r/ft86 • u/OperatorDrex • 1d ago
Essential Mods
I wanted to know what you guys consider to be essential mods, imo I think I need to get some window tints and fog lights, but what else is an essential to making your car comfortable on roads?
Ex: Fog lights, tinted windows, wide angle mirrors, tires, seat covers, sound deadening
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u/ALitreOhCola 1d ago
Arm Rest for centre console from Amazon. It's maybe $20 and will improve your comfort significantly.
Fire extinguisher and medical kit. It could save your life or car (or someone else's).
The rest are up for debate.
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u/Panteadropper 1d ago
Asking for essential mods is tough, cause there isn't any. Theres people here that have 2013s bone stock no recall done and no problems, still driving. while others have 2016s that are brutal-fully modified, beyond some peoples tastes BUT thats cars.
you got a good list.
- my fogs have never helped me in foggy weather but look super cool.
- i live where it snows but wish i had tints for the summers.
- wide angle mirrors saved me several times.... dummies in the blind spots.
- In the last 3 years ive had Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4, continental extreme contact dws06, and now the Firehawk indy 500 v2. Conti's are awesome
- id skip seat covers unless you have a specific reason for them.
- sound deadening would be a great idea, if you have the time or money to throw at it but its not something id say is "essential"
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u/IdiotSerena 19h ago
I love my conti ecs02's had dws06's before and the proper summer's are an insane step up
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u/Icemann336 1d ago
Good tyres, a decent suspension setup, upgraded exhaust manifold and remap. Cosmetics are whatever, just keep it tasteful
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u/IrishWristwatch1221 1d ago
• If your floor mats are in very good condition then floor mat covers for sure.
• Red tint spray for tail lights (all red look)
• 20mm/25mm wheel spacers (stock width has wheels tucked way under fenders) **When I bought mine, it had 20mm spacers on front and rear. Rears tucked in way more, so I now have 20mm front and 30mm rear. They match perfectly now**
• Lowering springs (lowers car 1")
• Tinted license plate cover (very light shade, but overall improves the look a ton on the back)
• 12" frameless mirror (flat style. Clamps on to the existing mirror and fits perfectly even when flipping down the sun visor)
• Rigid sunshield shade (not a cheapo one... Vehicle specific type that is a foldable rigid construction. Ever since I got one for my truck, I'll never buy a flimsy one again). I bought an 'Autotech Park Foldable' on Amazon. It is decent for the price, however I paid a bit more for a 'Covercraft UVS' shade for my truck and it is extremely heavy duty. One of my best purchases.
• Transmission positive shift kit bushing **MANUAL** (KDT926) (spacer for the rear of the transmission to stabilize and lift it slightly. Gets rid of the wheel hopping when losing grip at high acceleration. From the factory, the transmission twists a lot)
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u/reidcool 1d ago
MTEC clutch spring & shifter springs, shifter bushings, weighted shift knob
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u/Distinct-Pie9705 1d ago
There’s a cheaper spring for 10$ I forgot what it’s called but it’s just as good quality and less then half the price
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u/WaferGlittering7739 1d ago
Remove the clutch spring entirely - free
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u/Distinct-Pie9705 1d ago
I tired for a couple days before I bought the mtec spring but it just feels kinda sloppy and I don’t like how there’s a couple cm at the top where the clutch sags down
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u/FaithIsToBeAwake 1d ago
Anyone know what this one is?
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u/Distinct-Pie9705 18h ago
I’m pretty sure it’s gktech but not 100% sure I’ll lyk case someone replied to me with the name a couple months ago
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u/Leather_Ad1437 1d ago
Agree, except weighted shift knob (unless it's something like the TRD knob, which is slightly heavier than OEM), you will do a lot of wear on the transmission, you will start hearing rattles, and feel the lever getting loosey.
Careful, veryyyyy careful, with installing shifter springs if you don't take the gearbox off the car (I did this when I changed clutch & flywheel), you can do it with the gearbox on the car, but it's tricky.. and you can strip the threads.
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u/Distinct-Pie9705 1d ago
If you can find a oft device on facebook for around 3-400 it makes the drive a lil more fun and it’s still super reliable as long as you use good quality gas. And if you want u can always upgrade to headers in the future and won’t have to blow 600$ on a new one like I did
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u/znthefivesixtwo 22h ago
There’s nothing “essential”, but it depends what you’re after in the long run.
The only essential mod is gonna be some decent tires, other than that everything falls under form and handling if that’s what you’re after.
Personally I haven’t done anything to intentionally make the car handle or perform better, I’m more after a certain look until I get the chance to track the car… If anything what Ive done makes the car handle worse then stock.
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u/Dinglestickwiggle 16h ago
One of those little faux-leather magnetic sunglasses holders. These cars are short on cubbies and storage, every little bit helps.
For reliability, retrofitting an oil cooler from the 2nd gen is almost a must-have. It's not going to stand up to track-duty, but for a daily driver it'll get your oil up to it's operating temperature twice as fast as without, and it'll help with heat soak if you're given'er.
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u/MrMinerNiner 1d ago
I mainly got interior things to make the ride more enjoyable. Oem sliding arm rest, steering wheel I like more than stock, oem padded knee pads, new shift knob, replaced ripped shift and ebrake boots with suede, and some more. Then I plan to do the oem frameless rearview mirror, maybe swap in heated seats, plus the things you mentioned. Almost all the exterior stuff I've done has been purely cosmetic or made the ride worse. I think the only thing that made it more comfortable was going down to 16 inch wheels
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u/ogonga 1d ago
Came here to say fog lights, but you mentioned it. I like bass, so subwoofer for me. Personally, I wear fingerless gloves because the shift knob gets nasty when I drive with bare hands.
Maybe new floor mats eventually. My cloth ones got worn through, so now I have all weather rubber mats.
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u/Vast-Web9482 1d ago
Crop and rotate.