Guide for people new to 'Mods and Modifications for my Prius'

[UNDER CONSTRUCTION: This POST IS NOT COMPLETE (I just wanted to start it off)]

Hi Everyone,

Basically I'm a new person at all this 'Moding' but I've spent a lot of time on PriusChat and hopefully have elevated myself from 'not knowing anything at all' to having what I believe is a 'Brief understanding'. This post is basically geared to anyone 'newish' to all of this and hopefully can help. This post will be updated periodically as I chronicle my changes to my Prius. What I hope to provide here is a consolidated thread for all types of mods and provide you a place with a lot of Links to where you can find more in-depth articles. I would say this would be geared for people who don't know a lot of the terminology that people sometimes sling around here in the more heated bouts of 'modification talk' or process discussions. My hope is that this post will grow to be very large and informative to people who were not born with all the know how of cars. :lol:

Well, I could start a long and lengthy debate as to what really constitutes as a 'mod' but I'd rather not go there. In essence what I believe they can be divided into 2 main categories.
1. Modifications that actually involve a bit of knowledge of your car and how it works. Skill sets that would/might be required are knowledge of wiring, electricity, and what I term physically invasive mods. IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) I call this 'Hardcore' Modifying.
For example: Installing CAN-View, Personally installing a fully subwoofer set and amplifier plus wiring by yourself, Drilling holes in your car, etc. etc. (Note: If you already do this I believe you've no need to read any further )

2. Modifications that can be done by anyone with instructions, knowledge and pictures without too much difficulty. I would say stuff the 'Average Joe' could perform.
For example: Changing a light bulb, Pushing a couple of buttons in sequence, Choosing parts for a subwoofer set but not installing it, Etc. (The majority of this 'Guide' will focus on these )


If anyone spots something I've said wrong please send me a PM about it and I'll clean it up right away!

For the time being (Or at least until I learn more myself) I'll only post about the following:
Wheels
Tires
Sound System
Tinting
Misc


Wheels
Firstly I would like to address the confusion about the word 'Wheels'. This word is confusing because sometimes people like to use it interchangeably with the word 'Tires' and 'Rims' and 'Frame'. This is a common bad practice as 'Tires' and 'Rims' and are two totally different things. Henceforth I shall always use the Rims instead of Wheels.

Basically:
'Wheels' == 'Rims' == 'Frame == The piece that is physically attached to your car by lug nuts
'Tires' == The rubber attached to your Rim/Wheel and this contacts the surface of the road

So what is there to know about Rims? And why would you want to change your stock Rims? Simply put Performance & Looks.

For Performance what should I be looking for?
If you purchase aftermarket rims that fit your current tires most likely you'll be looking to add some personal style, mostly in terms of performance what you can do when purchasing rims is to actually ensure the 'Unsprung Weight' of the car is less. Better performance gains can be felt more immediately by changing tires (See Tire Section)

Layman terms: A lighter set of rims that is the same size as your stock rims will likely improve Acceleration, Braking, Rigidity (Improves cornering). When you are looking for better performance usually this has a lot to do with the Tires that are on your car, and you can read about that down below. However changing your stock rims can actually give you some performance gains but are not usually the biggest factor.

Misc/General Info
Standard Prius OEM Rim: 15" x 6"
5 Lug Bolt Pattern: 5 x 100mm (See Tirerack's Explanation)
Offset: 45mm (Tirerack Explanation)
Maximum Recommended:
Rim Size and Width: 17" x 7.5"
(This is the maximum I've seen on Tirerack.com)
Offset: 45mm-50mm

Links: http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/index.jsp (This link is to TireRack where they have an amazing library of articles about Rims/Tires. Found a lot of my info here! Highly Recommended!)