The Pimp Report

[Hoovie]

Finally put a few miles on the RAV4 this week - around 600 in 2 days (usually at the moment do about 250 a month!) and tried out in ernest some of the Pimps I've fitted and not yet used, and have a think about some others as I was doing a few hours in the car ....

So this is gonna be a bit of a rambling thread probably :D

Finding the Scangauge handy - especially on the fuel side as it provides accurate fuel economy data and also an accurate remaining tank range, where the fuel gauge is not the great when it comes to when the tank is near empty.

Scanguage VFM ... 6/10; Scanguage Pimp-Value ... 6/10

Got the leather seats fitted of course, but an extra which I went for at the same time as a 'nice to have/why not' feature was Electric seat heaters. Now we are into the cold months, I have tried them out over a number of hourse and they are SUPERB :) . Really effective, within a minute the heat is coming through and keeping me toasty.

Heated Seats VFM ... 10/10; Heated Seats Pimp-Value ... 10/10

The TPMS System I am finding very reassuring. The quality of the information is great - PSI and temp of all 4 wheels available. While I haven't had any problems with loss of tyre pressure, it has been interesting to see how the pressures and temps vary as the journey goes on

TPMS VFM ... 7/10; TPMS Pimp-Value ... 9/10

The Reversing Camera I am still not convinced about yet - time will probably improve that, but still a worthwhile addition I think if you have a display in place already that it can use.

Reversing Camera VFM ... 10/10; Reversing Camera Pimp-Value ... 5/10

The aftermarket Cruise Control is proving excellent. My round-trip to the office is about 270 miles and about 250 miles of that I could do in excess of the speed limits as generally traffic-free, BUT the speed limit frequently changes between 70, 60 & 50. The Cruise Control fitted has three presets which I have set to 70, 60 & 50 MPH and all I need to do is press one button for the cars speed to adjust to the appropriate limit. It doesn't sound that amazing and when I fitted the cruise I wondered how useful that feature would be, but it really works well.

Cruise Control VFM ... 6/10; Cruise Control Pimp-Value ... 9/10

I think in retrospect I would probably buy and fit all these again :)

[bothwell_buyer]

aye - all very nice BUT

you don't have Hinge Insurance !!

All you are doing is building up a problem. I mean - how many extra hinges have you fitted???

[Hoovie]

I just never open the rear doors

[bothwell_buyer]

I just never open the rear doors

You may well laugh but just wait til the MOT includes Hinge testing :o

[Dippy]

And that rather fetching ICE system Hoovie? :)

[Hoovie]

And that rather fetching ICE system Hoovie? :)

That as well

Actually - I'll say one thing about that which I didn't know about at the time and I am wondering why other Units do not do it (maybe Garmin Sat-Navs do, but the Avis units (by Garmin) I have rented haven't ) .....

The Sat-Nav automatically switches from a Daytime display to a Nighttime display (and vice-versa) depending on the time of day and is a great feature

It is such an obvious feature I now wonder why no other Sat-Nav units I have used do that

[bothwell_buyer]

And that rather fetching ICE system Hoovie? :)

That as well

Actually - I'll say one thing about that which I didn't know about at the time and I am wondering why other Units do not do it (maybe Garmin Sat-Navs do, but the Avis units (by Garmin) I have rented haven't ) .....

The Sat-Nav automatically switches from a Daytime display to a Nighttime display (and vice-versa) depending on the time of day and is a great feature

It is such an obvious feature I now wonder why no other Sat-Nav units I have used do that

we have that in the house! gosh! Does that mean my house is pimped??? B)

[St Thicket]

Got the leather seats fitted of course, but an extra which I went for at the same time as a 'nice to have/why not' feature was Electric seat heaters. Now we are into the cold months, I have tried them out over a number of hourse and they are SUPERB :) . Really effective, within a minute the heat is coming through and keeping me toasty.

Heated Seats VFM ... 10/10; Heated Seats Pimp-Value ... 10/10

Heated seats are standard on Scandinavian cars :D At least on the drivers side.

It's really nice on our RAV Diesel, since it takes some time to get the engine warm enough. Then the heaters come in handy. We have two settings, High and Low. First we fry our butt on high, and when the cab gets hot enough, we put in on low to retain the heat.

It never occurred to me that it is uncommon outside Scandinavia, until I got my Corolla which was originally a German plated car... Damn I miss the heated seats!

By the way, what did you pay for the heating?

[Hoovie]

Got the leather seats fitted of course, but an extra which I went for at the same time as a 'nice to have/why not' feature was Electric seat heaters. Now we are into the cold months, I have tried them out over a number of hours and they are SUPERB :) . Really effective, within a minute the heat is coming through and keeping me toasty.

Heated Seats VFM ... 10/10; Heated Seats Pimp-Value ... 10/10

Heated seats are standard on Scandinavian cars :D At least on the drivers side.

It's really nice on our RAV Diesel, since it takes some time to get the engine warm enough. Then the heaters come in handy. We have two settings, High and Low. First we fry our butt on high, and when the cab gets hot enough, we put in on low to retain the heat.

It never occurred to me that it is uncommon outside Scandinavia, until I got my Corolla which was originally a German plated car... Damn I miss the heated seats!

By the way, what did you pay for the heating?

This is the kit I bought .... Heated Seat kit on eBay - I paid £65 inc postage I think for the whole kit (includes both front seats) and then added some Bi-Colour LEDs to illuminate depending on the setting (two heat settings)

I got a price for the Toyota Kit and that was £600+ and even then seems not officially available in UK.

I found them very simple to wire up. Heat wise, I tend to put on high for maybe 20 mins then switch to low and then off (unless the wife is in the car when I leave mine on as she keeps turing the car heater down :censor: )

[Dippy]

I have heated seats as standard.

...on a car sold in Spain and used in Portugal...

[St Thicket]

I have heated seats as standard.

...on a car sold in Spain and used in Portugal...

Doesn't sound very necessary. Do you ever have temperatures below 0*C?

[chatman]

Shall be sampling the delights of Barcelona week commencing 8th December............

Nice conference to go to....then second part being in Arizona next year :lol: :lol:

The things I have to drag myself to do for work...... B) B) B) B)

[dave.m]

TPMS sounds like a nice little future project.

[paulboy]

This is the kit I bought .... Heated Seat kit on eBay - I paid £65 inc postage I think for the whole kit (includes both front seats) and then added some Bi-Colour LEDs to illuminate depending on the setting (two heat settings)

I got a price for the Toyota Kit and that was £600+ and even then seems not officially available in UK.

I found them very simple to wire up. Heat wise, I tend to put on high for maybe 20 mins then switch to low and then off (unless the wife is in the car when I leave mine on as she keeps turing the car heater down :censor: )

This looks very interesting. Did they take long to fit? How did you slide the plates into the seats? I would like to fit these as the leather seats are freezing first thing in the morning!

[Hoovie]

I replaced the cloth covers with leather covers so the seats were naked when fitted :D

The pads just sit in place, taking care not to trap any part on the seat fitting. Tou will really need to pull up the cover, fit the heaters and then refit. Should be simple enough with the factory covers - mine are aftermarket and are secured with Hog Rings at the bottom of the seat backs - not sure if yours will have hog rings or a different fixing?

Cable goes under carpet and pops up at same place as Airbag cables

[bothwell_buyer]

I replaced the cloth covers with leather covers so the seats were naked when fitted :D

The pads just sit in place, taking care not to trap any part on the seat fitting. Tou will really need to pull up the cover, fit the heaters and then refit. Should be simple enough with the factory covers - mine are aftermarket and are secured with Hog Rings at the bottom of the seat backs - not sure if yours will have hog rings or a different fixing?

Cable goes under carpet and pops up at same place as Airbag cables

Duh - you didn't mention the long extension cable to the street lighting!

[anchorman]

.........my TPMS;

[dave.m]

.........my TPMS;

AM, I'm guessing your not a gadget fan then ?

[Hoovie]

.........my TPMS;

My TPMS display is illuminated so I don't need a torch to see it ;)

:P

[Dippy]

That's OK, wait till he tries to use it at 40mph... :)

St Thicket, there are certain areas of Iberia which get snow - mountains of 2000m+ - but I'm not in one of them.

[anchorman]

I have found ways of overcoming these operational problems. I use it in the daylight when I'm stopped.