As much as I’m all for talking shit when people fuck something up, I felt nothing other than genuinely sorry for his pit crew when he suddenly showed up in his pit-box out of nowhere with a destroyed front wing. Those poor guys were scrambling, and it was clear that none of them had any idea what had happened.

Im not questioning replacing them. I'm questioning replacing them... and then growing the fleet size. There are only ~60 B1s in active service, and only a handful of B2s. Does America really need this many bombers... at 2/3 of a billion dollars apiece?

We have ~100 B1 Lancers, and only, like, ~25 B2 Stealths...

This new bomber is, I’m assuming, better in every way. Why do we need more than TWICE as many?! I mean, if they cost $12 each, then sure, buy a bajillion of them... but they cost 2/3 of a BILLION dollars... EACH!!! WTF.

Most are, but they also have some more budget-friendly options for us poors, lol.

Let’s just say I raided Area 51 before it was cool ;)

Yeah, several other folks have brought up vehicle weight, and it is a fair point!

Everyone is secretly laughing at me because I don’t have GT350R-sized brakes on a 2800 lb car? I’m fine with that, then, because those folks are the idiots who don’t understand the importance of lower unsprung mass ;)

You might want to look up the definition of the word "hyperbole" before making any more of an ass of yourself ;)

An excellent point. I've always had either Michelin Pilot Super Sports, or Pilot Sport 4Ss on these wheels, and they have relatively thick sidewalls... I think.

Pretty sure!

I drive her year-round! 5 winters, and no issues so far. She even goes ice racing up on the frozen lakes of Wisconsin :)

I don't disagree with anything you just said! I just wanted to point out that my personal experience in a less-than-ideal environment has led me to believe that low-profile tires aren't necessarily a death sentence. There are a lot of variables to consider, though, for sure!

This is the Formula kit, so it’s more of an OEM style replacement than the hardcore Essex Competition brake kits. The pads can be slid in and out, yes, but it does require tapping out two pins first (no idea why they didn’t make them threaded rods or something, lol.) I haven’t needed to swap them yet, so dunno how…

You must not be from Chicago, or any major urban area... A slight shift in lane position to avoid a pothole is pretty common here. It doesn’t cause a clusterfuck of swerving and braking behind you the way you might be picturing, lol.

Thanks! I think she looks a'ight! :P

And had you read just a tiny bit further, you’d have seen the part where I state that this is only my personal, anecdotal experience, and that it is not an argument against the advantages of a larger tire for the general public.

The point I was making was that a lot of punctures are a result of people absent-mindedly…

That’s one use I’ve found for fog lights. Granted, stock fog lights don’t do much of anything, but I replaced mine with some LED units (complete with a proper housing to ensure accurate optics and a sharp cutoff that won’t blind oncoming traffic.) At night, those low-mounted lights do a good job of showing the texture…

Just pop them with a needle and carry on! :P

They are flow-formed wheels; not forged. And even so, that wouldn’t help reduce the likelihood of tire damage; only wheel damage. But you’re right, the wheels themselves aren’t quite as prone to physical damage as many other aftermarket wheels!

Ack! Good excuse to upgrade to some stickies, though! Lol.