Hey all, just went and traded my Lexus in for a 2010 TC Manual which is basically a car I have always wanted. I'm still awaiting delivery of the car (no super white's in stock), but wanted to get familiar with my car as much as possible in the meantime, and get some questions answered.

I've never owned a manual before, but it's always something I've wanted. I've also never owned a sporty car before, so this is a first in many ways. The other car I was looking at was a Honda Civic SI, but they tried to cheese me on my trade, and I had a terrible experience all around (typical haggle bull____), so I decided to go with the no hassle TC price point. I love the style in the TC a lot more than I do the Civic SI, but I have to admit that the 30hp drop in performance I am taking by going with the TC has me a bit bummed out.

So I was wondering, since you are all avid TC owners who have extensive knowledge of these cars, i'm saving $200.00 a month on my monthly payment over my Lexus, and I wanted to put away about 50.00 a month of that for upgrades. My first upgrades planned are to get some tint on the windows, racing pedal covers, new shift ****, small stuff like that. After the small things are out of the way, I would really like to work on getting the horsepower up to around 200 or so.

Which components are easiest to upgrade, and which are the most affordable to get that little extra horsepower out of the car, and which are the least intrusive to get installed? I know a performance air filter helps a bit, but other than that, my knowledge on the matter is extremely limited.

Any help is appreciated.

 

Short of turbo or dumping a ton of money to get the NA motor there it is not really possible to hit 200hp.......superchargers gets you in that area,but they tend to be unreliable,and spendy.

Header,pullys,intake,and full exhaust will net at best 25hp on average,but that still keeps you short of 200hp at the wheels.

Probably gonna jsut need to spend a month reading the site on the hows to build and make a list of what works together and what is good.

 

well if you were looking for performance you should have went for the SI. as for the tc, the only cost effective way to make decent power is to go turbo. bolt ons wont get you near 200 whp without spending an arm and a leg to do it. imo suspension upgrades are good early upgrade options that are quickly felt and dont cost too much.

 

nice choice i bought the tc over the si also just because i didnt like the way the si looked on the inside.....yea it has a bit more power then the tc but youll have to hit vtek to get the car moving and the si is much harder to modify and such.....i have a 06 tc with I/H/E and crank pulley and water pulley and alternator pulley and it pulls pretty good but after awhile your gonna want more power..but the tc ist a bad choice and much easier to work with..so my advice is research and research about the car.....the tc has alot of potential but it does cost money...

 

well i wouldn't say that taking the 30 hp difference will be disappointment to you. The reason is that though the SI has a 30 hp advantage, keep in mind that in the long run it would probably beat you hands down. As for driving wise, the tc is equipped with a 2.4 l engine that produces alot more torque than the SI making it more enjoyable to drive. Suspension upgrades for the tc makes it very fun as well as the way the tc looks which imo is way better than the SI. I mean yea the SI has lsd but for the money you pay for the SI and the tc difference, you can get yourself a turbo producing 260 to the WHEELS with proper tune in no time. Thats my way of looking at it. BTW the turbo is worth the money!!

 

Thank you all for the advice. Yeah, I may eventually look at a turbo upgrade for it. I probably won't even need it though, it's not like I am going to race it or anything. I just figured if I could do it for super cheap, why not?

 

super cheap and turbo... do not go together.

 

Just a heads up... I went tC over Si because I cant fit in the Si. {6'6 and 310}....

My Mods to the car are listed below... not all of them but the ones that make her purr are there. I thought I would drop this on you as a point of proof.


Scion tC = $17,500 {yes I know prices differ}
Bone Stock = 163hp / 161 tq {flywheel}
My Mods = $ 5,200 {yes that includes labor and suspension + power + looks}
My Car = 1 of a kind and utterly my own.

Honda Si = $25,000 {normally more}
Bone Stock = 197hp / 131 tq {flywheel}

I'm still $2,500 under a bone stock Si and I beat them on a day in and day out basis..... Stock or lightly modded.

My gf just got a 2010 Si 4door... black.. very sexy... and from a 30-50-70-80 punch I leave her behind. {and before we get haters.. its the same if she drives the tC and I drive the Si} -- {no we have not raced from a dig as I have yet to teach her how to launch.. and she is NOT learning in my tc}

Now lets be fair, once she has dropped $5k into her she will be a little over 200whp and 150ish wtq... but that puts her knocking at the $30k mark and even after all I have done .... even if I scrap the N/A setup and go boost.. I will still have spent $2-3k less then her and will make 25-35% more WHP not to mention 35-50% more wtq.


Hands down..

The tc takes it for a win

Looks ---- check
Power potential ---- Check
Torque ---- Check
Sexy ---- Check

But thats just my $.02


Pics are in album... mod list is below

 

Si has performance out the gate above the tC. NA honda still has it but Si cant rilly boost due to the thin cylinder sleeves so anything above 8-9psi will crack the cylinder sleeves. they have the jackson supercharger but since its a fwd it doesnt do it much good from a launch. idk if honda solved the problem but the clutches burned up too easily, many times not covered by warranty.

the 4dr Si is heavier than the 2dr Si pit that against the tC and it will be either close or the Si will take you by a car or more.

tC has a better platform for performance: displacement, deals with forced induction better and you dont have to worry about tuning vtec.