DaygoSpecIST

Just wanted to give everyone a warm greeting. Pretty chill place, glad to get out of the honda tech forums, and move to a more mature place haha.

Anyway,
I just picked up an 06 Flint Mica 5spd with 39k miles. Car came with 17" after market rims already and I'm planning some mods for her. I wanted to get some opinions on a couple things.

First off, I'd like to discuss the cons of the car and after that have a solution for them if anyone has not already done so we can brainstorm up some cool things, or just post some quick links in here that would help other members.

1. Lets start with some annoyances of the car:

1a.

The very first thing about the car is that it is pretty high. i was washing the car over the wkend and couldnt barely reach the center of the roof to wash her. I stand at about 5'8", but the problem doesnt stop there as most of you already know this car on the freeway or while cornering has a very unsafe feeling as if it is going to tip over or soemthing. The suspension and body roll is terrible! I've read at a few places to def. get the rear strut bar and front to decrease this, and a nice drop maybe I was thinking on some eibach prokit springs and tokico shocks for a comfortable yet sporty ride would be suitable. Feel free to give some ideas about this. I don't plan on spending thousands, maybe just under 4-5 for a nice setup, without labor of course bc I'll be installing them myself.

2a.

Yes, the car lacks power, I'm use to getting about 200hp in my is300 and GSR, and this thing isn't made for racing out of the box, so def. an intake and maybe exhaust for a sporty sound. Some headers perhaps, as long as it doesnt throw any CEL's, I'm not sure where the cats are located, but hopefully no other mods to trick the ecu would be required.

3a.

Then there is the cosmetics I want to mod.
Hids and Oem fog lights, which turn on independently, some one kindly please link me to a site where I can get them for a good deal. I'm going to paint them yellow or just have yellow bulbs to have that contrast of Hid's with a yellow fog light is awesome. Kenstyle lip to accent this would over the top.

4a.

OEM spoiler is pretty cool, although without it it kinda looks like a mini on the roof rear roof portion aspect. I know these go for really cheap, seen some for about 75 bucks in my color.


I've got about 1k to spend on all these things, so cheaper is def. better, not in terms of quality of course.



****I've been searching for parts to mod her and that is the most pain staking task IMO bc you want the best value, so if anyone has some links or know where I can find these mods above then please post here. I will update with pics along the way and do some cool write-ups too.****

I will post pics of my car later today if I have time.

Thank you all and lets get this project on the road.

dexter_5000

skip the rear and front strut bar. get a rear sway bar.

cozmo

Welcome! I have the tein s-tech springs on my xa, they have a geat ride, and lowered my car almost 2"

cobb

The strut bar does nothing to reduce sway, its just insurance to not crack your shock towers.

I got the front, rear and strut brace from hostkins. Then upgrade the front end links to urthene. For springs I had eiback prosports. It was harsher, but heavy winds did not bother it on stock shocks nor did it feel tippy.

I got my hids from operatic 4300k for high n low and 3000k for fogs with relay kits.

I got almost all the scion accessories, minus the ipod connector and trd stuff, except for the short shifter. I got a weapon r 4-2-1 header for more power and strup muffler too. Pulls to red line.

DaygoSpecIST

nice setup, but you def. need some wheels

Scooter06

Get some springs to drop the car for a more solid feel, there is a tech section on this forum that gives all spring rates and drop amounts,do some frame bracing/sway bars etc. the car will handle better!For freeway driving I got the beatrush underpanel it creates more downforce so the car feels more stable at highway speeds(kamispeed.com). This car will never have the power your IS or Acura had so give that up unless your going to boost it ($1k wont get ya there)intake,exhaust w/header is about 10-15hp on this little engine.(intensepower.com has some decent prices on Xa stuff)there are a ton of parts and even more good info on this site my sugestion start reading...As for the Kenstyle lip kit good luck they are a pain to find for the 06 I want one too!

Scooter06

here is the spring info...

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=47227

DaygoSpecIST

thanks scooter! =)

I went to the link about the spings, I'm leaning towards either the TRD or the eibach prokit...

Thing is I dont kno if I want to upgarde the shocks, so would this be ok for either of them?

Also, does anyone have pics of TRD or prokit springs on their car? I want soemthing that feels smooth and luxurious without sacraficing the drop...I've always trusted eibach and all the cars I've had eibach in, there were wonderful, but I never had TRD springs before. Also on the chart, the spring rate for the TRD's is 150-160, and eibachs rates are from 120-180? Not sure how they rate those, but how would the TRD compare to the eibachs in terms of driveability?

A friend of mine told me to goto www.scioncrazy.com and they have some pretty good stuff for cheap, but I also compared it to ebay prices which is lower w/ free shipping...

Also, does anyone have a link to puchase the oem fogs...been looking everywhere for these...

any input would be great! thx guys

Scooter06

Here is a pick of my car 3 years ago with the TRD springs on it...I now have the Tanabe df210,I got the Tanabes because of price and stance 2"front 1.8" rear. The Eibachs are progresive that means as they compress they get more stiff, I have the Eibachs on my Mustang and on my wifes Fusion and I am very happy with them.


As for the Fogs you can sometimes find the kit on Ebay...I got mine from a dealership the car is prewired,the kit comes with the lights,mounts,relay,switch,and 1 harness.

jct

you need tail lights will bolt in finally just needs a lil rewiring to make 'em work

the link is in my sig

clhermitte

Eibach Prokits FTW (lol)! I just installed a set on my xA and as of now I'm very happy with them. The install is pretty easy too, just very time consuming. The drop is nice and the car's more stable and responsive. As of now, for handling I have federal tires, Eibach pro-kit springs on stock dampers (the Eibach springs are made to work with the OEM dampers and as of now I have no problems with them) and polyurethane end link bushings up front. When I go 90+ mph the car is much more stable and planted and wind isn't as scary as it used to be. Also cornering is significantly improved. I would definitely suggest a good set of lowering springs but remember that a good set of tires is also VERY important. You may also want to buy some rear hub spacers; although they don't do much for handling, the definitely make the car look better.
An interesting thing about adding new springs is that the car responds quicker off the line since you don't lose movement in the suspension as much any more. So they definitely make the car more responsive in that sense.
As for power, just try to lighten up the car. Unfortunately I'm sure that your wheels slow things down because of the added rotational inertia, but with a good IHE setup and the removal of some excess weight I'm sure it should be zippy enough for city driving.
Finally, ebay is your friend for the lowest prices on parts. I recently got an OEM set of fog lights for under $100 shipped. Just be patient and I'm sure you'll find what you need at a good price.

I hope I helped, have fun with your xA and happy modding!

ein311

My '06 has 41k miles on it and I recently replaced the spark plugs. The tips were really rounded when I replaced mine...so you should check yours and see if they're getting that way too. It's also worth pointing out that the service manual says to change the plugs every 30k miles anyway.
I had a K&N Typhoon CAI installed in my car. All it did was reduce my gas mileage and I didn't realize what non-effect it had on performance.
I had the stock airbox on for a few days and filled my tank; 3mpg improvement and I felt a bit more response from the engine (placebo? who knows).
I have an Injen IS Short Ram just installed, still working on its first tank but I already notice it performing better than the K&N Typhoon.

I'm on the Tanabe DF210 lowering springs bandwagon. The ride didn't really get that much worse (a coworker who swears against lowering springs was impressed at the ride quality after changing them, go figure) and the drop is nice. I do have some scraping going over some driveways but other than that no real worries (of course I also have a lip kit so that doesn't help).
Here's some pics of my car before and after the drop:



Kinda hard to tell from those angles but that's all the pictures I have of it. (Ignore the leaks on the driveway, they aren't mine. heh)

I'd definitely get a spoiler if it doesn't have one already. I think it makes the car look so much better.

As stated, you can pick up OEM fog lights pretty cheap on eBay on occasion. Real easy setup since everything for the most part is already installed...just mount and pop in a relay, really.

There's a few really good threads about HIDs in the xA and fog lights. If you can't find them in the Owners Lounge use the search feature.

Also, the tech section (top of site select features then tech) has a lot of really handy info. Almost all of my mods have been done using the guides other members have written up.

DaygoSpecIST

thanks guys...

DaygoSpecIST

DaygoSpecIST

yes i know its stock height....haha

I'm actually awaiting the flood...

ein311

I never realized how much wheel gap there was on the stock springs until those pics.
I really like my Tanabe DF210s because although it makes the car pretty low, the ride is still decent and I only scrape on the really deep dips and ramps (and I also have the RS3 lip kit...so you most likely won't have to worry).