Hello Guys! I've just joined ScionLife as I've been a proud owner of a 2005 Scion tC as of a year now due to totalling my Lancer. I picked it up used (was dirty as hell, unfortunately don't have any pictures) but slowly I want it looking pretty sick. It's my every day driver. It's an automatic, with 52k miles on it.


No flash, outside. Black. Few blemishes on the car, eventually will be touched up. Can also notice the carbon fiber tC plates on the door, just a simple addon. Windows were tinted at probably 35-40. Too light for me, it'll be removed soon and putting 10 on. (We do window tinting)


Rims will eventually be blacked out (obviously sanded/primed/done up the right way) Not tying to skim or cut corners, don't need to waste my money. We did the brake calipers blue simply because red is too common ;)





We changed out the front/back speakers with a bang for our buck. Got some stuff for cost, which was nice. Front/back are Alpine SPS-600 and 600c's. We purchased the harness for the head unit (blindy off ebay) and it turns out we couldn't use the original flip down. I really liked it too. But oh well. For some reason, the coils on my first subwoofer ripped (not overtuned either) but I ended up getting a much nicer one. Obviously, all of it is Alpine except the Pioneer head unit. The sound is great, we did the install.

This is where I'm looking for help. I know a lot of you guys have done some really cool installs (I'm an avid browser, love everyone's cars). I like the idea of really making your car look sick, but to me, I think it'd be more fun to have performance under something stock looking. Really surprise people, agreed?

I've been told a completely different intake would slightly improve amount of horsepower put out, but most people do it for the sound, accompanied by a sick exhaust. But I'm here for some help and have some questions.

My car came with the package with the LED's in the cupholders and underneath by your foot area. Turns out, they ripped out both LED's in the foot area but obviously the cup holder ones are still there. For my first question, where can I get replacements for the kit, not trying to buy a whole new kit? I would assume this is a scion kit...and kinda looking cheap to replace.

-Things I would like to do -
1. Lower the car (If you can recommend springs?)
2. New exhaust
3. Replace some of the smaller LED's in the car
4. Get more power into this car

I've been looking at turbos around this site and I'm still not sure what I should do. I want power over looks, but obviously I'm not trying to put too much out...I have to pay for college and such. It's hard. But.

What turbos would you guys recommend? I'm understanding that the down pipe on most of them has to be welded/attached to your existing exhaust system, we can do that stuff. We also have a motor pulley. These things are simply bolt-ons? Also, when you buy kits, do gauges come with them or is that something people just like to have to know their pressure and such?

Anyways. I've got a short budget and I'd love a turbo. We can get it tuned, just need to know what you guys would recommend. Looking at Ebay turbo kits, not sure what's good or what's garbage (What's the difference from OEM vs Custom?)

Help me out! Thanks guys.

 

Welcome 2 SL.. good start on the car based on your pics. 2 answer some of your questions. The Leds are a TRD option that can be replaced buy a dealer or some vendors on here like trdsparks or sumtin. Or you can wire a basic Led setup. Also check out the vendors on the site for small LEds. Um since your car isn't lower yet I wouldn't buy spring. I would just save and buy coilovers. (Tein or B&G) but if you want spriings (Tein h-techs or Tein s-techs).. I can't help much with power cus my car had none but an intake and exhaust are great starts. Make sure you use the search feature for ideas and question and happy modding!!

 

For your turbo questions...

I would stay away from eBay..their parts are known to have fitment issues and/or break easy..I've seen people do it but you may end up spending just as much (or more) to fix stuff and get it to fit right than if you had just bought a kit to begin with.

As far as what kits..look at dezod, ptuning and descendant...pick your poison.

Gauges are generally a seperate purchase unless a company is offering some sort of special deal.

If your plans are to go turbo I wouldn't bother with any power mods except maybe an exhaust..and you are going to want an exhaust that will suit your goals.

Hope that helps

 

Is there any gain in lowering the car at all? And what's the advantage of going with coilovers?

And also, do you guys recommend the rear sway bar? I've been reading there's huge gains in cornering and possibly one of the nicest upgrades. Coming from a Mitsu Lancer 09, the handling was like butter, whereas the Scion's is a bit stiff.

 

lowering the car gives you a lower center of gravity so generally you get better handling..although after a certain point (like 2.5in I think) the cars handling starts getting loose and sloppy.

Coilovers are nice because you can adjust the ride height and, with some coilovers, can adjust the stiffness of the car. They offer a little more bang for your buck but it all depends on the person and what they wanna do with the car. I would do some more research but unless you feel like really slamming the car or racing it on a track then you probably will have no need for coilovers.

the stiffest sway bar setup is going to be hotchkis front and rear, next in line is the progress and then the softest (aside from OEM) is going to be TRD. I have the TRD one on the stiffer setting and it does just fine for me.

Really what you need to do is start researching and see what best fits your needs and what you will be doing with the tC.

 

Emperor, what do you think about the TRD rear sway? Like, from stock to...how's the feel?

And I've been debating on many different things. Foremost, I've come up with the decision to black the rims out. Now, I'm told a THOROUGH clean job and epoxy paint will do the job...but a lot of you guys say put a clear on first. Wouldn't that go against epoxy?

Also.

We're pretty good with fittings/bending pipes/stuff like that as we just finished up exhausts for a dodge ram/corvette srt.

Don't get me wrong, the turbos you guys recommended look clean and how could you go wrong with names such as that. My question is. What's the TRUE downside to buying an ebay kit (such as the ones that are around 1k). We would buy the AEM controller as they dont come with...but...seems they come with everything else.

My understanding is a lot of people rush/pay garages/screw up putting these on. (I'm not dissing the turbos recommended either, I just feel like the ebay kits have potential).

 

The difference between the TRD and the stock isn't dramatic..although it's hard for me to really say since I had the TRD put on after I only had the car for like 4 months and that was somewhere around 4 years ago.

As far as the ebay turbos go - like I've said..I've seen people make it work. I just heard that a lot of it had to be reconstructed to fit and that the manifolds were, for the most part, crap.

If you have the know how and the means to make it work then go for it..I'm just saying depending on how much you will spend you may be better just doing a full custom setup or going with a premade kit.

Also I noticed you are auto. You are going to also want to invest in a trans cooler, and a torque converter and valve body upgrade to get the most out of going turbo. If you plan on pushing only about 220whp or so then you shouldn't need to upgrade the trans but anything higher than that you're going to want to start building it.

 

I think the optimal drop is 1.48". For swaybars, go with Hotchkis front and rear or Progress rear.

For lowering your car, it comes down to if you plan on tracking your car a lot. If so go with coilovers otherwise a nice bet would be H&R springs on TRD shocks.

For more power, as Emperor stated, stick with Dezod, PTuning, or Descendant just do a little research and poke around the FI section to pick the one you like.

As Emperor also mentioned, if you plan on sticking with a automatic transmission, do the transmission upgrades. Or just switch to manual.

 

Get an exhaust and headers!