I received my console via postal service today, straight from Japan.  Originally I was going to hold off on the install, but after pulling everything out, I decided I may as well!

Parts Included :

Console Body

Bottom Cover

Console Deck

Mounting Racks

various screws for installation

Tools Required :

Screw Driver…

Installation :

As you can see from the large Tool list, this is a fairly simple installation.  There are two mounting racks that slide and hug onto both front seat tracks, from the bottom.  Pull them all the way towards you and they’ll sit in place, slightly sagging but that will be fixed once everything is screwed into place.  Position the legs of the console deck onto the mounting racks, and line up two holes to screw it into place on each side.  You’re halfway done, MAN I love simple installations like this!  Pop the bottom cover onto the console body, and set it over the deck.  The bottom cover allows a flush appearance when the console is put into place.  Set the console body on top of the deck, and open up the main section to screw it into place.  There are four holes, and four small screws to keep the console in place.  Throw in the nice fuzzy bottom piece (much like what’s in our door handle areas) to cover up the screws, close up the section, and enjoy what 5 minutes of hard work has given you; a nice storage console/arm rest!!

As a young man who is 6′ tall in stature, I find the console to be relatively low; certainly comfortable for me, but definitely nothing that would be overbearing to an xD owner of any build!  Seeing as how it IS an OEM piece, it flows well with the interior; an extreme wonder why Toyota never decided to bring it over to the states!

That’s about it for now…Hope you all enjoyed the write up, and should you purchase the console, enjoy it as well!

Next up for me?  HID installation!  I’ll actually need my own pictures for that install guide, so we’ll see how that goes

-Corey

TRD Sport Muffler - courtesy of www.scion.com

Back again for my second post!  This time around we take a look at the TRD Sport Muffler , an axle back made specifically for the Scion xD.   Let’s take a peak at what tools we need.

Tool Requirements:

Socket Wrench w/ 14mm socket.

Torque Wrench w/ 14mm socket

Hangar Remover (optional)

Your shiny new TRD Sport Muffler

Not really much required for this installation as it is a very straight forward one.

Included Parts:

TRD Sport Muffler

Auxiliary Rubber Hangar

So that’s the basic run down, moving on to the installation process.

Installation:

Uninstalling the stock muffler is fairly simple; lift the car whichever way you see fit (safely..please) and get under the rear, right side, passenger door.  You’ll see two spring-loaded bolts, the only ones you’ll be removing in this process.  Start unbolting them and once that’s done with, move on to the pulling off the hangars.  You can do this in two ways; remove the rubber hangars from the mounts on the chassis, or simply remove the exhaust from the rubber hangars, leaving them on the car.  I opted to remove the rubbers from the car itself to just swap onto the TRD.  If you don’t have the hangar removing pliers, fear not, get a good lubricant and push, they’ll come off with a slight struggle at most.

I should note, to make hangar removal/application easier, I took off the right, rear, wheel for more access; it’s not necessary, but it sure helps, even in unbolting.

Now here’s the fun part; scoot under the car and you’ll notice on the spare tire well area, there are two black grommets; about the size of a half dollar or so.  Remove the one furthest in (closest to your fuel cell) as this is where the afore-listed auxiliary hangar will be placed.  I suggest popping this in to the well area, rather than putting it on the muffler and then popping it in.  This can be a fairly complicated process, as the rubber hangar has a large cubic top section, where as the hole is a small circular cut out.  Remember those old wood cut-out toys?  Logic tells us that cubes don’t fit into circular areas.  Squeeze it in there as you see fit; it eventually goes in, it’s just a huge pain.

Once that’s in, make sure you’ve attached all the other hangars to the muffler or chassis, and fit the new axle back over the torsion beam and back to the mid-piping off the resonator.  With my muffler, after bolting it down and torquing it to spec (listed soon), you may notice there is a sizable gap between the mufflers’ flange, and the mid-piping flange.  It’s fine.  Make sure you have no leaks; I had a friend hold his hands around the flange area while I revved hard, and he assured there were no leaks.  If you have leaks, perhaps your muffler is crooked; straighten, and once there are no leaks, you’re good.

After all is said and done, ensure the spring bolts are torqued to 32.0 ft.lbs. (43.0 Nm)

Aftermath:

After swearing like a sailor through the auxiliary hangar installation, and being satisfied with no leaks from the flange section, you now have a nice and shiny new piece on your xD!  The tone is amazing, and for those of you who worry about a subtle yet aggressive tone, this is a great product for you.  The TRD Sport Muffler creates a slightly gruffer growl from the exhaust, nearly inaudible at idle, and growling its way up through the revs smoothly as you accelerate.  You’ll definitely enjoy being able to hear the deep grumble from inside the car as you drive; though for those who see it as a downside, you can still hear it slightly over your music.  Not so much over, as integrated within, but you’ll see what I mean once it’s installed, it’s nothing that bothers me at least.

Hope everything was comprehensive, this is a great product for the money, and will definitely give you that extra auditory “umph” you’ve been looking for.

Until next time; happy tuning, stay safe, and enjoy the ride.

-Corey

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Prior to Install:

The exhaust comes constructed of mandrel bent T-304 Stainless Steel tubing, a nice size canister and 4″ straight cut tip.  Also in the box are complete install instructions and rubber hanger mount.

The install:

I will admit, we tried to do the install for this awesome exhaust.  However, we found that the jack points did not provide enough room for us to get a decent jack stand under the car.  Enter the folks at Toyota 101 and the ability for them to do this swap really fast.  The great part about this exhaust is that it utilizes the stock clamp/gasket for a factory-like fit and easy installation.

Our review:

Prior to our install we were sporting the stock Toyota exhaust with the TRD tip, not really a set up that will make the car growl from the outside.  Now we already had the Weapon-R Short Ram Intake on our project car, so we were already growling at the engine.  With that said, I waited at the dealership for them to drive our xD to the customer pick up area and all you could hear was growl. So we at MicroCar Magazine thought it would only be right to put the exhaust to the paces, so we set out on a 1k adventure to San Diego and Extreme Autofest show.  On the road you can really tell how well Scion was able to block out the outside noise.  During normal around town driving our exhaust provided a nice rumble and low tone sound, when we got it to the freeway that was a different story.  As we moved thru the gears the exhaust really came to life and the xD powered ahead.  The best part to this exhaust is that we notice no power loss, and we got the nice growl that Toyota engines are known to have.

Overall this exhaust performed awesome.  Can not wait to see what other products come out for the xD.

Suggested MSRP: All our research found that the exhaust goes for just under $600.00 – However we did manage to find out friends at FastScions.com selling this exhaust for under $400.00 – DC-Sports Exhaust at FastScions.com .

It is an affordable upgrade that rids of your current stock antenna that is most likely ginormous.  Luckily, you don’t lose any radio reception by replacing your stock antenna with this piece from Agency Power.  It comes in two flavors, as pictured: finned and solid.  With such a flush finish, it looks OEM!  The MSRP on these antennas comes in at $40 and can be found at sites like Bean Garage.

A well-tuned car is really reflected through the fine details that the owner puts in, in my opinion.  A detail such as this 3” long antenna improves the sophisticated manner of your car.

Install
Installation could not be easier.  You simply screw off your old antenna and replace with this.  No tools needed.  These antennas fit on most 08+ models, including Scion xB, xD, tC and others.

Final Review
After equipping this antenna on our project xD, we have found no disadvantages in the radio reception.  The roofline looks much sleeker and clean.  Compared to the stock antenna provided by Scion, this one is more attractive and contributes to the overall image of the car.  Below is an image of the antenna equipped with the stock one held up:

New Audio -

The xD’s new standard AM/FM/CD/USB 160-watt maximum output Pioneer audio system receives additional functionality for 2010. New features include an organic electroluminescent (OEL) screen, iPod®/USB connectivity, Advanced Sound Retriever (ASR), and a subwoofer RCA output. The standard Pioneer system has a USB port and universal auxiliary (AUX) port located on the center console that allows users to listen to their portable music collection through the xD’s six Pioneer speakers.

Other than the upgraded audio and added VSC the 2010 model year gets the same Dual VVT-i 128hp engine, and the usual Scion xD comforts.

Click here for the whole press release from Scion