Fun with mods

[nate06]

I know how much you guys love mods so I thought I would let you all chime in what I should do. I have wheels, tinted window and shifter bushings so it is essentially stock. I will be lowering it soon, I believe I am going to use h-tech. I will also be adding poly motor mounts and poly sway bar bushings.Without a supercharger it will never be high performance but will an SRI and TB spacer be worth it.Will a strut tower brace and progress rear sway bar help the handling a lot?Has anyone tried the stainless steel break lines?Other mods I should be thinking of.If you had a stock car to play with what would do?

[Mariachi]

the tb spacer works pretty good on other cars that i have put them on like my eclipse's but i never tried the vibe. im guessing a 1.8 to 2 % hp increase @ the crank if you put it in. the sway bars do give you better handling as long as you have your car dropped. like i mentrioned before, im not too familiar with the vibes bcuz i just recently started studying on it and modding my wife's. im more into eclipse's though. thats all i can help wit.

[northvibe]

lowering and sway bars help the most for handling, the only STB's that are worth getting are the TRD or DC imo. SRI and spacer are good mods and cheap. stainless brake lines are over doing it imo and i hear are a pain if something goes wrong...unless they are rubber with a stainless braid outside?other mods:ported throttle body (hard if your dbw though)ported exhaust manifold or aftermarketJP downpipefull cat back exhaustdbw cars - if you Ground your TB directly to your battery you may notice a smoother acceleration..

[ajflan]

What they said. Lets see some pics!

[kevera]

Not a big fan of the spacer,drove me nuts,had to take it off.I didn't notice a gain with it,but what do I know.Everyone one else has given you good mods,but if I were you I would get an exhaust.

[Mavrik]

I had modified my 2004 Pontiac Vibe with TIEN springs, aftermarket rear sway bar (forget the brand), TRD front strut bar, INJEN cold air intake system, Magnaflow catback exhaust, UNICHIP, 17" IKON rims and autocross alignment settings. Car handled VERY well as far as rotation, cornering. sucked on brakes and torque... but then again the Vibe was never designed with what I did to it in mind. It was designed for a fuel econo midsized 5door vehicle. I autocrossed a full season out of it. I even drag raced it. It did a reliable (yet very slow) consistant 16.8 LOLWhat I own now does 13.7 stock without a hard launch.But your question on what would I do to modify a stock car depends on the car. We talking N/A, Turbo charged or Supercharged?I'm hoping to pick up a stock N/A late 90s Subaru 2.5RS coupe 5spd which will over the course of the next several years be converted into a 22B GC8 turbo charged mid to low 11 second car. Thats going to require a rotated turbo GT35R, front mount intercooler, 6spd tranny or cryo-treated 5spd wrx tranny with manual trans legacy gears. Solid piece drive shaft, larger injectors, fuel pump, re-enforced block, port and polished heads, customer turbo back catless exhaust system. Also gutted interior and roll cage. Thats just off the top of my head. a lot of money and time will have to be invested. I look forward to it.

[Raven]

TB spacer= expensive paper weightDC Sports STB= mainly for looks(I have one)Progress RSB= excellentLowering springs= excellentCAI= nice sound, noticeable power increaseMagnaflow cat-back= great sound, good powerDC Sports header= big power increase (not on GT)Poly engine mount inserts= shakes at idle but positive feelBrass shifter bushings= big difference in shifter precision

[nate06]

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »ldbw cars - if you Ground your TB directly to your battery you may notice a smoother acceleration..That may be worth a shot.I also see a lot of recommendations for cat back exhaust systems. If I get one would it make my car sound like a rice burner, I would like to avoid that.

[Mariachi]

to be honest with you, every japanese sport car is a rice burner whether people agree or not. i have gone through 3 eclipse's and still am not ashamed to say im a rice burner. now if you were to get a 3A racing muffler from pep boys, dont do it. get something good like an apex'i muffler or greddy. they make good sound. as long as you get a mandrel bent 2.5" exaust (or if you are goin boost, 3") then you are basically straight.

[waveresponder]

if you decide to go with the H-techs...please post before and after pics...as i am also interested in purchasing them! good luck with all the mods...im saving for tires for my rims... heres a link to an ebay auction for the H-Tech...http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...wItem

[nate06]

So far it looks like I will avoid the TB spacer but will likely consider getting a DC Header and an exhaust system.

[Mariachi]

yezzur.