Plus Rear Sway Bar - impressions after install

Mike, it's going to corner harder than you will likely ever need it to. My GenII with similar mods could be pushed pretty hard. You get to a point that you reach the limits of safety instead of the limits of the car. Does that make sense? This is assuming you have the 17" wheels. The 15s cannot be pushed very hard before the lose grip and make a ton of racket.

You and Denise are going to love it! Well maybe not her since she isn't allowed to drive it.

 

That's right, its MY car and she will NOT be driving it

I know what YA mean by safety limits being met. I had a Suzuki Swift years ago that I had setup so the rear end would break loose first to basically eliminate under steer. It was both fun and scary to drive. The official order date is now this month. The Ion is worth $10k on trade so that would be a smart way to lower the total cost and save sales tax. Can't wait to get the Prius and start working on suspension & chassis braces. I like to build stuff from scratch

Mike

 

Yessir. Forester XT with the STI turbo dropped in with supporting mods + meth injection. That plus the suspension upgrades, bushings, chassis stiffening etc the car still gives me goose bumps =). I autox'd it once looking to do more track days with the car and hopefully when we have a third car will take it to a real track (pocono and limerock are closest to me).

What model year M3? How bad did the mod bug bite? If I had more income or less debts I would love to own an M3 but man building one up seems more costly. =p

I never would have thought to see so many gearheads on a prius forum. Glad I'm not the only one with a personality disorder trying to save the world and addicted to boost haha.

 

You were posting that with a giant smile.

You had me at meth injection. :hail:

I used an AlkyControl meth kit on my twin-turbo GMC Sierra 4x4. Meth is very nice!

 

Mike, I did not buy the Plus Package.

I ordered my '12LB/ATP w/Plus springs and Plus rear ASB installed at port before delivery to the dealership. I wasn't sure about the aero kit; the badges & mats weren't important to me. Being a trim 5, I have the stock 17's with the Toyo tires. To say the least, I am thrilled with this car in every way! (though I do plan to go to forged 17's soon)

Prior to this Prius, I put 85,000 miles on a MINI Cooper S Convertible that I bought new in '05 (supercharged, 6-speed manual, sport handling package, 40 series-17's), that is very sticky and quick.

Comparing the two, first - the Prius is heavier. Also, I've not pushed the car hard yet, she is too new. 80 mph cruising, high speed ramps, and a few canyon runs have put a big smile on my face. THE CAR IS FLAT IN THE TURNS! I, like you, am comforted in that my mods are part of the vehicle description, therefore covered by Toyota service and warranty.

Having said the above, my ride quality is a major improvement in smoothness, comfort, and quiet - compared to the MINI. The MINI has been a blast, but it is harsh. A 500 mile trip in the MINI makes you want to get a room! The Prius just takes you there in style with a smile.

How's this for a bonus? My car arrived here with nearly a full tank of gas and 3 miles on the ODO (thank you Dianne Whitmire!). I drove off that tank with vehicle break-in in mind - I kept no records. At 360 miles and two bars in the tank, I paid 10 cents extra for an E0 fill up (no ethanol - $3.45/gal), and reset trip A and trip B to zero. I am now at about 60-65% full on that tank.

As of tonight with tires at 45/42 psi, trip A is indicating 224 miles @ 51.4 mpg and trip B is indicating 119 miles @ 54.4 mpg. Of course, I've not done any calc's yet.

These miles are mostly in small town USA (25-30), or smaller country roads (45-50); maybe 10 to 15% freeway (65-75). For now, I am very happy with the indicated FE. BTW, when the car was BRAND new, the FE was not that high. It could have been really, really tight (which is why I took it so easy at first), or maybe the California gas was E10 or E15, who knows.

I've been driving in either normal mode or ECO, and on occasion - I've played with EV. Only once or twice have I selected PWR. Holy cow - PWR mode is very noticeable! I can't wait to use that when the time is right.

By next Thursday morning I should have 700 to 800 Miles, ODO. That is when I leave for a quick run to Sun N Fun in Lakeland, Florida (2600 miles, R/T). After that I should have a much better feel for what this car is all about. As for now, I am very happy.

It feels like it is on rails, without being noisy or harsh.

I can't wait to hear about your Plus!

MrBill

 

Yep, wet my pants on that TT pic. Thanks.

 

Here's a question about the rear sway bar:

Is the Scion XB TRD rear sway bar the exact same bar as the Prius TRD bar? I know there are folks here who are using this bar for their Prius. One is white and the other is red.

And if it is the same why is the Prius version more $'s than the Xb's bar?

Any one know? Post up please!

 

Just a FYI, if you did not torque your rear shock bolts to the ~70 ft-lbs, you really ought to.

I installed mine really late one night and I guess my "arm calibration" was off that night. The bolts were probably torqued to 30-40 ft lbs.

Last night, I decided to get out the torque wrench and torque them to 70 ft-lbs. The bolts moved about 1/5 of a turn.

It may just be my head, but I feel the rear shocks are now doing a better job and the car handles even better. The very slight clunk from the rear that I used to have is also gone.

 

A couple suggestion:
- Tanabe STB and perhaps under-brace (~$200, 3-4hr to put)
- high flow filter (I have K&N)

with STB and to lesser degree underbrace steering is lighter and more precise. It feels like someone took a fat sharpie out of your had and replaced with a fine ball pen. Not a surgical knife yet but at least it doesn't feel like a land barge any more.

THe K&N made ECO mode my primary driving mode, the annoying lag is gone.

 

No kidding, really?

MB860 ?

 

Wow I'm interested in this as well. What does the butt dyno tell you? Are you seeing better mpg with the k&n as well?

Samsung Epic ?.

 

Have you noticed an improvement in stability in cross winds? Or is it too much to ask of a simple sway bar?

 

here some post on that with pro and cons http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...anyone-else-running-k-n-filter-in-geniii.html

with respect to MPG not sure. Initially it probably went down b/c of sharper throttle response, harder to control throttle and hypermil. A year later I do not switch out of ECO at all and with Energy Savers I am getting upper 50s low 60s indicated, so it may be part of it?