Artsemis

First off, I'm buying a 2010 tC this week but I'm still undecided on what to do with the body. I've never done any customizations myself and honestly know very little about vehicles in general but I'm really wanting to learn much much more. The point is, financing IS a factor and it's convenient to have the body additions included.

With that said, I'm just looking for all kinds of facts and opinions, such as: Do the Scion ground effects mods look nice? Any pictures? With and without comparrison would be perfect if anyone can help find similar pictures.

I do live in a very "hilly" town with a few semi-steep inclines so I also need to factor that in... I'm not sure how much of a concern this is with most body kits but I imagine it's fine with the Scion ground effects... what about with the lowering springs added? (Complete newbie question: Can you even use lowering springs with a body kit or are they too low?)

I know this is extremely generic and all over the place but that's where my mind is at right now... I need to decide on something but don't know where to start.

RacingSolution

There are tons of threads in regards to your questions.. sounds like you are concerned with the terrain in your area.. Do a search for lip kit and you'll see lots of pictures and discussions

Checho

generally aftermarket bumpers don't flow as well as the OEM kits, and they tend to drop the body lines of the tC's by an inch or two, giving the APPEARANCE of low, but your wheel gap is the same so you end up looking like a tard.

If height bothers you a bit in your areas, I recommend a Lip kit of some sort and maybe H techs or Eibach drop, its not a HUGE drop, but its a tremendous appearance upgrade from stock height.

User 112921

i wouldnt get a body kit IMO.. and if you get springs and a lipkit, you should be pretty fine as long as you take things slow or even at slight turns..

OEM lip kit looks the best..

then i'd have to go with the rs1...

then the 5axis..

Mos_Def

iTrader: (5)

OEM lip kit>aftermarket body kits

hydralover

iTrader: (15)

OEM front lip isn't noticeable enough IMO. Get a small drop (TRDs or H Techs) and get a RS1. Bumps shouldn't be an issue as long as you pay attention.

Artsemis

Wow, I didn't expect so many quick responses... this is great

Thanks for all the replies so far -- at the cost of sounding like an idiot if I haven't accomplished that yet.... does the "OEM lip kit" refer to the ground effects kit offered by Scion?

If I go with a lip kit, should I get the lowering springs?

hydralover

iTrader: (15)

Yes, OEM is Ground Effects is GFX

Heh, the real question is, WHEN you lower it, should you get a lip kit?

Lowering > body kit.

but yes, get both.

youngflyer

imo if your going to go with a body kit, wheels and at least springs are a must or else it just would look terrible. Also a lot of lip kits are fiberglass and while some are infact high quality, fiberglass is not durable. If you want an aftermarket lip kit, go with one made of polyurethane.

this is a pic of my car with a kaminari body kit, hotchkis springs and 18x8.5 volk wheels

pyroman131

This seriously depends on the type of look you're after since any normal person who buys a Scion ends up blowing their life savings on mods (if you're rich, you're not buying this car).

I'd say the first thing you should consider is lowering. Then consider the lip kits. The polyurethane lip kits are more durable than fiberglass ones (which is most prevalent), ergo, are more expensive.

Since you're financing your car, consider your options - if you go with an official Scion kit, imagine how much you'll pay for it AND the financing? If you're okay with paying more money than you need to, go ahead and add that customization on and finance it with your dealer (or bank or whoever you finance with). I'd suggest the cheaper route and simply finance your tC and maybe a warranty or something. All the mods you can find online. Seriously, whether they're HIDs, Shark Fins, Carbon Fiber appliques, etc etc. The last thing you want is to pay interest on your body kit, right? You could end up paying probably $1,000 in interest that wasn't needed ($1500 for a painted body kit or $2500 for a financed and painted body kit?) This is why I suggest lowering springs first to lower it, and after driving it around, you can decide from there which body kit you want (and DEF use ScionLife because the people here rock. They helped me out so much).

And sorry, I don't have a tC. I went with a 08 xB instead because everyone in Jacksonville, FL has a tC. Good luck buddy! You'll love your Scion!

highvoltage1

iTrader: (11)

Ok there is a great feature we call the Search button. It works great for a topic such as yours. There are like 20,000 posts on this topic. I ran into a poll today as well. So please do some reading and searching first. But my opinion is the 5axis kit is awesome! It is OEM quality polyurethane so no problems there. It costs around 800-900 bucks I think but you still have to get it painted. The OEM GFX can come painted for around that price. I love the look of the OEM kit as well. The only downside is holes in your bumpers if you ever decide to remove it. But i believe you can throw that on from the factory and include it in your financing so that is a lil bit of an incentive. The RS1 kit is nice. I personally dont like the side skirts. But GL on your decision.

tC_insomniac

damn the BCP tc with the Rs1 lip looks sick

karonos

OEM Lip kit with a 2" inch drop. Perfection imo!

User 112921

are you on goldlines? that drop looks too even for the front and rear..
im on a 2 inch drop and my rears are about 1/2 a finger higher

karonos

Eibach Sportlines. Love em!

Artsemis

Yeah, sorry about the search... I'm a forum ***** and typically know better but my excuse is that I'm such a retard with cars I didn't even know the correct terminology for everything (lip kits, body kits vs. ground effects, oem, etc.) so searching was a little painful. I appreciate the personal responses here though.

For convenience and the fact that I actually like the look I'm planning to just go OEM with lowering springs... I think that also keeps some guesswork out on my part with being too low with a body kit in this hilly town (go, go, WV!).


I have 2 more quick questions and I think I'll be ready to buy.

1. I've almost commited to the purchase but if I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the '09 special edition. I think it looks extremely sexy and it already has lots of the things I'm adding anyways (TRD exhaust, lowering springs, etc.)... add in the 18" wheels and it seems that it's saving money compared to just upgrading a regular tC. Thoughts?

2. On the normal tC with OEM gfx and lowering springs, will the stock 17" tires look ok? I would likely upgrade them eventually but I don't want it to look disproportional to start with.


Thanks again guys, you've been such a great help

youngflyer

well if you get the RS5, it comes with 18" release wheels which imo you should NEVER sell. i think if you get the RS5 you should get the GFX because it already comes lowered with the trd exhaust...it would look so sexy and i havnt seen anyone else with it! its your best bet to be honest but expect to spend around 20k for everything!

Artsemis

Yeah that's what I mean... if I'm getting the springs and exhaust anyways, it's only $1000 more for the sweet interior (in my opinion), the $2000 tire upgrade, and more. For $2000 more on the price tag that sounds pretty nice. The RS5 is an 09 but I plan to keep this long enough that it won't really matter.

Why "never" sell the tires? Not that I would... that just got me curious.

DJ08tC

^^because that is the only thing that is of real value on the new RS5, if you sell them it would loose value

youngflyer

dj hit it on the money, those wheels basically are the only thing that make the rs5...well an rs5, selling them would hurt the cars value!