Catalytic Converter Protector

If the stock brakes allow you to activate the ABS at anytime, they are doing their job.
The tire contact patch is where the braking meets the road, so braking up to ABS is related to tires.
When monster brakes are needed is when they counter a monster amounts of HP (and tires) on a track.
A Prius does not have that problem.

I agree about the driver! It's the ultimate High Performance Linkage in a car.
A person can have 'Feelings' about mods, but if they are not measurable on the Autocross or Road course ,,,
they remain 'Feelings'.

Well, technically, (I'm that guy...) EV's get ∞ MPG!
My two are WAY less expensive to drive than any Prii. And faster and sportier !!
And don't get me started on changing perfectly fine oil after 10k miles regardless of engine usage.....

 

I disagree on this.

You don't have to be a racecar driver or race your vehicle to feel the quality of parts on your vehicle. When I drove my parent's or friend's weekend vehicles, I can feel a drastic difference in their vehicle versus my vehicle.

I can feel the difference in my friend's lowered vehicle with stiffer suspension versus the stock setup. Not everything is measured in 0-60 or seconds....

Confidence in your vehicle's performance matters too. If changing out the smaller Prius rotors for a larger one with drilled holes (for the look) you can feel the difference. And that is what matters the most.

I mean heck.... if you are talking about measuring things on a track, most of these trucks/performance sports cars/"Sport" Utility Vehicles are a waste of real car! Because they never see the track. And so there isn't a real measurable metric.

Everybody buys a car based upon "feeling."

 

OK, I agree. We all have feelings.
A lowered, stiffer riding car can be felt easily.
But a small gee gaah bolted to the very middle of the car's bottom to thwart a Cat thief??? Come on....

And bigger 'cool looking' rotors ?? What exactly would one be feeling?
Less 'lbs of pedal pressure per G of deceleration'? Maybe, maybe more pedal pressure.. That is measurable.
But if the stock tires are on the car, its stopping distance will remain the same because either rotor will bring the braking to ABS activation.

Lately I've been buying cars based on how much the energy and maintenance costs 'Feel' to me!

 

The lawlessness in the US rages on. Welcome to the New Wild West.

Aurora family faced 4 catalytic converter thefts and attempts in 4 months

 

Connecticut governor signs bill targeting catalytic converters thieves.

WooHoo... it's a start!

 

I applaud the effort. But this?

Does that mean if a repair shop replaces a bad cat, they have to do it at the recycler's location? Most of us prefer to do it while the car in on a hoist.

This sounds good, though, but I imagine the only way to enforce it is of undercover cops go to recyclers with cat in hand to see if they obey the law.

 

It's a start; but the rules should be the same as pawn shops in regards to CATs. Photo Id's required and their database should be open to unannounced audits. If a person is constantly turning in CATs; they should be targeted and investigated. Also, put up a bounty on CAT thieves - allow individuals to sue thieves for say $10K each; if they are caught with their stolen CAT in their possession. This will turn "hot" CATs into kryptonite - A much better deterrent. This will also get more people to "mark" their CAT's with identification numbers - making it easier for law enforcement to pursue additional charges and ID the cars it was stolen from.

Just my 2-cents.....

 

PRIUS PHV (PRIUS PHV) TRD PARTS (TRD PARTS) | TRD

The part is a legitmate Toyota part from Japan. It is a lot stiffer than even the one found in the Prius PHV GR Sport edition of the Japan Prime.

They don't release the Prius PHV GR sport edition stateside. It would be nice. But they likely think it won't sell.

More stability controls from Toyota itself. I mean it may look gimmicky. But I think Toyota TRD engineers have access to more tools than most end users.

ＭＣＢモーションコントロールビーム解説 - YouTube

 

You could buy this stuff if you really wanted to,
so you to can feel those feelings!

I would think it would be easier to design the car to be as stiff as needed. It would cost ? $3 more in steel to add the stiffness these Gee Gahs add?
But then you don't get to sell Gee Gahs to the believers....
Are they, and you, saying the stock body of the Prius is so flexible that there is a problem?

And as always, can any of this be measured? That picture....??
Yes when one side hits a bump the anti-sway bar makes the car lean more than if it didn't have a the sway bar. So?
Stiffening the body will not change that. What are they trying to sell the believers anyway?

 

I think to each their own is what it comes down to. I mean people buy EVs. People buy PHVs. People buy HYBRIDS. Then you have guys buying sports cars and sport UTILITY VEHICLES.

I mean there is value. Whether you see it or not is the case. And if you don't see value in it, you can just not make that purchase decision.

What matters in the end is what I like to do with the car and my free time. I like messing with that and it added stiffness to my Prime so I am happy =)

I may mess with the front/rear sway bars and I may not. I just like a decent handling ride. I don't care about power as I like just being efficient with my fuel. But it doesn't mean I can't have some fun adding parts and improving the handling.

Feelings matter a lot actually. Used to be older Toyota's felt like driving a boat. Then Toyota switched the GEN 1/2/3 rear torsion beam for a multi-link setup in the GEN4 rear. Now the car FEELS and HANDLES better.

So yeah.... feelings matter.

 

The TOYOTA MCB or motion control bar/beam actually serves a real purpose. When we are on the road, our suspension only dampens movement/vibrations from one axis. Generally up/down. But what about left/right? We don't have a dampener for that.

So Toyota TRD engineers came up with this. ＭＣＢモーションコントロールビーム解説 - YouTube. And it can actually serve a function. The vehicle can be thought of to be supported from sideways movement (left/right movement) from the vehicle tire sidewalls. They aren't very supportive but it is there.

At the ends of the vehicle (front/rear crash guard) it is essentially unsupported. Cantilevered. So add an MCB there and you can dampen out any vibrations and unwanted movements from the vehicle when cornering.

MS303-47003.pdf (trdparts.jp) - installation diagram for where the MCB is to be located.

 

I've got cat shields on my Prime and Gen 3. The problem is that the clearance between the shields and the cat is not enough and there is vibration / contact when at high power. This is because the exhaust system moves downwards when the engine twists rearward in the flexible motor mounts at high power.

 

So far I’ve just wrapped the rear cut point with chain, on our 2010. Secured it several times along the wrap process with nuts/bolts, and the outermost two I put permanent thread lock.

 

^^^ That's pretty cool, so no problem with rattling/noise, especially when the ICE comes on?

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Nada. I was careful to keep it tight.

 

I might have to do something like this with our Camry and Corolla, since there are no shields sold for those models.

How many feet of chain do I need for the Corolla, which would be similar to the Prius?

I'll probably skip the permanent (red) threadlock though, just use the blue. Don't want to make it that difficult to remove, in case the exhaust system needs to be removed or replaced down the road.

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With the red thread lock nuts can still be removed, with a fight. I tested on a nut and bolt, and found with a good blast from a heat gun it (reluctantly) started turning. Touching it for a 30 seconds with the tip of a torch flame would likely be better. All these things just slow down the thief I guess, make him consider easier targets. And hopefully you don't get vandalized for your efforts.

 

Thanks, something to consider.

Length of chain needed? Also, what size chain did you use? 1/4 inch, 5/16 inch? I see that I can get galvanized chain by the foot at my local big box hardware store.

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I used some chain I had, I’d guess six foot. The bolts were 1/4” and didn’t have a lot of clearance to pass through the links, which could maybe determine suitable chain size. Get bolts/nuts at same time and you can verify fit and length needed to go through two links and get a nut on. Half a dozen bolts is more than enough. I put one on at the start of wrap, maybe a couple more during the wrap, and a couple on the outer layer. Just put thread lock on those last two. Basically a thief would be there a while.

 

Sorry to hijack this thread, but it looks like I'm going to have to go another route with the Camry and Corolla.

There's just too much exposed pipe either before or after the catalytic converters on these cars to wrap with chain. It looks too easy to find a spot to cut through the system either before the pre-catalytic converter (or whatever that is), or the long pipe after the catalytic converter.

I think I will wrap the pipes ahead of the catalytic converters with about 3 layers of stainless steel 18 gauge hardware cloth/mesh wire, secured with stainless steel bolts with red loctite. That would be very difficult to cut through using a reciprocating saw, as it will snag the blade on each wire it encounters and will make an incredible amount of noise in the process too.



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