New Car

[imarolan12]

Update....had my car tuned about two months ago, added about 65 horsepower and 70 ft/lbs of torque, which puts me around 430/430 at the crank. 0-60 went from around 5.5 to 4.6 seconds. It is a beast. Had to drive to new york city last month for work, I held back for one entire full tank going only 65-70 mph for the whole tank and was able to get 29.6 miles to the gallon. The rest of the time I'd go 75-85 and only got 24-25 mpg.

Shortly after returning home, I discovered this wonderful thing called plasti dip. It's like spray paint, except it goes on sort of like a skin, and if you get tired of the look you can peel it off easily. Since I got the car I wasn't a huge fan of the chrome wheels, I'm a black wheel kind of guy, so I figured I might as well try the stuff out on my wheels. It's amazing how good it turns out with such minimal effort. I also did the chrome around the tail lights, it was starting to peel off anyhow so I figured what the heck. No sanding, no real prep other than wiping it off with rubbing alcohol real quick to clean it. It looks like it was professionally painted, and I absolutely suck at painting. Used about 3 cans doing the wheels, so the price going from chrome to black was bout 25 bucks including the painter's tape I bought.

[3fingersalute]

Still no window tint eh?

[imarolan12]

Still no window tint eh?

That was an older pic, got it tinted right after I did the wheels. 5% on passenger windows and back, 50% on the driver and passenger windows. I'd love to go 5% all the way around, but I wanted to keep it legal since cops in certain parts of the city like to pull people over for tint.

[slgrieb]

That was an older pic, got it tinted right after I did the wheels. 5% on passenger windows and back, 50% on the driver and passenger windows. I'd love to go 5% all the way around, but I wanted to keep it legal since cops in certain parts of the city like to pull people over for tint.

In Texas, in order to pass state safety inspection, the front side windows have to meet state standards, but it is OK to have the rear side windows much darker. And no, off hand I can't tell you the standards. But, a few years ago, I had to peal off the tint film on the front side windows to pass a safety inspection.

[imarolan12]

In Texas, in order to pass state safety inspection, the front side windows have to meet state standards, but it is OK to have the rear side windows much darker. And no, off hand I can't tell you the standards. But, a few years ago, I had to peal off the tint film on the front side windows to pass a safety inspection.

That's how it was when I lived in pennsylvania, but here in ohio there are absolutely no inspections. I've seen a pickup truck on the freeway that had obviously been in a rollover accident. I've seen a pickup that was t boned and the passenger side was pushed in at least a foot and a half. Vehicles with giant rust holes, you name it. If it runs, people drive it and somehow it's legal.

Tint laws here are 50% is the lowest you can go on the front windows, anything goes on the the rear.

I always said I would never own a ford, but I am super impressed with this car so far. It gets great mileage, has amazing technology built into it and seems to be a very well built and reliable car. A red SHO pulled into my parking lot at work yesterday, so I went out and talked to the guy. He bought his with 35K miles on it and is up to 158K now, has not had a single problem with it, just chnages the oil and does regular maintenance. I've continued looking at them for sale within 200 miles of me since I got mine and still have not seen one within 2-3 grand of what I paid for the same model and miles. It's rare to see one under 18K unless it has 120K or more miles on it.

[3fingersalute]

That was an older pic, got it tinted right after I did the wheels. 5% on passenger windows and back, 50% on the driver and passenger windows. I'd love to go 5% all the way around, but I wanted to keep it legal since cops in certain parts of the city like to pull people over for tint.

Very nice! I actually was beside one of these one my way home yesterday, same color and wheels as yours (originally) and I have to say they are super-sharp looking.............definitely not what I expect when I hear "Ford Taurus"