"Will Drive For Rims": Part 5 - Back to New York City

As I drove out of the dealership parking lot, I realized that I had not even looked at the rims I had put on my car up close. In fact, those 18" wheels I had on could be all scratched up with curb rash, or the tires could have been worn down to the nub without me even knowing it. In my half-panic during the swap, I had forgotten all the basic stuff in a trade.

At the first gas station that came my way, I gassed up and inspected my new wheels. Looked good. No scuffs. Tread was very good. I got back on the road. There wasn't any vibration that would signal a bent wheel.

Back on the road, I took note of the additional tire hum which was expected on larger wheels. The feel of the larger wheels gave the car a much more sporting drive, but still compliant. In fact, I felt I could probably go up to 20" wheels and still feel comfortable. So, hey it probably really ended up as a good deal for me.

Driving back to Chicago for an overnight stopover before I headed back to NY. I took my folks out to dinner and when they got on the car I discovered that with additional passengers, the ride became even more compliant to the point of almost being cushy. Nice sporty ride when you're alone, comfy cruiser when with passengers. Nice.

The next day, the Weather Channel freaked me out with its forecast for my route back to NY. "Very High Risk of Thunderstorms and Tornados" along my entire route. Flipping to other stations, there were floods in Indianapolis and Milwaukee. Was I just a day away from disaster? I turned off the TV immediately so that my folks would not get too worried.

Turns out that the drive home was quite pleasant. Except for what looked like a tornado in the distance in Ohio, the dark skies that barely turned into rainm and frequent stops for coffee, the only interesting event was a stop at Long John Silvers somewhere in Pennsylvania. I dubbed it "the fast food joint that time forgot", as the furniture were still circa 1970's and not in a good way. I was out of there in a hurry after wolfing down my root beer float and tilapia platter.

At around 11:30 I was back in NYC. Day is done, mission accomplished. Just need to break down the expenses:

Mileage: $240
Swap at the dealership: $120
Misc: $170
Grand total: $530

Not quite ending up "free", I think. In fact, I would have been better off buying a set of wheels and selling my stock wheels on Ebay (if I could find a set of OEM 18" wheels - these cars are pretty rare). But hey, what would be the fun in that?