Hello! I just bought a matrix 08 and I am very pleased! my 4runner was too much of a gas guzzler! So I want to pimp my ride out a bit...any suggestions?
Last edited by ToyoMatrix08; 11-12-2007 at 06:04 PM.
trd supercharger, rims are a matter of personal opinion and thus up to you, tinted windows, tokico blues or koni yellows, e-manage blue, 630 cc fuel injectors, larger throttle body, intercooler, cold air intake, hotchkis or progress sway bars, strut tower bar, carbon hood (or fiberglass if you dont like the carbon look), new header back exhaust (yes...skip the cat entirely), big brake kit front and rear, new header...just to name a few
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2003 Matrix XRS-6MT-Black Sand Pearl-Castrol Syntec 0W30 European Formula
Mods - 18" Incubus Paranormal wrapped in Toyo Proxes4 - T-Max Style front body kit - Escort Passport 9500i...what a friend to have in the car - Part Time Mod Thule Roof Rack
it's a silver xr auto 1.8L, so I know that I am limited. I am def going to do the tint, and I want rims, but I am still up in the air about what kind.
I also changed my rims and tires. The rims I got are quite heavy but they look quite good. HOWEVER, the car has lost a lot of MPG!!! Before with my stock rims/tires, I was able to drive about 505km before the gas light came on. After the new rims/tires, I could only drive about 405km before the gas light comes on...
So do look around for light weight rims...
Oh forgot to mention that you can also lower your ride, to make it look nicer.
Drop it and good looking light weight rims and call it a day. Screw engine mods.
engine mods can get very costly in a hurry, but you can make a real sleeper. others have taken their auto XR and modded them. if you want a fast car, do the engine mods. if you want a car that is a bit better than stock, go with light modding, i.e. cold air intake and cat-back exhaust, then get it re-tuned to account for those, and you will feel a small difference.
CAI will cost about $150 brand new or you can get one that works just as good used for $75-100 usually.
Exhaust i havent priced out as i am not looking for it on my car yet, but look for it to be around $200-300 to get something decent. installation of the components will be extra unless you have friends to do it for you or can do it yourself. the CAI is pretty straight forward, but some people are afraid to play with things in the car.
if you dont care so much about more performance, but want a car that looks good doing what it does, then skip anything in the engine bay.
for rims, if you want really light, look for around 15 lbs each (~6.8 kg).
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2003 Matrix XRS-6MT-Black Sand Pearl-Castrol Syntec 0W30 European Formula
Mods - 18" Incubus Paranormal wrapped in Toyo Proxes4 - T-Max Style front body kit - Escort Passport 9500i...what a friend to have in the car - Part Time Mod Thule Roof Rack
I agree with smart96. Engine mods get pricey fast. If you're on an unlimited budget, go for turbo or super. I personally don't have 3 grand to dump into just the turbo. Then you need to upgrade a heluva lot more to handle the added torque and hP. Just start simple; CAI or SRI, cat-back exhaust, new wheels and rubber, and lowering springs to fill in the 2 foot gap are a good start.
Be careful with tint. Every state has different laws as to the % allowed. PA for example has two laws. There is a % that will pass inspection, and there is a % the cops will hassle you for. Here they can pull you over simply for having tint too dark, stock tint being the exception.
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'03 XR - Lunar Mist, AEM Short Ram Intake, Borla Catback Exhaust, Vibrant Strut Tower Brace, Tein S-Tech Springs, De-badged Hatch, TYC Black Tail Lights, LED Front Signals, LED Rear Lighting, I-Series Stubby Antenna, DRL Disable, 17" Gloss Black Falken Torque 5 wrapped in Falken Ziex Ze 912
Eric-Thanks for the advice. I am currently looking for light rims. I definitely want a bang for my buck and anything to help will do! Now does it take a lot to lower it?
Mistamatrix-I like the rims below your message what color and brand is that if you don't mind? It looks really good!
Smar96- Thanks, I am looking to do the cold air intake and an exhaust, I was wondering is there an exhaust you would recomend that is not so loud?
PA Firefighter-I eventually would like to look into engine mods later, but for now I am looking to do something simple and sleek! I am no too sure what the law says about tint here in CAli, but I want enough for it to look good and not suspicious! Thanks for your help I appreciate it!
Last edited by ToyoMatrix08; 11-13-2007 at 03:13 PM.
Reason: wanted to address everybody.
Eric-Thanks for the advice. I am currently looking for light rims. I definitely want a bang for my buck and anything to help will do! Now does it take a lot to lower it?
Mistamatrix-I like the rims below your message what color and brand is that if you don't mind? It looks really good!
Smar96- Thanks, I am looking to do the cold air intake and an exhaust, I was wondering is there an exhaust you would recomend that is not so loud?
PA Firefighter-I eventually would like to look into engine mods later, but for now I am looking to do something simple and sleek! I am no too sure what the law says about tint here in CAli, but I want enough for it to look good and not suspicious! Thanks for your help I appreciate it!
You're wondering about car lowering, which I asked the same thing a month or two ago! Anyway, members from here have been very helpful. There are two routes you can go: 1). Just buy and install lowering springs (cheaper solution); 2). Buy coilovers in which you can manually adjust the height.
In my case, I just went with the cheaper solution and so I just installed lowering springs (Tein S.Tech).
I'm by no means an expert about car lowering...but I am sure other members are glad to help you out!
You're wondering about car lowering, which I asked the same thing a month or two ago! Anyway, members from here have been very helpful. There are two routes you can go: 1). Just buy and install lowering springs (cheaper solution); 2). Buy coilovers in which you can manually adjust the height.
In my case, I just went with the cheaper solution and so I just installed lowering springs (Tein S.Tech).
I'm by no means an expert about car lowering...but I am sure other members are glad to help you out!
.Eric
be careful with lower that you do get it done by somebody who knows what they are doing. if you just lower the car and dont adjust the camber and other little things, you will wear your hubs out much quicker, which cost a few hundred to get a shop to replace for you. it will also wear out a strip of the tire much faster than the rest. basically what this means is that if you just drop the car down, it changes the angle that the wheels sit by making the top of the wheels point in toward the engine. the people who know what they are doing will adjust for this and point the wheels straight up again.
a guy i have met has a honda on fully adjustable pneumatic equipment so he can flip a switch and lower or raise his ride. i watched him drop it once while it was parked and just watched the wheels crank inward. it almost hurt me just to watch how the wheels were forced in as the ride dropped.
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2003 Matrix XRS-6MT-Black Sand Pearl-Castrol Syntec 0W30 European Formula
Mods - 18" Incubus Paranormal wrapped in Toyo Proxes4 - T-Max Style front body kit - Escort Passport 9500i...what a friend to have in the car - Part Time Mod Thule Roof Rack
Flik's at edgeracing.com for cheap lightweight rims.
I went to that edge racing site, do I have to put my make and model, cuz it only has acura, mitz, scion and so forth, but no matrix. Am i lost? It has a rooster all over it? I'm not sure
I went to that edge racing site, do I have to put my make and model, cuz it only has acura, mitz, scion and so forth, but no matrix. Am i lost? It has a rooster all over it? I'm not sure
ha, nevermind I pretty much figured it out and answered my own question.
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