Quick ratio steering yaris 06-11

[froger]

I always felt that the steering on the 2008 Yaris could have a touch more feed back and response. So I decided to do some research on finding a quick ratio steering ,my first thought was to find and see if a 2012 Se Yaris would be compatible but soon after realized that the cost of the the rack would be to high and so I kept looking. In the end I ended up with a 2011 scion Xd manual steering rack (ebay $70 usd),It turns out the Yaris 1.8ts uses the same rack as the Xd.
Once i got the xd rack i starteted to measure ,Both steering rack length and height seemed the same and the splines on the in put shaft where the same so it seemed like a direct bolt on but the tie rods seemed the same length but different tie rod end designs.
I got the rack on and torqued everything ,I then went for a wheel alignment and aligned the steering wheel .Everything felt great in the steering,quick response steering and more feed back but there is a big down fall in using the xd steering rack ,the rack stroke is considerably shorter then the yaris .What this means is that the turning radius is bigger.(harder to u-turn and park )

DO NOT USE 2008 to 2010 SCION XD RACKS, THE RATION IS MORE THEN THE YARIS ,1:14.7 RATIO.

[CoryM]

Good info. Thanks. Fast steering = fun.

[RagnaCaT]

Did it work really??! this sounds great! Going to the Junk Yard to see what I can find since I have a Helical installed sharp u-turns ain't fun anyway

[froger]

Originally Posted by RagnaCaT

Did it work really??! this sounds great! Going to the Junk Yard to see what I can find since I have a Helical installed sharp u-turns ain't fun anyway

Yes ,works good,really like the response and feed back but miss the tight u -turns.I think I found a compromise for the steering though ,a new 2016 yaris base model rack has the same lock to lock but a slight better ratio then the 2008 yaris.(still to expensive to test)

[RagnaCaT]

Originally Posted by froger

Yes ,works good,really like the response and feed back but miss the tight u -turns.I think I found a compromise for the steering though ,a new 2016 yaris base model rack has the same lock to lock but a slight better ratio then the 2008 yaris.(still to expensive to test)

My JDM 16" Vitz wheels rub, and my Helical tends to hub on U turns so I wont miss the big U turns!