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Hoping to Join the Blizzard Brigade Soon

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by wotcher, Apr 5, 2012.

  1. wotcher

    wotcher Member

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2012
    403
    97
    16
    Location:
    LA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    I hope to close in on 2012 Liftback BP Three with Solar this month.:rockon: I'm coming from driving a '96 camry. This will be a completely different experience. Thankfully I found this place to be invaluable. Also, Diane's April sales are tempting with Sliver Three + Solar or BP Four with Solar. But I can't make my budget fit the extra cost of the four.

    From reading too much and sometimes reading again and again, I have compiled my to list of things to do.


    My Things To Do list in order
    1. CivicSky/Philatc's JDM mirror mod
    Need to get the lights first so that I can move on to step 2

    2. Premier's Clear Bra (full hood, bumper, lights, and mirrors)
    Does anyone know how much it will cost? < 1k, ~1.5k? :(

    3. Tinting
    I haven't decided on % and what type of ceramic on sides (Huper Optik at perfectwindowtint.com, Johnson Greystone at autotintspecialist.com, 3M crystalline at sunshield glass tint but I read that a disturbing google review that was suspicious of the owner using real crystalline, or llumar at elite auto tint).

    But I'm convinced to tint the front windshield with llumar air blue 80 and the sun/moonroof at 20%.

    4. Hawaiianbuilt's Tanabe Sustec Strut Tower Bar & Under Brace mods

    5. TRD Springs & RSB
    leaning towards have a shop install. I remember reading Mike's comments that the RSB provides minimal improvement, especially if one already has the Tanabe setup.

    5. evpv's Horn mod
    Its rare for a cheap and easy mod.


    So is bad that I have Tanabe under brace, horn parts and the jdm mirror covers shipping to my house now? :eek:
     
    #1 wotcher, Apr 5, 2012
  2. Keiichi

    Keiichi Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 1, 2012
    808
    79
    2
    Location:
    Goleta
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    You may want to review the Tint Laws for California... You won't be able to tint the front windshield, only the top 4 inches of your window with tint. Your Front side windows can only be tinted so that a minimum of 70% Visible Light Tramission is possible (IE: Cops need to be able to look in without needing to use REALLY bright lights.) The rest of the car can be tinted to whatever percent you want. The only other thing is that the tint cannot have a reflective index greater than the natural reflectiveness of the glass.

    California Window Tint Law - TC Window Tint
     
    #2 Keiichi, Apr 5, 2012
    1 person likes this.
  3. wotcher

    wotcher Member

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2012
    403
    97
    16
    Location:
    LA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Thanks for the info. I'm considering using a lighter shade upfront. Tinting/undoing is just part of the fee for living in CA. I never drove with tint before. So I'm concerned about how dark it will get at night.
     
    #3 wotcher, Apr 5, 2012
  4. PlacerLode

    PlacerLode Prospecting Planet Earth

    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2012
    52
    14
    7
    Location:
    Jet City is Seattle
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Now I don't feel so bad Wotcher because I have a stack of 2012 Prius accessories piling up at my place and my car is still floating eastward in the Pacific ocean :)
     
    #4 PlacerLode, Apr 5, 2012
  5. Keiichi

    Keiichi Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 1, 2012
    808
    79
    2
    Location:
    Goleta
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    Well, I can tell you with my car, which has tinting right now, I would say a 50% is not too dark. A good tinter, even a 'cheap, scraggly looking' one should have an example of the tints on a board and hold it up to your windows to give you an idea.

    I drive a little at night and for the rear windows it isn't too bad to have it around 50% as head lights, even old ones, will be bright enough to give you a good indication of cars behind you. You can even see their running lights. Your real worry is when you get to the REALLY dark tints, like 15 and 20 (The lower the number, the darker it is). I'm using solar-gard that my tinter had, so in this case, he did Galaxie 50 on the rear sides and back, and maybe Ultragard or Ultra Performance on the front sides, 70, I think.
     
    #5 Keiichi, Apr 5, 2012
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