The Little Monster (work in progress)

[little monster]

This is the little monster, a work in progress. I just bought it a little over a week ago. I will be adding more pictures in the future, but at the moment I am keeping all engine parts standard (I like the MPG and don't want to void warranties for the time being). So, for the most part it's all interior changes. Once I get a better picture for the interior I will post it. If anyone has any good ideas as far as rims or anything else goes, I like suggestions!

[NYChevoo]

very nice looking hatchback!! welcome to the forums!!

[Ravenne]

Nice!
Looks great in black. Lots of luck with her!

[Kinkyllama]

I like the MPG and don't want to void warranties for the time being. If anyone has any good ideas as far as rims or anything else goes, I like suggestions!

Read here about the warranty and mods:
http://www.semasan.com/main/main.aspx?id=61713

I'd like to add that dealers, like always, will still try to screw you. If you learn your facts and push back only a little then you shouldn't have any trouble. My cars got tons of work done to it, even has a local racing organization sticker on it along with racing numbers and my dealer replaced my slave cylinder of all things under warranty.

That being said, mods that free up hp (intake, exhaust, ect) will increase your mpg providing you don't change your driving habits...if you start driving harder you have the potential for worst mpg. My forenza (2.0 relative) gets a couple mpg better than factory when driven normally and is making ~30% power over stock.

For the best bang for the bucket lightweight performance wheels I suggest 16-17/7 rota slipstreams in black w/ polished lip. I just bought a rare color 16x7 slip stream for $525 shipped and have gotten as good of a deal as $455 shipped for a set of 17x7.5" slipsteams. I also suggest getting lowering springs before wheels. The bigger wheel you have the bigger the gap between he tire and car appears. I personally prefer seeing a car with factory steelies than a car with upsized wheels and factory ride height, just looks a bit goofy to me. If you want some good sites to buy rotas than 18racing.com and eBay is probably your best bet.

Thats some good information there, thanks for the tips! I was thinking of the possibility that I would need to upgrade the alternator... god knows I don't need the friggin' battery dying on me while driving just because I wanted a better "bump" in the trunk.

I wouldn't worry much about the alternator. My forenza alternator can't be much more powerful if at all than the aveos. I'm running approximately 1,000watts RMS @ 4ohms to two subs, 250RMS @ 4 ohms (fronts), then the rears are powered by the deck. I have an optima battery and upgraded grounds (usually). My cars been setup like this for 50k miles, mostly street, then had about 3/4ths of those watts for 20-25k before that. Granted at idle with the bass turned up the lights dim like all hell is breaking loose but my alternator is at half life right now and I haven't had any major issues. I give it a hell of a beating too... one song for example that I use often for tuning, showing off, or just for a massage has 1min 30 sec of constant bass running 80-100% throughout that time of the subs/amp limits with about another 2 mins of hard fast pounding bass....not sure what BPM the bass is at at this point but the song is about 150bpm. Even during the constant non-stop bass part it hits harder than any hip-hop song I've played. Anywho, after you get your stereo setup upgrade the grounds (actually do that now). It’s about $20 DIY and benefits allot more than the stereo. If you still have dimming then get an optima battery which will give you more benefits than an upgraded alternator as well.

*phew, hope I didn't ramble much and gave some good advice.