Haolebuilt Ii Build Thread

[tarquin]

Which are mainly BMW

David

[surfcitylocal]

[Guest]

Very nice Taz, very nice. And I like the photo's of the car too... You must be very happy with a win and a second in those categories. Justification on all the work done, a truly proud owner of a Scion iQ. Thinking about it too, although I know you were already a fan of Scion, you took quite a risk buying the iQ, what with the attitude toward small cars from the majority of your fellow citizens over there. Also, the interest in your car with it's mods must mean that Scion cars will see an increase in sales as they -potential owners- realise they can have a great little motor too that won't cost the earth to run as well. You may have started/helped start a revolution in car buying.

[surfcitylocal]

That's what I'm hoping Bob. The iQ would have had much more fanfare and attention payed to it here in the States if the release date had not been repeatedly pushed out for fourteen months. The delays on the release put it the iQ too close to the new Scion FR-S and that is where all the attention is being directed.

I do feel bad that the little iQ didn't get it's chance to shine in 2010 the way it was intended but I'm doing my part to spread the word over here that it's available and is a lot of fun!

Scion has discontinued the xB and xD models, that leaves only the iQ, FR-S and the tC. I'm looking forward to seeing what model they bring out next.

[Manxrav]

Taz, very interesting comment on the Xb and Xd, is this because they have never taken off in the USA. I ask because I own an Urbancruiser which is basically a Toyota iST in Japan and Scion Xd in the USA, and was wondering if it is a model they are going to discontinue?

Was on the Toyota Jp website yesterday and it is still in the model lineup there.

Sales in the Uk aren,t that wonderful mainly due to high list price, and the Xb which I think is basically a Diahatsu Materia overhere have withdrawn completly from Europe.

Regards Clare

[surfcitylocal]

Taz, very interesting comment on the Xb and Xd, is this because they have never taken off in the USA. I ask because I own an Urbancruiser which is basically a Toyota iST in Japan and Scion Xd in the USA, and was wondering if it is a model they are going to discontinue? Was on the Toyota Jp website yesterday and it is still in the model lineup there. Sales in the Uk aren,t that wonderful mainly due to high list price, and the Xb which I think is basically a Diahatsu Materia overhere have withdrawn completly from Europe. Regards Clare

Yes Clare, sorry to say the xB and the xD will both be ending in the States. The xB has two generations. The first ran for three years and the second is coming to the end of the three year run that Scion intended for all their models. The only model that survived the three year limit is the tC.

Here is an article with more information... http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/best-cars-blog/2012/04/Scion_Will_Reportedly_Axe_xB_xD/

[surfcitylocal]

The new DC Sports intake on the iQ. Increased horsepower and torque. The intake will be available soon, production is currently underway. This is the prototype, the finish on the production model will be a silver powdercoat.

Many thanks to Jimmy, Andy and William at DC Sports for the hard work on this part.

[surfcitylocal]

The nice folks at Odyssey Battery had a little package waiting for me on my doorstep tonight when I got home from work...

A new Battery for the iQ. I had to do a little modification to the Battery hold down and set the unit on it's side but it's in and ready to rock.

Many thanks Odyssey!

[aaronfife]

The IQ is looking fantastic Taz, congrats on your recent winnings at the Queen Mary :)

A wee question - seen you have the chrome surround on the heating controls - is it a case of just unclipping the standard ones out and replace with chrome effect wire? I've seen this on the new Toyota Yaris and they look the same fitment as the IQ.

Thanks :)

[dash]

A lead/acid Battery mounted on its side would worry the h*ll out of me !!

Are you not concerned about potential for leakage?

Dave

[craggle]

Odyssey batteries are AGM or Absorbed glass mat. They use an acid based gel in glass fibre mats that are sandwiched in between the lead plates then the Battery is fully sealed. So well in fact that they are able to ship them as dry cell batteries.

Advantages are they don't leak unless really damaged and as the plates are sandwiched together they can't distort allowing you to discharge and charge the Battery with far better results than a standard lead acid Battery.

I used to design hybrid buses and we used Odyssey PC1700 batteries in a pack of 26 batteries as our power source. 312 volts DC at 600 odd amps is scary stuff to work around! I now have a PC1700 battery in the boot of my Cobra kitcar and that turns over a big Chevy motor very well! :)

Anyway, Key is they can be mounted any way up except upside down, they don't advise that for some reason.

Craig.

[surfcitylocal]

The IQ is looking fantastic Taz, congrats on your recent winnings at the Queen Mary :)

A wee question - seen you have the chrome surround on the heating controls - is it a case of just unclipping the standard ones out and replace with chrome effect wire? I've seen this on the new Toyota Yaris and they look the same fitment as the IQ.

Thanks :)

The chrome is standard on the Scion iQ. I wasn't aware the Toyota iQ didn't have that.

Thank you for the compliments.

[surfcitylocal]

Thank you Craig. You answered before I could. I've used Optima and Kinetic batteries in the past but the Odyssey came very highly recommended by my friends who do audio and video system installation. They swear by these.

The ability to mount it sideways came in very handy.

[tarquin]

Very interesting

David

[surfcitylocal]

The long awaited Tanabe USA Strut Tower Bar has been delivered and installed. The production units are available now!

Easy installation and I think it looks great. Got a chance to zip around a little with it last night but I'm going to really try it out on the way to work this morning.

I also received the first iQ Sustec Frame Brace from Tanabe USA. This item will be available in August.

www.tanabe-usa.com

[aaronfife]

Wooow!! Those struts are awesome!! What price are they? Let us know what handling is like :)

[surfcitylocal]

Wooow!! Those struts are awesome!! What price are they? Let us know what handling is like :)

The strut tower bar is $139 US and is available now. The frame brace will be available in August, no price point yet.

http://www.tanabe-usa.com/towerbar.asp

[Soeley]

They do look good, let us know if you can feel any improvement with them .

[surfcitylocal]

Drove the iQ to work yesterday, 20 mile drive on the highway. I took a few different routes so I could hit some better corners than I usually do. The iQ felt much tighter than before. As with all "Seat of my pants" testing it could be as much my expectations providing me with positive results as the actual improvements. I would lean more towards the latter in this case.

I think I will add a rear sway bar to the iQ now to finish out the stability improvements.

[surfcitylocal]

Found that when the iQ is at full drop on the air bags the Sustec Frame Brace is touching the ground. Not a problem since I can't drive it that low anyway.

Won another trophy at the Best of the West IV Car Show over the weekend.

Representing Beat-Sonic USA...

I also was a warded the 2nd Place Old School Trophy for my 1982 Toyota SR5 Pickup with 40,000 original miles.

And I was able to meet and hang with some other iQ owners.

[surfcitylocal]

I took some night pictures at Longo Scion, the worlds largest Toyota, Scion and Lexus dealer in El Monte, CA. My car club, FUSCION, holds their meetings there. Some of the pictures make the iQ look like a toy.

[surfcitylocal]

At the AAA Family and Friends car show today. No trophies but had an awesome time!

Some of my other favorites from the show...

[Soeley]

Some beautiful vehicles there, great pictures.

[craggle]

That 55 Chevy is sweet. :)

Craig.

[Manxrav]

Taz, Scion Xd looks good.

Regards Clare