Rich's Tongfamily (Richtong.net add-on)

When I actually drove the Scion xB, it was cheap and great, but it had a couple of pretty big drawbacks. Fortunately, the thing is so customizable, that a quick visit to various enthusiast sites got me to the fixes for in order:
# Low Power. It is only 108 hp so it is sloooowww getting up to speed.
# Noisy. Wow, it is back to the old days particularly at highway speeds.
# Gadgets. Heck, what would a modern car be without a DVD and a navigation system.
# Leather. I know, who wants leather seats in a cheap car. Well, have some kids and then come back and comment.
# Rack. They have a clip on rack, but it would be nice to get nice rails.
# Sunroof. I know I shouldn’t need one, but I’ve gotten used to it.
Now, it turns out that Scion dealerships have many fixes for these that turn a $14K car into a $20K one. I know, I priced it at Michael’s Toyota. Let’s see if the web can’t help me do it cheaper. And hopefully help me find a local accessory place to do the work. The cool thing about such a cheap simple car is that I feel like you can just modify it easily.
* ! * “TRD Muffler”:http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=59143. You can get a $299 muffler that is bigger. Supposed to add 2 hp and a little better fuel economy. The big concern is of course how loud the thing gets. Other choices include “Strups”:http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=58868
* “Read Sway Bar”:http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21922. Counter intuitive, but the best way to improve cornering is to leave the stock anti-sway bar in the front and add one in the rear to get balanced handling and prevent massive oversteer. Progress from “partshippers.com”:http://www.partshippers.com/ makes a nice rear bar that’s pretty easy to “install”:http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=59159. For newbies, the front bar prevents the car from tipping over (hence the term anti-sway), but makes the car fight you in the turn.
* “Sound deadening”. To bring down other road noise in the cabin, I sound deadened the wheel wells, cargo floor, and rear doors according to Karl Hunges on scionlife.com.