I just ordered my 1st car! Corolla Levin SX.

[Pauly]

I ordered my Corolla Levin SX back at the start of December, and it wont be arriving until Early April from what I can tell by Toyotas Online Tracker thing.

Anyways! I was looking at doing some very minor modifications to the car to help put abit of a sporty image on it.

I was looking at getting the Kappy Alloy Wheels from Toyota, I do have a contact who can get them alot cheaper! (~$800) however with that in mind, they wont come with rubber, so I was wondering what type of Rubber people recommend to put onto these wheels? I wasent looking at the best of the best rubber, just the best bang for your buck kind of rubber. So not rubbish, but not the best of the best.

Next thing was the headlights. Now I know the Model above mine the ZR has these HID lamps or something, and the SX (mine) doesnt. I was looking at getting a more 'white' look to the headlights, and I was wondering what people recommend. I heard that the SX uses Philips lamps and i saw Diamond Vision and Blue Vision lights on a website. Will they fit my car? and what model is better? and how much am I looking at?

I was looking at perhaps lowering the car (to suit the Kappa Alloys), I heard you can just lower it by changing the springs around, but if I was looking for better handeling I should also considering changing the Shocks. What springs do people recommend, and if I wanan end up going the whole way, what shocks do people recommend?

And the last thing I was looking at was tinting, whats the best window tint to get? and what prices am I looking at?

If you have some other modifications in mind, post it here, it would be cool to bounce some ideas of everyone.

EDIT: Is it worth considering Run Flats for the corolla on those Kappa Alloys? or it just isnt worth it? and does the Corolla have a Tyer Pressure Monitoring System? because I suppose if they are run flats I wont know if they have a puncture without the monitoring system?

Cheers.

Paul.

[qkslvr]

i recommend anyone with a new car to drive it stock, at least for the break-in period. it gives you a good baseline so you know if a modification is good or bad. just because it's made for you car doesn't mean you need it. $$$xxx doesn't always equat to xxx in performance improvement. This is especially true when playing with your suspension e.g you lowering the car.

my 2cents

[2ZR - FE]

I am going to wait for bolt-on/plug and play sort of modifications. I want to make sure that what I put in is worth it, that it will actually improve the handling or speed/torque of my car. However things like wheels, tyres and suspension do not really apply my concept I still do not want to rush into modding.

[selyaT]

My opinion is avoid the new 2ZR-FE model if you want a sporty late model Corolla.

Corolla Sportivo* is still the hottest Corolla ever, regardless of what the advertising says.

*Especially Xoom's one ;)

[WingsOfPain]

I ordered my Corolla Levin SX back at the start of December, and it wont be arriving until Early April from what I can tell by Toyotas Online Tracker thing.

omg...is it really going to take that long? i haven't even ordered mine yet! :( at that rate...june?? where did you order yours from

[CAP]

There are quite a few good bang for buck tyres around. If you spend around 220 per corner, you should be getting a good set of tyres. Stick to the main brands, avoid budget ones such as Nexen, Nankang, Silverstone etc. Run-Flats have their advantage but because of the thick sidewalls, they are not a confortable tyre and expensive.

Philips Crystal and Diamond are not ADR compliant and give crap visibility so avoid those.

If you want to lower the car just for looks, you can just have the springs changed. If you want improved handling you need to do a little more such as shockers plus springs plus sway bars.

[sugizo_esp]

hey..congrats. i also drive a levin sx.

kappa wheels are nice..

i agree with qkslvr to drive it stock atlease for break ins and get a feel for what you really need to mod.

For the lights. the stock are philips. but understand the theory, the whiter and higher K you go, the less visibility there is. And only philips diamond vision give that white with blu hint look. I use mtec cosmos blue myself. they are alot cheaper and have better effect. But you get less visibility.

For springs. Kings springs are cheap and good. Or you can pay abit more and import the special TMS lowering springs for the zre suspension from toyota europe...I've been looking at TRD's sportivo suspenstion system.

tinting should vary on prices depends on what you want. Toyota had mine tinted somewhere with my prices. But i've been looking at black privacy tint which cost around $250.

[sinan]

My opinion is avoid the new 2ZR-FE model if you want a sporty late model Corolla.

Corolla Sportivo* is still the hottest Corolla ever, regardless of what the advertising says.

*Especially Xoom's one ;)

couldnt have said it better myself mate.

[Pauly]

When it comes to springs and shocks, I wouldnt be changing them until later down the track, if at all.

The things I would like to get when I get it, or short after would be:

Kappy Alloys

Tinting

Lights

The Kappa alloys arnt a problem, the only thing I need advice on there is what tyers do I use?

What is the darkest legal tint you can get? and are there places that will go darker?

I never knew the higher the K on the lights, the less visability you get. Are the stock lights fine? or would it better to change them? I saw some Philips Rally ones? are they better?

Edited February 15, 2008 by Pauly

[sugizo_esp]

When it comes to springs and shocks, I wouldnt be changing them until later down the track, if at all.

The things I would like to get when I get it, or short after would be:

Kappy Alloys

Tinting

Lights

The Kappa alloys arnt a problem, the only thing I need advice on there is what tyers do I use?

What is the darkest legal tint you can get? and are there places that will go darker?

I never knew the higher the K on the lights, the less visability you get. Are the stock lights fine? or would it better to change them? I saw some Philips Rally ones? are they better?

the stock lights are acutally pretty decent. If you are worry abotu visibility, jsut stick with stock or go for something like philips vision plus. But they dont look any white.

[kniti]

White halogen bulb (HID look alike) will give you horrible visibility and can be dangerous for night driving. It's better to spend abit more money and get an HID conversion kit. You can find plenty of good deals on eBay.

[jps137]

For springs. Kings springs are cheap and good. Or you can pay abit more and import the special TMS lowering springs for the zre suspension from toyota europe...I've been looking at TRD's sportivo suspenstion system.

I should receive my Levin SX towards the end of next month and have made a few enquiries on the suspension side

for springs

TTE 220Euro ex Germany (I got quoted 200Euro for Postage but this was with a second set of springs so I would have been looking at approx $500)

TRD approx 550 AUD supply only

K-Mac 560 fitted

Pedders 530 fitted

TRD are a bit expensive over $800 for the shocks and $500 for the front bar

K-Mac make a rear sway bar and mounting brackets as well as all the other usual goodies

Pedders only do Springs front sway bar would be a special build

[2ZR - FE]

My opinion is avoid the new 2ZR-FE model if you want a sporty late model Corolla.

Corolla Sportivo* is still the hottest Corolla ever, regardless of what the advertising says.

*Especially Xoom's one ;)

I would watch out.... The new Corollas have become much more popular in Europe than the previous generation. Anyways Sportivos are more in my eyes in competition with the Civic Type R where as the Corollas are against the Lancer, Mazdas etc. So how can you compare apples with oranges???

EDIT: Agreed...Xooms ride is one hot ride!!!

Edited February 17, 2008 by 2ZR - FE

[DT737]

I previously had a Toyota RAV4 2005 Cruiser and with the ever increasing fuel prices at the bowser, decided to downsize to a hopefully more fuel efficient car, hence decided to go for the new Corollas.

I ordered my Corolla Levin ZR on Australia Day from Phil Gilbert Toyota @ Homebush Bay and I just picked up my Corolla Levin ZR on Wednesday 5/3.

I must say, it is a very nice car! Runs a lot smoother, light on the steering and is a lot quieter than than the RAV in terms of road and engine noise, and I love the keyless entry and push button start!

The only mods that I am considering is to definately change the stock speakers and apply Dynamats to the doors, and possibly replace the 2-DIN Head Unit with an all-in-one solution like the Pioneer AVIC-HD3 or the Eclipse AVN range of 2-DIN all-in-one units.

There are a few of niggly things that kinda annoy me with the Corolla and that's having only 1 cigarette lighter (the RAV had 1 cig lighter on the dash and a utility lighter near the brakes) located in an awkward location near the handle brakes. Bit of a pain when you have a PND. With the gear stick in a higher position, passengers have at times knocked the auto gear stick from D to 3, and when I'm on Bluetooth, people have said that I sound distant and faint, so I've had to either speak louder, or speak towards the microphone located near the centre light switches.

But aside from that, I am quite happy with the new Corolla.

[Pauly]

isnt there a way to adjust the bluetooth settings to make it louder? or to make it more sensitive?

[DT737]

isnt there a way to adjust the bluetooth settings to make it louder? or to make it more sensitive?

You can adjust the volume of the speaker and ringing tone from the speakers, but it seems you can't adjust the sensitivity of the microphone.

Unless someone wants to correct me if I'm wrong, reading the manual, there doesn't seem to be an option for it.

[SILVABULLIT]

Next saturday i will be doing some R&D on an intake for the new corolla. stay tuned....

[Dave89]

I previously had a Toyota RAV4 2005 Cruiser and with the ever increasing fuel prices at the bowser, decided to downsize to a hopefully more fuel efficient car, hence decided to go for the new Corollas.

I ordered my Corolla Levin ZR on Australia Day from Phil Gilbert Toyota @ Homebush Bay and I just picked up my Corolla Levin ZR on Wednesday 5/3.

I must say, it is a very nice car! Runs a lot smoother, light on the steering and is a lot quieter than than the RAV in terms of road and engine noise, and I love the keyless entry and push button start!

The only mods that I am considering is to definately change the stock speakers and apply Dynamats to the doors, and possibly replace the 2-DIN Head Unit with an all-in-one solution like the Pioneer AVIC-HD3 or the Eclipse AVN range of 2-DIN all-in-one units.

There are a few of niggly things that kinda annoy me with the Corolla and that's having only 1 cigarette lighter (the RAV had 1 cig lighter on the dash and a utility lighter near the brakes) located in an awkward location near the handle brakes. Bit of a pain when you have a PND. With the gear stick in a higher position, passengers have at times knocked the auto gear stick from D to 3, and when I'm on Bluetooth, people have said that I sound distant and faint, so I've had to either speak louder, or speak towards the microphone located near the centre light switches.

But aside from that, I am quite happy with the new Corolla.

i also suffer from sounding faint on the hands free, it seems like a poor design fault, not having a sensitivity adjustment, and a poorly placed mic, it should of been something external to the cd player, should of been on the roof near the convenience lights or perhaps just higher on the dash.

or maybe there is a manual sensitivity setting, anyone asked a dealer???

Dave

[Pauly]

apparently there is an option to adjust the sensitivity, I created a thread:

http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/inde...showtopic=14392

"Its under the "SETTING THE VOLUME" section of the section pf the bluetooth. If you have the manual that has Part number : PZQ6012020 as the first number listed it shold be on page 25"

Can anyone confirm 100%?

Edited March 9, 2008 by Pauly

[DT737]

apparently there is an option to adjust the sensitivity, I created a thread:

http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/inde...showtopic=14392

"Its under the "SETTING THE VOLUME" section of the section pf the bluetooth. If you have the manual that has Part number : PZQ6012020 as the first number listed it shold be on page 25"

Can anyone confirm 100%?

Hi mate...

That's the manual I have and it displays information on "Setting the speech volume" and "Setting the volume of the ring tone".

Nothing about adjusting the microphone's sensitivity.

[SmellyTofu]

White halogen bulb (HID look alike) will give you horrible visibility and can be dangerous for night driving. It's better to spend abit more money and get an HID conversion kit. You can find plenty of good deals on eBay.

HID conversion kits are even more dangerous than blue bulbs. Please don't recommend things without saying the fact that you will be given a defect notice for retrofitted HID kit.

Oh, for the record, the hottest Corolla is the AE92 Corolla with the 4AGE but that's just opinions and based on no facts.

[NXT]

I ordered my Corolla Levin SX back at the start of December, and it wont be arriving until Early April from what I can tell by Toyotas Online Tracker thing.

Anyways! I was looking at doing some very minor modifications to the car to help put abit of a sporty image on it.

I was looking at getting the Kappy Alloy Wheels from Toyota, I do have a contact who can get them alot cheaper! (~$800) however with that in mind, they wont come with rubber, so I was wondering what type of Rubber people recommend to put onto these wheels? I wasent looking at the best of the best rubber, just the best bang for your buck kind of rubber. So not rubbish, but not the best of the best.

$800 for Kappa Wheels? Where abouts are they selling them at that price? I wouldn't mind getting a set myself.

[Pauly]

I ordered my Corolla Levin SX back at the start of December, and it wont be arriving until Early April from what I can tell by Toyotas Online Tracker thing.

Anyways! I was looking at doing some very minor modifications to the car to help put abit of a sporty image on it.

I was looking at getting the Kappy Alloy Wheels from Toyota, I do have a contact who can get them alot cheaper! (~$800) however with that in mind, they wont come with rubber, so I was wondering what type of Rubber people recommend to put onto these wheels? I wasent looking at the best of the best rubber, just the best bang for your buck kind of rubber. So not rubbish, but not the best of the best.

$800 for Kappa Wheels? Where abouts are they selling them at that price? I wouldn't mind getting a set myself.

haha I have a contact who gets them for trade price or whatever. I think they are $830. But thats just for 4 rims, no rubber.

Ive been told to get Dunlop Sport Maxx tyers for the wheels and im set.