sfprankster's (mis)adventures modding a 2014 Prius Model Three

Been a while since I've posted on PriusChat...


Still going strong as my everyday driver with a wee bit over 91k miles.

Due to the amazing quality of CalTrans construction on a bridge abutment on Hwy 17 in Los Gatos, I ended up with not 1, not 2 but 3 bent rims.

So with the swipe of a credit card, a new set of Konig Oversteer white wheels and Yokohama YK740 tires magically appeared.

A little sad looking in the first pic, in line at the car wash and covered in a thick layer of redwood pollen, just a day after the last rain of the season(hopefully).


After a spa visit for a mani/pedi...errrrr...I mean wash/wax, the sparkle in the Blizzard Pearl paint can be seen again.

 

Thanx!!!

Just wish it was my choice when I needed to replace the wheels, and not CalTrans...


And of course, the rain returned a few days after the spa visit...

 

I had ZERO experience with working on my Prius before I started. It's all because my mechanic friend refuses to work on a Prius, because he bought a used Prius, hit the start button a few times, and never heard it start. Then he proceeded to step on the throttle and drove it into the brick wall of his shop.

So began my learning experience with snap together cars. Some of the mods I had the magic of a credit card make all the effort and had a shop do some of the installations(head unit, amps and fog lights) Pretty much the rest i did on my own...


Now that I've had this set of wheels for my first hand wash at home, these wheels are crazy easy to clean. And second, they are much less cheesy looking without the universal(5x100, 5x114.5) multi mount lug holes...


So is there any new, cool add ons I've missed, over the last couple of years?

 

Got a link?

I ended up doing a quick search for accessories and ended up ordering a highly visible, hard anodized GReddy oil drain plug. Something even I can install on my own...

 

Those won't fit on mine.

 

Had to get another head unit, my Pioneer 6000NEX crashed and was unsalvageable. The OS crashed. I tried firmware updates without success. So I didn't need GPS on the HU with Google Maps and Waze available through Android Auto, I replaced the 6000NEX with a Pioneer 2550NEX unit. With a wiring, mounting kits and a steering wheel module already installed, this was a 10 minute swap.

 

My OCD has reared its ugly head again.

The cheap, plastic chrome valve stem caps began to cause a disturbance in the force. They worked fine for a long time with the Drag 19 rims, with the polished aluminum lip. But now, with an all white and filthy wheel, they became a distraction.

Cruising the interwebs, I found some black anodized aluminum, hexagonal valve stem caps from iJDMtoy for less than $10 and includes free shipping. This was so easy, even I was able to install the valve stems without any tools.

 

17'' x 8.5'' Konig Oversteer wheels


Sorry it took me a while to get a response.

 

More OCD contemplations have been racking my head.

Last bit of chrome on my white themed Prius.

I had to get some black lug nuts to go with my black valve stems...

The common theme seems to be my filthy Prius.

 

Another (mis)adventure in the dark. A while back I installed an Auer fog light kit. Over the years, I have had multiple issues with this kit. The fog light housings were less than water resistant. Living in a rain magnet part of CA, I had to replace the HID bulbs too many times to count, after getting them wet. The switch was another issue, being cheaply made and failing to the point of ordering them by the half dozen at a time. Soooooo an update happened after a recent visit to Santa. After my visit to Santa, a couple of wish list items were delivered down the chimney early this year. A pair of Morimoto XB LED, w/ LaminX yellow film fog lights. With the magic of a credit card and my friends at Extreme HID in San Jose, my new fog lights were magically mounted and properly aimed. Since I was there and had been noticing the color change and dimming of my HID headlights, a new pair of 6k HID replacement bulbs magically appeared as well.

Morimoto XB LED fog lights


6k HID bulbs(no more shadows projecting forward from the cars behind me)


Thanx Santa!!!

 

More (mis)adventures in the dark. In an attempt to make up for my loss of vision due to aging...

Here we go again...

VLEDs Micro EXTREME LED 5k high beams. A tad bit on the expensive side...and I won't actually know how bright they are until tomorrow at the earliest, but VLEDs claims these are equivalent to a 55w HID system.


Nice build quality and packaging(which is always important).