Intricate's Mod Thread - A Detailed Journey
03-21-2015, 08:46 PM
#106
Sometimes the color isn't accurate on these products when displayed on web pages, but the blue I see on my screen looks like it would go real well w/ your Blue Slate and break up the "sea of silver" going on w/ your silver wheels, silver rotors and silver calipers. I'd go with the blue, but they're quality lug nuts either way and that's the most important consideration.
Also if you follow my rotor slot recommendation in the PM I think that will break up the silver pretty well too
Also if you follow my rotor slot recommendation in the PM I think that will break up the silver pretty well too
As far as the rotor deal goes...not sure if I really want to do that or not. I'll have to look into it more. I kind of like it, but wonder if it brings too much attention to the rotors. Not really sure on this one yet.
That's your answer. Also, no decision like this is ever final when you can easily replace them on the (relative) cheap.
The overall design of the McGards is really excellent. Quality stuff, good price, and the two-piece floating aluminum design has a lot of appeal. Ditto for the (also relative) security of the McGard-only spline drive socket.
The overall design of the McGards is really excellent. Quality stuff, good price, and the two-piece floating aluminum design has a lot of appeal. Ditto for the (also relative) security of the McGard-only spline drive socket.
On a different note, went to my first Cars & Coffee this morning...was pretty awesome. I'll definitely be going there more often in the future.
I also went and did my brake bed in.
That went surprisingly well considering the brakes still feel super soft. I had to double pump but it worked out great and by the time I was done with the first set, I was getting ridiculous bite. After I let it cool down, I hit the second set and got some fade but still was biting hard. I may not have had the best bed in...but I think it was pretty good. All things being what they are, if I find out they're not what they should be based on my mechanic's opinion, I'll just grab another set after the bleeding is done and do it again. 
It's not like they are calipers. I will say they do dust a bit more than OEM but it wasn't half as bad as I expected. I also felt a serious urge to wipe everything down as soon as I got home, but it was still quite hot, so I didn't act on that haha. 
I feel like I will want to wash the brake system and wheels daily. But then I see all the nicks, scratches, and dings on the bumper and hood and I realize that my chance for "show" is long since gone and I should focus on "go" and just "personalizing" the car. Perfection is strictly in the eye of the beholder after all. Last but not least, thanks to the gentleman who approached me at Cars & Coffee and asked if I was "IntricateDetail" from the forums (he is keeping up with the build/mod thread). Glad to know there is some use for this thread, and hopefully others can read it and get some information on what mods are out there and what works with the "X" sedan.
By the way...when you mentioned there weren't many people here doing the sedans/etc...and you kind of stumbled about there not being much of something else...I know you meant there also aren't many black guys driving them. I would have to agree with you there. 
Makes it pretty easy to identify me I guess, at least in our area. Haha. 
03-21-2015, 10:59 PM
#107
Should be a nice look w/ the blue lug nuts, and being far enough away from the body, a slight difference in shade shouldn't be too noticeable.
As far as the rotors, those slots in the Stoptechs are real narrow so that "mod" shouldn't be too loud if you know what I mean.
You've got a lot on your mod plate right now, plenty of time to consider the little stuff.
Wish I was in an area w/ decent import car meets, it's mainly low-riders and old muscle cars around here that get together
As far as the rotors, those slots in the Stoptechs are real narrow so that "mod" shouldn't be too loud if you know what I mean.
You've got a lot on your mod plate right now, plenty of time to consider the little stuff.
Wish I was in an area w/ decent import car meets, it's mainly low-riders and old muscle cars around here that get together
03-22-2015, 10:15 AM
#108
Administrator
iTrader: (9)
OMG OMG OMGLOL
On topic to your new brakes, I suspect you're going to initially feel the Akebono BBK is awesome, but that's 90% high expectation and 9% appearance. I honestly don't think the BBK is any different in a daily driving situation, and also probably not any extra consideration at auto-cross. However, if you course track the car, that's when their design should be an improvement over the basic setup.
Sure are impressive looking, though. And glad I have them.
03-22-2015, 12:51 PM
#109
Should be a nice look w/ the blue lug nuts, and being far enough away from the body, a slight difference in shade shouldn't be too noticeable.
As far as the rotors, those slots in the Stoptechs are real narrow so that "mod" shouldn't be too loud if you know what I mean.
You've got a lot on your mod plate right now, plenty of time to consider the little stuff.
Wish I was in an area w/ decent import car meets, it's mainly low-riders and old muscle cars around here that get together
As far as the rotors, those slots in the Stoptechs are real narrow so that "mod" shouldn't be too loud if you know what I mean.
You've got a lot on your mod plate right now, plenty of time to consider the little stuff.
Wish I was in an area w/ decent import car meets, it's mainly low-riders and old muscle cars around here that get together
It is pretty incredible, isn't it? Lol. What is this world coming to?!
On topic to your new brakes, I suspect you're going to initially feel the Akebono BBK is awesome, but that's 90% high expectation and 9% appearance. I honestly don't think the BBK is any different in a daily driving situation, and also probably not any extra consideration at auto-cross. However, if you course track the car, that's when their design should be an improvement over the basic setup.
Sure are impressive looking, though. And glad I have them.
Sure are impressive looking, though. And glad I have them.
03-22-2015, 03:54 PM
#110
Wait, you're black? OMG OMG OMG
LOL
On topic to your new brakes, I suspect you're going to initially feel the Akebono BBK is awesome, but that's 90% high expectation and 9% appearance. I honestly don't think the BBK is any different in a daily driving situation, and also probably not any extra consideration at auto-cross. However, if you course track the car, that's when their design should be an improvement over the basic setup.
Sure are impressive looking, though. And glad I have them.
OMG OMG OMGLOL
On topic to your new brakes, I suspect you're going to initially feel the Akebono BBK is awesome, but that's 90% high expectation and 9% appearance. I honestly don't think the BBK is any different in a daily driving situation, and also probably not any extra consideration at auto-cross. However, if you course track the car, that's when their design should be an improvement over the basic setup.
Sure are impressive looking, though. And glad I have them.
03-25-2015, 10:11 PM
#111
So today my mechanic came over to the house after work and we knocked out the CAI, Strut Bar, Front Swaybar, and bled the brakes some more. All in all...it was AMAZING, and we had a lot better luck than the first mod day. Took us 4 hours to do all of the above...and we didn't have many issues with the CAI. I will try to go through it step by step...although I feel like I'm going to miss something and I don't have enough time tonight to really make sure I get everything. I will get the video up tomorrow or this weekend...depending on whether I go to Columbus for track day. Speaking of which...if anyone is going to that...let me know. Test and Tune day in Columbus at National Trail Raceway.
Ok, so first let's cover the CAI install, since I'm sure that's the one people want to know about most. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the removal of the bumper as I figured most people know how to do that, and if you don't...well, you should take it to someone who does. Lol. We will start with the swap of MAF sensors and the install of the tubes.
1.) Takeda gives you this little foam piece that you are supposed to put somewhere...but it didn't seem to fit where we thought it might be supposed to go...so we just put it here. Eh, the MAF sensor slot is on the bottom of the pipe (for looks I presume), so it made it a bit difficult to work with once you got the tubes in place. Not a big deal though.
2.) This is what people are talking about when they say the rubber elbow just gets squeezed, so what's the point? I agree, if you're just going for numbers, it kind of defeats the purpose since you reduce your minimum diameter and therefore your maximum airflow. However, as you will hear in my video, the sound alone produced from this CAI is amazing, and yes, my butt dyno even told me that it pulled harder when I took it out after the install. Did it actually do so? Probably not at all! But I don't care, because this mod is probably one of my favorites.
[img=http://s14.postimg.org/83i87vhtt/DSC_9990_1280x848.jpg]
3.) Mounted with no issues. Fitment was amazing here. Nice and snug...but not impossible to get on.
4.) Initial look from the front.
5.) And from the side.
6.) We quickly noticed the tendency for the CAI to hang to the right.
7.) We remedied that by simply moving the brackets along the bumper until we got the perfect fitment and angle. Of course not everyone will have the sensor there in 4th picture, as that is the adaptive cruise control sensor.
What it looked like before we slid it left a bit. Very even and not hanging to one side.
8.) Connected up top.
9.) Because of all the horror stories we heard about the bumper, and just to make things easier...we cut a bit out of the hard foam from the front of the bumper around where the brackets go.
That was pretty much it. Everything fit well and we had no issues getting the bumper back on, even with the splash guard attached. I think we would have been fine even without cutting out the foam, but I'm glad we did as it just sits better without the brackets pushing it out.
As for the swaybars and strut bar, I didn't really take a lot of pictures during the install...but here is a picture of the front swaybar installed, and an "under the hood" shot after the strut bar was put on.
Lastly, I took a couple of pictures of the brake lines since we had the front wheels off anyway, so people can see how we had to route them on my X sedan. Your results could vary if you have a different trim, or if your brackets have been moved/removed.
That's all she wrote for now. I'll get a video up in due time...as well as a before/after rev video. I only got from the outside so far...but I did get inside noise when I was doing my brake bed-in, so I can probably use that for testing the noise inside after the install. I will be taking the car to get it dyno'd again, but it may or may not have the new wheels on at that point. I'll make sure to specify one way or the other when I post the video.
Cheers!
Ok, so first let's cover the CAI install, since I'm sure that's the one people want to know about most. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the removal of the bumper as I figured most people know how to do that, and if you don't...well, you should take it to someone who does. Lol. We will start with the swap of MAF sensors and the install of the tubes.
1.) Takeda gives you this little foam piece that you are supposed to put somewhere...but it didn't seem to fit where we thought it might be supposed to go...so we just put it here. Eh, the MAF sensor slot is on the bottom of the pipe (for looks I presume), so it made it a bit difficult to work with once you got the tubes in place. Not a big deal though.
2.) This is what people are talking about when they say the rubber elbow just gets squeezed, so what's the point? I agree, if you're just going for numbers, it kind of defeats the purpose since you reduce your minimum diameter and therefore your maximum airflow. However, as you will hear in my video, the sound alone produced from this CAI is amazing, and yes, my butt dyno even told me that it pulled harder when I took it out after the install. Did it actually do so? Probably not at all! But I don't care, because this mod is probably one of my favorites.
[img=http://s14.postimg.org/83i87vhtt/DSC_9990_1280x848.jpg]
3.) Mounted with no issues. Fitment was amazing here. Nice and snug...but not impossible to get on.
4.) Initial look from the front.
5.) And from the side.
6.) We quickly noticed the tendency for the CAI to hang to the right.
7.) We remedied that by simply moving the brackets along the bumper until we got the perfect fitment and angle. Of course not everyone will have the sensor there in 4th picture, as that is the adaptive cruise control sensor.
What it looked like before we slid it left a bit. Very even and not hanging to one side.
8.) Connected up top.
9.) Because of all the horror stories we heard about the bumper, and just to make things easier...we cut a bit out of the hard foam from the front of the bumper around where the brackets go.
That was pretty much it. Everything fit well and we had no issues getting the bumper back on, even with the splash guard attached. I think we would have been fine even without cutting out the foam, but I'm glad we did as it just sits better without the brackets pushing it out.
As for the swaybars and strut bar, I didn't really take a lot of pictures during the install...but here is a picture of the front swaybar installed, and an "under the hood" shot after the strut bar was put on.
Lastly, I took a couple of pictures of the brake lines since we had the front wheels off anyway, so people can see how we had to route them on my X sedan. Your results could vary if you have a different trim, or if your brackets have been moved/removed.
That's all she wrote for now. I'll get a video up in due time...as well as a before/after rev video. I only got from the outside so far...but I did get inside noise when I was doing my brake bed-in, so I can probably use that for testing the noise inside after the install. I will be taking the car to get it dyno'd again, but it may or may not have the new wheels on at that point. I'll make sure to specify one way or the other when I post the video.
Cheers!
Last edited by IntricateDetail; 03-25-2015 at 10:16 PM.
03-25-2015, 11:09 PM
#112
Great job detailing all this Carl, hope when all the dust settles you'll be able to add some reviews of your various parts since you've taken great pics along the way. The Takeda really looks like a well made unit, and once you got it hanging level it looks awesome.
Glad you got your brakes firmed up and agree about the SS brake line routing, my Wilwood SS lines were a similar chore.
Thanks for the continued updates. Look forward to seeing the full assemble!
Glad you got your brakes firmed up and agree about the SS brake line routing, my Wilwood SS lines were a similar chore.
Thanks for the continued updates. Look forward to seeing the full assemble!
03-26-2015, 08:48 AM
#113
Administrator
iTrader: (9)
Anyway, well done, OP. Good thread.
p.s. If you wear gloves while doing this stuff, you won't have to be digging grease out of your fingernails for the next 3 days.
03-27-2015, 08:08 PM
#114
Great job detailing all this Carl, hope when all the dust settles you'll be able to add some reviews of your various parts since you've taken great pics along the way. The Takeda really looks like a well made unit, and once you got it hanging level it looks awesome.
Glad you got your brakes firmed up and agree about the SS brake line routing, my Wilwood SS lines were a similar chore.
Thanks for the continued updates. Look forward to seeing the full assemble!
Glad you got your brakes firmed up and agree about the SS brake line routing, my Wilwood SS lines were a similar chore.
Thanks for the continued updates. Look forward to seeing the full assemble!
Agreed, 100%. Parts and installation are always interesting, and he's doing a fine job of it. But I'm waiting to see him apply these creative writing skills to an analysis of how the driving experience has changed.
Anyway, well done, OP. Good thread.
p.s. If you wear gloves while doing this stuff, you won't have to be digging grease out of your fingernails for the next 3 days.
Anyway, well done, OP. Good thread.
p.s. If you wear gloves while doing this stuff, you won't have to be digging grease out of your fingernails for the next 3 days.
Alright, so after too much thought, and way too much going back and forth, I went ahead and just bought the regular chrome McGards. I also got my tires/wheels back from Gator Motorsport so I should be putting them on tomorrow. We shall see. Sorry for the quality of the pictures...don't have a lot of time and wanted to at least get something since I've been waiting so long to get them mounted/balanced.
I'm off to Fathouse Fabrications again tomorrow for my second set of dyno pulls. I'll be sure to get at least two 4th gear pulls so there will be a bit more of an idea as to what gains, if any, were achieved with the CAI. Cheers all!
03-28-2015, 08:28 PM
#117
Ok everyone...so today was a busy day. Went to Fathouse Fabrications this morning and did 4 pulls. The guys there have been doing this for 16 years, and they absolutely do not recommend doing my pulls in 4th, and so I am not doing that anymore. They showed me last time, said it took 14 seconds to get through the pull, and don't really want to do that anymore. Not so good for the car, not a good way to get consistent numbers, etc. They said while they understand that everyone wants to get as close to 1:1 as they can, ultimately consistency is more important than numbers. So since we went with 3rd and it seems to be working well, we are going to do 3rd gear pulls from now on. (They did say that if someone has a dyno place that is doing 4th gear on an AWD sedan, and not having a hard time in 4th, let them know. They would like to hear other info, but they just don't seem to be having luck with mine.) Since they are the experts, and we have a good 3rd gear baseline, I'm going to stick with that from here on out.
That being said, here are the numbers...I'll post the sheet on the first page for consistency.
Baseline Best Pull: 296.05 AWHP / 247.11 TQ
CAI Best Pull: 300.88 AWHP / 251.82 TQ
So about a 4-5HP gain from the CAI. It's a pretty consistent gain across the board and when you see the sheet, you'll see it's pretty consistent through most of the band. Keep in mind, I have the stock exhaust on, so obviously you aren't going to see the gains you would see with a full exhaust, etc. That is the reason I am doing this. To give people realistic numbers, with each mod...and then how they all work together.
So ultimately I'm pleased with the gain...I really love the sound and am super stoked with the look. I feel like there is something to talk about now at Cars & Coffee, or even just more to enjoy when I'm out on the road. Of course, the fact that ZDayZ is less than 2 months away may also make me excited about the mods.
I also went to the DIY shop and had my wheels/tires put on. My mechanic...who so wonderfully identified himself two posts above...knocked those out for me and I love them. The tires are sticky, and the sound of little pieces of gravel/pebbles flicked up into my undercarriage provokes a slight childish grin on my face every time I hear it. Tail of the Dragon...please come quickly.
And before someone says anything about the FFT stickers....YES!!! I am getting to it, just...slowly.
That being said, here are the numbers...I'll post the sheet on the first page for consistency.
Baseline Best Pull: 296.05 AWHP / 247.11 TQ
CAI Best Pull: 300.88 AWHP / 251.82 TQ
So about a 4-5HP gain from the CAI. It's a pretty consistent gain across the board and when you see the sheet, you'll see it's pretty consistent through most of the band. Keep in mind, I have the stock exhaust on, so obviously you aren't going to see the gains you would see with a full exhaust, etc. That is the reason I am doing this. To give people realistic numbers, with each mod...and then how they all work together.
So ultimately I'm pleased with the gain...I really love the sound and am super stoked with the look. I feel like there is something to talk about now at Cars & Coffee, or even just more to enjoy when I'm out on the road. Of course, the fact that ZDayZ is less than 2 months away may also make me excited about the mods.
I also went to the DIY shop and had my wheels/tires put on. My mechanic...who so wonderfully identified himself two posts above...knocked those out for me and I love them. The tires are sticky, and the sound of little pieces of gravel/pebbles flicked up into my undercarriage provokes a slight childish grin on my face every time I hear it. Tail of the Dragon...please come quickly.
And before someone says anything about the FFT stickers....YES!!! I am getting to it, just...slowly.
03-28-2015, 11:01 PM
#118
Administrator
iTrader: (9)
Those wheels and brakes are gorgeous.
And now that you're eye-humping that aspect of your car, I think you know what comes next.
And now that you're eye-humping that aspect of your car, I think you know what comes next.
03-29-2015, 01:45 AM
#120
Great job!
That grin on your face is going to keep getting bigger as those tires break in and you get used to all that extra grip. Nice to see you made some gains w/ your CAI too.
Those wheels really do look perfect on your G.
Keep up the great details, you're putting together a fantastic resource.
That grin on your face is going to keep getting bigger as those tires break in and you get used to all that extra grip. Nice to see you made some gains w/ your CAI too.
Those wheels really do look perfect on your G.
Keep up the great details, you're putting together a fantastic resource.