The official "my Yaris handles bad on the highway/with crosswinds" thread

[cfiimei]

Try riding a motorcycle on a windy day! My little Ninja 500 has a mind of it's own at 80 with a stiff crosswind.

[tk-421]

My experience is that getting slightly wider tires (205/50R15 in my case) and lowering the car with NFs made a world of difference in that area. I am pretty sure that it will get even better once I get a rear sway bar and an underpanel.

[darkmoon87]

Originally Posted by YAR1S

I thought the yaris was pretty aerodynamic???

NOT

/thread

[YAR1S]

anyone selling a front sway bar? You attach it to the pre-drilled holes, right? I would really like to settle my car's unstable swaying during highway driving but I cant afford to mess with the suspension right now till I stop the rough driving on the highway.

[tk-421]

Originally Posted by YAR1S

anyone selling a front sway bar? You attach it to the pre-drilled holes, right? I would really like to settle my car's unstable swaying during highway driving but I cant afford to mess with the suspension right now till I stop the rough driving on the highway.

A front swaybar is not the best way to fix this issue AFAIK. You should spend roughly the same amount of cash in a rear sway bar when you're willing to fiddle with the suspension a bit more. $.02

[helphelp911]

Originally Posted by tk-421

A front swaybar is not the best way to fix this issue AFAIK. You should spend roughly the same amount of cash in a rear sway bar when you're willing to fiddle with the suspension a bit more. $.02

with rear sway bar, will the ride become more rough?

[tk-421]

Originally Posted by helphelp911

with rear sway bar, will the ride become more rough?

It will become stiffer, yes... But with more stiffness comes more control as well.

[mikenacarato]

i have the car lowered on df210s and have the trd rear anti-sway bar and i do notice sway occasionally. i know its not the roads because this is the only car i have that does this. its like it dances around the lane...its annoying. o well, i can put the wind smackage aside...i love my yaris! :)

[TheSilkySmooth]

Originally Posted by darkmoon87

NOT

/thread

DARK: How bout some numbers not your uninformed, worthless opinion? Numbers like "cD x frontal area" - should be pretty good - except car is a bit too short ... I find the car hunkers down at 80MPH+

ok if found this in 10 seconds

EDMUNDS semiquote: "With a coefficient of drag of just 0.29, both the sedan and Liftback slip through the air ...
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=108501 - the bro

[JetfireK]

Originally Posted by TheSilkySmooth

The car has a crappy, rubbery strut front end that doesnt hold alignment too well. So that alignment has to be good. That said, make sure you dont have TOO MUCH air in the rear tires as this makes this car REALLY twitchy - I run no more than 26-28 psi on the stockers out back. And no more than 29 -31 in the fronts. IN the Operating range, the less air in the tire, the slower the steering response will be - Sport Motorcycle riders might know this. OTW, MORE aerodynamic shape means MORE response to wind directional changes - not less. My old Fiat 128 3dr (weighed 700lb less than yaris) was a box-on-box brick and was NOT affected by wind at all. Went 100mph all day - Just one hand on the tiller. In the Yar 3dr, I just pretend we are flying a PiperCub and go with the flow as they say - the bro

I noted on the highway the little car does "catch the wind" but when there is no wind the 18 wheels really give the little car a toss....Do you think sway bars are the answer?

[barry6386]

I'm having the same problems with cross winds. It's not the highway/road surface so much cus I'm driving the same route back and forth to work. (106 miles RT). I put the TRD rear swaybar under it and it's worth the money. But... I'm still not happy with the handling. I just had the tires rotated and it didn't seem to be so bad for a while. I'm wondering if it could be the stock tires. I have the package that comes with 15" wheels. I'd like to get the best bang for the buck so I'm wondering if getting tires or shocks/struts would be the best value.

[YAR1S]

Originally Posted by JetfireK

I noted on the highway the little car does "catch the wind" but when there is no wind the 18 wheels really give the little car a toss....Do you think sway bars are the answer?

Yes! I notice this a lot, when a truck goes by me, my poor yaris gets sucked into it....
and once the truck is in front of me, the turbulance it creates will hot my yaris at a particular time and the whole car will shudder and rock terribly... I usually change lanes or slow down to let it pass

Although... I still love my yaris and i've become used to its unsteadyness at high speeds.

[tomato]

First time I caught a bit of wind, I was on the !$!@$@# Bay Bridge (long, suspended bridge) and it was raining!!! Enuff said.

The only thing you can do, I guess is slow down and hang on tight to the steering wheel! You're right, though, you can't always slow down, I know what you mean.

Funny, I was just sitting here wondering if I should get that sway bar and how it would affect the ride, and now that thread pops up, pretty cool. The weather is pretty good in California, but there is quite a bit of wind on the bridge and driving the Yaris through that scares me sh..tless to be honest.

[supmet]

The sway bar helps with wind - a LOT. It also makes driving 80 on the freeway feel like 60. The general ride comfort is barely stiffer, and I wouldn't say rougher at all.

[YAR1S]

;[ Im always torn on the sway bar debate. Do you have the front or rear bar? I was told that the front would help... but I always hear bad things too....

eh.... If it doesnt work... I'll be spending $80 on a metal bar that wont ever be seen except by me and my mechanic.

[tomato]

$80 so my Yaris won't fall off the bridge? Sounds like a deal to me!

[barry6386]

Hey everyone. After reading through this thread I see there are others having some issues with the handling of the Yaris. It's the reason why I'm here. All I can say is there IS SOMETHING different with the way it handles. Whether it's normal or not is subjective. I feel like it gets blown around excessively. I have a '08 sedan with 11K miles. I drive it around 100 miles a day to work and back. It's the same route every day so I know the reason I'm getting tossed around is because of the wind and not the road surface. I travel mostly on interstate and some on flat 2 lane. I put a TRD rear sway bar (wow was that easy) under it and it's worth the money I spent on it. I had the tires rotated and the handling seemed better for a while but I think It could be a lot better. With all that said, I'd like to know if getting tires would be a better bang for the buck or getting shocks/struts.

One other thing.. Does anyone else notice something going on transmission wise when going downhill? I have an automatic transmission..... It seems like some sort of engine breaking or the transmission not releasing when just beginning to coast down a hill. If I slightly let off the gas pedal it doesn't release. If I completely let off the gas it releases and coast normally (like I would expect it to)... Anyone?

[Fishbulb]

I drive my Yaris 150 to 300 miles per day, I find myself often averaging 83 mph on Intestates, beltways, tunnels, toll roads, parkways, bridges, etc. Once you get used to the handling, you can really control the car quite well.

I have a LB though, and I broke it in hard (so mine is fast and runs perfect).

meh