Thought I'd start this to 'showoff' new stuff I'm getting for my car. I'll be reviewing the products as I get them/install them/use them...

Products are:
- Hymee stainless catback
- RP short shifter
- Hymee grille kit
- Simmons FR19 wheels (19 x 8.5J)
- Kumho ECSTA KU19 tyres (245/35/R19)
- AuxMod Basic

Any questions or suggestions are welcome!

Will

 

The Hymee catback, grille kit and short shifter arrived today. Well-packed and labelled, good instructions etc. Well done on that front, Hymee!

I couldn't wait - went straight to the nearest Midas to my office and got the exhaust installed. They took 2 hours and charged $187 ($85/hour + GST).

The installation looks great - the pipes really look the part. Workmanship is excellent to my untrained eye.

I drove home across town without the stereo on and the window down to listen - first reaction was that it really suits the character of the car. My impression is of slightly smoother running too - the exhaust feels more open and throttle response is crisper - but the exhaust note may be a big part of that. The occasional 'popping' is there but probably similar to before - it's just more noticeable with the sportier exhaust sound (plus I wasn't listening before!). Driving in traffic wasn't the best test, of course, but it'll be a few days before I do anything else.

Anyway tomorrow's 'Ride to Work' day so the car stays at home.

 

Well done on the Hymee Will

What is the AuxMod Basic thing? Explain further. Is that the one that has to modify the CD changer?

 

Yep, it's the little gizmo that plugs into the back of the head unit (once I get the time to pull it all out) - means I can run an input cable to play my iPod through the 'Aux' port of the stereo. I was going to go the icelink route but I have the older head unit so that wouldn't have worked

 

Sounds like quite a program you've got going there Will - did a favourite aunt just leave you an inheritance or something?? :D

I've also just got the Hymee stainless catback - it sounds great and I agree that the throttle response feels sharper. Placebo or not it makes driving the car more fun and isn't that what it's all about anyway?

As to the wheels - thanks for the measurements. Do you know what they will weigh and if it's not a rude question what the cost will be? I'm still tossing up replacement wheel options (though with a little less ardour than previously :o ) and keen to gather some more info.

Dave

 

It's going to take me a while to persuade my wife that I need the Hymee Exhaust. Especially a I've just bought a 2nd hand MX-5.....couldn't resist getting back into a convertible, even more so with Summer heading our way.

 

Ah draco --- a man can't have enough toys...

 

I know, thankfully my wife knows what it's like when it comes to technology gadgets (she once bought a car because it had lots of little gadgets). The trouble is she isn't much of a rev-head gadget freak.

I know I can convince her the Hymee exhaust is worth it, she does enjoy the current exhaust note, so knowing that it will be better I'm sure I can convince her, it's just finding the time.

Especially as I probably want to do some suspension and brake upgrades to the MX-5.

 

Draco, yours are problems I'd be happy to have. Care to trade? :D

 

I don't see it as a major problem, it's just hard to justify purchasing a Hymee Exhaust at the moment. The only reason I could justify the MX-5 is she's getting a new kitchen and my parents are coming out at Christmas and she suggested they could use the MX-5 instead of hiring a car.

 

Was just kidding.

Whoops, better get back to Will's mods. :o

 

You guys crack me up! Shooting the breeze all over my thread LOL

Aaaanyway sifting through the questions in that little lot...

No, it wasn't an aunt... performance bonus, so legit reward for some hard work! Thought I'd spend some before the tax man sees it.

Yes, fun is definitely what it's all about. I worry about fuel consumption though - I keep the car in 2nd or 3rd much more now, because it sounds so good! Mind you, window down (to hear the exhaust!) and a/c off should compensate for that a bit.

The wheels - don't know how much they will weigh but they should be comparable to stock. Tell you what - I'll weigh them once I get them! Wheels AND tyres, so we'll get a real comparison for rolling resistance or whatever you call it. Not too important to me though, as I'm not a track star.

As to cost, the wheels are $900 each and tyres $400 so $5200 all up. Not much when you say it quickly! I had all sorts of noble intentions at first, like changing the wheel size to find a tyre size that's more available than the stock ones, etc etc but in the end it was all about bling. Ah well, if you've got it, flaunt it I suppose. Last time I bought new wheels and tyres was for the Suzuki Cappuccino about 5 years ago - cost me $1300 in total!

Actually I blame you lot, for all the encouragement. If anyone wants to buy my Cappuccino to help me pay for it all, it's a cheaper and much more fun open top option than the MX5... IMHO. Oh and it already has a turbo! BTW if anyone's interested the Cappuccino nerds live here

 

Hymee gave me three 'enhanced' stickers 'cos I bought three things from him. The first two are in the time-honoured place, on the sides of the rear window - but where should the third go?

 

Well done Will on the wheel purchases and bonus.
Are you interested in selling the old wheels? Hint Hint , to a fellow forum member, more hint hint
xatnep, hint hint

 

LOL gotcha G
If I decide to sell the stock ones, you'll be the first to know

 

Thanks for the info Will. Look forward to seeing some snaps when you get the work done.

BTW - there's also another guy on the dot au forum who's keen to buy some OEM wheels. Think he's in Melbourne too. Maybe you should set up an auction. :D

As for the stickers - why don't you put the third one on your forehead, eat a big load of Mexican, insert an empty date roll tube where comfortable and let rip! :p :D :D

Just kidding - I think 2 is enough. More than that gets you into 'rice alert' territory, although Hymee might disagree. :D

 

Hmmm... Some people probably think I'm way into rice terrritory already! No after market body parts yet though (apart from my false teeth I suppose). D

 

Latest installation - the Richard Paul short shifter. I did this late last night - only took about 30 minutes, including the initial wrestling with the centre console top piece (which came away successfully without any broken lugs ).

Gomez, your DIY is great - helped me no end. I was interested, though, to discover a couple of things:
- only one of the bolts (the front right side) holding the gearshift gaiter down had a cable holder on it. No sign of the cable I can see in your pic just behind the gearshift - do you know what it is?
- the upper and lower rubber gaiters were pretty solidly stuck together and a bit deformed - clearly a result of heat generation in that area and obviously missed by the dealer when checking the heat damage issue... No real problems, but I guess after years the rubber could deteriorate further. I'll check it again before the end of the warranty!

Putting the short shifter in was a doddle. Driving it the next day was a revelation! As somebody said, this should have been stock. Now I'll burn even more fuel, slicking up and down through the gears and listening to the Hymee pipes sing....

Thanks Hymee and RP for a couple of great products.

 

Thanks, Will!

The "time honoured place" - that makes it all worth while when people post stuff like that.

Now you need to get on over to the AU forum and post it as well. They are starting to buy other pipes over there

Cheers,
Hymee.

 

Now I've done the AuxMod too (the little thing that plugs into the auxiliary socket on the underside of the stock head unit, into which you can then plug an iPod via a supplied audio cable - see the link in an earlier post on this thread).

Getting to the back of the radio was a bit tough, but the various websites that describe how to do it were a great help. Once I had removed all the screws/bolt, to pull it away from the dash I had to pull hard - felt as though I was going to crack the piano black! Anyway it came free and I was able to pull the radio out far enough to plug the Auxmod in without actually fully disconnecting the radio from the car (I had of course disconnected the battery before doing any of this).

This is not in accord with the installation instructions so I knew I was taking a risk, but everything worked fine when I put it all back together. Still, I wouldn't recommend it. More patience and less haste next time I think.

Strange thing - driving the car the next day, I found I had lost the 'auto' electric window function - the driver's window switch needed constant pressure or it wouldn't move. Next time I started the car it was all fine again. Weird! Could have been unrelated, of course, but a bit of a coincidence.

The iPod now sounds great, playing through the head unit directly instead of via the iTrip I was using before. I now have my entire music collection at my fingertips while driving. I only got the Auxmod Basic - the Advanced is coming and would enable me to use the steering wheel buttons to navigate iPod tracks just like CD tracks. So maybe I'll be going through it all again soon...

 

Still waiting for the wheels...

 

Hmm, must get me one of these ipod thingies.

So, I assume you plug the ipod into a cradle arrangement and then take it with you when you leave the car, a bit like a handsfree kit for a mobile right?

Can you post some piccies of the installation so I can get a better idea of what you've done?

 

Here's a pic of my install for you, young fella

 

Thanks old fella! :D

So when you're looking for another track do you need to be looking down into the console bin while you're driving or does the length of the cord allow you to lift it out and look at it easier (I obviously haven't driven an ipod before so I'm not sure how they work)?

I would have thought that a cradle mount up on the centre dash console (a la hands free kits for mobiles) would be more ergonomic.

Making use of the audio buttons on the wheel would also be cool.