My Long @ss '06 tC Review - w/ Accessories (PICS)
#1
My Long @ss '06 tC Review - w/ Accessories (PICS)
Alright folks, after playing around with my tC for awhile, here are my thoughts on my purchase. I will update as needed. Photos will come soon; I just wanted to get this up first for people who are thinking about purchasing.
Here are some pics:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesho...y=-tedrcn&Ux=0
First and foremost, I just want to say that I love it, plain and simple. Not to sound cliche, but it has really made driving fun again for me. I got a total of 12 accessories at dealer, and adding a few more things as I go along.
Now the run-down:
2006 Nautical Blue Automatic Scion tC
Accessories:
Pedestal Spoiler
Mudguards
Door Sill Enhancements
Interior Blue LEDıs
Floor Mats
Wheel Locks
Scion Security
CD Player with iPod Capability
Auto Dimming Mirror
Fog Lights
Sports Pedals (Silver)
and yes, TYC Taillights
Pedestal Spoiler: Love it, between that and the TYC Taillights the rear of the car looks very sharp, and not 'ricey' like I was dreading.
Mudguards: Look great and don't detract from the look of the car at all, in fact subtly enhances it.
Door Sill Enhancements: After I ordered them, I saw them on another vehicle, and thought they looked a little cheap. But seeing mine, they look really nice and adds a nice touch to the existing brushed metal accents in the car (center console, sportspedals, etc.)
Interior Blue LED's: What can I say, these absolutely rock! There's not many good photos of these, so let me explain how they work: It's made of a hard plastic rod about 1/2 inch thick, on one end of the rod a very bright LED is shown through. You don't actually see the LED, but because of the shape of the rod the entire thing lights up, casting a gorgeous glow onto the floor of the vehicle. I was a little concerned it would look like crap being that they hung down where you can actually see the rod, but in the daytime you really don't notice them that much, and at night it just looks fantastic.
The cupholder lights consist of 2 little LED's drilled into the insides of the cupholders, don't really get too bright, but a nice touch nonetheless. Only works really well if you have a bottle of water in the holders like in the stock photos... =)
There's one button that controls these lights; they are totally independent of the driving lights. The LED's have 4 settings: OFF, Floor and Cupholders ON, Floor only ON, and Cupholder only ON. Push once, twice, three times, etc. for different settings.
Sports Pedals (Silver): You would think, having everything blue in the car, that I would go for the blue pedals; however the silver really reflects the blue LED's beautifully, and in daytime they match the silver of the center console and, when I eventually get it, the silver shifter ****. Looks absolutely fantastic.
Floormats: Well, they're floormats, look really nice, they slide around a little but otherwise they're fine.
Wheellocks: I was worried they would be an eyesore, but you hardly notice them unless you're looking for them.
Scion Security: Still looking into this one. So far it looks like the masses were right on this, definitely not worth the price. However I'm still waiting on the manual from the dealer to figure it out, so I'll update this when I know more about it. I can tell you I pretty much rendered the "interior lights activated" feature useless having replaced the two main cabin lights with Deep Blue LED's... more on that later.
EDIT: Well, I figured out some of it. There's a secret switch that needed to be pushed (I guess the valet button), once I did that the alarm system was activated, and now when I lock/unlock the doors remotely the car's horn honks to confirm the alarm activation/deactivation. It's just funny how nobody has a clue how to use this thing, even the dealer didn't know how to activate it. Still looking into the glass sensor, so far I haven't gotten it to go off, need to find the sensitivity adjustment switch.
CD Player-iPod Capable: The greatest invention ever made, wired straight into my car! Works almost flawlessly, plugs into a special outlet inside the center armrest. Power and connection through the same outlet, so it still leaves the Aux. Jack and the Power Outlet (also in the armrest compartment available. Control the volume and skip through songs from the steering wheel; however you also have access to your playlists, albums, artists, etc. from the controls on the deck! Right **** acts kind of like a joystick, so you can push up and down to make selections. WARNING! very distracting, this is common sense but make sure you set your playlist before driving, it takes your eyes off the road for a long time. Also remembers your spot even when disconnecting or shutting off. I say it works ALMOST flawlessly because for some reason when I scroll through my songs they're not entirely in Alphabetical order like they are when scrolling on the screen. Not sure why this is, think it may just be a tagging thing, but if anyone has any insights please let me know, as it's a little hard to find a specific song.
Also has features such as the ability to change the screen lights to about 10 different colors, the three SSP settings AS WELL AS the settings for specific car models. There was some confusion as to whether the SSP replaced the car settings, they did not, they are both available, and I have to say, everyone was right, the xA and xB settings sound SO much better than the default tC setting. Just hold down the SSP button to access this feature.
Auto Dimming Mirror: This is a little tricky; not the auto-dimming part, but the console light underneath. Auto dimming works beautifully, although I hear if you get the rear windows tinted it could affect performance. Here's the deal with the light:
if you push the button on the far right, it lights up white. Push it again and it shuts off. Easy enough. If you HOLD it down it will change through White, Amber and Blue lights. If you let it go on either Amber or Blue you have set the "night light" to that color; What that means is that there is apparently a sensor that detects the level of light outside, and when it's dark enough and you turn your driving lights on, it automatically goes on in the set color. This will drive you CRAZY if you don't know this, and try to set it in the daytime, as the colored lights will not stay on after letting go of the button. You can still use the white reading light at any time, although with three lights in the front overhead cluster, you'll most likely never need to.
FYI, the blue that comes in this light is not a true blue and does not match any blue LED's you may have in the car, it's more like a teal color. At first I was upset since that was a major selling point for me, until I realized that the amber looks so much better, casting a yellow hue over the entire center console, and in fact accenting the amber lighting in the controls. All in all the cockpit now has a perfectly even balance of blue and amber lights in it, and I absolutley love how it all looks together.
Which leaves... TYC Taillights: Guys and gals, I have to tell you, don't get these lights; not because they're bad, but because I am, in fact, a selfish bastard that wants to have the only set of these awesome looking lights around! These look freakin' sweet on a NB... If you read any reviews from customers that have them, they'll all tell you that they look much better in person than in the stock pics on the web. They are all absolutely right. So much so that my dealer asked if they could have a few pictures of mine to put up on their website, to show what they look like in a real life situation. As an extra bonus, my dealer (who shall remain nameless for now in case they don't want me blabbing about this) gave me the original set of stock lights they took off the car as a backup in case these were broken or stolen. Extra kudos for that! SO don't get these; I've seen about 5 NB's around; only 1 of them had the spoiler, and NONE of them had the lights; and I like it that way!!
So that's it for now, again I will update with more accessories, and more pics will come soon. Hope this information helps! Enjoy!
Here are some pics:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesho...y=-tedrcn&Ux=0
First and foremost, I just want to say that I love it, plain and simple. Not to sound cliche, but it has really made driving fun again for me. I got a total of 12 accessories at dealer, and adding a few more things as I go along.
Now the run-down:
2006 Nautical Blue Automatic Scion tC
Accessories:
Pedestal Spoiler
Mudguards
Door Sill Enhancements
Interior Blue LEDıs
Floor Mats
Wheel Locks
Scion Security
CD Player with iPod Capability
Auto Dimming Mirror
Fog Lights
Sports Pedals (Silver)
and yes, TYC Taillights
Pedestal Spoiler: Love it, between that and the TYC Taillights the rear of the car looks very sharp, and not 'ricey' like I was dreading.
Mudguards: Look great and don't detract from the look of the car at all, in fact subtly enhances it.
Door Sill Enhancements: After I ordered them, I saw them on another vehicle, and thought they looked a little cheap. But seeing mine, they look really nice and adds a nice touch to the existing brushed metal accents in the car (center console, sportspedals, etc.)
Interior Blue LED's: What can I say, these absolutely rock! There's not many good photos of these, so let me explain how they work: It's made of a hard plastic rod about 1/2 inch thick, on one end of the rod a very bright LED is shown through. You don't actually see the LED, but because of the shape of the rod the entire thing lights up, casting a gorgeous glow onto the floor of the vehicle. I was a little concerned it would look like crap being that they hung down where you can actually see the rod, but in the daytime you really don't notice them that much, and at night it just looks fantastic.
The cupholder lights consist of 2 little LED's drilled into the insides of the cupholders, don't really get too bright, but a nice touch nonetheless. Only works really well if you have a bottle of water in the holders like in the stock photos... =)
There's one button that controls these lights; they are totally independent of the driving lights. The LED's have 4 settings: OFF, Floor and Cupholders ON, Floor only ON, and Cupholder only ON. Push once, twice, three times, etc. for different settings.
Sports Pedals (Silver): You would think, having everything blue in the car, that I would go for the blue pedals; however the silver really reflects the blue LED's beautifully, and in daytime they match the silver of the center console and, when I eventually get it, the silver shifter ****. Looks absolutely fantastic.
Floormats: Well, they're floormats, look really nice, they slide around a little but otherwise they're fine.
Wheellocks: I was worried they would be an eyesore, but you hardly notice them unless you're looking for them.
Scion Security: Still looking into this one. So far it looks like the masses were right on this, definitely not worth the price. However I'm still waiting on the manual from the dealer to figure it out, so I'll update this when I know more about it. I can tell you I pretty much rendered the "interior lights activated" feature useless having replaced the two main cabin lights with Deep Blue LED's... more on that later.
EDIT: Well, I figured out some of it. There's a secret switch that needed to be pushed (I guess the valet button), once I did that the alarm system was activated, and now when I lock/unlock the doors remotely the car's horn honks to confirm the alarm activation/deactivation. It's just funny how nobody has a clue how to use this thing, even the dealer didn't know how to activate it. Still looking into the glass sensor, so far I haven't gotten it to go off, need to find the sensitivity adjustment switch.
CD Player-iPod Capable: The greatest invention ever made, wired straight into my car! Works almost flawlessly, plugs into a special outlet inside the center armrest. Power and connection through the same outlet, so it still leaves the Aux. Jack and the Power Outlet (also in the armrest compartment available. Control the volume and skip through songs from the steering wheel; however you also have access to your playlists, albums, artists, etc. from the controls on the deck! Right **** acts kind of like a joystick, so you can push up and down to make selections. WARNING! very distracting, this is common sense but make sure you set your playlist before driving, it takes your eyes off the road for a long time. Also remembers your spot even when disconnecting or shutting off. I say it works ALMOST flawlessly because for some reason when I scroll through my songs they're not entirely in Alphabetical order like they are when scrolling on the screen. Not sure why this is, think it may just be a tagging thing, but if anyone has any insights please let me know, as it's a little hard to find a specific song.
Also has features such as the ability to change the screen lights to about 10 different colors, the three SSP settings AS WELL AS the settings for specific car models. There was some confusion as to whether the SSP replaced the car settings, they did not, they are both available, and I have to say, everyone was right, the xA and xB settings sound SO much better than the default tC setting. Just hold down the SSP button to access this feature.
Auto Dimming Mirror: This is a little tricky; not the auto-dimming part, but the console light underneath. Auto dimming works beautifully, although I hear if you get the rear windows tinted it could affect performance. Here's the deal with the light:
if you push the button on the far right, it lights up white. Push it again and it shuts off. Easy enough. If you HOLD it down it will change through White, Amber and Blue lights. If you let it go on either Amber or Blue you have set the "night light" to that color; What that means is that there is apparently a sensor that detects the level of light outside, and when it's dark enough and you turn your driving lights on, it automatically goes on in the set color. This will drive you CRAZY if you don't know this, and try to set it in the daytime, as the colored lights will not stay on after letting go of the button. You can still use the white reading light at any time, although with three lights in the front overhead cluster, you'll most likely never need to.
FYI, the blue that comes in this light is not a true blue and does not match any blue LED's you may have in the car, it's more like a teal color. At first I was upset since that was a major selling point for me, until I realized that the amber looks so much better, casting a yellow hue over the entire center console, and in fact accenting the amber lighting in the controls. All in all the cockpit now has a perfectly even balance of blue and amber lights in it, and I absolutley love how it all looks together.
Which leaves... TYC Taillights: Guys and gals, I have to tell you, don't get these lights; not because they're bad, but because I am, in fact, a selfish bastard that wants to have the only set of these awesome looking lights around! These look freakin' sweet on a NB... If you read any reviews from customers that have them, they'll all tell you that they look much better in person than in the stock pics on the web. They are all absolutely right. So much so that my dealer asked if they could have a few pictures of mine to put up on their website, to show what they look like in a real life situation. As an extra bonus, my dealer (who shall remain nameless for now in case they don't want me blabbing about this) gave me the original set of stock lights they took off the car as a backup in case these were broken or stolen. Extra kudos for that! SO don't get these; I've seen about 5 NB's around; only 1 of them had the spoiler, and NONE of them had the lights; and I like it that way!!
So that's it for now, again I will update with more accessories, and more pics will come soon. Hope this information helps! Enjoy!
#8
Originally Posted by Sr20kidD
sorry but any euro tail light including tyc elegante screams rice.. AND THATS THE BOTTOM LINE!
Rice or not, these don't fog up and look half-___ and you can't see the glue on them a'la APC. I'm happy with my TYC's, at night when you hit the breaks they have the same angle and pattern that the new Infinity's LED's have ^_^
But again, rice or not, at least these were made well and you don't see civics with an LED array running around. =D
#9
Originally Posted by Fuzzy
For that many options, I'd just buy a IS300.
Then I would just want to spend more money on that. The point for some is to buy one and make what you want... and as nice as they are, I find the Lexus line overpriced. For the price I would just buy the beamer they try to imitate
#12
Re: My Long @ss '06 tC Review - w/ Accessories
Originally Posted by Karnie
As an extra bonus, my dealer (who shall remain nameless for now in case they don't want me blabbing about this) gave me the original set of stock lights they took off the car as a backup in case these were broken or stolen. Extra kudos for that!
#15
I hope you didn't get all those options from the dealer.
Paint the mudguards to match the car and they will look that much better.
Finally, drop it. If it is stock height it's a 4X4. Where are the pics?
Paint the mudguards to match the car and they will look that much better.
Finally, drop it. If it is stock height it's a 4X4. Where are the pics?
#16
Heh heh... yeah, I knew I would catch crap for the lights....
However, I love them, that's all that matters. Right?
So by all means, don't get them, I like to be unique...
Here's a few pics of the car I took with the digital, tonight I'll get more with the LED's and the TYC's.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesho...y=-tedrcn&Ux=0
Yes, the review is very subjective, I admit; I should have called it "My Opinion of the tC" Sorry to mislead into thinking this was an actual review.
However, I love them, that's all that matters. Right?
So by all means, don't get them, I like to be unique...
Here's a few pics of the car I took with the digital, tonight I'll get more with the LED's and the TYC's.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesho...y=-tedrcn&Ux=0
Yes, the review is very subjective, I admit; I should have called it "My Opinion of the tC" Sorry to mislead into thinking this was an actual review.
#17
Very good writeup, that's what makes this board great, everyone posting THEIR thoughts on the cars, not what car & driver said last month.
If you could get some pics of the TYC's on the NB, I would love that! There's so few pics of the TYC's out there, and I don't think i've seen them on the best color there is yet.
If you could get some pics of the TYC's on the NB, I would love that! There's so few pics of the TYC's out there, and I don't think i've seen them on the best color there is yet.
#19
The TYC lights look so great on my FM tC. Its great, no one has it which is why I got it and Yes they do look better in person. Install was a pain though because I decided to do it myself, tough but I did it. Another plus is they aren't "Altezza" lights, u know those played out round ones that copy the IS300 lights...but yea, overall nice write up!