MyNeonSaysHi Mod Log: Stone White

[occasional demons]

I do support them, as long as they have a product I want. Why should we buy something that doesn't thrill us?

[racer12306]

I do support them, as long as they have a product I want. Why should we buy something that doesn't thrill us?

Agreed completely. I've never owned a foreign auto. This upcoming car purchase is our first one where we've explored these brands. We've had a minivan for the past 11 years #becausekids and I'd argue anyone to death that Chrysler had the best minivan in the world. Shoot, I've had (+wife) 7 Chrysler products since I was 19. I had to venture out when I was in the market for a small car and ended up with a Focus.

But now Chrysler has shot themselves in the foot with their offerings, Boat, 2dr boat, high end boat, minivan, big SUV, truck. They don't even have a Dodge branded minivan!

#1 market segment (by a TON) is a crossover. Where are you Chrysler?
#3 market segment is small car. Where are you Chrysler?

https://www.statista.com/statistics/276 ... ne%202022.

[racer12306]

I had a thought this morning on the drive into work, I forgot about Jeep.

If you go to the Jeep brand you will find a crossover segment car.

#ownyourmistakes

[Midnight_Rider]

If you go to the Jeep brand you will find a crossover segment car.

Hurry if you want something built at Belvedere- Stellantis is closing the plant next month.

[occasional demons]

Just have the Cherokee, Compass, or (Fiat) Renegade for crossover CUV options.

Looks like they got rid of the Patriot, which outsold the Compass. I rarely see any of the Compass's, lot of Patriots, so that makes perfect marketing sense.

Possibly it's a redesigned platform than the Patriot/Caliber/Compass platform, but why not keep the Patriot name, since that was what was selling?

The Compass just looks like about a foot shorter version of the Cherokee, with a slightly different front fascia.

The base Cherokee starts at more than my Forester Limited cost. Just to get a compact spare is an additional $700. Standard equipment on the Forester. $2400 for a sound system that has less watts than my Forester and a sunroof. The sunroof was standard equipment on my Forester. The option package on the Forester included a heated steering wheel, reverse automatic braking, a 545 watt HK system, and possibly something else for ~$1600. Fuel mileage estimates are also a few MPG less on the base Cherokee and even worse on the higher trims. I like my 33 to 35 highway MPG thank you.

Not sorry for going with the Subaru.

They do not have a 2023 Cherokee on the website either. Only 2022.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

It showed up on Thursday. Bought it on Friday! Paid in full! Love it so far, but need to break it in and learn about it. Never thought I would ever buy a Hyundai, but the performance, and the warranty cannot be beat! Powertrain warranty is 10yr/100k miles. Dealership I bought it from doubles it free of charge. So 20yr/200k powertrain warranty! 5yr/60k bumper to bumper warranty, 7yr anti perforation unlimited miles, 5yr unlimited miles roadside assistance. Free oil changes and tire rotations for 3 years. Car has a ton of tech features. Super stoked on this ride! Will definitely be hitting up road courses with this thing this year no doubt! Some quick pictures

[racer12306]

That is a sharp car. Looks really good in white.

I'd have to say that would be in the running if I was looking for a car.

Not sorry for going with the Subaru.

As consumers we have to make the best decision for our needs. Look out for yourself because the companies won't.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

Thanks, definitely has a unique look to it. Always liked white cars. Either white or the cyber gray.

Car has summer performance tires on it. Michelin PS4' s. Going to order some 18's with performance all seasonals. Just need to figure what wheels and tires to get for it. Really wish It came with all seasonals and 18's instead of 19's. Need to look into getting the windows tinted and PPF on the front.

[Neon4Life]

Holy cow. That thing is super nice man. Nice buy. Full 6spd manual even better. Nowadays it's just autos with the manual feature which we all now isn't the same thing. Lol.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

thanks! it is kind of weird because the car has all these tech features but with a manual transmission which has been around for so long.

Yup, gotta have 3 pedals!

[occasional demons]

It just goes to prove if you listen to what people want, and deliver on it, you can make sales in a segment that certain car manufacturers, er assemblers have written off.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

true true. I guess its direct competitor is the WRX. And you can get a WRX with a manual or a crap CVT. The DCT in the EN is pretty damn good from what I have read. There was a recall on it though with some of the 22's. Car would literally start to hesitate and then die. Not sure if there is a fix for that yet. No issues with the 2023's though. I personally wanted a manual. Only like 25-30% of them are manual from what I have read.

What I don't like is that it doesn't come with all seasonals. Has Michelin Pilot Sport 4s. Which is a high performance summer tire. Tire compound gets very hard under 40 degrees. Reminds me of the SRT-4 when it came with the KDW's and people were wrecking them left and right in the cold states. That being said I need to find a nice set of all seasonal tires and wheels so I can enjoy the car when it gets cold out. Will run me aorund $2k probably! Been cold out here in Kansas with some snow. Which means salt everywhere. Car is just chillin in the garage.

[Midnight_Rider]

I've got Pilot Sports on my SRT but I don't drive it in the wintertime so I guess that this is a moot point.

[occasional demons]

I like that it uses a variety of colored caps for the different fluids under the hood. At least everything isn't yellow, like most manufactures have gone to.

I mean at least make them glow in the dark if they're all going to be yellow.

It looks like they totally got rid of a cap on the radiator. Not sure if I am on board with that 100%, as there is no way to actually inspect at least a little bit of the interior of the core. But then probably 99% of car owners don't ever look anymore.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

I like that it uses a variety of colored caps for the different fluids under the hood. At least everything isn't yellow, like most manufactures have gone to.

I mean at least make them glow in the dark if they're all going to be yellow.

It looks like they totally got rid of a cap on the radiator. Not sure if I am on board with that 100%, as there is no way to actually inspect at least a little bit of the interior of the core. But then probably 99% of car owners don't ever look anymore.

i haven't really looked in the engine bay yet really. interesting they did use different colors. check out "just rolled in" on youtube. lots of clips of customers putting windshield wiper fluid in the overflow tank and complaining about their car overheating! Maybe that is why they use different colored caps now haha. But yeah not sure about the radiator cap,need to look into that myself.

I've got Pilot Sports on my SRT but I don't drive it in the wintertime so I guess that this is a moot point.

Which Pilot Sports?.

Also i think its funny that the vanity cover makes it look like it has a V8 with those lines. What were they thinking? LOL

[Midnight_Rider]

I've got Pilot Sports on my SRT but I don't drive it in the wintertime so I guess that this is a moot point.

Which Pilot Sports?

Pilot Sport All Season 4 205/50 ZR17 93Y. I'm not sure if this will tell you which ones I have or not. There is a UPC of 0 86699 29603 0.

[racer12306]

It looks like they totally got rid of a cap on the radiator. Not sure if I am on board with that 100%, as there is no way to actually inspect at least a little bit of the interior of the core. But then probably 99% of car owners don't ever look anymore.

That's been pretty common for many years on many brands. Our Pacifica only has a cap on the expansion tank.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

Yeah those are all seasonals gramps.

Frank, yup can't find a radiator cap anywhere.

So I just ordered a set of wheels and all seasonal tires! Going with 18's. Took me a week to find a wheel I liked. Had it narrowed down to 2, went with the more reputable wheel brand. Enkei. . 18x8 et45. 245/40/18 tire. So around 10mm more poke than stock. Stock is around 31lbs each (19x8 et55), these wheels are 19lb each! Will post pictures and more details once I get them installed.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

Enkei TS-V Wheels came in 2 days. UPS and Tire Rack FTW. Car has been so much fun, lots to learn with it. Discovered lane assist the other day while on the interstate. Basically keeps you in the middle of the road and you can have your hands off the wheel. Window tint is next on the list. Some pictures i took after a quick wash.Car reminds me of a cross between my Acura TL Type S and the Neon SRT-4. Almost halfway there until the break in period is over which is at 600 miles.

[occasional demons]

Looking good!

I can't say I care much for lane centering.

I keep all the steering assist features turned off on the Forester.

The adaptive cruise control on the other hand is pretty sweet.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

Looking good!

I can't say I care much for lane centering.

I keep all the steering assist features turned off on the Forester.

The adaptive cruise control on the other hand is pretty sweet.

gotcha i think this one has adaptive cruise control but not sure. it might not. i need to turn off some collision thing. guy was turning insanely slow in front of me and i just went around, the car applied the brake and beeped at me haha

[occasional demons]

i need to turn off some collision thing. guy was turning insanely slow in front of me and i just went around, the car applied the brake and beeped at me haha

Yeah, there are times when the Subaru doesn't react well to people turning off the road. It perceives them as a stopped vehicle. I just push the gas pedal a little, and it overrides the auto braking.

Good ol' technology...

But at least it's there, in case some kid darts out from parked cars.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

that is true.
made a mistake.


I guess i didn't have my cap on tightly on my 64oz water jug and it emptied out in my trunk on my way to work. So I ran inside and grabbed a roll of paper towels and went to town. The next day I took my rear seats out and dried up all that I could. Believe I got it all. Still sucks it happened. Let the seats air dry for a day, lower part of the cushion was saturated and so was the cover for the spare. Letting that cover air out still. Its been so dry out due to the cold weather so its drying pretty well. Just glad it wasn't anything else. Luckily that is pretty much all I drink at work, water.

[occasional demons]

I like the factory "strut tower brace". Sort of takes that money maker away from the aftermarket.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

yeah its cool. when they advertised it when it first came out they made it out sound like it helped out a ton, doesn't look too special to me. I know people are annoyed that when you fold the rear seats down that bar gets in the way if you are trying to load a big item. Another gripe, not much for me really, but you can only fold down the entire rear seat. Not passengers or driver side separately.

Got the windows tinted 20% the other day.

Kind of embarassing but I believe this happened the first day I put the wheels on. I was backing in at work near a parking island and I believe I hit the curb. Didn't realize this until a couple days later. Got to get used to the mirrors and such with a new car. NowI need to find touch up paint for it. I couldn't find Enkeis info. Only some German site, still waiting to hear back on that. I reached out to them on different social media accounts with no luck. Any idea what color to go with? Its called storm gray. I was thinking about contacting duplicolor since they do all sorts of touch up paint pens. Its only about a 1/4''. not that noticeable, but I know its there. Just want to touch it up so its even more less noticeable.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

was trying to figure out what oil catch can to get. heard good things about the addw1. https://www.addw1.com/products/hyundai- ... 0190961862 Been contemplating forking over $150+ for a oil catch can for a while now. But its needed on a direct injection car. So I ordered one the other day since they had an additional 5% off coupon. It has the bracket for my car and the proper length vacuum hoses. I could of got a $20-$30 off of amazon/ebay but they are known to leak and cause problems. Might as well fork over a bit more money for a quality unit.

For my birthday my wife ordered me a purple powerflex lower torque arm bushing. https://www.powerflexusa.com/shop/produ ... #attr=1250 supposedly helps a ton with wheel hop over the soft factory unit. seen lots of videos with praise with the purple performance. not like i plan on launching the car much, but its good to know i will get less to no wheel hop since its pretty violent in these cars. a must for the 6 speed cars i am hearing.

That will sum up the "mods" pretty much for now.

[occasional demons]

Sucks about the wheel...

One disadvantage of having tires that offer zero protection. But that's the cost of the added handling/steering response edge.

I was reading on some of the Subaru DI apps, there are actually cooled catch cans to further reduce oil getting into the intake.

A little more complex than my setup I used in my 2001. It was just an ATX heat exchanger from a lower radiator tank I had mounted in the cowl. But I did get a lot more than oil I also got a lot of water in the catch can that had condensed from being cooled a bit. I had to bypass it in the winter though, because there was enough moisture to freeze and block the flow.

But if it gets you further between the intake valve walnut blasting intervals, it's worth it.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

-cooled catch cans..now thats really interesting. never heard of that. mine seems to be doing its job and accumulating a little bit of oil.
Kind of forgot about that little ding in my new wheel. it bothered me at first knowing it was there, but i forget about it. I know not to try parking as close to a curb now. my wheel guy who refurbished my tl type s wheels said he has a guy that can fix it for under $50 or so. Not going to mess with it until I put my OEM wheels/tires back on which will probably be in the next couple months.
Not much going on with the Elantra as of late. Went to a fundraiser car show a couple weeks back in a ritzy area. Great mix of cars showed up. Even a Jaguar XJ220! Cool to see that in person. Will have to show you guys some of the cars that were there. Here is a picture of mine. Only ElantraN there. There was a new baby blue Civic Type R there too, never seen on in person yet. Huge fan.

I did add a decal insert to the "N" on the side skirt. Guy in Australia makes them. Went with white and carbon fiber.
kind of see it in this picture.

I also changed the oil out at 1k miles since its the original break in oil. Only 0w-30 they had at walmart was mobil 1. So went with that. Also bought a bunch of oem Hyundai filters. Car is very easy to change the oil on, just like the Neon. Luckily the filter is NOT a canister style. Little 2.0 takes 5.5 qts of oil with a filter.
Still need to install the purple powerflex torque arm bushings. Need a set of ramps for that since the jackstand points are horrible and few on this car. With the oil change I just jacked up one corner and had the jackstand under a support area incase my 6klb jack failed. Being able to lift the car and lower on ramps would be a better option.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

swapped out the oem soft black bushings on the oem torque arm for some powerflex purple bushings. shifting is even better now. it was great before but amazing now. supposedly gets rid of the nasty wheel hop these cars have, but i havent launched this car yet with the new bushings.

very easy install. just with limited space underneath to get the torque wrench on the bolts i removed. have low profile wheel ramps that i got which are nice.

added a 90 degree brass fitting to the intake manifold from the catch can. I mainly did this because when you put the engine cover back on it pushes the hose down. it didn't really kink it but it bent it ever so slightly since the nipple to the intake manifold goes straight up.


just hit 2000miles. no major issues so far. really wish the car was premium fuel only. it has to "octane learn" after every fuel fill. Feel like it is hard to octane learn. Supposed to bring boost to 18-20psi. I have only ran 15-16psi. You can see torque and I have only seen 250max and i only run 93. The guys that octane learn see 280-300.
Tried both ways, never works.

On another note, really impressed with the gas mileage! We took a trip to St. Joseph,Mo and I got 37.X MPG on the way up there and 35.Xmpg on the way back. According to the manual once I get around 4k miles is when gas mileage will peak. There are guys getting over 40mpg on long interstate trips.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

picked up another car 3 weeks ago. first ford. couldn't pass up the deal. neighbor was selling it. he is 77 and has knee and health issues. they just sold their house. 08 mustang GT California Special. 5 speed manual. 90k miles.



Already had to put a new battery and alternator in it. also changed the oil. car has aftermarket taillights, headlights. k&n intake and bassani exhaust. sounds super good. car is very fun to drive. had the side plastic rousch window louvers but i took them off.

Lots of AC items were replaced last year, $1900 parts and labor. Also tires only have like 2k miles on them.

waiting on the title in the mail.