drizzohs 2014 OV Tuned tC2.5
 

Sup guys, Andrew here from AZ. Picked up a bone stock 6MT Magnetic Gray 2014 tC in January 2016 which serves as my dd and mountain slayer.

[This car was sold in October 2023 when I had the opportunity to acquire one of my dream cars.]

Here's my tC2.5:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sci...fe96d19d5e.jpg

Teh Modz & Upgrades:

Engine & Performance:
Orange Virus V3 Tuned
Wet Charcoal Powder Coated Valve Cover
Wet Charcoal Powder Coated Injen MR Short Ram Intake
Custom SRI Heat Shield
Agency Power Lightweight Crank Pulley
Custom Filled Motor Mount
NGK Laser Iridium Spark Plugs
Glacier Silver Cerakoted Dezod Green Header w/ OEM Heat Shield
Glacier Silver Cerakoted Megan Racing S Pipe
Tanabe Medalion Axleback Exhaust
Torque Solutions Exhaust Hangers
Redline Tuning Hood Dampers
Supertek Short Throw Shifter
MTEC Shifter Spring
Torque Solutions Shifter Bushings
R1 Concepts Drilled & Slotted Rotors
Power Stop Z23 Brake Pads
Techna-Fit Stainless Steel Brake Lines
Duralast Gold Battery
OEM Camry Battery Isolator
Glacier Silver Cerakoted CustomTC Billet Battery Tie Down
JDM TRD Oil Cap

Suspension and Chassis:
Tein Flex Z Coilovers
SPC Adjustable Rear Control Arms
Wet Charcoal Powder Coated DC Sports Strut Tower Bar
TB Performance Mid Chassis Brace v2
TB Performance Rear Mid Chassis Brace
TB Performance C Pillar Brace
Moog Greaseable Control Arms / Ball Joints / Tie Rods / Endlinks

Exterior:
IkonMotorsports RS Lip Spoiler
JDM Toyota Zelas Emblems
Removed OEM Vinyl From A Pillars
Morimoto XB35 5500k HIDs
Morimoto X-VF LED Turn Signals
Diode Dynamics SmartTap Flasher Module
Custom Amber Lower Parking Lights
iJDMToy Lexus Projector Fogs
iJDMToy FR-S Rear Brake Conversion
iJDMToy License Plate Led Modules
Smoked Sequential Led Side Mirror Turn Signals
WeatherTech Side Window Deflectors
OEM Carbon Fiber B Pillars
TRD FR-S Gas Cap
Hella Supertones Horns
Toyota Racing Tri-Color Heritage Badge
Charcoal Lamin-X'd Reflectors
Black Painted Calipers
S2000 Antenna
LED Lighting

Interior:
SunTek CIR Ceramic Window Tint
Gentex Autodimming Rearview Mirror w/ Homelink
Camera Source Backup Camera
Redline Goods Armrest Cover & Boots
OEM Leather Sport Weighted Shift Knob
CustomTC Autovation Pedals
OEM Aluminum Door Sills
OEM Center Console Tray
TRD Striker Covers
Covercraft Fitted Sun Shade
OEM Carpet Floor Mats
AOB Push Switches
iJDMToy Hatch LED Module
LED Footwell Lighting
LED Map Lighting

Wheels & Tires:
ESR SR08 18x8.5 +30 Wheels
ESR SR50 Neo Chrome Lugs
Hankook Ventus S1 Noble2 225/45 Tires
H&R 50mm Extended Wheel Studs
BloxSport 5mm Hubcentric Wheel Spacers

Audio:
Pioneer AVH-1440NEX Headunit
iDatalink Maestro RR Interface Module
Rockford Fosgate R400/4D 4-Channel Amplifier
Focal 165 AS-3 3-Way Component Door Speakers
Focal 165 AC 2-Way Coaxial Rear Speakers
JL Audio JX500/1D Mono Amplifier
JL Audio Stealthbox w/ JL 10w3v3
54 sq/ft of Noico Sound Deadening
34 sq/ft of Second Skin Heatwave Pro Thermal Insulation

Fluids:
Redline MT-LV Transmission Fluid
ATE TYP 200 Brake Fluid
Mobil1 0w20 w/ TRD Filter

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...824e8c40_b.jpg

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sci...2a514fdcf0.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sci...914dbe5dbb.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/397/32...4aeea8bf_b.jpg

That is a really nice build you have going on. I have a 2016 myself. Came from a 2012. This may be a really random question. I saw you have the morimoto HIDs, I ordered a pair of those but the bulbs base caused the stem from the bulbs to shine on the road taking away a lot of light. Do yours still cause those issues?

HID's installed on Stock projectors throw your headlights in all sorts of directions.
I didn't know there was a difference until i retrofitted mine with some lexus projectors + clear lens.
Makes a world of a difference, you can actually see the cut off lines and adjust focal points

Thanks man! It's getting there. Not bad for a year methinks.

Sorry this is so late, didn't get any notifications anyone replied to this thread. You need the 9006 bulbs even though the stock size is 9012. The ground wire is on the opposite side which fixes your issue. I had this issue as well and TRS took care of it for me. (pic of issue)

I retrofitted my last car with morimoto hid projectors and these with proper HID's are seriously almost as good. It already has a bi-xenon design and the cutoff is sharp. I see no reason to retro this car.

Few updates since my original post..

Swapped out the Eibach Sportline springs for the Tein S-Techs. The Eibachs were defective (didn't seat right in the spring hats which caused an unbearable amount of pops when turning and going over even the smallest bump). Had them RMA'd. But a bonus is that the S-Techs ride a million times smoother and the car handles much crisper. Definitely a win-win. If you're on the fence, 100% go for the Teins. To keep things proper, I also added the SPC adjustable RUCA's so I am now sitting at -0.6° camber up front and -1.4° rear (car was around -2.5° with the stock RUCA's and the Teins).

Attachment 121676

Custom cut aluminum Autovation pedals have been installed (purchased from customtc.com). The fitment is spot-on and driving with them feels so much more controlled over the tiny stock pedals. Heel-toeing is also smoother now with the larger footprint of the accelerator pedal.

Attachment 121677

iJDMToy rear fog kit for the FR-S installed. Contrary to what the reviews I read say, you can set this up to be a dual function rear tail and auxiliary brake light. Also swapped out the rear tail parking light 194's to a red led which is about 40% brighter and actually red instead of the pinkish hue they are stock.

Attachment 22356

WinJet lower fogs also installed and setup as DRL's with purple fog leds along with a matching purple TRD oil cap. They pair well with my 5k low beams against the magnetic gray exterior. Planning to add more purple accents to build a theme off of. Lastly disabled & charcoal Lamin-X'd the lower parking lights as they didn't match anything anyway.

Attachment 121678

Eeeee look what showed up! Herroooo Tanabe Medalion exhaust! It showed up super fast, like 2 days from a company out of NY (drop shipped from Cali). Threw it on last night, and in the spirit of keeping things proper on this car, swapped out all the stock hangers for 12mm Torque Solutions urethane hangers as well.

First impressions with this are that the fitment is spot on and I think it looks great in person. So far I can't really tell it's there unless I get on it (though I did completely sound deaden this car), but the sound I do hear is a bit deeper and very clean. No rasping which a lot of systems produce on this platform - as expected from an ABE. Hoping the muffler packs a bit over the next 2 weeks or so and I pick up a bit more of an audible note, but so far so good.

Attachment 22354

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/474/32...1231f731_b.jpg

So I finally had some time to get my Focal 165 AC's installed. I picked up the JBL's just as temp speakers before I decided to do a full audio overhaul and was really wanting to match the rear set to the Focal 165 AS-3's up front.

Attachment 121671

JBL GTO 628 vs Focal 165 AC

Also threw on another 5 sheets of Noico sound deadener so now under the rear seats is blanketed as well along with a few spots I missed on the rear fender areas. Much quiet. Such excite.

Wrapped the speaker brackets in Noico too. #teamnorattles

Attachment 22333

The stereo is so well balanced now. I am in love.

Door sill time! They fit sooooooooooo good! Ties the whole interior together.

Polished and matte mmmmm

Attachment 121670

Nice ride, I like your pedals. You got them from customtc.com. I have a gray 14 also. I also installed the rear fog and it functions both with brake and parking lights. I absolutely love it!!

Been a while since I popped in here and updated the build. Been a little preoccupied finishing up my new mtb build, but anyways, some new stuffs:

5k HID lower fog drl's (to match low beams) (april 2018 lenses swapped for projectors):

Attachment 121608

Removed the grosssss black vinyl from the A pillars. Took like 5 hours, was a total PITA, but worth it:

Attachment 121609

Autodimming rear view mirror w/ homelink:

Attachment 121610

Redline Goods extra padded arm rest cover and x-stitched shift boot in Nappa leather with charcoal stitching:

Attachment 121611

Attachment 121612

Attachment 121613

And swapped out the crank pulley for the Agency Power part. Loving this little mod. Added a little pep but mostly for how smooth the entire drivetrain and the car at idle feels.

Attachment 121614

Well, there is still too much cabin noise even with the entire cabin lined with 80 mil butyl deadening, so.. on to step 2 of the noise cancellation process: Second Skin Heatwave Pro thermal insulation. Should also help out in the hot Phoenix climate. Threw on 24 sq/ft over the base layer of Noico on both doors, rear quarter areas and along the center console. This goes on so much faster than the base, total install including ripping off all the plastics and buttoning back up the car was about 1.5 hours. I chose this over their Luxury Liner as this is muuuuuchhhh lighter, and I already added over 37 lbs of deadening to the car with the base layer.

I still have some material leftover that I need to find a place for, but it's taken that edge of road noise off that I was looking for. I've used this in the past to quiet down exhaust noise, never on the doors though. Pretty happy so far. Might do the wheel wells too since I have about 8 sq/ft leftover. That should really clean things up.

Thought about trying to cover the firewall, but it already has nearly 100% coverage on both sides from the factory.

Attachment 121605

Attachment 121606

Measure once, cut once. Familiar enough with this car now that I can wing the sizes, worked out, threw big solid pieces up. :)

Attachment 121607

No updates for a while and the car was getting jealous of my bikes, so threw on a set of the Redline Tuning Hood dampers. Had to modify their instructions a bit to get them installed, but overall happy with the product. Beats a prop rod every time.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sci...f91f28a1bb.jpg

So went to rotate my tires last weekend, only to find out that they were about 1mm from cording (after only 16k miles on them). I can't stress enough how awful Nankang tires are. Been hating them since I got the car 2 years ago.

Anyways... as they've been my long time favorite, Hankook V12 Evo 2's installed on the tC yesterday. Bonus that right now Hankook has a $100 MIR for them. :D

Initial impression over the horrible and heavy NS-20's is that the car feels lighter which makes the acceleration and turn-in noticeably quicker, and the ride is a lot quieter and softer, but somehow more sporty as well. Grip should be amazing as this car already handles pretty great with the S-Techs, but been too much traffic to test the limits yet.

Attachment 121604

So, I've never been happy with the output of these Winjet fogs since installing. There is way too much glare for oncoming drivers, and they don't have proper color representation for the 5k hid's I had down there. So, iJDMToy 3.0" Lexus projector fogs installed... and they are pimp af.

New projector fog mounted vs old reflector housing:

Attachment 121601

Smiley faces in the garage:

Attachment 121602

Fogs only cutoff a good 80' across the street:

Attachment 121603

I'm in love and happy it actually looks like there's hid's down there now (5k in a reflector housing just don't have that bluish glow 'wow' factor). There's a lot more usable output after the upgrade and these are much more friendly to oncoming drivers. I basically have 4 low beams now and unless I'm going thru a dip or something, can pretty much drive around with just these on lol. #stoked #iloveretrofits

Knocking out a few small mods lately while I pay off some stuff before adding wheels to the mix.

First off the iJDMToy license plate led modules. These things are bright! Had to rip apart the whole hatch to swap em in, but as I'd already done it a few times for sound deadening and the backup cam install, wasn't bad at all. These things almost double as reverse lights.

Attachment 121600

#usedtobeamazdaguy #hankook4lyf #dontworryaboutallthoseboxestheyregonenow

I recently found out about the MTEC shifter spring upgrade. And since the stock shift feel is still flimsy (even with an STS and solid shifter bushings) I figured I'd test it out and see if it helps the 2-3 and 4-5 shifts. Holy crap. I didn't realize how sloppy the stock shifting was until I put this in. Felt about the same in a side by side comparison, but installed it almost feels like I'm shifting a different car, and it completely fixed the issues I was hoping it would. If you're reading this I highly recommend this little mod.

I also finally found a place that said the had the front motor mount in stock for this car (which have been discontinued since before I bought it), so I jumped on that as well. Been almost a week though and it hasn't shipped yet; crossing my fingers that it actually exists as it's been something I've been wanting since I got the tC. An upgraded torque mount is something you immediately notice after you shift a car without one.

Nice car. I have the torque solutions front motor it made a big difference. Is that what you ordered or a different one

I also have a dezod green header just sitting in my garage if your looking to buy one let me know

Thanks d00d. The Torque Solutions is the one I wanted the least, but after over a year of searching for any available mount that's the first one that turned up so that's what I ordered. Hopefully I will actually receive it. With the LWCP I don't think the vibrations will be too extreme once it breaks in.

I actually am planning on grabbing a green but unsure when I'll have funds available for it.

Aaaaand payment for mount got refunded. Found one other place that says they have 3 in stock so ordered from there fully expecting to have this order cancelled as well in the next few days. If that happens it looks like I'll be making my own.