Modding Questions

Other mods are

• 
  I thought about the side moldings, still am some. but one thing I noticed is that the back doors of most cars curve over the rear tire. Thus the height that door would hit is substantially higher than the front door. It seems you would need 2 strips on each side of the car. I don't think that would look very nice at all. Even then you can't match the contact point for every potential ding.

 

Oops, I forgot they split the forum a while back!

 

Congrats on the new Prius. I'd have someone professional do the 3M plastic installation, especially if you are thinking of doing a large area like the hood. The stuff is tricky to handle because you need to keep the plastic and the surface it's going on, watered and also moistened with this solution that comes with the plastic film... and you need to be in a virtually dust free area or you will have little bumps under the plastic and your car will look like wrapped leftovers. Once it's installed correctly, it looks fine and is almost invisible. Not sure what the long term prognosis is.

You can get a hood protector made of hard smoked plexiglass that fits nicely on the hood and does a great job of deflecting bugs and rocks. It is pretty easy to install and does not sit right on the paint as the 3M stuff does.

The Canadian mud flaps are great; sturdy and effective. To install them requires removing each wheel but is otherwise not that difficult. I waited until my 5k tire change and had the dealer put them on while rotating the tires. It cost me about 50 bucks in labor but it was worth having it done right and not having me sitting on a wet sidewalk cursing at the car.

Other mods you might consider are LED interior plug in lights that you can stick into the power outlets for a subtle effect. I have four of them in my car and they cast a nice soft green and blue light under the dash and on the cup holder.

Toyota Town in Langley, BC can get you the mudflaps and the plastic hood protector (there are photos of both in the album section) delivered UPS in only a few days. They are nice folks and have stuff that American dealers apparently don't carry.

Good luck
B

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bob Allen\";p=\"50959)</div>

Actually, you can install the front flaps with the wheels on, just move the car a bit and turn the wheels hard to the side on which you are installing the flap. On the other hand, it is a good chance to find the jack points in case you need to do it in low light conditions some time.

 

Howdy,

As far as your wheel concern goes...

On a car like this there will probably be a noticable difference in fuel economy, handling, and road-feel if you were to get different sized rims. I don't think you should have any major problems as long as they are the same size as the stock wheels.

It is my opinion that the Prius brakes probably won't require a whole lot of venting. It isn't a very heavy car, most Prius-drivers are gentle when it comes to speed and braking, and a good portion of heat energy is collected by MG2.

You've got nothing to worry about. Go with the moon-rims.

And stickers...well...no comment other than... I like to keep badges under the hood.

(a personal preference)

~Andrew

PS What are moon rims? any pictures for us?

 

where can I find the speed sensor cutout switch mod (so a passenger can do nav stuff while the car is in motion).

 

I don't see that one at http://www.coastaletech.com Viet. Do you have a link?

 

Yes, but it has nothing to do with a Coastal Tech product. I knew Evan pioneered a 'roll your own' and kindly posted the instructions. From your post I thought maybe Coastal Dave had put together a kit.