Hey, I just bought my new 2007 Scion TC Spec, manual transmission, last weekend and am still breaking it in, in debt, and loving every bit of it. I discovered this site now and and have been doing some forum searching a bit. Here's a couple noobish questions.

I'd like to tune my car a little. My budget isn't much, lets say 2-300 bucks a month. This was asked in another thread, and I'd prefer to feel the car rather than hear it. I don't want anything over the edge for now, I really just want to learn about the car, maybe add a couple low cost items to improve it here and there.

Aesthetics are nice, but I'd rather work on either a) the audio system or b) performance. Only problem is I'm brand new to cars, how they work etc. Main thing is I really don't want to pay people to do it anymore, I want to learn how to maintain and work on my car myself. I read the noob's FAQ and it talked about I-H-E, so that helped me a bit.

If anyone could post a link to help me learn a bit I'd be grateful, as it'd probably take pages of forum posts to teach me how to install some item, or how some part works.

Thanks in advance,

Matt

 

Great choice in car, the spec version is not my thing, but then again you have as blank a canvas as any.

If you prefer to feel it rather than hear it, then most performance mods aren't for you, as most do increase sound/noise (sweet as it may be).

Suspension wise, lowering springs, sway bars, coilvers, strut bars (not so much help as aesthetics). These will all greatly improve handling, trust me - you'll be feeling plenty.

As for eveything else this should help: https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=89862

 

The scion tc is a pretty good car to start learning on in my opinion. The more you work on cars, the more you realize that its not that hard. Im not saying that you wont ever have to take your car to the shop, but there are plenty of things you can do yourself, and save a little money. Go to your local bookstore and get a haynes manual, They have step by step instructions, for pretty much everything you would have to do to your car in one book. Here is link to their site http://www.haynes.com/na.html. the site is actually under construction, but it will probably be up soon, and haynes is a well known and respected company.

 

welcome to the scion family. Glad to hear u enjoying the tc.

https://www.scionlife.com/tech/

The Tech section have very nice DIY's.
Audio upgrade are pretty easy. I change the head unit, added amp and subwoofer. i haven't change the speakers yet.
The search function on the forum is very useful. (it is the red link on top of the forum)
If you cannot find what u looking for. Just ask, everyone is very friendly.

 

you may also go to www.howstuffworks.com to learn about anything from car 2 sex.

 

Thank you all for the replies. In terms of suspension, I forgot to mention that I was very interested in that as well. I've always been more into handling than power, just a personal preference really.

I'll check out the Haynes manual, see if I can find one for the Scion. The howstuffworks.com should help me with basics like engine mechanics; not a bad idea never thought of that site, so thanks. I'll also check out the tech forums, don't think I've seen those yet.

So in talking supsension, what exactly can lowering the suspension do for you and how does one go about doing so? I know a lot of people lower the car because it looks good, and I believe it helps handling on corners better, but again, no real experience.

Thanks again.