T Montague's 2zr swap - '08 m/t sedan some extra info

[tmontague]

After my last track session with Ron I had a new found motivation to stick with the Yaris chassis for the near future. He was posting a 1:26 in his first gen which is good enough to beat the typical "track day bro" in an STI or BRZ at TMP - our local track. My plan wasn't to beat a certain car, its always been to become as fast as a driver as I can while having fun and testing new things I modify or add to the car to make it faster. That said, being competitive at track days with cars that cost way more or people assume to be faster keeps the sessions fun and exciting. It also never gets old to pass STI's, WRX's, BRZ/FRS's etc while they look on with a dropped jaw at the Yaris going by.

I also refuse to do another track day with my Hawk HPS's - the brake fade is real and hitting corner 2 where the brakes sometimes do nothing and sometimes work half as good as they should is just stupid dangerous. I already ordered and picked up some Carbotech XP10's and I resurfaced both sets of my rotors with a rotor resurfacing tool that you install on a drill - not as good as a proper machine but worked good enough for what I need it for. I will daily in my HPS's and swap out rotors and pads the night before going to the track. I also picked up an older Sparco Sprint seat (first gen?) from Ron and am currently waiting on my seat base before I can install it in my car.

This will help me get back to my 1:30 time hopefully but on my current past worn tires I'm not holding my breath. Next season I'll have some new 100 tw rubber and I'll be aiming for a 1:27. If I'm fortunate enough to have a long tube header on my car by then, then even better as the extra 10-15whp definitely won't hurt.

The biggest limitation right now is the fact that this car is my daily and houses 1 (soon to be 2) car seats. I have a few extra hundred pounds sitting in my car waiting to be stripped out. It's looking like my family and I will be moving to a larger house a year or so from now and our next place will for sure have a garage. This will allow me to pick up a beater Yaris LB A/T. I can then keep my sedan in track mode and not have to swap out brake pads and what not every couple weeks. I can then strip it out and lose a bunch of weight in it.

Over a couple years I'd like to do a diy splitter as well as cams and a standalone ecu. I think the 2zr can realistically and conservatively achieve 150whp on pump gas and retain its reliability. This would make a pretty fast sleeper and should be able to post up consistent 1:25's at TMP.

I'll be back at the track on the 7th of September and hopefully I'll have the Sparco seat installed by then. I'll post back with how I find the brake pads.