New Tires, New License Plates, SHAZAAM!

 
 
The FIAT Abarth needed some new daily driver tires, so after scouring the internet and a few local tire dealers, I again went on line and ordered 4 tires from Tire Rack. The stock 16 inch Abarth wheel size is a little hard to find, as in many stores don't carry it, so I bumped it up a bit and got a slightly wider tire in a much more popular 205 width instead of the OEM 195 width. You can visit their link at Tire Rack

After comparing plenty of tires, my conclusion is that there are plenty of brands of tires in different price ranges out there, so it pays to do your research and get a tire that fits your driving style. For my everyday tire, I wanted a tire that would last longer than a few thousand miles, and ended up buying the Dunlop Direzza DZ102, and I'm happy to report getting a rebate too. I have no problems with getting money back! Now I just have to get them installed next week.

Tire Rack has always given me great service, and with a couple of locations around the country, they deliver to your house or to your preferred mechanic's shop very quickly. With this set of tires, I ordered them late at night on line, and they arrived at my house less than 48 hours later!

 

And now for the Safety Tip of the Day: Take a look at your tires once in a while, and if they're getting worn down to no tread or very little tread, consider how much fun you can have getting new tires, and being safer!

 

 

Rear plate on the hatch

Today I also went to the DMV two times and finally gave them all the paperwork they wanted to register the car in Virginia. Since you probably already know all about how much fun it is to go to the DMV, I'll skip all the details and just share these two shots front and back, now with a front license plate for the first time ever.



Newly installed license plate holder, had to screw this into the plastic bumper

When the lady at DMV pulled out some license plates and the little red stickers showing that my registration is good through July of 2017, believe it or not the stickers "JUL" and "17" reminded me of F1 driver Jules Bianchi again, since his race car was number 17. At tomorrow's race from Hungary, all the drivers will have a reminder of the unfortunate death of Jules Bianchi just a week ago caused by a crash in a race last year. I'll have this reminder of Jules on my car for the next two years too.