Summer is quickly approaching, and here in buffalo,'
we cant wait til the final thaw.
Especially car owners that like to work on their car,
but do not have a heated garage.

So I have just hit 61000 miles and know that i have about 1k to go
before i have to change the timing belt, but that will not be included on this list,
but should be done sooner than later. (UDP was put on about 2-5k into prior owners time)

So I know I need some tires, but if E2L and i reach an agreement, i might throw his gear on, $450 + S

If not I am just gonna stick with the stock rims, and get some new yokohama S.Drives at 97$ a pop from TRack. +S

I have to get the hood and tail light painted and buffed,
was in a minor fender bender earlier this month. 110$ front, 245$ light area.

I know i need some new brake pads, was looking at the ultimate pads from RRM
/ AXXIS 89$ + S

Also might need some new rotors... not 100% on that,was looking at the RRM
Street Series Slotted Rotors
Front 189 $+ S
Back 179$ + S

Oil change is def on the list, but im just gonna get a nother crate of Royal Purple and a K+N Filter... probably about 70$ there

I was looking to put some Tein-S techs on the stock Struts, but i wasn't sure if
I would get a better benefit from puting the KYB's that are on RRM...
(advice?) Tein-S are 209$ + S and KYBs are 439$ +S

I was also looking at the camber kit from RRM,
79$ +S

Also the sway and tie rods from RRM for 99$ each +S
(rear 99$ + S
and Lower 99$ +S)

any input, flaming, bashing etc and advice is welcomed.
I really feel almost all of these are legit things to have put on the car,
maybe the Struts MIGHT be a little out of my technological Know how...
but maybe with some help from my mechanic friend, i might be ok.

The camber kit i think will be a great deal of help, because I FLEW through my last two sets of tires. but so fast in the front, it made me spaz.
The sway bars are just inexpensive mods that add to handling ability,
and i cant see why that isnt a good thing at only 200$ combined, (maybe the perches too... dunno yet)

Tires above all are the most needed thng to be done, i understand that.

Springs I know little of, but I have heard so many good things about the Tein-s'.

Brakes need to be done soon, im not getting to the squeeling yet, but i havent changed them since i bought the car, and its just about that time. Though i need to take a closer look at the rotors before i sink almost 400$ on a possible extra...

 

i had the axxis pads and they make ALOT of break dust. good performance but lots of dust. imo, ebc red or green are better.

 

alright,
I'll look into the other brands,
i pretty much just went down the list on RRM,
if anyone knows how i can save a few bucks,
that would be great.

 

If you're upgrading your sway bar, definitely get the stronger perches.

 

I don't know if the camber kit is necessery... I drive tein s-tech since I own my car in mars 2006 and my car is 37 000 km (dont know in miles) and my tires are perfect ! My shocks too are ok... so +1 for tein... but personally, i wouldn't spend money on a camber kit for a drop of 1,5'' front and 0,5 on rear. In my opinion just get a good alignment.

 

if you're on a stock setup you shouldn't need the camber kit.. the reason why you're flying through tires is similar to my problem. You're driving hard and not rotating them? Since I run two sets of tires on my car due to tire clearance (summer performance and all season in the rear.. yes i know its weird). I can't rotate them, without swapping the L and R fronts.. I go through front tires each summer, though i don't mind.

If you're getting uneven wear then you might want to check your alignment or something.

 

Alright so that knocks 75$ off,
every time i find a deal for some cheaper sways and or perches they are gone in a flash...
evom is my best friend and enemy on that one...


my biggest question is ...
are the rotors from RRM worth it?
(the slotted ones, not the big brake kit)

 

you can get some off ebay from a company called R1 concepts or something like that for much cheaper... Personally I'm just going to replace minds with oem's. My hawks are eating through them but I got a deal I couldn't turn up for new oem's.

 

Also if anything i suggest the rear sway bar + perches as your first mod, that or the lower tie bar. (I consider brake modifications maintenence.. but do that first)...

I have the sway and perch setup and LOVE it.. clearly one of the best mods for the car, I have the lower tie bar sitting on top of my computer monitor right now... I'm waiting on the weather to install it.

 

I keep hearing great things about the perches,
how tough on a 1-10 are the perches to install?

well i need tires first... that is definite.
Perches and sways before brakes and rotors tho?
I now have realized that the brake pads come in 2 pairs, so 4 pads in total...
so the money i save not buying the camber kit,
has to be put toward the second set.

Im still not 100% on rotors...
whats the best way to check to see if you need new rotors?

 

Perches are easy to install, since it's assumed you're changing them at the same time as the sway bar.

Don't worry about replacing your rear brake pads if you don't need them. They're hard to find and won't make a huge difference in braking.

On rotors, two things to check for. First, feel the surface, it should be smooth. There might be a touch of a lip on the edge, but it shouldn't be very big. The proper way to check is with a micrometer, but not many people bother with that, when feel works well enough. Chances are you don't need them, our OEM rotors are pretty stout. I had mine for almost 90,000 miles. They outlived the OEM pads and 2 sets of agressive pads, and put up with 3 seasons of autocrossing.

 

wow, so brakes might not be nessesary... that is awesome news...
that knocks off almost 500$... if im as lucky as otter...

and about the perches, yeah i was gonna do it all in one shot, rotors, pads, lower tie, rear sway, wprings and struts, but i dunno how nessesary the struts are gona be...

you said the struts were well worth the money?
about how many miles should our stock oem struts go for?

 

It's a crapshoot with our stock struts. I had two go within the first 10k miles I had the car (warranty replacement.) But then they were relatively okay until I put some tein S-techs on at around 70,000 miles. S-techs killed them within 10k.

 

I think the quoted text says it all...
KYBs it is...
But i had to replace a strut on a VW once... was the hardest thing I ever did...
How tough is this going to be?

 

its pretty easy like changing springs fronts are easy to do , rears are tricky you have to take the sway bar off and go from there