i was talkin to a local scion life member about his xb and he recomended me to do up the ground kit and remove the intake restrictor.... its not that i dont trust him it just seems like these arent completed by the factory for a reason.

frist off the ground wire kit in the tech section.. .http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29261 ..... its probally obvious that i dont know much bout cars but how does this improve anything? are you guys sure its not the placeebo effect? i know you all know alot more bout cars then me but im just curious if anyone can help me understand its effect on my box... also does it have any negative effects on the car, either gas mileage or other long term negative effects.

secondly the air intake restrictor, is it worth removing? it must be there for a purpose right? or is it just out crappy american goverment ruining more fun aspects of our life. but it seems the the xb has little power so why restrict it further with an intake restrictor, and the same goes for this mod, if i remove it will it have any negative effects on my ride?

and since im at it, is it possible to abuse overdrive? i find my self on the highway quite often as most people in jersey are so i usually keep overdrive on, and even when i hit back roads i usually keep it on, is this bad? should i never use it? or use it for highway only? i like it cause it keeps the rpm's down but at what cost?

sorry for the hat trick of lame questions but i hope someone can enlighten me...

thanks guys.

grounding kit can do no harm.
which restrictor? the honeycomb in the intake tube? yeah, you can remove it. it's a failsafe to keep big chunks from entering the engine. not much gains in removing, but hey, it's your perogative.
leaving OD on does not hurt. tranny only goes in OD in high speed operation anyway. it's like an extra gear, not in effect at low speeds.

Actually the auto in the xB will rush to get into O/D - it's an economy car. O/D will kick in in residential areas at speeds as low as 30-35. It's designed to have O/D on. You're more likely to harm something by running at high speeds with it off. I often turn it off in traffic so the car doesn't want to coast as easy and equals less braking. If it was harmful to turn it on or off, they probably wouldn't have put a switch right at your fingertips, well thumbtip... and there would be WARNINGS!

Grounding kit isn't harmful, seems to have an actual effect, not placebo...

Not sure what you're asking about the air restrictor - IMO the whole thing is a restrictor - get an intake.

Grounding kits do have a positive effect on the car, though it's not easily seen.

On some cars (especially ours) it helps ground the entire car and eliminates static charge. No more static shock next time you get out of the car~ ^.^

I have a ground kit in my car and I didn't notice a difference at first, but after a week of driving it was more apparrent. I'm upgrading to 4 gauge wires next week so if anyone wants I have a 8 gauge grounding set up for sale :P

Also, does anyone know where are the other grounding pts in the car besides the one in Mikochu's faq? I have 5 wires and want to use them all~ any suggestions?

awesome guys, thanks for the response... ill have to check out that ground kit. it my weekend project as the weather isnt too bad...

Cloud: you could just scrape off some paint and create a new ground to the frame.