Engine Coolant Temperature!! (Is there a way to display it?)

[Mechanic]

Eggman,
. . . . I am not using a firewall provided by Spectrum. Their modem is hooked up to the cable feed. That is plugged into my Linksys 1 Gb Router/Firewall. I changed all of the logon credentials. It has an extremely random password with lots of weird stuff in it. My computers are then plugged into the Linksys Router/Firewall. As far as the Internet is concerned my computers don't exist. Only the Router/Firewall. All of my personal information is kept locally on my primary server. I do not use the cloud for anything. If I can't download and install a program on my workstation then I don't need it. Again the question is how much security do you want to give up for convenience? I give up convenience for security.
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

[Mechanic]

Eggman,
. . . . Nope! Mexico??
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

[Eggman]

Eggman,
. . . . I am not using a firewall provided by Spectrum. Their modem is hooked up to the cable feed. That is plugged into my Linksys 1 Gb Router/Firewall. I changed all of the logon credentials. It has an extremely random password with lots of weird stuff in it. My computers are then plugged into the Linksys Router/Firewall. As far as the Internet is concerned my computers don't exist. Only the Router/Firewall. All of my personal information is kept locally on my primary server. I do not use the cloud for anything. If I can't download and install a program on my workstation then I don't need it. Again the question is how much security do you want to give up for convenience? I give up convenience for security.

Ok, again good info. Sounds like you've studied this stuff.

Here's what happened to me. Once I was having problems with my internet service and called in for help. The customer service rep tried diagnosing my connection remotely but was unable to access my home devices because I had a second firewall behind the router/modem they provided, and the CSR admitted that he tried to access my stuff. My concern is that if that organization is able to do that, what's stopping others? Is your Linksys router made stateside or overseas? Are you certain they have no backdoor access into their equipment?

[Mechanic]

Eggman,
. . . . Like I said it is off about 4 maybe 5 or maybe even 6 percent. Not a lot but as the speeds increase the absolute value starts to get large. My Protege was dead on. I want my Mirage to be dead on. It is correctable through ETACS. I saw the entry to do this. I was supposed to get this fixed a week ago Friday but then I was in NM at the time.
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

[Mechanic]

Mark,
. . . . I saw an entry in the ETACS program that allows you to do exactly this. The number that was in the entry was something like 1748 and you could change this number. Increasing the number would decrease the Speedo reading and vice-a-versa. Actually I don't have a lead foot. I have grown out of that phase but I also don't fool around with idiots. As they say I don't suffer fools gladly. Being a professional driver with 2.3 million miles under my belt I anticipate and I watch the traffic way out in front of me. I read the lights and the traffic patterns. I can cover a thousand miles a day with no problem at all.
. . . . This is only the second car that I have ever owned that had cruise control. I was always able to hold my speed with in 1 mph of what I wanted to do. If the speed limit is 70 on the open road you will find me doing 75. When it is 80 I will be doing 85 and so forth. Around town I do the speed limit. So I want an accurate Speedometer. I am impressed with this cruise. It holds the set speed very well. It only gives up on steep grades of more than 7 percent.
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

[Mark]

Mark,
. . . . When it is time for new tires I will be installing BF Goodrich Comp T/As or whatever they are calling them at the time. How large a tire can you put on a Mirage? I would like to go to 195 or even 205 if possible! If you lower the aspect ratio for every 10mm of thread width increase the overall diameter of the tire remains the same. I won't buy anything from Walmart. They betrayed the country years ago so they can stuff it.
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

I am not a big fan of wide tires on a small economy car myself. Really wide tires on light FWD cars make them somewhat worthless in snow.

Having said that, 165-185 wide tires seem to be the most common width used by members. These are widths were you don't hear members complaining about rubbing. There is a lot of tire information on the forum. You can search all that out yourself. Rim offsets and other factors come into play here.

If you have 2017+ Mirage ES, you have 4.5" x 14" rims. 4.5" wide rims fit 145-175 wide tires the best. Some members are using 185 wide tires on these narrow rims without issue, however.

For what it is worth -

165/65r14 bumped up to 175/65r14 tires seems to be the most common change with 14" tires.

For those who have 15" tires, 175/55r15 bumped up to 185/55r15 is fairly common.

175/65r14 & 185/55r15 are both 23" diameter tires, which are a 2.7% variance from 165/65r14 tires. Most tire shops like to stay within 3% variance in tire sizes. I doubt you will find a BF Goodrich tire within 3% of a Mirage factory stock size tire, but I could be wrong.

My former Honda CRV had 205 wide tires. I can't imagine using that wide of a tire on a Mirage. If you really like BF Goodrich tires (factory tires for my former Honda CRV), you may have bought the wrong car. Don't shoot the messenger here, but tire size may dictate what tires you buy in the future.

BF Goodrich is not catering to smaller tires for economy cars, but I could be wrong on that.

[Mark]

Mark,
. . . . I saw an entry in the ETACS program that allows you to do exactly this. The number that was in the entry was something like 1748 and you could change this number. Increasing the number would decrease the Speedo reading and vice-a-versa. Actually I don't have a lead foot. I have grown out of that phase but I also don't fool around with idiots. As they say I don't suffer fools gladly. Being a professional driver with 2.3 million miles under my belt I anticipate and I watch the traffic way out in front of me. I read the lights and the traffic patterns. I can cover a thousand miles a day with no problem at all.
. . . . This is only the second car that I have ever owned that had cruise control. I was always able to hold my speed with in 1 mph of what I wanted to do. If the speed limit is 70 on the open road you will find me doing 75. When it is 80 I will be doing 85 and so forth. Around town I do the speed limit. So I want an accurate Speedometer. I am impressed with this cruise. It holds the set speed very well. It only gives up on steep grades of more than 7 percent.
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

I try to stay within 5 mph of the speed limit on the highways, too. Closer to the speed limit in towns. I have never received a ticket, & I would like to keep it that way. I am also a part-time driving instructor. Clean driving record and setting a good example is important to me.

[Mechanic]

Eggman,
. . . . The Linksys equipment is very good. I know for certain that there is no backdoor into it. Someone would have to do a manual reset and that can only happen with physical access. It can be done remotely but you have to have the password and it is very long and made up of some really weird stuff. It would take a bank of super computers years to get the correct password. I don't worry about forgetting the password because I have physical access and if I ever have to I can press the little reset button for what amount of time it takes for the router to reset. I can then just install new logon credentials. I don't don't where it is physically assembled but all of the design work is done here in the states. It was probably assembled in India.
. . . . I have been using computers since the VIC-20 came out in the 1980s. I was using private BBSs and then I signed up for Compuserve. I went on the Internet through Compuserve when it became available. Almost no one knew about the Internet at the time and there was no such thing as ISPs. You either had to work for the government or have a Compuserve, AOL, or some other general provider and you weren't truly on the Internet as I am today. You were using a front end to the Internet.
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

[Mechanic]

Mark,
. . . . I won't shoot the messenger. Having said that: "Bang, bang your dead"! LOL! So I will probably go to 185/55R14 since it sounds like 195 will be too wide and will rub. I have tried Pirelli, Firestone, Goodyear, Goodrich, and others and I like the Goodrich tires the best. I get good traction in all weather conditions and they last me about 40K miles. It will be a while before I will need any tires. Any thoughts on how long the stock tires will last?
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

[Mechanic]

Mark,
. . . . I haven't received any tickets in decades. I also like to set an example. There is a motorcyclist who is a live today because I was a little bit under the speed limit. The pavement was wet and I was in Baraboo, WI. I saw the guy coming down a slight hill off to my right and I was just entering the intersection. He had a stop sign and I could tell that he was going too fast to stop. He laid the bike down and I was on the brakes for all it was worth. The tires were squawking. The Protege didn't have ABS so it was up to me to keep the tires rolling. He came to a stop in the middle of my lane and I stopped about 2 feet short of him. If I had been doing the speed limit, talking on the phone, reading, doing my hair or nails, or any of the other stupid things that so many do I would have driven over the top of him. Fortunately he was wearing full leathers and a helmet. The worst that happened were some scrapes and bruises and most of that was to the bike. Good out come that could have been entirely different.
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!