*MODIFICATION JOURNAL* I got my hands on the girlfriend's Prius ...here is what I did.

This is my first thread in this forum, hopefully it is a good one.

Simply put: I love to modify cars most of my efforts have been put towards my past (E39 M5) and current (535xi Wagon) BMWs.

Now that I am living with my girlfriend, her Prius is within striking distance. Although a Prius is a far departure from a car I would own personally, and also not a car that typically goes under the knife for cosmetic and performance mods, I believe every car can be made better: more comfortable, more functional, exciting, and more aesthetically pleasing. It is all about understanding the purpose and character of the car and enhancing that. Below are some of the changes which, in my eyes, make the Prius a better car.

The best thing about modifying this car is the price! Everything is so cheap! The mods completed thus far only total a couple hundred dollars, a fraction of what things "typically" cost. In addition, the maintenance, repairs, and difficulty of wrenching is super low....awesome. This car really is a peach to work on coming from my overengineered BMW.

For those of you who may be shaking your heads at my gas guzzlers, you might be interested in knowing that my wagon, came from the factory with an EPA 16/23mpg. After my modifications it gets about 21/30mpg and this is with power around 450hp and 510lb/ft which for those who don't understand what that means; it is like having the power of 6 Prii.

I have some more mods in the works and will update the thread once they are completed and documented, in the meantime I hope you enjoy modding journals as much as I do! All of this has happened in the past 14 days!

Evan


My previous M5


My current weapon


Rear when I started


Debadged and license plate frame blacked out


Dipped emblem


Side emblems would be removed if there wasn't 2 holes in the fender! I learned this the hard way.


Reconditioning the rear diffuser. The right side is how it was originally, the left side is after some elbow grease.


Now left side is after elbow grease and right side is with some Mothers Back to Black


After restore


OEM Antenna


Stubby


Cree XB-D signal and reverse bulbs. I got them through a seller on AliExpress, quality is fine and performance is great, they arrived from China in a week. A relay was also installed to eliminate "hyperflashing."


I hate yellow/amber/orange on cars, I CAN'T STAND IT!


Installed


Comparison: My previous bulbs were painted chrome so light output is below eom luminosity, regardless the LED bulbs are significantly better.



Reverse lights in the morning


At night


For this photo I adjusted the exposure to most accurately capture the light output.


Up next was Phase 1 of fitment. As you can see from my cars, this is a big deal to me.
Before 1


Before 2 So UGLY! LOL


Hubcentric 15mmF 25mmR


Before Install


After Install


After Spacers 1


After Spacers 2


After Spacers 3


Wheel reconditioning. The passenger side covers were in poor shape to I sanded down what I could prior to Plasti Dip.


Fun with options: OEM touring wheel, Black cover, White cover.


I later took the black and applied 2 coats of Copper Metalizer Dip.


I liked it, but didn't love it.


White got the nod, girlfriend agrees.


Plasti Dip is a great product, it pays to familiarize yourself with the application dos and don'ts prior to use.


I love how the white pops, the oem touring wheel covers are tasteful in design so it works well. I also think the white compliments the paint color (don't know the name) Minty Fresh!


I have seen a couple GenIIs with this lower-bumper-blackout that I believe is modeled after GenIIIs, and I really like it. I used plasti dip and it is a tedious process with taping the boarder and also removing the tape at the right time in the right way to hopefully leave a clean line, which can be difficult when you are using a material with the properties such as Plasti Dip.


It turned out ok, not perfect but good enough.


I also dipped the side view mirrors.


Front how it began


Dipped grill and emblem, license plate removed.


+ Dipped side mirrors and lower bumper. License plate screws did a number on the bumper the dealership realy torqued them down and created a raised surface around the hole itself (like mini volcanoes), I made the best of it by reinstalling the screws to cover the whole and painted them with oem paint to hide the eyesore as much as possible.


Much more to come!

 

Is the drop in mpg confirmed? That seems odd since the first thing I think about is aerodynamics a tidier fitment would cause less disruption around the wheel wells. I understand if the wheels were poking out in an extreme manner but simply flush puzzles me.

Maybe it would have to do with the extra load put onto the wheel bearing? If so, to create that much extra load and friction the bearings would probably be fried in a short period of time, real short.



My girlfriend came home yesterday saying, "I parked so carefully." *high-five* A mini victory for the car enthusiast. If they do get chewed up, I can simply rip them off and apply a fresh coat of Dip.


Thanks for the compliments and comments,
Evan

 

Personally I prefer to look of the covers over the actual wheels. Since the touring wheels bow inward in a convex manner it makes the wheel appear smaller than it is, and since these wheels small to begin with I think the the flat and prominent spokes on the covers do well for the car.

My wagon does have some oil leaking but internally. Although not confirmed I believe my valve sleeves seem to be showing signs of age, and one of my turbo seals may be in the same boat. Experts say that turbos on the N54 engine have loose tolerances on the turbo seals but I think it is excessive.

Thanks for the kind words, "clean" is my goal when changing the aesthetics of a car. Funny you mention smoked lights, I have some light smoke vinyl waiting to be installed on the tails. I put light smoke on all my cars as it transforms the bright red into a dark cherry color while maintaining functionality. But as we know since the Japanese love their JDM style, the Prius has no red, and although some people have added red vinyl, it is red and not dark red. I have contemplated ways to achieve a dark red tint but all the feasible options would either not be reversible, not have a gloss finish, or be extremely difficult (applying 2 layers of vinyl).

Ideally the tail lights would come apart after heating like the headlights but another member tried with no success, painting the chrome trim and reflectors black and matte silver would do wonders for the looks but it is a little too much work at this point.

My plan is to wrap the whole tail and cut out the sections for the turn signal and reverse light. The trick is cutting in the right spot to make it look proper, since there is a gap between the reflector bowls and lens you must compensate for this and possible viewing angles. I have some red LED bulbs on the way for the rear running lights to help offset the tint (and make the pink light red.

I bought them from eBay member chaching8899 quality is fine, no vibration. I have not had a chance in monitoring mpg.

I have my eyes out for a good deal on H&R springs. From the info gathered on this site they seem like the best spring option for ride quality. I also prefer their raked stance. This is definitely on the To Do List.