AlwaysThirteen's (micro) Build Thread

Well after being in sports cars my entire life, I've had a reverse mid-life crisis and bought myself a 2012 Blizzard Pearl / Dark Grey interior Prius five. The car has the ATP and came with tinted windows, floor & trunk mats, mudguards, and bumper protector. I picked up the car a week ago and I am really enjoying it.

So far I've switched out the interior lights with LED's from Superbright LED's and also replaced the floor and trunk mats with Weathertech digitalfit floorliners. By the way, they weigh .5lbs more than the stock mats. This was a bit of a surprise. All the more reason I'm gonna have to have the additional weight savings of the Plus 17 inch wheels...

Anyway, on the 11th of this month I will have the TRD (Prius Plus) springs and rear sway bar installed, along with the Tanabe strut tower brace and Rude person's's front under brace. I'll update with more pics after this is complete. As it stands right now, it looks like I'll be ordering the Plus 17 inch wheels, but there's a slight chance I may go with something else.

I also wanted to say thanks to everyone in this amazing community as I've been lurking here for many months and you all played a big part in my decision to purchase the Prius. I look forward to joining the discussion!







The first pic was a update to this original of my previous car.

 

I love it. I had the option of getting Radar cruise on my last car but opted out because I didn't think it was something I would use. Wrong! It has become one of those features that will be a must on any car I purchase in the future. LKA, it's ok. I would say it saved me a couple of times on my drive home from the dealership when I first picked up the car as I was paying more attention to figuring out all the audio/nav/apps than to the road, but I really haven't used it much since. For me it's been the right decision.

 

Yeah, I'm fairly certain that I'm going to order the Plus wheels tonight. My car does have the upgraded mid brace, what I ordered from Rude person's is the front under brace. See here. Totally agree about the drop, can't wait to get mine installed.

 

I was set to order the Plus wheels today and then I came across these. New Gram Lights. 17lbs, and they come in 17x7 with either 50mm or 42mm offset. Price is only about $20 more per wheel than the Plus.

 

I'm not sold on them yet, I've emailed a couple people about prices and availability. This is one of the vendors I emailed. Also, it looks like the weight is actually about 17.5lbs.

 

Ok, Plus springs and sway bar, Tanabe strut tower bar and Rude person's's front under brace installed. I ordered the Plus wheels today so once I get them in and mounted I'll get an alignment. That should be plenty of time to let the springs settle. Really like the changes the above parts have made to the car's handling and looks. Cell phone pics attached:

Stock Front compared to Plus Front.

 

If anyone is interested in the Gram Lights, the best price I was quoted was $1543.00 shipped from Upgrade Motoring. That was for a set of Graphite in 17x7

 

I'm planning on it. I was waiting until I got the Plus wheels, but I'll try and see what I can do.

 

A man's gotta try...

 

Do it!!

 

I weighed the stock 17's and the Plus 17's and here are the results. Stock 23.8 lbs and Plus 18.8 lbs.