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

Installed the Chassis brace, Progress rear sway, and Corolla front sway. Brace took me 5 minutes to install, rear sway was 10, and front sway was 3.5 hours, lol. My work is for the most part slow and deliberate.

I intentionally installed all 3 components at the same time to make the improvement as dramatic as possible. The results were pleasantly surprising and significantly improved body control and balance. Highly recommended.

Also, had some Johnson "Marathon 35" tint installed all-around save the windshield. I run Marathon 20 on my wagon and enjoy the product, nearly complete UV protection and ~50-60 heat rejection IIRC. These pictures are a little dark and make the tint look darker than it really is. 35 is a nice compromise between form and function, with the emphasis on function.

Lastly, I was getting the VSC Light in conjunction with some other odd things like the fuel gauge reading empty, many of the accessory functions like radio, clock, door locks, nav, and interior lighting were not responding. I replaced the battery to no avail and found out it was a blown "dome" fuse, replaced it and the issues went away so I installed the original battery. The fuse blew a few more times until continued to check the battery voltage and I was getting reading from 10-11.7 volts after it has sat overnight. Decided to replace the battery again and the issue has now subsided and the fuse is normal. I am uncertain if and how they are related but regardless the Prius is sitting pretty with a new Yellow Top Battery, so far so good.

Evan

 

Wheels, tires, and springs are in the works...

 

Full LED Interior and Exterior Lighting (except HID headlight bulbs)

I purchased some of those SMD 5050 panels that come with the different base adapters off eBay. They work fairly well, some of the panels show a variation in the kelvin rating but most people won't notice, only Type-A car-nerds like myself. The interior lights are bright but I really wish Toyota added some footwell or puddle lamps in the rear, for this reason the rear dome light is very bright but also kind of polarizing with it's intensity, its all good if you don't look directly at it.

In the headlight I swapped the front amber LED marker lights for white, I prefer white>amber.

Eibach lowering springs are ordered, along with a Tanabe front under brace.

Evan



Tanabe brace arrived today...


Red was a little much, no need to draw attention to to components like this IMO.


Installed


Hard to tell the difference but the Prius does do well for itself in sweeping turns.


I took this opportunity to measure clearance for the soon-to-be new rubber and wheels


The Bridgestone Turanzas are on their way out, they will be replaced with some wider Hankook V12s


Here is a better shot of the white marker lights to installed. Off


On

 

Wiper Delete

 

I found a steal on some SSR Professor SP1s locally via craigslist. After test fitting a wheel and confirming I could "make them work" I solidified the transaction. The wheels are 18x8.5 et47 from a 2004 Subaru WRX STI, the high offset works on the Prius and it could actually be higher as there is an additional 10mm or so for the wheel to clear the strut but not at this width. When turning full-lock there was some tire to wheel liner rubbing but I think that will be resolved with some new narrower rubber. The tires came with 255/35 Bridgestones and Goodyears and I will be running 225/40 Hankook V12s.

The wheels were in great shape considering they are over a decade old and have served life in the Bay Area, the owner had never reconditioned the wheels, only "wash and wipe" and I think it speaks volumes to the quality of the wheels. That being said there were some 3 small flat spots and 4 areas of minor curb rash. Although they were hardly noticeable and wouldn't affect performance I wanted to get them repaired. The wheels were dropped off at Wheel Technique in Santa Clara, one of the only wheel repair shops in my area that can legitimately and 100% restore these polished wheels. The price to repair the wheels is almost as much as I paid for the wheels themselves, most of the amount invested will probably be recovered when I eventually sell these, another perk of owning high quality wheels (and taking good care of them). My girlfriend has been very good about avoiding curbs since I have been dating her, I hope this trend continues.

The center caps were a little dated (and huge), so I ordered a newer set of lower profile caps to go along with the black steel lug-nuts. To complete the package I ordered another set of TPMS so the stock wheels can stay assembled and functional as reserve wheels. Interestingly the WRX STI hub bore was 56.1 and the Prius 54.1 but the wheel are 64.0 or 64.1, the original owner never had any alignment issues so I doubt I will either but just to be safe I ordered a set of 54.1 -> 64.1 hubcentric rings as it will only help.

Evan

 

Although I am a fan of dip, these wheels will not receive any, it feels like bit on injustice on wheels like this (but I will do it to my own wheels lol). I am not a huge fan of polished wheels as they are a bit flashy but the faces of these have a tinted clear coat I believe which darkens things slightly. Ideally they would be powder coated a gunmetal finish or something similar but when examining the hardware these isn't much room around each recessed screw and I think powdercoating would add too much material and the screws wouldn't seat properly. I have powdercoated a couple of my MTB frames and it is quiet thick sometimes.

I will leave the wheels as-is now, polished wheels look much better on cars that are kept clean and since I keep my girlfriend's car pretty on-point, I think it may work. Down the road they may get a different treatment.

On my previous E39 M5 I bought a set of full polished DPE S20s and powdercoated the faces before I even installed them on my car. I really like the contrast a black or dark faces adds with the exposed hardware, not to mention in conjunction with a step-lip. mmmmmmm step-lips, love em. I can't believe my girlfriend has nicer wheels than mine!

Modification battles only end in WINNING for everyone involved, more people should try and keep up!

Evan

 

Oem struts seemed to be in very good condition relative to others at the 90,000 mile mark but since I am installing H&R lowering springs I replaced all struts and mounting hardware as a precautionary measure. FYI KYB is offering a $40 rebate if you purchase a complete set, I believe it ends April 30, 2015 for those interested.

Evan

 

Wheels are back from minor repairs and tires are mounted. I was going to roll the fenders, trim the bumper/liners, and finalize the fitment but the fender-roller I borrowed turned out to be broken and I need order a different style of spacer along with some longer studs to replace the oem ones. I was eager to get these on so naturally I was frustrated with the unexpected issues but I want to make sure everything is done right.

I was able to mount the wheels with the new 225/40/18 Hankook V12 Evo2s and I am happy to report the front is perfect IMO, technically it pokes 2-3mm but it looks flush, eliminating any rubbing should be easy.

The rears will be a little more challenging. With no spacers the rears sit sunken inwards, I estimated I could use my 15mm from up front (ran with the oem wheels) but purchased an additional 10mm just in case. As it turns out 15mm is perfect but the oem studs are about 22mm in length and protrude past the 15mm spacer, they hit the mounting face of the wheel keeping it from seating properly. I went through a bunch of different scenarios in my mind and I think the best solution is to replace the rear oem studs with longer ones appropriate for 15mm spacers, buy a different non-studded 15mm spacer, and then buy open faced mag-style nuts to replace the oem prius nuts if I ever need to mount the oem wheels back on.

The pictures below of the SP1s are with a 25mm spacer added so the wheel is poking 10mm more than it will when it is all said and done. It should look pretty good. All of the new KYB suspension components have been installed along with the H&R lowering springs.

Evan

Old Center Caps


New Center Caps and new nuts


Wheel Porn


Measuring the Flushness


Little bit of poke


Looks good


At first I stacked some weights under the wheel for compression but then I realized that the prius have a solid axle and the severity of wheel-fender contact wouldn't be accurate...


...so I devised a more scientific method which included 7 bags of mulch. The other day I transported 16 bags of this stuff home in my wagon. Wagons FTW.


Oem touring wheel +25mm spacer + H&R lowering springs + 7 bags of mulch


SP1 +25mm spacer, springs, and mulch


Too much poke, about 10mm too much.


Wheels!


The car is dirty, don't judge me.

 

I assume your comment is referring to the pictures I posted and if so you may have overlooked that I plan on increase the offset from 25mm to 15mm. I plan on doing whatever it takes to fit these without rubbing. It will likely involve trimming the rear bumper and possibly the bracket (hopefully not). I will also need to cut the rearward corner of the body so it the metal lip/corner can be rolled completely flat.

To each there own. 3-piece wheels do look a little out of place on a Prius since you normally see them with beat-to-s*** hubcaps, lol.

Evan

 

Yea, most people run higher offsets because the car came that way from the factory or they don't want to run into rubbing issues (understandably so) but in general: for aesthetics and performance flush is best IMO. Hopefully the rear fender and bumper cooperate and this comes together as I plan.

Baseball bats, that is aggressive. Surprisingly that technique (and the phone book) are still used today. It seems odd with the skill and consequences involved with fender rolling and how little it costs to have it done $20/fender but if it gets hacked up that'll cost you $800.

 

Another silver pine mica Prius parked in front of us today while running some errands.