Gift for Son Intake or Muffler

3858 Views 38 Replies 18 Participants Last post by Minkis, Feb 13, 2006

pinkstonm

Discussion Starter · Oct 20, 2005

I wanted to get my son a gift for his new TC and looking for help as to which to do.

We were thinking about either the cold air intake or the muffler that toyota scion offer. Please comment back with which you would recommend and why.

THANKS a Dad!

1 - 20 of 39 Posts

Obike

· #2 · Oct 20, 2005

I'd recommend new tires (and if you can afford it, wider wheels). This allows for better traction in ALL conditions, which is what you should be concerned about more than power adders. Plus the fact that new tires (especially if you get wider wheels) can simply transform the handling of this car.

How old is your son and how long has he been driving? This will help with the decision process.

pinkstonm

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 20, 2005

He is 17...

When these tires wear down his plan was to put 19" rims and tires on at the same time. That will probably be around January.

For christmas we have slated a new 2d head unit with touchscreen and navigation.

I didnt think either of the items TRD exhaust or intake added much zip but they did add more sound effect I thought.

Zion

· #4 · Oct 20, 2005

Well that's a tough one. Both are very nice gifts to give.

I have both and enjoy them very much. The way i went was a cold air intake by K&N first. There are many other brands out but I felt K&N had the best filter as far as performance and reliability go. The piping also comes in different colors too. When installed, it gives the car a nice aggressive growl at high rpm and a 6-8HP increase.

The TRD exhaust was my second mod. It sounds great I.M.O. compared to any other exhaust on the market. Most other sound raspy however the TRD exhaust has a nice low street race growl. It frees up a lot of the back pressure and gives about 3-5hp gain. It looks really sharp too.

Both are awesome but I think a cold air intake would be the best bang for the buck. For about $200-300 (what ever brand you go with) you can get a good intake that sounds great and gives anyware from 5-9HP. In comparison to the Toyota Racing Development exhaust which will coast about $500 and only gain 3-5HP.

Hope this helps.

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lo bux racer

· #5 · Oct 20, 2005

Those are magazine hp. Very similar to sticker hp. Much smaller horses than you'd like to think.

IMHO, they are sound only mods, so consider which sound will be more important - exhaust noise that will make the car stand out all the time, or intake noise that will make the car stand out some of the time.

Either is a nice choice, but I tend to agree with OBike, the OEM tires are pitiful at best in the rain, and I would change them sooner than later. You might also want to consider that 19" wheels are mostly show, and actually do not perform as well as 17" or 18" wheels/tires.

pinkstonm

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 20, 2005

Okay stupid Question...

Someone above mentioned to get better tires and wider wheels. What is the recomendation there? How Wide? 17" is std so 18" or 19"???

lo bux racer

· #7 · Oct 20, 2005

17" is not the width. The OEM wheel is 17 x 7". Wider is 17 x 8". The wider wheel gives you the ability to mount wider tires which dramatically enhance traction, especially for cornering. IMHO, the tC should have come stock with 245/40/17 tires, because they completely change the handling of the car from worst in class to best in class.

pinkstonm

Discussion Starter · #8 · Oct 20, 2005

now will you be able to get the same width out of 18" wheel? Also what is a guess on a price for nice new rims and tires?

The eclipse head unit my son wants is already going to break me

lo bux racer

· #9 · Oct 20, 2005

Yes, it's even easier to find 8" or 8.5" in 18" diameter wheels. Cost is highly dependent on what wheels. They have a huge range, so it's hard to say exactly what you'll spend. Also keep in mind you recover about $400 from selling the OEM tires and wheels (at least quite a few of us here did). I spent about $1850 on my tires and wheels, and got back $400, but I bought significantly more expensive wheels than you would need. FWIW, there are a couple of good choices out there, I'd look at the thread zoltiz started with his new wheels, they are wide enough, light enough, and pretty nicely priced. I'm sure if you PM him he could tell you what the all up cost was.

pinkstonm

Discussion Starter · #10 · Oct 20, 2005

How did you sell yours?

Where did you get your rims and what type? My son is into the Chrome rims with black in the center.

fiream

· #11 · Oct 20, 2005

The first mod i've done to my TC was a Borla Exhaust, it's not loud but not quiet, just right... I should have gotten new tires but i didn't relize how bad these tires are till we had alot of rain last week, they hydro plane at 50 mph, i'd say get tires and the wheels first, if you dont want to get that grab a Borla Exhaust well worth it...

Rob

josurr

· #12 · Oct 20, 2005

can you fit 245/40/17s on the OEM rims?

IMO anything to improve suspension/handling of the car is a must for first mod... either sway bars or strut bars (strut bars go btwn the macpherson struts at the top, the sway bars go btwn the struts at the bottom which stiffens the suspension and produces less body roll = better cornering)

hotchkis has the best sway bars ive seen so far, 2 way adjustable up front, 3 way adjustable in rear (adjustable in % stiffness over stock bars)

look around for good deals on them, but stay away from sites like tctunerz.com and any tunerznetwork.com... intensemotorsports is a good site for the bar set... 337 for me after tax and shipping (since i live in AZ, actually 15mins from their office) would probably run you around $300 including shipping

Intense Motorsports - Hotchkis tC sway bar kit

lo bux racer

· #13 · Oct 20, 2005

No. The only thing that fits a 7" rim properly is the OEM sized tire.

I bought my Hotchkis from trdsparks. Ken rocks.

iGod

· #14 · Oct 20, 2005

yeah, but your son (or someone he knows) better have a good handle on installs, because that front lower sway is a tough one. and ken does have the best price on them. free shipping right now as well.

lo bux racer

· #15 · Oct 20, 2005

Yeah, actually to get back on topic, if the choice is muffler or intake, I'd go with the muffler. Looks good, sounds good, easy install, full factory warranty. Hard to beat all that.

krdshrk

· #16 · Oct 20, 2005

The first things I put on mine are the mudguards and the strut bar.. I love how much it tightens up the handling.

zeromotorsports

· #17 · Oct 20, 2005

Id go with the muffler out of the two choices. but would also suggest rims/ better tires
best mod ive done yet.

BTW you can fit 245/40/17s on the stock rims...its what i have on mine and have had no problems with them yet except for the biotch it was to mount them. likelihood is nobody would mount them for u though so unless you can do it ureslf dont bother.

EcLites

· #18 · Oct 20, 2005

Oh my, this is the first thing that came to mind.

The kid should be modding his own car with his money. You guys should be buying it all. I understand that he is 17 and probably doesnt have a job. But still, like everyone else he should earn his own money and mod it himslef. This way he will feel like he was the one that made his car what it is. Buying the car should be more than enough on your behalf.
I understand that you want to give your kid some preasents. In my opinion the car was more than enough. If anything give him the HU and leave it at that.

Sorry to go Dr. Phil on the topic. Ok now back to your main question.

I would go with intake. Its the most bang you can get for the buck

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lo bux racer

· #19 · Oct 20, 2005

Originally posted by ZEROmotorsports@Oct 20 2005, 03:05 PM
BTW you can fit 245/40/17s on the stock rims...its what i have on mine and have had no problems with them yet except for the biotch it was to mount them. likelihood is nobody would mount them for u though so unless you can do it ureslf dont bother.

No doubt. I could probably stuff 315s on the OEM rims. They wouldn't work right, but you could do it. I've also seen 155's on 8.5" rims. It doesn't mean it's a good choice, but if you want that authentic lowrider look, it's part of the package. Don't say you did it for performance, because you'd be miles ahead to just go with a better quality 215/45/17 than to squeeze a 245 on the OEM rim.

iGod

· #20 · Oct 20, 2005

from the performance aspect, nothing narrower than an 8" makes sense.

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