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Well, this whole week has been a true bout of eyecandy for teh SEMA conventions in Las Vegas, NV.

Now, since talking about SEMA would be a whole new thread topic in itself, let's skip that and get to the point of THIS thread: The Scion Challenge.

At 2006 SEMA, Scion contracted the three top aftermarket tuner teams in the US by giving each team one brand new scion xA automatic and a $15,000 to make it the most badass ride on the market. The winning team is crowned 'king of scion tuners' as well as their car being official postercar for scion for that year. The team also gets a free scion of their choice (stock of course, lol.) and Team Hybrid of Southern California came out on top.

This year, Hybrid was to defend their title against Team Koshak and Team Auto Concept: Elite.

I don't know much about Koshak (in fact, i know nothing about there team nor have i seen ANY winning vehicles on their arsenal) but i do know a great deal about Hybrid and AutoConcept.

Both teams have been competing directly and indirectly against each other for the spot of #1 California team. AutoConcept is most famous for its widebody candy red FD, Lime Widebody 350Z, Gold TopSecret Widebody Supra TT, and Replica Takata widebody NSX. (basically these guys are contracted under the bodyshop High3nd Tuning, which i admit, is damn skilled at the widebodies and parts they work with.)

Team Hybrid is most famous for being amongst the top 10 teams in the US for over 12 years, pretty much pioneering the import industry with corporate sponsorships from Meguiar's car products to BFGoodrich/Michelin Tires, to Takata Harnesses, and the list goes on.
The Red RX7 pictured on the purple and green bottles of detailers on your local auto store shelves happens to be actually the silver RX7 owned by ex-member Tom Ngo of Hybrid.

now onto the important stuff... Hybrid won once again and now has 2 yrs of 'king of scion tuning' under their belts.

pix and news updates are available on urbanracer.com


Now, past all that stuff, I just had to ask...

Let's say you were on one of these teams... or better yet, you were asked by a car company to work on one of their microclass cars and make it badass with a $15k budget...

What kind of mods would you do exactly?

To make it more interesting, here's the rules. You need to use a car which has a price tag of under $15,000 brand-new off the dealership. You can't use more options than the car is worth, so for example, a honda fit is an ok choice, but obviously since a fit sport model is about $17k, it's not allowed.

Here are examples of 15k and under MICRO CLASS CARS:

Scion xD
Scion xB
Honda Fit
Nissan Versa
Toyota Yaris
Mini Cooper (non-S)
[insert micro-class car (1.5l or smaller eng., under $15k pricetag) here]

and again, your budget is $15k, and the items would have to be fair market online value.

Also, if you have hookups with shops IRL, post a rough estimate of your discounted prices.

What's your game strategy?

Mine, although played out, would be to take the Honda Fit, put a K20A2 engine in it, with a full turbo setup, all straight engine work, AME rims on BFG T/A KDW tires, ZEAL coilovers, Endless big brake kit, Cusco rollcage, Takata Harnesses, and Recaro SRD Top Gun carbon kevlar seats.

K20A2 swap: $3k for the engine (won it at a police auction from a crashed ricer)
Turbo setup: $4k ~ $8k from various companies. $4k = homemade setup.
the AME/Zeal/Endless set is a package you can get for about $6~$8k.
Tires, Takata's without eyebolts or pads, and the top gun seats will finish off everything.

again, nothing on the exterior, but the AME Rims/Zeal coilovers/Endless BBK is more than enough to really turn some heads for true enthusiasts.

again, played out, but me i prefer focusing on building from the engine and suspension first, then spend what's left over on ECU tuning/reflashes and then what's left of that: small carbon fiber lip or hood.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

I honestly don't think I could spend that kind of cash on a micro car.

Could you really do all that for 15 grand? And I think you forgot tires.

actually, you can. of course, the show itself is oriented as 'show car' instead of a specific category like time attack or wrc. and for tires, BFG T/A KDWs or the Michelin PS2's.

I personally don't think your car would win, but I'd rather drive what you made than whatever did happen to win. You can tell the nature of that contest by the fact that the cars they were modding had automatic transmissions.

lol i know for a FACT my car wouldn't win, but again, it's not really about winning it's more along the lines of me making a car to fit my needs with a $15k budget. Now of course, the three teams all did as many mods as they could and got as many donations and freebies as they could. A lot of companies do heavy donations in parts or labor just to get their vinyl logos a bigger size than the other companies.


I love the Honda Fit, I really do, but for a contest, I'd pick the Mini Cooper out of the choices you offered. It's the only choice on there that would count as an actual performance-oriented car. Since you didn't mention trim, I'm going to cheat and use the new turbocharged Cooper S as my example.

I don't mind at all... though that car in itself is about high twenties to mid thirties.

The suspension's already about as tight as it needs to be for a street car. In fact, the first thing I'd do is give the suspension a bit of extra body roll to dial out some of that twitchiness inherent in the new model. other than that, I'd leave the suspension alone. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

While I'd want to keep appearance mods minimal, I can't really say I've tuned it without some new wheels. I'd keep the size the same, and just find a lighter set. Some Volks would do the trick. Next, some new pads and rotors, and a set of the stickiest street tires I can find so I can actually make use of the improved stopping power. By now I've probably spent about 5 grand, depending on what kind of deals I got. As a tuning shop, This shouldn't be too hard. If it was just me building this in my garage, I'd probably have spent 6 or 7 thousand by now.

plus-sizing within one to two inches of original wheel size ensure the most performance in terms of handling, but anything more either serves no purpose or takes away. And for stickiest street tires, it also depends on if you're talking R-class compounds that're barely legal or something cheap like the Nitto 555's.

and you are correct on the monetary calculations.

On the interior, I'd get new seats, probably adjustable racing seats, and a new steering wheel. I'd integrate that hideous Playskool tachometer into a sleeker casing, maybe something brushed-aluminum. This I'd have to fabricate myself, probably. To go along with that, probably replace all the cheap plastic trim with brushed aluminum. It's going to suck to get into that car in the summertime.

You can attain the brushed aluminum look with regular paint and viberglass by calling up alsa corp or Valspar. Both companies make brushed aluminum look car paints that work well and are very realistic. Me personally, i'd replace all the cheap plastic with aluminum composites as well, as in a crash, fiberglass flying all over the place is NOT fun at all... but of course a mini rollcage is a must in this situation.

On the exterior, painted carbon fiber everywhere. I'd integrate a front splitter/underbody spoiler, and a duckbill rear spoiler, (Like the kind Spoon makes for Civics). That'd probably be the end of my budget.

There are several companies from Amuse to Spoon to First Molding that do make full carbon composites, however we're talking $50k minimum for a whole car ($20k for a third more or less).

If not, new intake and exhaust would be in order, as well as a new turbo manifold if I could find a way to improve on the original design. For the finishing touch, I'd install a tuning chip and strap it to the dynamometer to coax any hidden horsepower out of it.

So there you are, not significantly more powerful, but it will be faster, look better, and retain the balance of the original model. And like yours, it'd probably lose to some lame automatic Versa with lots of flashing lights.

This exercise has really got my brain going. Using the Cooper S was kind of a cheap shot, I only used it because you didn't specify, even though it costs like $25000. I don't know if you can get a base for under 15 though.

Let's redo the rules a bit, and I'll give it another shot tomorrow, this time I'll actually do some research on what would work.

Although it slightly irked me the way you worded that last remark, i understand where you're coming from. I should've been more specific, as i was listing everything off as the Micro class as examples seeing as not everyone knows what i am speaking about.

Here's the rules.

ANY car, compact or subcompact, that costs under 15 grand. It must be a CAR, and it must be currently on the market. If you're not sure, check. If it can cost over 15 grand with options, the options and trim level must keep the price below 15 grand. For example, the Honda Fit is OK, but the Fit Sport is not, as it costs over 15.

That and anyone who buys the sport is an idiot IMO.