2014 C suspension upgrades

About a month ago, I put on my Kosei K5R 15x7 wheels, at 11.8 lbs each (vs 15 lbs of stock wheels). They have stock offset, so there was no change in torque steer characteristics. Before I installed the wheels, I considered wheel spacers to fill out the wheelwells. Glad I did not buy the spacers. The extra width of the Kosei wheels (stock 5.5" wide, Kosei 7" wide) filled out the gap just fine, at least for my tastes.

Last week, I installed the 22mm Whiteline rear sway bar that was originally designed for the Yaris. It was a very easy install, and did not need to make any mods- it bolted right in place, no fuss, no muss! There are no strange noises, and nothing appears to be rubbing or hitting. Didn't even know it was there at first. I installed it on the softest setting, just in case it was too much bar. Right away, I found that it made an obvious difference in turn-in, which is now much quicker. Also, placing the car on the road is much better...you steer it where you want it to be, it goes there, even if you are already in a steady-state corner. Very precise. So then I took it out on a mountain road with very very sharp benders and bumps, and threw it around some at the limits. I came up on a corner that was sharper than expected, and was forced to make a quick yank at the wheel such as I used to see when road racing when I had built up too much momentum. This resulted in suddenly screeching tires. From that unexpected course correction I found that the car is now mostly nuetral, with some small amount of understeer at the limits. Also found there was still some turn-in left. If this were a race car, I would immediately adjust the bar to the stiffest setting, so that I could trail-brake...but this is the road, not the track. For now, the softest setting is just about right for me on the street.

I still have my Tanabe lowering springs to install, and still unsure about them. I would like the car a little lower (.8" front, 1.2" rear), but for the street? do not know. I can't find any videos on lowering spring installation for the Prius C. Anybody know of one?

 

Easy as all hell.

 

I also was thinking about getting the Tanabee lowering springs .8 and 1.2. My question is, would I need to replace the struts as well? If so which ones are good? I use this car everyday and don't want to harshen up the ride too much. Also the Tanabee springs that make the C a bit more lower than what I said before claims a smooth ride still. Does anyone have these springs on their C and please let me know how the ride is? Thanks

 

That little of a drop hurts struts/shocks very very very little. Lots of people run over 2 inch drop on stock struts for over 20k.

 

Thanks for that info.

 

Ya, that's what I heard...no problem for the stock struts. May have them installed tomorrow, if the price is right. If not, I'll tackle it myself...easy as hell, Mertech says...

 

All hell. Hardest part is the top of the front suspension. Only A Few wrenches and sockets are NEEDED. A spring compressor is advised but not NECESSARY. If use one if going with such a small of a drop spring as they are likely very close to the same length as stock and thus will most likely need to be compressed. The ghetto autozone spring compressor MAY work but they pretty much blow. If you can find a shop that will do it for less than 150 i'd say do it. When I was in the scion scene I charged a mere 50 dollars. These are a bit more of a pain and the longer springs will again slightly add to the difficulty.

I was/am still able to install most xA/xB lowering springs without a spring compressor and in less than 45 minutes. Fastest time ever was 20 minutes as I hated the being in the company of the owner.

 

Cool, please let me know how you like them and how the ride has changed. Also please post some pics. I want to get an idea of all of these things before I purchase.

 

I just couldn't help myself so I went and ordered the Tanabe NF210 springs. I should have them by next week. They are the ones that are .8" lowering in the front and 1.1" in the rear. I don't want to get too crazy because this is my daily driver. That along with the TRD rear sway bar and the Rude person's mid-chassis brace should be a big improvement on handling. Also lets not forget that the less chassis flex the better the acceleration as well which leads to better MPG because more power is going straight to the wheels instead of getting lost in chassis flex. Can't wait till I have everything installed.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that I installed the Rude person's mid-chassis brace yesterday. Took me about 2 minutes to install. I haven't really drove enough to see how it really works but I do feel a little improvement from what I have driven so far. I know it won't be a big change but combined with the other items I'm getting it will all make a difference

 

I want to get rid of my Rude person's brace and ultra racing rear chassis brace and go for the oem g's brace that kind of combines the two. About the same price as buying the two separately too. Let me find and link it

http://pages.ebay.com/motors/link/?nav=item.view&id=331572140720&alt=web

 

I didn't know about the G's brace. I have to check it out

 

It's pretty new or at least newly available. Looks like heavy steel so i'm sure it by far weighs more than most but yeah, looks nice. Reminds me of the ultra brace x braces in how it ties multiple parts together.

 

Just took mine to some roads on/around Blue Ridge. With TRD bar in the back and camber kit in front and added neg camber lil' Prius was so much fun to take around corners. Camber kit $20 delivered

 

Thats a very unique brace. I havent seen it before. Thanks for linking it.

 

Did you take off the tires and jack up the car when you installed the TRD away at? I was wondering if I can do it without jacking the car up

 

I just drove the back wheels up onto ramps.

 

Ok, thanks. I got mine today and was thinking about going out and installing it in a few minutes

 

Yup about 15 minutes or so

 

Cool, thanks