I've seen a few "what should I do with my tax return" type threads and of course the "what's the best way to spend $600" threads. But I wanted to ask a slightly different question. What I want to know is, if you were given a new bone stock tC with no options, and $3K, what would you mod and in what order and why? I don't really want any "this is a better idea than ^^^^" type answers. I think it would be cool if each person gave their own plan. For example, I think I might
1) Install some Tein SS-Ps... then
2)Injen CAI... then
3)Injen or DC Sports exhaust... then
4)S-AFCII... then
5)Hotchkiss sway bars.... then
6)Strut Tower Brace....

At this point I think I would be out of money.... maybe sooner.... So my question is, What would you do?

PS. I searched but searching for "what would you do" doesn't return a whole lot of threads..... maybe my search technique is lacking....

 

save up a few more dollars and get a supercharger

 

hmmm cai, s pipe, headers, cat back exhaust,pulley, coilovers, and......hmm ecu upgrade.

 

^^what he said

 

tint -check
springs -in the mail
shocks -in the mail
cai -check
exaust -check
sway
tires -in the mail next wednesday
rotors and pads
stainless break lines
any left over mabye cf hood?

 

for us on my wife's TC, it was adding the sc. We wanted to put as much fun in that car we could while keeping full warranty ( it's her daily driver, 15k + miles per year ) so that is important to us. As neither of us run autox with this, the stock suspension is alright. It was more getting the smile on the face when accelerating ( to legal speeds of course ) that the sc gives us that makes us happy with that investment.
I'd say it would depend more on your geographic area & what type of driving you enjoy doing. i.e. 3k could give you a heck of a suspension/handling set up if curves/road courses were available to you; if you prefer running straight line--then mod the engine.
Or just realize the car is pretty damn nice stock, & dump the $ into an audio/video system.

 

The point I was trying to get to was not so much, what should I do... Granted, the case is that I'm waiting on my new tC and I'm setting aside 3 grand from recently selling my bike to go to the tC. I'm more interested in how people would do it different. Obviously plenty of people like the supercharger. I just wonder how well the stock suspension and tires can handle it. But I've yet to really put a tC through it's paces. But trust me I understand the appeal of the supercharger. My current ride is a grand prix GTP. I'm going to miss its supercharged V6. 260hp and 280lbft is a fair bit of git up n go....

 

well are you going for speed or autoX?

here is how a stock SC tC (with maybe the TRD exhaust) handles a course
shot from inside with the windows & roof open.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...74908747436680

tires should be done either way i think. (pay no mind that I still have mine while modding other things)

if your not in for autoX i dont think you really need a full hotchkiss sways. (I have heard of rubbing issues in the front...) a rear only might be all you need and work better in a fwd's case.....

Im no expert though, I research...

my first mods would be:
window tint
audio upgrade (iPod/sat radio and sub at least)
exhaust
intake
rear sway bar
rims and tires (even thought they need upgrade they have still survived for me so...)
and the rest for fun stuff like a lip kit and underbody lights or something...

 

Well I'm weighing many considerations. I'd like to improve performance as well as looks. I'd also like a lot of DIY stuff. I'm leaving the military here in a few days. When I move down to FL and go to school, I plan on making a lot of the upgrades into weekend projects. The SC is not exactly DIY (it could be but I don't think it would be worth it... might as well have the dealer do it and get a decent warranty on it.) And if I get the SC, I don't know when I'll be able to afford to improve the suspension bits.

awesome video clip... just don't play it where your car can hear it... the tires might bleed out of sympathy.... And that looks like a lot of fun. I could get into that a lot more than I could get into dragin the 1/4....

looks like something I could deffinitly get into.... however, my original list of mods at the top was geared towards an extended project of things I could do my self over a period of time. Very specific to my own particular situation. For instance if I was staying in the military, it would probably be quite different. (Being in the military does actually pay better than being a student....) Since a plan for a car is so specific to a person, I was curious as to what tohers would do if given the situation mention in my first post....

 

your in luck because there are only a few things that cannot be installed by yourself on a tC (even with xBs and xAs)

these things are like legos, as long as you don't break a clip you'll be fine. Scions are almost rediculously easy to work with.

and the list I made above is pretty much what I would have done.

and that ride certainly was fun!
my tC would have ran away if it saw these tCs at the end of the day (6 of them) I know at least one should have gone to the scrap after that day (it was smoking like a smokestack last I saw it. and I think the rest aren't even worthy of being rentals
we even got to do 2 laps around the speedway in our own cars!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...83271081037327

 

^^^^ now that is amusing.... never thought I'd see a brick trying to negotiate the banking of texas motor speedway......

I think I'll be able to live without the SC for a while... I'll just drive the hell out of my GTP until my tC arrives..... maybe later on down the road I'll get into the FI stuff.... and still try and do it myself... just don't like the thought of someone else working on my car when I know I'm capable of it... besides, that's half the fun....