In September, I bought myself a birthday present: 2009 BBP Fit!

I've owned it for a few weeks, and the mod bug is chewing on me! I really want to lower it and possibly some wheels once I get my Wagovan sold.

Here is a brief history of my vehicles:

1987 Prelude Si (First Car!)


1993 Prelude Vtec


2002 VFR (Too scary for me!)


1998 Lexus LS 400 (best ride quality evaaaaar, even lowered!)


1988 Civic Wagovan (for sale!)


AAAANNNND now the Fit! (with "lilwago")


Lowing will be coming...soon

 

First Mod....De-tinting.

I'm not a big fan of tint...especially on the fit. I like the clean look of the windows and the ability to see out more easily. Yes, a dark color will be hot, but the AC is good and I really like how it changed the look of the car!

I researched A LOT on how to do this, even got a quote from a tint shop ($140!!!)

I decided to go with the "steamer" method. You used a razorblade to get it started, then use the steamer (I used a Conair clothing steamer we own) and steamed the tint as I pulled. The key is to go SLOWLY and pull the adhesive off WITH the film. Did it in under an hour.

Before:





After:

 

Awesome! Can't wait to see it modded! No tint looks so nice, for me living in florida will mean death to my interior lol.

Is the wagon all wheel
drive?

 

Thanks shaun954!

No, the wagon is 2wd.

 

Pretty much a Honda Man

 

Pretty much! I almost bought a 2007 GTI, a superior car to the Fit, but the Honda reliability won me over in the end...

If I had the money to keep it up, I would STILL own the LS400. An amazing car.

 

yeah good choice, before i bought the fit i researched the Mazda speed 3, Subaru WRX, VW GTI, and both GE and GD fits, ended up with the GD Honda won on many aspects except speed


the reason why i ask if it was all wheel drive is because ive seen a video of one all wheel drive boosted doing ralleys. it looked awesome

 

Yep....those were on my list as well...till I drove the GTI. Driving that car was very impressive. LOVE the new updated look of the 2010, so that, too, helped my decision to get something reliable and wait for a 2010 to pop up used...someday. *sigh* =P

 

Shaun - have you seed Wagon Attack 2 on Youtube? This guy is nuts! Makes me want a 4WD RT!

Wagon Attack 2

 

Update! Thanks to the poll, I decided to go for coilovers. I was content to wait and save, the lo and behold, an deal I couldn't pass up came along for a set of Tein SS! I pulled the trigger and i'm super excited! I should get them this week. Stay tuned for pics!

 

You bought the ones off ebay didn't you?

 

..................

 

^^^^Did you see those too?! I was surprised I was even able to buy them!

Yeah man...I was researching dampers on google and BAM! There they were. I didn't even think about it. Just pulled the trigger. I saw they were on the demo car with low miles. I'm a little weary of the used status since there are no returns or warranty , but I figure for that price, it was worth a shot. Worse-case-scenario: dampers are toast and gotta send them in for rebuild...even then, I can get custom damper rates.

Now I'm reading, and re-reading how to install the front without an axle popping out!

 

Update! Replaced driver's fog with OEM (stupid rocks!) and put armor guard on them. Also got the rubber raingutter piece OEM since mine was missing when I bought it. (How does one of these come off anyway?)

Mod #2 - Mugen short shifter (no pics, not much to see) Love the quick snickity feeling

Mod #3 - Honda Leather steering wheel wrap (no, pics) Time consuming, but a great way to have a more grippy, thicker wheel w/out losing audio and cruise controls if you go with an aftermarket wheel.

Mod #4 - Driver seat lifted with washers (4) under each mounting bolt. Much better driving position for me!

And for the BIGGEST update...Mod #5

....Tein Super Compact Coilovers! WooooooooooT

Came in earlier this week...








I got these off of ebay from the Tein offices in Southern California. According to them, they were used on a demo car that just sat around, so very little miles on them. They look that way too...only slight scratches around the bolt holes from mounting...very clean and shiny for being used!

Install was pretty straight forward. Tried to do the front w/out taking the plastic garnish off...didn't happen. I have long fingers, but not that long! Also was SUPER scared of dropping an axle, so I used a jack AND bungee cord to hold the axle in place! (that and a lot of prayer!) Praise God, axles stayed!

I reused all the OEM rubber mountings both front and rear and there is ZERO noise. Looks like you can run the rear w/out the rubber mountings, but I made it fit.




Notice OEM rubber on top of the gold threaded rear spring perch...not sure if you are SUPPOSED to do this, but I did and there is no noise. (Read too many threads on noisy coilovers!)



At Home Depot getting my garage door lip supplies!




What is this!? A stock height fit two parking stalls away. Made me notice how significant the drop was!


DIY Lip!


Cleaned!



Impressions: Didn't move the spring perches at all, and they were spot on 1.5" drop all around. Looks good and balanced to me. Have the dampers on full soft now and it rides like it should: a smooth, planted and controlled ride. I love it. Ride quality is good...this is great since at stock height, the ride quality is good, not great. I may have lost a little on some bumpiness, but the dampers are so controlled, it is smoother too.

Comments, questions welcome!

 

it looks good, what are the spring rate on the super compact? How about driving it on some really bad bumpy road and let us know how the Tein feels.

 

WoW that little dip really makes it look looooooooooooooooooow!
PS like'n the lip too

 

Thanks Perrenoud! Yeah, it isn't really that low, but I was checking clearance for my driveway...Can't lower the front any more if I don't wanna scrape!

@Choro-Q - These are the equivalent of Super Street, so I believe the rates are F 3kg (168lbs)/ R 2K (112lbs) The ride is surprisingly good. More firm but very compliant. Of course, I only have it lowered a little over 1.5" so I have some good travel still. If I lower it more, I know I will lose some ride quality (softer springs + low = bumpstop city!)

On a side note, I had a highway test this afternoon and the rear was bottoming out really hard on big dips. I was going to raise it up, but I decided to change out the Tein bumpstops (super stiff...if not poly, they are VERY hard rubber) to some shorter Eibach foam ones. Bam, no more running out of shock travel. I gained about 3/4" from the bumpstop, and probably another 1/4" of movement since the foam compresses a little easier.

Still on full soft, may try going up some clicks, but it is nice now.

Next on the list is some roll center adjusters and maybe Progess rear sway bar

 

I had a Toyota 4x4 that I removed the tint on. The easiest way is to put some rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and liberally spray the tint. Let it soak for about 1 minute or so and it comes off in big sheets. I did the two doors and 4 windows in the rear in about 30 minutes.

 

^^^Yeah, I considered doing this, but the steamer was just too easy....plus, we already had one!

 

Suspension review update!

Traveled on HWY 5 from Livermore to Stockton with it on full soft and did NOT bottom out once (same road where I bottomed out yesterday). So the new bumpstops seemed to do the trick. My wife even fell asleep on the way! This is a HUGE testament to how nice the ride is. It IS bumpier, but only slightly. For my wife to fall asleep in the passenger seat... well it is saying a lot. That would have never happened in the Wagovan.

On the way home from Stockton, with two kids with carseats in the back, cymbals, snare 3 bags, and a stroller, we bottomed out ONCE, and it wasn't nearly as violent as when I had the Tien bumpstops on.

Just put front and rear on 8 (halfway between full soft and full hard). Gonna drive to work tomorrow to see how it goes. Also considering lowering the front 1/4" to 1/2".

Love the suspension so far!