recommend snow tires with good grip? I'm putting down about 200 hp at the wheels so I need something with good grip as the car loves to spin, even sometimes if you stand on it when it's really rainy.
And yeah, after spending most of my life in desolate, flat southern Ontario, I'm alllll about mountains. :cool: |
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| BananaBoy |
Dispite the cow boy image, Calgary and Edmonton are fairly progessive, but the rural area is very, very conservitive.
There are alot of pickups out here, from my observation, the red or blue ones are usally farmers (green sticker in the plates), the white or silver ones are normally oil and gas and the black or tans ones are the city people that just enjoy diving around a huge gas guzzing pigs to the safeway and claim to need one because they go camping once a year. On the up side, we're seeing more and more import pickups (toyota, honda and nissan) on the road.
I think winter tires are a must, especaily for someone that is not used to driving rural and foot hills Alberta winters. You can get away with summer tires most of the time, but it's that one time that you hit the ice that winter tires could mean the diffrence of just sliding the the ditch and needing a tow or sliding into the other lane and needing an ambulance. It's your call, but $1000 can buy you alot of peace of mind and safety IMO. I have Mich Alpine Pilots and I highly recommend them.
People seem to be forgeting that the block heater is used to protect the engine from the cold. It keeps the fluids and the block (relitively) warm so the first few seconds of hot combution are not as big of a shock to the system. I've never had a problem starting my Prelude not pluged in, even on the -50c mornings at Fort Mac or High Level, but it drives like crap for the day and it can't be good for the longevity of the engine.
Ether way good luck and welcome to Red Neck Alberta! :thumbup: |
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| DEVO |
quote:
Originally posted by meshuggah
Snow tires appear to a be a must, I might just do the fronts and put my best treaded all seasons on the back. Can anyone recommend snow tires with good grip?
And yeah, after spending most of my life in desolate, flat southern Ontario, I'm alllll about mountains. :cool:
Only on the front??? haha your tail WILL slide out! WEEEE off a cliff? ALL 4 WINTER, if you're doing any driving in the mountains. |
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| meshuggah |
quote:
Originally posted by DEVO
Only on the front??? haha your tail WILL slide out! WEEEE off a cliff? ALL 4 WINTER, if you're doing any driving in the mountains.
hahahahaaa! In hindsight and second thought, you're right. That'd be a sweet death. All 4 I guess.:mad: |
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| Shady_Pro |
| welcome to texas...i mean alberta usa |
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| meshuggah |
quote:
Originally posted by Shady_Pro
welcome to texas...i mean alberta usa
hahaha! I live right across from Detroit Michigan, I'll be very happy to move away from the real Americans.
I'll miss the music scene though. |
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| kellyk75 |
I might have a set of 4 Arctic Alpines on 15" steel rims that I would part with. They are almost brand new, used lightly for 1 winter.
I have been keeping them for backup in case I need them. PM me an offer if you're interested and maybe we can work something out. |
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| meshuggah |
quote:
Originally posted by kellyk75
I might have a set of 4 Arctic Alpines on 15" steel rims that I would part with. They are almost brand new, used lightly for 1 winter.
I have been keeping them for backup in case I need them. PM me an offer if you're interested and maybe we can work something out.
I pm'd you :) |
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