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Hi guys and gals,

I just wanted to drop in and say hello, and show off what I have done thus far. Some of it, you may all not agree with, but that's okay, and by no means do you have to go out and do it yourself.

First, a little precursor. I purchased my '13 Spark LS manual in Salsa red from a local Ford dealer for as near as makes no difference to $8800 with 23k miles on the clock. I had been unceremoniously thrown into the car buying game again by a careless driver in an Exlporer, who crossed the center line and totaled my '03 Beetle.

I am a tinkerer of sorts, the Beetle and vehicles before it were never left alone, so neither was the Spark. I will try, to the best of my ability, to remember all the little things I have done so far, because I think they improve upon the car from a "fun" perspective, and I want to share my experiences with all of you so that you may choose to try some of them.

Basic stuff, like plastidipping wheels and blacking out the chrome on the front grilles, is straightforward enough, there are only a million how-tos on that all across the internet. But that is done, first graphite then white on the wheels, as well as badges.

I unbolted and removed the rearmost muffler from the car, I find this creates a pleasing, yet quiet exhaust tone, comparable to that of a stock motorcycle. Considering these engines are only a few 100ccs away from liter bikes, this isn't too far fetched. If you don't like it, simply bolt it back up. I plan to cut the stock muffler off and reuse the piping, just to "delete" the muffler and continue the exhaust to where it initially ended.

More serious things (read irreversible) entail lopping 2" give or take off the shifter to shorten the throw and add a nice aluminum knob. (Use a hair tie or ziptie to hold your boot up) Also, (gasp) I gave the springs a trim. 1 coil each from all 4 offers what I'm assuming is about a 3/4" to 1" drop. Maybe just a tad lower in the rear. My car is well out of it's bumper to bumper warranty, and I've had generally positive experiences with lightly trimming springs, both stock and lowered. I know this is by no means the proper way to lower a car, so spare yourself the time of telling me I'm a hack. Worth knowing, however, is aside from needing an alignment, the car still rides remarkably well (firmer, although I thought the car was already firm) with very minimal trouble or discomfort over large bumps. Handling, is also improved, as the spring rate is slightly higher, the car tends to take longer to initiate body roll. By no means do I recommend doing this, but if you are curious, the results are here.

Modifications that actually costed money included the Metra dash kit (an EXCELLENT piece/kit, fit and finish is phenomenal) to install a Pioneer DDIN radio paired to some various wal-mart speakers. Better speakers and a subwoofer to come. As many have said, the rear speakers are a nonstandard size and require some creativity to install. I used large washers on the holes that did line up to hold them down...or up, rather. No issues as of yet. My favorite mod that cost money was the DC Sports CAI. This is a beautiful and easy to install piece which really in my honest opinion is worth the money. The ugly mess of stock intake is removed for a single, clean looking pipe routed down to the inner fender where a lifetime K&N style DRY filter resides. Better yet is the wonderful intake noise...oh the noise. Quiet, at low RPMS, very unintrusive. But step on the skinny pedal and the 1.2 gasps for air and the resulting howl is reminiscent again of a motorcycle. Throttle response and pull all over the rev range seem to be better too. But, fair warning, I do have a CEL for being too lean, which is wishy washy and goes in and out. I feel like a new MAF or the JET MAF would alleviate this situation. I am not overly concerned as of this writing as it has not shown any signs of detonation or otherwise poor running. I think my last and most recent little mod was an EZlip from eBay. I think it looks nice. Just peel and stick...

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts, and please feel free to share yours. I just thought I finally had something worth posting. Thanks!

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Welcome.

I like it. I was thinking of adding the ez lip. I thought it would look bad but seeing yours I might give it a try. Please post a link to the exact product.

Sure! Here you go. I'm now thinking I may go with the EZLip "Pro" which is a little bit longer. Well, it goes further down and is more substantial, you get the idea.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Original-EZ-LIP-UNIVERSAL-BUMPER-BODY-KIT-CHIN-PROTECTOR-AIR-SPOILER-EZLIP-/401101613324?hash=item5d6384e90c:g:qS4AAOSwnipWUTzc&vxp=mtr

They are incredibly easy to install.

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It is in fact a sunroof. I'm guessing the PO had it installed as I noticed they weren't an option from the factory, and I have a door sticker from the installer as well as a manual for the sunroof itself.

Also, thanks for the kind words, guys! I haven't made a post on a forum (had to look up my photobucket account, haha) in forever. I've lurked this forum for a while for ideas and inspiration, as well as reviews, and I finally felt like I had enough substance to make a decent post and introduction.

Edited by stw9495
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