Balancing ActA Sojourner's Thoughts

A year ago today, I drove my 2012 Toyota Prius Four home. In a year, I've clocked exactly 15,000 miles, gassed up 36 times and spent a collective $1,241.22 in gas. That's a savings of $1,559.00 vs. the 2005 Acura RSX Type S. Of the 15,000 miles driven, 65% of it were spent on road [...]

If you have installed a set of JDM power folding side mirrors following my DIY guide on a 2012+ 3rd gen Prius, then you are fully aware that one of the trade off is losing your illuminated mirror switch. 2010-2011 owners do not have to worry since the mirror switch isn't illuminated to begin with. [...]

Here is a step-by-step DIY guide on how to install JDM power folding side mirrors onto your 2010+ 3rd gen USDM Toyota Prius or Plug-in Prius (PiP). As an added bonus, this guide includes instruction on how to wire up a set of 3-in-1 combo welcome winker LED lights. Since I've wired up JDM power [...]

There are times when you need to access the door frame. Replacing your OEM speaker is usually the primary reason, but you may also need to remove the glass, replace the actuators, remove your side rearview mirrors or install JDM power folding side mirrors. This guide will show you how to remove the door panel [...]

Update: DIY guide is now up, DIY: How to install JDM Prius power folding side mirrors I am making decent progress in sketching the wiring diagrams to help assist in the installation and wiring up a set of JDM Prius power folding side mirrors on your USDM 3rd gen Prius. More work needs to be done [...]

Update: DIY guide is now up, DIY: How to install JDM Prius power folding side mirrors I generally do not have time on a weekday to entertain Prius projects. Heck, I rarely have time on the weekend and it looks like I'll have this weekend booked ahead of me. Today, I received my JDM Prius power [...]

I last gassed up on April 1st, 2013 - making this my 3rd gas-up in 2013. So after nearly 2 months since I started the grille blocking strategy research, I think I have viable data to share. For one, I've gained an average of 4.5 mpg increase in my 4.7 mile commute. This is significant [...]

While I gassed up once in a span of five weeks so far for the year 2013, the MPG rating at the last fill-up was as an abysmal 40.5 MPG (according to Fuelly; still, can't complain about gassing up once every 5+ weeks)! The reason is my commute distance has shrank from 20 miles to [...]

No rocket science is involved when it comes to installing modern aftermarket high intensity discharge (HID) xenon kits since most contemporary kits are manufactured with updated technology, standardized and almost 100% plug-n-play. Most kits these days can be purchased for as low as $30 whereas you couldn't find a kit cheaper than  $250 seven years [...]

Today I got my PLUS performance lowering springs installed onto my Prius by Cabe Toyota of Long Beach. I have to say I am thoroughly satisfied with the service I received today. From dealing with the service manager to the cashier and the whole process of checking out a rental car - completely seamless. I [...]