My official Prius mods thread.

...and you just happen to sell those too, huh? Wink, wink.

What are you trying to do? Get me in deep trouble with the wife? Yeah sure, I'm buying the stuff, but it's your fault for making it availble in the first place!

I've been thinking about getting a G-Tech for a while. I guess I've been waiting for my SOTP meter to stop working.

(Seat Of The Pants)


As for time, I really don't have any of that at all. I'm actually foregoing sleep in order to do this. I'm back in school again (don't ask why...), with two kids and one more on the way. Plus my wife works full time. Money, yes, that I have, but time is awfully short around here...

 

I decided I didn't want to do medicine any more, so I went to law school. Can't explain any more than that, becuase I don't understand it myself... :blink:


Anyway, I'll probably end up having someone else do the strut bar, although for me installing it IS half the fun. But I also choose my battles. Like I said, I'll have it installed when I do the Sportivo kit. That way it only gets taken apart once.

Before that I'll do the exhaust, the floor brace, and the rear suspension brace.


UPDATE: So I've been driving with the suspension brace for two days now, and all I can say is WOW. I was actually quite skeptical, and really thought I had wasted my money, but I'll try anything once. Well, my fears have been laid to rest. This thing actually works! The 2006 handles very well already, but it's even better now. I hope the other bits help just as much!

BUffeting has been virtually eliminated. With the BT brace and the lower profile tires, it was greatly helped, but now it's practically gone. Also, on grooved pavement the car used to wiggle from side to side trying to find a line. That is gone now. I guess there was just enough lateral flex in the suspension to make it a bit squirrely, and the brace has eliminated that. I'm actually very, very impressed. I give it 5 out of 5 stars. :wub:

Of course now I'm setting myself up for disappointment becuase I'm going to expect all of hte parts to perform this well.

 

OK, I'll try to clarify all points brought up. Alos, let me make one statement. I drove the car enough with just the tires, before installing the brace. So the comments I made in my last post are ONLY about the improvements the brace made.


200volts: Well, it may have a bit, but I haven't noticed too much of a difference. This is also partly to blame on the power assist. Most cars feel rather vague in the middle. I guess it's just a given for most cars, and there's not much you really can do about it. Now the tires did help some, and I guess the brace helped a little more. It IS better than stock, but no really by much.

benighted: Yes, I'd say you were right. The Tom's web site claims the suspension brace improves the steering response. So far this seems like a more minor improvement compared to the rest of the benefits I mentioned. The tires defeinetly helped the steering performance. To quantify which helped more is pretty dificult. I'm sure the combined effect of the two are greater than each did separately.

200volts: The twitchy feeling on the irregular/grooved pavement, or "tracking" as you called has been virtually eliminated. This I can attribute to the suspension brace. The low profile tires are wider, so they can sometimes make this worse. It didn't for mine, but they really didn't help. After the brace, the twitchyness was virtually eliminated. So was buffeting from wind. Not sure why it help so much with the buffeting, but hey, I'm not one to look gift horses in the mouth. I keep my tires at 36/34, and the ride is very much acceptable, even with the 1" shorter sidewalls. Not sure about the Bonneville Prius, so I can't comment other than to say I imagine they would have beefed it upin many ways.

 

Like a dead cow.

 

Well, I'm back from the Super Bowl (awesome!) and I have more stuff to report. I got the windows tinted, installed the 20" JDM rear wiper, and put on a new stubby antenna. I have pictures, but haven't gotten around to resizing them yet. Hopefully soon. Kinda swamped with work and a sick daughter.

I can say that hte rear wiper works, and hte shorter antenna hasn't noticably affected the reception.

Can't really attest to the heat rejection qualities of hte tint yet, as it's been generally rainy and cool here.

 

Sorry for not replying to the varous posts. Been swamped with work lately, as well as various sick children, which ended up spreading to my wife and I as well. Fun times...

Anyway, I will reply and give some updates once I am caught up with work (not likely) and everyone is well again (soon, hopefully).

 

Wow have I been busy lately. Way too much going each day on to fit into 24 hours...

Anyhow, the mods have fallen to the wayside because of the schedule. Well, that and we've been spending a LOT of money on other stuff lately around the house and so on.

THe next thing to be dodne will probably be the stereo. Still waiting for some ofhte JL Audio stuff to be released. Last part should come out some time in April.

I also have decided on a new set of wheels. I'll be ordering some Buddy Club P-1 Racing QF wheels. Forged aluminum, and htey only weigh in at 5.8 kg for the 17x7.5" wheel. That's a full 2 pounds lighter then the factory 15 inchers! Some light tires and this thing will be flying!

Speaking of flying, even at my recent averages of 85 mph+ I've been getting 40 mpg even with the 17's. Not bad! Just for kicks I decided to drive the speed limit, and it jumped way up to 48 mpg average.

I finally had a bit of free time, so my son and I washed the Prius for the first time since purchased in December. Looks great now.

Otherwise the list of planned mods has not really changed. Maybe a thing or two here and there as they come out. I'm thinking of getting one of those neat sharkfin antennas.

Well, that's about it. Stay tuned. As soon as I have something new to play with, I'll post.

 

I forgot to mention that I'll be getting new tires as well. I've decided on the General Exclaim UHP in a 215/45 WR17. Now first I shoudl metion that this tire is only 18 pounds, which is only 1 pound heavier than the stock Goodyear Integrity's. Commbined with my wheels choice, it gives a grand totalof 30.8 pounds. The factory setup was 32.2 pounds, so each corner will be a pound and a half lighter! Yipee!

I was initially not keen on using a tire by General, as the brand isn't really considered a performance brand. But these tires have really, rely high ratings at Tire Rack, which I trust when it comes to tires. These tires outperform tires costing two to three times as much, or more sometimes. Thes tires only cost $72 each! Freaking amazing!

After the swap, this Prius should really move, and get even better mileage!