Ok. I have $5,000 to spend.

I have a 09 USDM Milano red base fit. Bone stock..

I want to put some stuff into it to make it better. RSB, Intake, wheels, Coilovers or just springs (whatever is more convienient, and the best value.. ) I want to make it as quick as I can, with the best handling, and the best looks with the money I have..

I want to know what other people would do with $5k.

If you had a Base GE fit, and 5 grand to put into it, what would you do?

Also, just for fun... What would you put into it if you had 10k to spend.

 

I'd just put coilovers or springs (just for slightly better handling) and maybe tint for a sharper cleaner look. Its a fit...not an sports car so putting 5K for performance is kinda of overkill imo. If you took a loan out on it I'd put that 5K or 10K towards the loan but thats just me. I'd rather have a brand new car with no car payment than pay intrest.

 

Like the poster above said, if you financed your Fit, put the money towards paying it off. Otherwise, I'd put some money into a nicer sound / navi system and just enjoy the ride. IMHO there isn't a great return on investment for performance mods for the Fit.

 

+1... good advice...

but if you're dead set on modifying your car...
-wheels/tires is a big improvement over the base steelies and 175 width dunlops...
-PRM seems like a good intake thats available... although i personally like the stock engine bay look so k&n drop in for me
-springs are good, but if you're serious about performance opt for coil-overs... fits can be fun at the track...

 

I might have to agree with the others in that if you are making payments it's better to pay that off first. I've had my car for a couple months and I might be into it for about 3.5k in mods already. But then again, I saved at least that much in interest by paying cash for it.

 

I have it mostly paid off. I put down 8k, and I got 4500 for my clunker.

I am not going to put 5k into it. I am just wondering what you guys would do if you had the money, and wanted to dump it into your fit.

I do want new wheels. I want a little more power. And a good suspension.

I really just dont know where to start.

 

Give it to meeeeee! Haha I'm just playing. You can get the hks exhaust and drop it... but like what others said, just save it.. if I had 5k to spend, i'd wait for a turbo!!! O.o

 

5k:
coilovers
ssr type c's
super fancy tires
racing seat and remove the rest
rollcage
brakes
5k:
same thing but with custom turbo, exhaust, and tune.

 

Thats what I was thinking too.

Coilovers. Probably Skunk, but do they make them for GE Fits yet?

SSRs are real nice, but expensive. Are they worth the extra bucks?

I want nice audio. Just speakers and a Navi/dvd 2 din.. Whats the best out there?

And Turbo!! What is a good turbo kid for GE fits? I was really thinking about buying a turbo kit in the for sale section, but I dont think it will fit in the 09 GE fit.

 

Uhh turbo? Haha. Might as well trade it in and get a car that can handle a turbo.. get a si or something..

 

If I had a Base fit (I do.) and I had $5000 to spend on it...

my first thought would be... why the hell didn't I buy a Fit Sport Navi/VSA?

I mean, I really want that VSA, it would probably have been a lot cheaper to buy that one than try to upgrade to VSA by adding all the necessary parts. If I was a sporty driver I might like those paddle shifters, but personally I didn't quite like them... although you don't say if you got M/T or A/T; unless that is what you mean by "bone stock"= m/t.

As far as this question goes, it's interesting... but I am not personally interested in most improvements that are cosmetic only without having any sort of practical purpose.

I am also not a speed demon.

That being said, what I would probably do to improve, upgrade, or protect my fit if I had a significant amount of money to spend...

I would clearbra the ENTIRE car.

I would get WeatherTech DigitalFit floormats for both the front and rear.

I would get a cargo tray, and a cargo cover.

I would get matching seat covers that I liked for front and rear seats.

I would look at different types of tinting to determine what I would like that wouldn't hinder driving and get it on the windows that it is legal on in my state.

I would get an Eclipse Sunshade.

I would get some type of door molding to protect against dings, etc.

I would get a second set of wheels and put winter tires on them. I would try to get this at a place that offered to change them for free for life each appropriate season (we had studded snowtires from pep boys that came with this agreement.)

I would get the best security system I can with a complete set of sensors and two-way remote(s).

I would investigate and possibly make various interesting upgrades mentioned here.. such as:
the trunk light with the switch
the intermittent wiper upgrade (not so interested in this one... yet..)
changing out interior lighting from incandescent bulbs to LEDs where possible (should be nice and bright and hopefully less power drain on that really small battery.)

I'm convinced that it shouldn't be too difficult to add the steering wheel controlled cruise control, although it hasn't been discussed much here in-depth; I would investigate it and add it.

Since speed may be an issue (for you).. if radar detectors are legal in my state, I might get one.

I am into communications, so I might look into CB, a Ham setup, a scanner, etc.

I would get a system for internet access in my vehicle. (I just saw a unit in Autozone or a similar store to turn this vehicle into a mobile wireless access point, and have also seen self-rolled options.)

I would get the USB adapter for the radio if I wasn't going to upgrade it.

I would install some sort of grill or protector for the a/c.

My insurance company provides a discount for vehicle tracking so I would look into lojack or a similar service and other things I can do to get discounts on my insurance.

I transport stuff around... so I would look into the bumper applique or some other sort of bumper protector like a door-sill style metal/rubber plate.

I would add map lights.

As far as wheels go... some are... interesting... but as I said I am not too much into cosmetic improvements.. that being said.. some people have discussed how certain alloy wheels are much lighter than the steel wheels, and how lightening the car can improve gas mileage.

For my own uses I want to stick with the steelies. I'm interested in moon hubcaps. I think I personally might like brushed stainless steel since I have a black fit.

If I was not garage keeping it, and it was ever going to sit for a long period of time, I would look into a car cover.

Then... spending not directly on the car... I think we are missing something it we don't pay attention to the following...

I would outfit my garage with a really nice set of tools and locking tool chests for my mechanics tools, as well as service manuals, etc.

I would consider that the component of this system that I could probably do the most to upgrade... is... the person behind the wheel... spending money on the car and ignoring the driver's skill level is a false economy.

I would investigate defensive driving courses, courses to teach you how to drive in adverse conditions such as on ice or in other bad weather, courses that teach various techniques such as police/spy evasive and chase driving techniques, race driving courses, etc. The better the driver is, the more one can get out of the car.

 

I don't think that skunk makes anything for ge yet.

The first ge turbo was make like last month in taiwan (or singapore) there's a vid floating around somewhere.

 

Whooops. No one saw that =P. Good job

 

why not just repaint with quality paint with xtra clear coats?

 

Pay off your car before you spend a dime on a modification.

 

That's no fun.

 

Pay off the the car >0

 

Well, the answer to this is really best done in a "clearbra or not?!" posting.

That being said, I was answering this in the context of the intent of the question.. that being "you have a ridiculous amount of money to spend on your car, what are you going to spend it on?"

While getting clearbras professionally installed is a wee bit expensive, and might in the long term make more sense to just sock away money to get a car repainted eventually, rather than clearbra-ing at all, that is not really in the spirit of this question.

In addition, from what I read about clear bras.. getting one installed might make it a heck of a lot easier to keep a car clean and looking good. So it might be more cost and time effective in the short term to clearbra if you don't have to worry about swirlies and similar potential condition issues, and all sorts of complicated cleaning methods in the short-term.

If you mean why not repaint right now? I think the general idea is to keep with the stock paint colors, and even if you did, you may wind up with some of the same problems that cause some people to consider clearbras.

 

whoa on that long ass essay. i'd just do some rims, drop it, amp and sub. just keep it clean and easy.