Dechrome

"Jayhawk Jake" (jayhawkjake) 09/10/2013 at 21:24 • Filed to: None

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Took some advice from you bros and plastidipped the chrome on the grill. I like it like this. I left the chrome on the foglight surround, I may try dipping that some other time but I like having some chrome accents.

Switched back to the stock chrome lugnuts on the wheels and covered the center caps with some vinyl. They are too black I think, when I get some more time while it's light out I think I'll try to trim the vinyl to reveal the silver of the bowtie.

Eventually I plan on getting the wheels powdercoated black, but I'd like to not spend any money right now, trying to save up for a house and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Perfect fit for the sonic with a 55 inch long fuselage. I know it'll fit, even if I have to stick the rudder between the front seats.

GhostZ > Jayhawk Jake 09/10/2013 at 21:27

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..Damn! That looks good.

I'm still not a fan of the yellow fog lights (?) on the bottom of the fascia.

I'd beat the plastic out of its spot and hook up some big hoses toward the brakes as a primitive form of brake cooling duct because racecar.

Lets Just Drive > Jayhawk Jake 09/10/2013 at 21:27

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Be careful.

Plastidipping is fun. And once you know what you're doing, it's easy to get carried away.

My Mustang may or may not have gone through about half a dozen various hood stripes. Probably not. *wink*

Dipping your wheels actually isn't a bad idea. Whatever anyone says about dip, it's a fair protector and with winter coming up, keeps the wheels clean under the dip.

Looks great, by the way. I'm in favor of blacking out all the accents, but everyone has their own taste :)

All Motor Is Best Motor > Jayhawk Jake 09/10/2013 at 21:29

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That's a really mean lookin' Sonic you got there. Nice work. I like the Bowtie as is. The yellow lights are also pretty sweet.

N51fanatic > Jayhawk Jake 09/10/2013 at 21:31

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needs more low

TheBaron2112 > Jayhawk Jake 09/10/2013 at 21:33

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How do you like your Sonic? I'm thinking of getting a new car and am thinking the Sonic is looking pretty good.

Is it spacious enough? Well equipped? MPG? Noisy on the highways? Enough power to deal with the interstates? Comfortable enough for 2-3 hour journeys? Handling? Rear legroom?

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Jayhawk Jake 09/10/2013 at 21:40

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I want to try plasti-dip soooo badly but I don't actually have any trim to dip (plus the car would look like a bumblebee).

First world problems, I know...

But perhaps my wheels would look good in a charcoal grey with the metalizer finish?

Jayhawk Jake > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 09/10/2013 at 21:46

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Maybe. I did the wheels and peeled it off, I didn't like the finish of the dip on such a large area. I also may not have done a very good job.

Plastidip to me will never be a long term solution. Even the grill, looks good, will hold up for a while hopefully, but eventually I'd rather have vinyl or paint. Plastidip is great for trying out a color on a part, but beyond that it's not great.

Toby F., Manager > Jayhawk Jake 09/10/2013 at 21:52

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Hi, awesome looking car! If you don't mind, what type of yellow vinyl did you use/brand/from where? Also, how's the vinyl holding up to the weather and heat from the lights? Any bubbling or shrinking? I've been interested in them lately. Thanks! :)

Jayhawk Jake > TheBaron2112 09/10/2013 at 22:00

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I love my Sonic

Spacious? Absolutely. It feels WAY bigger inside than it looks on the outside. Seriously, I still occasionally look back at the car after parking and go 'damn, it's small'. It's got plenty of room to carry stuff with the seats down. With the seats up, the trunk isn't huge but it's practical. There's a floor piece you can take out to get more depth, and the privacy cover that bridges the seats and hatch can be popped off easily and either stashed under the floor piece or slid up against the seats (Chevy did a great job on this)

Well equipped? You bet your ass it is. I have the RS, pretty much as spec'd out as can be. There just aren't many options, the only one I don't have is the sunroof, but the only one I do have is the paint. Go figure. Large touchscreen with mylink (which I really, really like), heated seats, power windows with auto down and up on the driver door. Sure, it's lacking a bit, auto climate control would be nice, autodimming mirror would be nice, wireless key would be nice, but for right at $20k, it's a bargain. Oh, and the RS package gets some nice RS bits, microfiber inserts on special seats, flat bottom steering wheel (same as a ZL1 Camaro!)

MPG is decent. I drive mostly 'city', average about 30-35 mph, and I get anywhere between 27 and 30 mpg. On long highway drives I can get about 32 doing 75, when I go crazy it drops to like 26ish. I haven't had enough time to really drive 'routinely' and get a good feel for it, but it's better than my Kia was, that's for sure. I've been trying premium fuel the last two tanks and that seems to help, I'm looking at 28 or so for basically a 50% highway tank.

Road noise is fine. Compared to my mother's Audi it's noisy, compared to my old Kia it's pretty quiet. It's what you'd expect from an economy car.

Power for interstates? Absolutely. The Turbo isn't all that powerful, but it delivers it well. 0-60 isn't quick (I'd guess around 8 seconds?), but even in sixth on the highway I've never felt a need for more power, and actually I'm always impressed when I give it the beans to pass someone. There's also a tune available for $200 that bumps the power by 25hp or so, I plan on getting that in the next few months, but even without it I've never felt like it was down on power, I just wish it was a bit quicker in a straight line.

Comfortable? Absolutely. Ride quality is actually really good, even with the lowered suspension on the RS. The seats are very comfortable but a bit narrow. The only problem is there's only one armrest, it's on the driver seat and kinda short, but I've driven it 2 hours or so a couple times and never been uncomfortable.

Handling is pretty good, these days with how well compacts handle it's probably just a bit above average. I don't have many winding roads near here so I haven't gotten to really test it out, but I have blasted around a parking lot and it's definitely fun. The only caveat to that is the seats aren't really supportive. They are comfortable, but soft and narrow so I tend to come loose in tight corners. It's not THAT bad, but they definitely aren't recaro's.

Rear legroom is alright depending on whose in front. My friends have never complained, I'm 5'8" and with the drivers seat positioned for me my knees hit the seat but it's not uncomfortable. Lots of headroom and very comfortable seats do help make up for it.

Jayhawk Jake > N51fanatic 09/10/2013 at 22:02

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Not for me. I already scrape stuff, and I have to drive this in winter where we will either get no snow or 2 feet of it. I would like spacers though, get the wheels more flush. That will likely happen in the near future.

Jayhawk Jake > Lets Just Drive 09/10/2013 at 22:05

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I did the wheels, I didn't like it. I liked the color but not the texture.

I also think that it'll look good with the accents blacked out, just not matte black plastidip. Too much of it will cheapen the car IMO, I don't even expect to keep it on the grill for too long. One of these days I'll look for a shop to vinyl wrap it all gloss black, or paint it gloss black, like the handle on the back.

Rows His Own > TheBaron2112 09/10/2013 at 22:07

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We have fit 6 marines in a Sonic hatch, including one who sat behind the rear seats. It was tight but not miserable, honestly. And I think 5 people are miserable in my m3 but it sounds to good to care.

Jayhawk Jake > Toby F., Manager 09/10/2013 at 22:07

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Thanks!

The headlight "vinyl" is from here: http://www.headlightarmor.com/

It's holding up amazingly well, I haven't seen any bubbling or wrinkles since day one, and the heat and lights don't seem to affect it. The combination of the headlights being exposed and it being summer in Kansas means that the high beams have taken direct hits from some big bugs, and they've held up perfectly to that. Strongly recommended.

Jayhawk Jake > GhostZ 09/10/2013 at 22:10

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Thanks!

To each their own on the lights, I like the yellow, I think yellow and black is a good combo on cars. If anything I prefer the yellow on the fogs to the high beams. If I keep blacking it out I might switch to smoked instead of yellow, but that's a long ways out.

I've seen one sonic on the interwebs where they took out the passenger side fog and put a hole for the CAI, but that's a bit extreme for my DD!

Jayhawk Jake > All Motor Is Best Motor 09/10/2013 at 22:10

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Thanks!

Rows His Own > Jayhawk Jake 09/10/2013 at 22:11

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I dechromed my wife's Mini Cooper with plastidip (there is ALOT) , and while it took a decent amount of trial and error, It looks so much better. It was also extremely helpful in refreshing all of the black lower body trim on the car with just a few coats. I was happy with it and it has held up very well. Wrapping and painting were both out if the question because I wanted that reversibility and to avoid the hassle honestly.

dinobot666 > Jayhawk Jake 09/11/2013 at 08:47

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Looks sharp, aside from the yellowed out high beams.

ColoradoTaco > Jayhawk Jake 09/11/2013 at 10:00

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You can drive low cars in the Winter.

ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier > Jayhawk Jake 04/07/2014 at 22:33

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What's up with the yellow and what did you do to make yellow?

Jayhawk Jake > ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier 04/07/2014 at 22:53

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Looks good, and on the fogs it helps in rain. It's a film from a company called headlight armor.

ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier > Jayhawk Jake 04/07/2014 at 22:54

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Might get some for my Sable soon thanks!