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Facelift on a budget & a creative solution...

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Old Apr 26, 2020 | 11:56 AM
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Default Facelift on a budget & a creative solution...

So, I love the look of the spindle. The pre-2014 have the crease in the front bumper replicating this look, but not the trim.

Well, my mom's car is a magnet for dummies that tend to run into her bumper covers... Her car is a 2012, mid-level trim. Non-Fsport, non-tech package.

My vision was painting the front grille and to order an F-Sport for the rear. Well, the dealer mixed up numbers and went by the VIN and sent me both original, base bumpers.

So I said screw it. Told the painter to try and spray the spindle in the front and forget the rear as the base bumper is "bubbly". But he surprised me, as he's good in his craft and managed to find a way to make the rear work. It was sprayed with a leftover Audi black paint and cleared.

​​​​​​Other "mods": OEM style LED fog lights, Vent visors with applied chrome trim, Led Lowbeams, Led bulbs throughout & 35% tint. (Don't mind the Matrix winter wheels - swapping over this week to summers.)

Check out the results!



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Old Apr 27, 2020 | 06:41 AM
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Well done.
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Old Apr 28, 2020 | 09:29 AM
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Looks good. what kind of mpg does she get with those wheels? converted to mpg. lol.
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Old Apr 29, 2020 | 06:57 PM
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Originally Posted by E46CT
Looks good. what kind of mpg does she get with those wheels? converted to mpg. lol.
Honestly we never care or measure MPG. All I know is that she does her driving around and it only costs 15$/wk to fill up haha

It does a lot less than my dad's RX & my Camry (V6)

I did also oversize the summer tires, went to a 225-45-17 for more road comfort.
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Old Apr 30, 2020 | 07:44 AM
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I'm not going to lie, first time seeing this and I actually give props to the effort and the end result.

Job well done, looks clean.
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Old Apr 30, 2020 | 08:09 AM
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Originally Posted by 01LEXPL
Honestly we never care or measure MPG. All I know is that she does her driving around and it only costs 15$/wk to fill up haha

It does a lot less than my dad's RX & my Camry (V6)

I did also oversize the summer tires, went to a 225-45-17 for more road comfort.
I was always curious how much 16s or 15s (prius wheels) would improve our MPGs back to 3rd gen prius levels.. our aero isn't the same so highway would suffer compared, but our 17" wheels and tires are much heavier than the feather weight Prius stockers. it takes a lot of energy to spin up (and keep spinning) the big 17s but obviously the upside is they look so much better.
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Old Apr 30, 2020 | 07:15 PM
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Originally Posted by E46CT
I was always curious how much 16s or 15s (prius wheels) would improve our MPGs back to 3rd gen prius levels.. our aero isn't the same so highway would suffer compared, but our 17" wheels and tires are much heavier than the feather weight Prius stockers. it takes a lot of energy to spin up (and keep spinning) the big 17s but obviously the upside is they look so much better.
Ah! That's a good point... I never thought about the 15" wheels as I assumed they'd be too small considering the super-base CT came with 16", and I had a set of these kicking around the shop so I used them instead.

I don't mind the look of the Steelie/hubcap on the 15" wheel and it's only on for 4-5mos so it's not too bad of a look and the tires would be 300$ for all four LOL

Maybe when it's time to swap my Pirellis for new rubber I'll try the 15" variant. I just despise steelies... They rust too damn fast at least alloys always look better, even of smaller...
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