Our new 2008 Yaris 'S' sedan.

[Herbicidal]

You're welcome! If I see him this weekend, I'll see if I can borrow his clubs and still get a picture after all. Yeah, I'm partial to the sedan too. I have two kids so the four door was pretty much mandatory.

I picked up some Duplicolor brake caliper paint (red, of course!) for the fronts. I may try a little creativity after they are painted and see if I can overlay the TRD style logo on there somewhere in black or body color.

NOTE: these aren't mine but I wish!!!

[Herbicidal]

And now for the moment ya'll been waiting for...

It's now dropped 2 inches:



No rubbing during full wheel lock, perfect! Even my 11 year old daughter said it looks like a sports car. I love her! The car feels like it's on rails. I still need to paint the brake calipers, just didn't want to take the time while working on the springs.

Here's a pic next to the Tundra:



And for the real size difference between the two:

[Herbicidal]

OK, I'm done with the mods for now.

I used Duplicolor's red brake caliper paint over the weekend to paint the front calipers. Here's the end result in three different views.

First, a close up using a flash. The picture is a little too bright, but you can see how the red really pops! There is about 3 to 4 coats of paint. I started losing track of where one coat ended and another began. Pretty much the more coats the better.


Here's a pic in the full sun.


Lastly, a full side view.

[msr1011]

I like the Yaris!! Looks good.

We were thinking a few months ago, when gas was approaching five bucks, on getting a third car. I am lucky to have to only drive 4.5 miles to work and a tank of gas on my truck lasts about 10-14 days.

My wifes car averages about 21-24 mpg and its paid for, so getting a third car wasn't worth it just yet.

I finally got a real lift on my Tundra. I will post some pics of it in about a month with all of the new toys I put on it since you last saw it.

[grumpy in NH]

Originally Posted by Herbicidal

The rims arrive today and I've changed my mind on the tires. I'm going with Les Schwab's Federal ss595's @ $70/tire. They get good reviews from the 'drifting' crowd. Hmmmmm.....

How do you drift in a FWD car? In reverse<!>esrever? I'm on that ....

Loving the mods on your Yar -in line with my thoughts and taste! Being a Scot, I'm too cheap to pinch out a coople penny to mod mine!

[Herbicidal]

Thanks MSR1011! Looking forward to seeing the updated pics of your Tundra.
____________________________

Hey Grumpy in NH, here's what I found on wikihow.com:

Preparing to Drift with a Front Wheel Drive Car
Go to a large, open area.
Pull the handbrake or use the parking brake, riding it out the first time or two to get over your initial fear.
Set up a cone in the middle of the lot.
Drive up to it at speed (between 20 and 30 is desired).
Pull the hand brake and turn toward the cone. Immediately after you feel the back end come around, turn to the opposite direction. This is known as opposite lock.
Repeat the opposite lock at that speed until you can control your car well. Practice this for at least several weeks regularly until it becomes second nature. (Don't do this on roadways. It is dangerous to others and can get you fined.)
Slowly increase speed until you are proficient in a speed you are comfortable with. Get to know that speed--you should never drift above that speed unless you are practicing.
Upgrade. At the same initial speed, flick the steering wheel opposite of the turn and swing it all the way into toward the CONE (not turn, you aren't ready at this stage). As before, when you feel the rear end come around, go to opposite lock.

Drifting with a Front Wheel Drive Car
Approach a turn at a comfortable speed, preferably in mid 2nd gear.
Pull the handbrake while turning into the corner, try not to lock the rear wheels.
You should still have the power on, try not to go less than 1/2 throttle at any time during the drift.
- When you feel the car start to understeer, and lose angle, pul the ebrake harder. - When the car seems to turn too much, give it progressively more throttle, and release the handbrake some. -There is no textbook for drifting. You learn by doing it. -Don't tense up, just feel it.

NOT something I'm going to try! Thanks for the compliment, you may live vicariously through my mods if you like. Heck, feel free to photoshop them onto your own car!

[Herbicidal]

Well I made a change I didn't initially think I would do. I ended up buying a set of TRD lowering springs and replaced the Tanabe's that I installed before. The Tanabe's dropped the ride height 2 inches, which I liked, but on some sections (bumps or dips) of certain roads in my daily commute, the tires would briefly rub on the inner fender liner. If the tire/wheel combo was "tucked" (more offset?) closer in to the car, there would not have been any tire rub. However, with my choice of rims, I had no choice in the offset.

After further research I found out that the spring rate on the Tanabe's are linear and the TRD's are progressive. Plus the TRD's don't lower the car quite as much. More like an inch and a half vs. two inches. That slight increase in ride height plus the progressive spring rate has eliminated any tire rub! I am VERY happy with the TRD springs. Hind sight is 20/20, but I should have bought the TRD springs to begin with. Live and learn.

The Tanabe's work quite well and are a good set of springs, but with my particular offset and the width of the tire/rim package I bought, they were not a perfect match for my car. (Anyone interested in a set of "like new" Tanabe DF210 lowering springs? )

[Dianne]

Boy that car looks good! Really good!!!

[Herbicidal]

A rather late reply, but thanks Dianne! Here he is after an extensive exterior detail job a couple of months ago. Such a BLAST to drive! Going to 17's with low profile tires, the TRD rear antisway bar and the TRD lowering springs make an awesome combo. It's like driving a full size, well maybe pint sized, slot car.

I now have just over 6,300 miles on him and I'm averaging 32 mpg with my daily round trip commute of 34 miles. I know other Yaris owners get better mileage, but I really don't care! I'm having too much fun to worry about MPG and when a fill up costs only $17, what the heck! If I need an altitude adjustment, I bust out the Tundra and take her for a drive. Life is good.

[Herbicidal]

Here's the latest mod I've done to my Yaris, a set of eyelids! What the heck you might ask are eyelids? They are pre-formed plastic pieces that I bought from a vendor over on YarisWorld. They take away the look and make it more aggressive, at least in my opinion. Then I ordered up some color matched paint and clear coat. The prep and paint work was pretty darn easy and the weather cooperated with temps in the mid 60's. The color match to the existing paint is perfect! I used 3m doublesided molding tape to mount them to the top of the headlights.

Here's some pics:

Eyelids, sandpaper, color matched paint and clear coat. Ultimately during the painting process, I wet sanded with 1,200 and 1,500 grit paper. The 180 grit pictured was used to initially scuff up the surface:


Before installing the eyelids:


After:


Angle view:

[msr1011]

Looking good Herb!!!

[Tundradrenalin]

looks good Herb, like an extension of the quarter panel. Automotive Touch-up does a top notch match.

[Herbicidal]

Thanks guys!

I agree, they are the 'bomb'! My buddy who paints race motorcycles on the side was pretty impressed with the color match too! All that in a rattle can for less than $20. I think the clear coat was less than $15.

[Herbicidal]

I realized after going back through this thread that a number of picture links were broken, so I've fixed 'em all!

Also, I have a new surprise that I hope to install this weekend on the 'ol Yaris. Pictures coming soon! Not to be totally left out, the Tundra received some mods over summer too.