2004 Scion Xa
I bought this new in Nov. 2004. Within 3 weeks I added the wheels/tires and Eibach springs. I followed those with some brake upgrades, Porterfield r4s brake pads on the front and stainless steel flex hoses. The car drove very well, got great mileage but I couldn't stop there so I made some urethane sway bar end links for the front and a lower subframe brace to replace the cheesy stamped steel tubes installed by the factory. Those two things made the car a real stand-out in handling! My car was used by a tuner company from South San Francisco to develop a cold air intake system. I really wanted to upgrade the exhaust but never had the chance. The car died a violent death in Oct. '05 when my wife got drunk, hit something that broke the right front wheel, drove another 8 blocks dragging the right front suspension until it finally let go and she hit a pole, totaling the car. This was the first time I had ever purchased "gap" insurance when financing a car, it sure payed off- literally!!
As far as I know, I was the first to install urethane sway bar end links on a Scion in the U.S. There is a very active Scion forum at Scionlife.com and I was the first to bring it up and show how it's done.
I made this subframe brace after seeing several Japanese versions on the web. I could not justify paying the price they wanted plus shipping from Japan, the U.S. aftermarket hadn't gotten moving on these cars at that time. I made a jig to get it just right, I never made another.
With the 215/45/17 tires on 7" wide wheels, the Eibach springs, the sway bar end links and the subframe brace, that little sucker stuck like paint to the road!! It made about 100hp but it only weighed 2200lb so it went fairly well. I still think about buying another one...