Northern Virginia Stingers

[Luminary]

opinions, anyone? Should I go for that?

Absolutely! I would do that in a hot minute if I had the option.

 

[StingerNick]

Absolutely! I would do that in a hot minute if I had the option.

Just get rid of the front plate all together. I won’t even bother with having a front plate. You may get pulled over once in the next 5 years. My mom hasn’t had a front plate on her Camero for 8 years. No issues ever.

 

[SnazZ]

Just get rid of the front plate all together. I won’t even bother with having a front plate. You may get pulled over once in the next 5 years. My mom hasn’t had a front plate on her Camero for 8 years. No issues ever.

Had she been pulled over in those 8 years? I'd be surprised if a cop didn't pull someone over solely for not having a front plate.

 

[StingerNick]

Had she been pulled over in those 8 years? I'd be surprised if a cop didn't pull someone over solely for not having a front plate.

Just asked my mom. She’s says it’s been 10 years without ever being pulled over for the tag. She was pulled over for speeding once. The cop mentioned the front tag, but only gave her a ticket for speeding. Bottom line...go front tagless and badgeless!

 

[Rakker]

Just asked my mom. She’s says it’s been 10 years without ever being pulled over for the tag. She was pulled over for speeding once. The cop mentioned the front tag, but only gave her a ticket for speeding. Bottom line...go front tagless and badgeless!

What I find most interesting is that your mom drives a camero

 

[MerlintheMad]

Had she been pulled over in those 8 years? I'd be surprised if a cop didn't pull someone over solely for not having a front plate.

Maybe NoVA is like Utah and no front plate is not a "first offense", i.e. cops won't cite you for no plate unless they tack that citation onto an already citable offense like speeding. And even then most won't bother unless you piss them off.

 

[17th_Letter]

so whats new with the Nova crowd? who got new mods or new stories?

 

[GRich]

so whats new with the Nova crowd? who got new mods or new stories?

Getting sway bars installed Friday morning. Going to install the "BMS Brake Switch" sometime this week and planning to hit the track on Friday night. Ran a 12.33 last time I was there with really warm weather. Hopefully with cooler temps and the BMS Brake Switch installed, I'll run sub 12.

 

[17th_Letter]

nice time, where are you running at? what is map 8?

 

[StingerNick]

So last night Waze took me all through the back roads from Manassas to my house. I tried to use my auto-high beams, but they weren’t working so I messed with the lights and accidentally turn them all the way off and freaked out in complete darkness and turned my lights on as fast as I could.

Well....my lights stayed on ALL night and my battery was dead this morning because apparently I turned my light to the “always on” setting in my panic in the darkness.

I’m super surprised that the lights didn’t turn off by themselves after 10 mins or so. They would on my 2016 Optima.

I’ll call Kia road side assistance to get a jump after work (since it’s free). I just don’t feel like opening my brand new jumper cables.

Should I just get a new battery? Did I mess up the battery by draining in?

 

[davebo]

No the battery is just fine. Hopefully after giving it a jump your commute was long enough to at least mostly recharge it, and if not I'm sure it'll get there under normal use anyway. That's good to know about the lights though. I've definitely manually turned them on when it was wet outside during daylight and not bright enough to come on automatically, but then forgot and left it that way when I parked, but they went off. So I'm not even sure how you set them to always stay on, but I'll have to keep an eye out for that. It's definitely a concern inside D.C. where you may encounter a valet who manually turns lights on when retrieving your car, so definitely keep that in mind too.

 

[StingerNick]

No the battery is just fine. Hopefully after giving it a jump your commute was long enough to at least mostly recharge it, and if not I'm sure it'll get there under normal use anyway. That's good to know about the lights though. I've definitely manually turned them on when it was wet outside during daylight and not bright enough to come on automatically, but then forgot and left it that way when I parked, but they went off. So I'm not even sure how you set them to always stay on, but I'll have to keep an eye out for that. It's definitely a concern inside D.C. where you may encounter a valet who manually turns lights on when retrieving your car, so definitely keep that in mind too.

Thanks, good to know my battery isn’t a total loss. I always keep the “auto-on” setting, so I never need to worry about turning the lights on/off. The downside to that is exactly what you said...when I take my car in for service they ALWAYS turn my lights off. Then later that night I’ll be driving around for a bit with my lights off, which is always fun to realize halfway though your drive.

 

[davebo]

I'm one of those guys who always complains into the abyss "turn your lights on idiot!" when someone is driving their grey car in the pouring rain with no lights on during daylight hours. Then wouldn't you know it a couple years ago I had to drive my boss's 2003 Honda Odyssey into D.C. for a gig since it holds all the equipment, pack it up to leave D.C. right before dusk so it's still light out. By the time we get through GW Parkway and make it to 495 it's pitch black outside and people are flashing their lights at me. That van doesn't even HAVE auto lights and I was just driving with nothing, so I'm the idiot I complain about too.

 

[MerlintheMad]

So last night Waze took me all through the back roads from Manassas to my house. I tried to use my auto-high beams, but they weren’t working so I messed with the lights and accidentally turn them all the way off and freaked out in complete darkness and turned my lights on as fast as I could.

Well....my lights stayed on ALL night and my battery was dead this morning because apparently I turned my light to the “always on” setting in my panic in the darkness.

I’m super surprised that the lights didn’t turn off by themselves after 10 mins or so. They would on my 2016 Optima.

I’ll call Kia road side assistance to get a jump after work (since it’s free). I just don’t feel like opening my brand new jumper cables.

Should I just get a new battery? Did I mess up the battery by draining in?

I've done this too: last year on UT 6, in pitch darkness, I managed to turn my headlights OFF when trying to either turn high beams ON or OFF, I can't remember which: and I bumped the stalk and OFF!!! My son panicked before I did. "DAD!?" And then I had them back on. Haven't done it again.

I just this morning read this: "The interior lights automatically turn off approximately 20 minutes after the ignition switch is turned off, if the lights are in the ON position." Obviously, if the car will turn off the interior lights, it will also turn off the headlights no matter which position you select. And sure enough, on page 4 | 114, we read: "Battery Saver Function, The purpose of this feature is to prevent the battery from being discharged if the lights are left in the ON position. The system automatically shuts off the parking lights 30 seconds after the ignition key is removed and the driver's door is opened and closed." 4 | 115, "When the light switch is in the headlight position, the head, tail, license lights will turn ON. *NOTICE The ignition switch must be in the ON position to turn on the headlights."

So it should be functionally impossible to leave your headlights ON. At most, the parking/DRL lights will still be ON when you turn your car OFF; and they all turn OFF 30 seconds after you get out and shut the door. So! You've got an issue of some kind that needs looking at.

 

[StingerNick]

I've done this too: last year on UT 6, in pitch darkness, I managed to turn my headlights OFF when trying to either turn high beams ON or OFF, I can't remember which: and I bumped the stalk and OFF!!! My son panicked before I did. "DAD!?" And then I had them back on. Haven't done it again.

I just this morning read this: "The interior lights automatically turn off approximately 20 minutes after the ignition switch is turned off, if the lights are in the ON position." Obviously, if the car will turn off the interior lights, it will also turn off the headlights no matter which position you select. And sure enough, on page 4 | 114, we read: "Battery Saver Function, The purpose of this feature is to prevent the battery from being discharged if the lights are left in the ON position. The system automatically shuts off the parking lights 30 seconds after the ignition key is removed and the driver's door is opened and closed." 4 | 115, "When the light switch is in the headlight position, the head, tail, license lights will turn ON. *NOTICE The ignition switch must be in the ON position to turn on the headlights."

So it should be functionally impossible to leave your headlights ON. At most, the parking/DRL lights will still be ON when you turn your car OFF; and they all turn OFF 30 seconds after you get out and shut the door. So! You've got an issue of some kind that needs looking at.

 

[StingerNick]

Very interesting! Thanks for all the good info. I just check my house camera...my headlights were on from 8:30pm to 6:30am. Hopefully I can just jump it and my problems will float away....

 

[Rakker]

Getting sway bars installed Friday morning. Going to install the "BMS Brake Switch" sometime this week and planning to hit the track on Friday night. Ran a 12.33 last time I was there with really warm weather. Hopefully with cooler temps and the BMS Brake Switch installed, I'll run sub 12.

What track do you go to?

 

[Rakker]

Getting sway bars installed Friday morning. Going to install the "BMS Brake Switch" sometime this week and planning to hit the track on Friday night. Ran a 12.33 last time I was there with really warm weather. Hopefully with cooler temps and the BMS Brake Switch installed, I'll run sub 12.

I did the BMS brake switch too. Let's just say it's not a good idea for a RWD . I'm looking to get a better tire setup and saw you have 285s on the back, what wheels are you using?

 

[StingerNick]

Very interesting! Thanks for all the good info. I just check my house camera...my headlights were on from 8:30pm to 6:30am. Hopefully I can just jump it and my problems will float away....

Jumped it last night and it started right up. Drive it around for 20 mins last night, then it started this morning. It did end up reset all my settings though.

Here’s a good video that shows the specific jumper cable contact points...very helpful!

 

[GRich]

I did the BMS brake switch too. Let's just say it's not a good idea for a RWD . I'm looking to get a better tire setup and saw you have 285s on the back, what wheels are you using?

Currently I have a staggered set of Verde Parallax 20x9 front 20x10 rear. I need to get better tires so I'm hooking better off the line. But my current tires are all-weather, so I'm hoping I can get through this winter with them and buy a set of max performance summer tires next March. I still have my old Kia wheels, so I can just switch them out the following winter.

nice time, where are you running at? what is map 8?

Map 8 is the map you use on the JB4 when you are running WMI (water methanol injection). I go to Capitol Raceway in Crofton, MD

I did the BMS brake switch too. Let's just say it's not a good idea for a RWD . I'm looking to get a better tire setup and saw you have 285s on the back, what wheels are you using?

Yeah... the BMS brake switch is really only for AWD cars.