SCCA H Stock

[NJ Drive]

After searching for months and months and hoping a 5 speed SE would turn up around my area, I was finally able to pick one up yesterday.

This car will serve double duty as a daily driver and autocrosser.
Initially I was going to set this car up to run in the SCCA's new STF class, but already having campaigned an STR S2000 nationally, I wanted to keep this car civil. So into H(oosier) Stock it goes. I'll probably run it at a couple National Tours this year and keep attending Pros with my Evo X.

The Mini is a tough cookie to overcome in H Stock but I would be satisfied just being a pain in the ass to anyone who shows up for now.

I just ordered the 23mm UR bar for the back to loosen things up- hopefully it arrives before next Saturday's test and tune. Toyota also specs three different size crash bolts for the front, so needless to say I'll be going with the most narrow of them all.

I'm very satisfied with my purchase and can't wait to start tinkering with this car.

[xnamerxx]

I think you're going to have a tough time in H Stock with a lack of a LSD, torque vectoring or otherwise.

Any thoughts on what shocks you plan on running? Those Koni DA seem to kill nationally but I haven't seen anything pop up for the Yaris yet. The Yaris does have a nice weight advantage going for it, but I just have a hard time seeing how it can overcome Mini's brake assisted diff and 15hp advantage along with much better gearing.

I think ST FWD would be a bit easier to make a street driven national car vs H stock simply because your competitors have the same disadvantage that you do although the initial investment is a bit higher the recurring costs are going to be lower due to not having to hit the R-Comp crack pipe every 20-50 runs.

[ilikerice]

Obviously money isn't that big of an issue if you are running and EVO X in pro national events, so buying Rcomps for this little guy wont be a problem..

I will agree though, H stock will be tough without LSD. I ran H stock last year with 225/50/15 Khumo V710. too much wheel spin coming out of corners. I decided to go with ST class but now the rules have changed, and STF is perfect for the yaris now. .794 pax... cant beat that.

Either way, its fun and you will get alot of jaw drops after the first run or 2. Good luck and have fun

[Jason@SportsCar]

The HS Mini his an open diff. Moving to STF does not get you away from the more powerful Mini, and now you get to drop over $2k on engine management if you want to make power.

With the crash bolts the Yaris is not hard on R tires. And for no other reason than Street Tire Suck, HS is a good move.

[xnamerxx]

Mini's do have the open diff but it has a system that applies the brakes to the wheel that's spinning to transfer torque to the one that's not. It's not as good as a mechanical system but its better than nothing at all. The new Ford Focus uses a similar system I think the VW range does as well but I could be wrong about that.

In either case keep us updated on how the car performs, it should make for some fun reads when a Yaris mushroom stamps some of the competition.


Jason I saw you out at Cal speed back in Jan your car is quick you were what seemed to be a few seconds ahead of the dueling Fits. That was a good race between those 2 fits.

[Jason@SportsCar]

Originally Posted by xnamerxx

Mini's do have the open diff but it has a system that applies the brakes to the wheel that's spinning to transfer torque to the one that's not. It's not as good as a mechanical system but its better than nothing at all. The new Ford Focus uses a similar system I think the VW range does as well but I could be wrong about that.

In either case keep us updated on how the car performs, it should make for some fun reads when a Yaris mushroom stamps some of the competition.


Jason I saw you out at Cal speed back in Jan your car is quick you were what seemed to be a few seconds ahead of the dueling Fits. That was a good race between those 2 fits.

EDLC is horrible, it is the equivalent of not being able to turn off the TC. It applies the brake to the spinning tire, but does not actually transfer power. It was not added to the Mini until 2010, and the cars winning in Solo a pre EDLC cars.

I have run a lot of cars with that system, and have yet to find one that does not slow you down. The dynamics in autox are so fast that most of these E nannies are a hindrance. The Mini offers great power, better rear suspension and good gearing, that makes it a winner.

The biggest downside to the Yaris in HS is shocks, going to have to custom to get the good stuff.

[NJ Drive]

As far as shocks/struts go, there isn't much besides going custom.

One sorta plug-and-play option is to pick up a set of H&R coilovers, fab some stock spring perches, and have them revalved by Bilstein(around $75/corner). The non-adjustability and entry price of them at first glance sucks but I'd imagine it being a solution that is somewhat cost-effective. The total extended lengths have to within +/- 1" of the stockers so that must be checked out.

Part of what I do for a living is force measurement setup, calibrations, etc. so validating the stock SE spring rates are no problem.

I have a set of Intercomp pads that I can use to forward whatever corner weights are present using stock perch heights. I would expect motion ratios in front to be just under 1:1 being a McStrut. As far as torsion beams go, I'm in the dark as far as calculating any kind of usable motion ratios.

Talking base Mini Coopers, yes some have EDLC but like Jason mentioned, on Hoosiers, I'm uncertain if it provides a solid advantage. Fortunately I have some of the best HS competition in and around our region so the measuring stick will be real.

I hate bench racing and just like to go at it.

I'm open for other suggestions regarding shocks/struts.

[Jason@SportsCar]

Originally Posted by NJ Drive

I'm open for other suggestions regarding shocks/struts.

AST built ours. I seem to recall Brian saying the rears were easy, typical pin on one end eyelet on the other, there was some reference to an E30 BMW in there - this was a couple of years ago so the details are foggy. The fronts are similar to an MR2 rear.

[seth_man]

Originally Posted by NJ Drive

I'm open for other suggestions regarding shocks/struts.

bmw e46 non-m3 rear shocks are a bolt in for the yaris rear, ive personally been using function form type 2 e46 rears. @ $100 each they are way less expensive that many other alternatives. also '04 -up wrx koni front inserts fit well in stuck strut tubes and megan coilover shock tubes

[NJ Drive]

Wow, that was fast and both excellent bits of info! I'm on it.

[NJ Drive]

Ended up ordering Tokico HTS for shocks from Garm @ MicroImageOnline this afternoon. Bolt-on proposition, adjustable(albeit single), lifetime warranty. I found a few Koni SAs and DAs that would work in the back, and the MR Spyder's rear struts do look eerily similar to the Yaris fronts, but I just wanted to tap the 'EASY' button for now.

The other day, I put the car on scales after installing the 23mm UR rear bar.
With no spare or floor mats and an almost-full tank of gas it was perfectly cross-weighted from Toyota, haha.

1170 lbs LF-RR, 1170 lbs RF-LR

With me in the driver's seat it was still within ~18lbs, not bad.
I don't know how low these cars run before fuel starve so if anyone can relay their fuel load when competing on sticky tires, I'm all ears.

Also, having a 16" x 6" stock wheel sucks. They're not bad at 16lbs each, but I could easily save 20lbs in total wheel weight alone on this car in a more common size. I've contacted wheel specialists who widen/narrow wheels and was quoted $600. That would be in addition to the $1500 for the wheels.
No thanks... not right now!

[why?]

there is no fuel starve. There is fuel run out and nothing left. The Yaris gets every bit it possibly can and leaves nothing left to restart the car with.

[xnamerxx]

On shit street tires I've run the car as low as ~2 gals of gas without any issues but I wasn't seeing any more than .92g according to the vbox.
My cross weights were crap before I put the coilovers on but my weight is a hundred or so lbs below yours.

Are you allowed to use the 14" wheel size from the 07s in Stock?

[NJ Drive]

In stock classes, you must use whatever size wheels are offered for a particular model, model year, and trim. They must also be factory installed or a port-installed option- no dealer installs allowed. So 2012 SEs must use 16" x 6", +/-0.25" of the factory offset.

[ilikerice]

I take it you probably going to go STF class eventually since you want smaller rims and larger offset

[NJ Drive]

No.

This car serves as a daily driver, first and foremost. A fully prep'd STF car will cost 3x to 4x as much to do, and it'll wear on you especially with the roads around here. This is only the second car in 19 years where the stock catback isn't coming off.

[xnamerxx]

are the Rota 16's from the minis the correct size and offset for the yaris? I think that should net you a lbs or two from each wheel certainly not much but its cheapish.

[ilikerice]

no, rota's are 7" wide. will put you in STF, unless you put Rcomps on, then that will throw you in FSP