A passenger can now fit in my car!

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Woo-hoo!

I'd looked for years to find a cost-effective way to mount my skis on my car, which is about as un-ski friendly as they come: a 2-seat convertible. It's not every day that I can borrow the wife's SUV, and having to once again cram the skis into my passenger seat twice already this season was getting really old, really fast. I had pretty much resigned myself to having to have a custom stealth hitch fabricated for the car (one which remains invisible when the receiver is removed), then placing my hitch-mount Thule bike rack on the hitch, and adding a ski carrier converter to the bike rack. All in all, that was a pricey option (about $350 for the custom hitch itself, plus the ski adaptor), and I really didn't feel like dropping that much coin.

Then, I found this. I only found a couple of online vendors carrying it, each at $40, but on a whim I called the local sporting goods store in the mall.

"Yeah, I think I might have some. Let me check."

He came back to the phone a few minutes later. "They're on sale half-price at $19.95, and everything in the store is 20-40% off right now, so they'd be $15.96."

I ran right over. At that price I bought two, for those times that I'd need to carry a third or fourth pair on the driver's side of the car. They store like nothing in the trunk, take a whopping 3 seconds each to mount and dismount, and could easily be thrown in the ski bag on a trip for use with a rental car. Security's an issue, but if I need to go in some place for a while I could just throw them in the car for while I'm away from it. I could also easily cable lock them (I use a rather heavy bike-size Master cable) to the roll bars behind the seats if I park in a populated place for only an hour or two. Opening and closing the door with the skis on is no problem.

Below is the new rockin' setup. Darned if I can find my old binding covers, so I'll have to pick up a few the next time I'm out at the shop.

Just curious, does anyone have experience with these?
 

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Nadine has a pair similar to that around here somewhere. Never had an issue with them, except, as you noted, the security worries.

Suprised you didn't go with the magnetic ones sideways on the trunk! (See, you DO need shorter skis!)
 
Chromer":3ni9lf8b said:
Suprised you didn't go with the magnetic ones sideways on the trunk! (See, you DO need shorter skis!)

Snowblades might work that way. :lol:

Seriously, though, I was afraid of marring the finish. Not that it isn't marred already after all those miles -- the hood is frightfully chipped.
 
Marc.... Bud....
I think you are missing one very important point. Although a Z3 is one heck of a fun car in the summer.... To drive one in the snow, even with winter rubber, is insane.
Power + Rear wheel drive + short wheelbase +snow = suicide.

Have you ever spun it out or gotten stuck on your way to a powder day?
 
Ryan":rbuwe7sp said:
Marc.... Bud....
I think you are missing one very important point. Although a Z3 is one heck of a fun car in the summer.... To drive one in the snow, even with winter rubber, is insane.
Power + Rear wheel drive + short wheelbase +snow = suicide.

Have you ever spun it out or gotten stuck on your way to a powder day?

Happy to report that I've done neither.

In ordinary circumstances I'd agree with you, but the Green Diamond tires turn that puppy into something of a hybrid between a mountain goat and a snowmobile. It's truly amazing what the right rubber on all four paws will do. I've driven it many, many times into northern Vermont and even far northern Québec in winter without any difficulty whatsoever. I've had the car for 6 years and 128k miles of driving in all weather, and I'm very comfortable with doing so. My only limitation is ground clearance, but in that respect it's not much different than any other compact 2WD car.
 
Those tires are possibly the coolest thing that i have ever seen in rubber. I am a huge Bridgestone Blizzak fan but I may have to try a set of these out when I need a new set os snow tires. Are they noisy or anything?
 
I have seen some, but never heard anything about them.

Marc, you can buy an old 1973 Chrysler Newport for less than a few hundrends buys, you have the power, the rear wheel drive and you wouldn't need a ski rack. :wink:

I remember a teammate had one in the 80s and he could fit some 223cm DH skis in the trunk. :lol:
 
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