Car Mods - What Floats Your Boat?

[+Steve]

For those who like to modify their car and add their own touch… what mods would you apply to your car first? Wheels, spoilers or performance mods, in which order would you modify your ride? What Top 5 Mods you would do first?

[Karma Supra]

Well...

I jacked it up about 6"

Put wide split rims on and 33" all terain tyres...

And I've just bought an LS400 so I can nick the V8 and stuff it in.

Boring stuff: sound deadened it all, poly bushed, brainded hoses satnav/bluetooth + small sub

I don't do bits of bolt on chrome tat and all that!

M3, I didn't really change anything, polybushes, braded lines, 10mm drop, and integrated iPod control to the factory sat nav, in 6 years of ownership!

[+Steve]

did the sound deadening work charlie?

did you use "Brown Bread" to deaden?

[Karma Supra]

I used "E-dead" the regular bitumen foil backed stuff underneath, and the thicker foamy stuff on that.

The main idea was to minimalise the hateful diesel noise, also helps with noisy all terrain tyres.

It does work well, but I have still not done the doors yet, which will make a huge difference as the floor/under dash/boot is already done. Sounde deadened doors also always give a more satisfying "clunk"

[Uncle Buck]

I've done the following mods to a few of my cars now & always felt it was worthwhile. Some are cosmetic but most are very functional & improved my enjoyment of the car without question ;

Lighter wheels - gives the suspension an easier time due to less unsprung weight & usually looks better.

Braided steel brake lines & fresh DOT 4 fluid - for a firmer pedal feel & more consistent braking.

Uprated air filter - longer life & usually a detectably smoother acceleration.

Headlamp bulb upgrade - better lighting at night.

Suspension upgrade - to improve handling through reduced body roll (either by springs or coil-overs).

Cat-back exhaust - to improve the tone & give a small increase in performance.

I don't have all of these at the moment, but the Auris has improved with each one carried out.

[acetip]

I used "E-dead" the regular bitumen foil backed stuff underneath, and the thicker foamy stuff on that.

The main idea was to minimalise the hateful diesel noise, also helps with noisy all terrain tyres.

It does work well, but I have still not done the doors yet, which will make a huge difference as the floor/under dash/boot is already done. Sounde deadened doors also always give a more satisfying "clunk"

Many years ago i worked a Lotus cars in the dept that produced Fornula fords,formula 2,Formula 3,formula 5000.etc.

The Lotus 7 was built in the same building and for a short while i helped out in that section.

Of course the 7 was handbuilt and as a standard procedure inside the doors was covered with underseal.

.As things were a bit slow one day i gave this one car three coats instead of the usual one.

This coating was not sprayed but handbrushed on. After each coat dried the sound when shutting the door got better and better

Car doors in those days did not close with the nice rattle proof clunk as most do these days.

This extra coating made an amazing difference to the normal sound.

Often wonderd if other areas of a car could be treated with the same results. It should be a lot cheaper to apply a few coats of underseal than using some sound proofing material.

[Karma Supra]

Acetip, it sure does make a huge difference...

The roof makes a huge difference too; you can only hear the endless rain hitting the glass!

Alas the "satisfyingness of the clunk that the door makes when you shut it" can't really be measured in a meaningful way, so when manufacturers are looking to save a few pennies.....

[Red diesel]

Hi folks happy new year to you all

my personal fave mod would be to change the cloth seats for leather. Makes a huge difference imo particularly if going from black cloth seats to lighter coloured leather.

Red diesel

[Cyker]

What is the draw with leather seats? I've always preferred cloth or velour as I find with leather seats it just means I slide around the seat going round corners and burn/freeze my bum more in summer/winter!

[Karma Supra]

I like them!

I'm also taking the front heated/electric/memory seats out of my Lexus Donor car, and getting the rear bench trimmed to match.

It'll smell lush :)