Toyota Yaris Forums - Ultimate Yaris Enthusiast Site
 

 


 
Go Back   Toyota Yaris Forums - Ultimate Yaris Enthusiast Site > Second Generation Toyota Yaris Main Rooms > Photo-Video-Media Gallery
  The Tire Rack

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 12-15-2016, 09:58 PM   #19
justanotherdrunk
 
justanotherdrunk's Avatar
 
Drives: 2016 SE
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Silicon Valley
Posts: 1,136
sweet

damn i forgot the older yaris has the center mounted gauges
justanotherdrunk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-16-2016, 09:02 AM   #20
scratchpaddy
Hubcap Enthusiast
 
scratchpaddy's Avatar
 
Drives: '09 3-door 5-speed
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 272
It's actually one of the reasons I prefer it over the newer ones. It's unique, and it makes the dashboard simple and symmetrical. Plus, you get three gloveboxes.
scratchpaddy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-16-2016, 12:36 PM   #21
ern-diz
 
ern-diz's Avatar
 
Drives: 2007 Liftback
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: CA all day
Posts: 3,794
__________________
On Instagram

On Wheelwell
ern-diz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-28-2016, 05:51 PM   #22
scratchpaddy
Hubcap Enthusiast
 
scratchpaddy's Avatar
 
Drives: '09 3-door 5-speed
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 272
For the past three years, I've driven up to Oregon twice a year to visit my parents. I drive because I love seeing the country, and I have two dogs. I take a different route there every time, avoiding interstates whenever possible. Way too boring. This time, I used I-10 to get out of Phoenix, and that was it for interstates until I got to the 580 in San Francisco.

By 6:00 in the morning, I was on Highway 62, going through the Mojave. There was a massive headwind, and I got terrible gas mileage (29). There were ribbions of sand blowing across the road. This picture is kind of a trick: it's a 20-second exposure to get the landscape visible, and I flashed the headlights for about half a second (longer would have overexposed the picture) to make it look more like what I saw going down the road. That's how deserted this road was: I was doing long exposures while parked on the road.



From there I took 395 to 58 to Bakersfield, then 99 to 46 to 33 to 198 to 25. I just write where the turns are on a sheet of paper, and I keep an atlas in the back if I get lost. I didn't need it. Those last two highways were definitely the highlight of the first day, twisty two-lane roads winding through the hills on the west side of California's central valley.





I got a little too enthusiastic, and Skippy barfed on the back seat, but I always keep the seat covered for the dogs. The road eventually straightened out as we got closer to San Francisco.



I spent the rest of the day crawling through Bay Area traffic to Richmond, where it turns out one of my great uncles lives. I had never met or even heard of him until a month ago. Almost all of my family lives in upstate New York, and I hadn't known I had any relatives in California. I was so glad to finally meet him. He has a secret facility full of classic cars, all the ones his family couldn't afford growing up. Several of his cars have been on the cover of Hemmings Motor News. I was like a kid in a candy store.



Day 2 was uneventful. I took the 101 all the way to Newport, then 20 over to Albany. It was sunny and clear the whole day, which I had not expected at all this time of year. I finally hit a wall of fog while crossing the coastal range on 20 late that night. On the other side, Corvalis was covered in snow, which is also very unusual. I made it to my parent's house without incident.



It was nice to have Christmas with the family again. I've been taking walks along the river and around town with the dogs. The cold, rain, and fog is a nice change from the perpetual sunshine of Phoenix.





I'm pretty impressed with the car so far. It handles everything competently and efficiently. It's not quite as efficient as the Metro, but it can keep up with traffic even going 70 up a mountain. I do wish the seat were a little lower, and the steering wheel a little further back, but I didn't get any aches or pains while driving it 1,400 miles up here. It's a great car.

scratchpaddy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-28-2016, 09:40 PM   #23
justanotherdrunk
 
justanotherdrunk's Avatar
 
Drives: 2016 SE
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Silicon Valley
Posts: 1,136
exposed long enough to see stars


justanotherdrunk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-30-2016, 12:52 PM   #24
scratchpaddy
Hubcap Enthusiast
 
scratchpaddy's Avatar
 
Drives: '09 3-door 5-speed
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 272
I love stopping way out in the middle of nowhere to look at the stars. You can see so much that's never visible in the city.

This car hasn't seen much rain in its lifetime. After spending some time up here in Oregon, I noticed that the windshield started collecting just as much dew in the morning on the inside as the outside. All the carpeting was dry, but then I found the spare tire well was full of water.

I did some research on here, and saw that leaky taillights are a common problem. I tested with a garden hose, and water came running in on the driver's side. Nothing came in on the passenger side around the taillight, but there was a bunch of road grime over there. I pulled back the plastic trim, and saw it was coming in through a small hole in the top of the wheel well while driving. I cleaned up the road grit and filled the hole with clear RTV.



Then, I took off the driver's taillight lens and made a sort of silicone gasket around the contact patch.



That was yesterday. It rained some more last night, and some more water came in from the passenger side. Maybe I didn't use enough silicone, or maybe it's coming in from somewhere else. I'll try and figure it out today.
scratchpaddy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-30-2016, 03:00 PM   #25
ern-diz
 
ern-diz's Avatar
 
Drives: 2007 Liftback
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: CA all day
Posts: 3,794
Love the pics. Awesome story about your great uncle.
__________________
On Instagram

On Wheelwell
ern-diz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-30-2016, 06:40 PM   #26
MadMax
 
MadMax's Avatar
 
Drives: 2008 Yaris Liftback (Sprocket)
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: San Antonio, Texas!
Posts: 2,799
Agree, great pics!
__________________
MadMax is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-30-2016, 07:50 PM   #27
scratchpaddy
Hubcap Enthusiast
 
scratchpaddy's Avatar
 
Drives: '09 3-door 5-speed
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 272
Thanks, you two! I was really happy to get to know my uncle a little bit. I'm looking forward to visiting him again on another trip. I never imagined I'd meet a relative who likes cars as much as I do.



I'm headed over the mountains tomorrow to visit my Aunt's family in Bend, before more snow hits. They're supposed to get up to 3" on Sunday. High of 14° on Monday. I just bought some tire chains for Esta yesterday, since they're legally required in Oregon depending on the weather. Snow still freaks me out. I grew up in Georgia, where more than an inch of snow shuts everything down. I made this same drive last year in the Metro during worse weather and survived, so I'm sure I'll be okay this time. The Santiam pass is a lot more fun in the summer.

scratchpaddy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2017, 03:00 PM   #28
scratchpaddy
Hubcap Enthusiast
 
scratchpaddy's Avatar
 
Drives: '09 3-door 5-speed
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 272
The drive over the mountains really wasn't bad. Highway 20 over the Cascades is one of my favorite roads to drive when it's not frozen. Most of it below 3,000 feet was pretty much clear.



It's more like a ski slope above 4,000 feet.



The road cleared up again on the far side, much higher up than last year. This is the same spot last year vs. this year.



We all got to Bend safely. My parents drove separately (Matrix in the background) since I would be leaving for home directly from Bend.



Tasi got to play with their golden retriever, Sadie. I though she would be too cold, but Skippy really enjoyed exploring the ranch and rolling in the loose powder.



I left early the next morning, just as another snowfall was beginning to re-cover the streets. There wasn't quite as much snowfall out on the high desert further east.





The temperature plummeted near Burns, hovering around 0°F. Loose ice crystals floated over the road much like sand in the desert. Every passing car drew a great big cloud of ice behind it.



It was pretty much smooth sailing once I was over the Steens Mountains on 78.



The rest of that highway is straight and empty. I verified justanotherdrunk's findings there. He's right, it tops out at 115mph. I did not get good gas mileage on that stretch.

I took 95 all the way to Vegas, then 93 to Wickenburg, and 60 to Phoenix, making it home around 3:30 AM.

I covered 2,800 miles total. I spent most of the trip (the parts without snow, at least) between 70 and 80mph. My best tank was 39.5mpg between Lost Hills and Windsor, California, which is weird, because I spend two hours on that tank crawling through San Francisco traffic. The worst tank was 31.2mpg between Burns and Winnemucca.
scratchpaddy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2017, 03:06 PM   #29
justanotherdrunk
 
justanotherdrunk's Avatar
 
Drives: 2016 SE
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Silicon Valley
Posts: 1,136
your pics are makin' me drool

im ready for yaris roadtrip #6

thanks for the great show!

justanotherdrunk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2017, 03:41 PM   #30
ern-diz
 
ern-diz's Avatar
 
Drives: 2007 Liftback
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: CA all day
Posts: 3,794
Quote:
Originally Posted by justanotherdrunk View Post
your pics are makin' me drool

im ready for yaris roadtrip #6

thanks for the great show!

+1

So much beauty. Thanks for sharing.
__________________
On Instagram

On Wheelwell
ern-diz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2017, 08:50 PM   #31
Dabuu
Radical Dreamer
 
Drives: spiritedly.
Join Date: May 2016
Location: No Bueno Park, CA
Posts: 219
damn those pictures are gorgeous! love the dogs. :)
__________________
Enjoy Family Car Sports
Dabuu is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2017, 09:06 PM   #32
scratchpaddy
Hubcap Enthusiast
 
scratchpaddy's Avatar
 
Drives: '09 3-door 5-speed
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 272
Thank you, thank you! I love the dogs, too, even if the white one drives me nuts sometimes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by justanotherdrunk View Post
your pics are makin' me drool

im ready for yaris roadtrip #6

thanks for the great show!

I'm looking forward to seeing your next travel log! Have you decided where, yet?
scratchpaddy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-05-2017, 02:29 PM   #33
scratchpaddy
Hubcap Enthusiast
 
scratchpaddy's Avatar
 
Drives: '09 3-door 5-speed
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 272
Other cars

I made the trip to Oregon for the second time in a month. I had my '96 Metro for sale for a while, and the eventual buyer happened to live in Portland. Not surprising, as these cars are still almost common up there. It's made the trip three times before, so I loaded up the dogs and off we went, one last time.



I took the route through Nevada, along Highway 95. We passed through Hawthorne, a town on the edge of an Army ammunition depot covering hundreds of square miles.



Just north of there sits Walker Lake, a desert lake with no outlet. It used to be much larger before people starting using the river that feeds it for irrigation. Its level has fallen 181 feet since they started keeping track in 1882.

I don't know if it's ever busy, but it was deserted when I went through. I drove the Geo halfway down what used to be the lakebed, then walked the rest of the way to the shore with the dogs.





We discovered that the sand/muck along the shore was very soft, doing its best to steal my shoes. The dogs loved it.



This is why I keep the backseat covered with a sturdy blanket.



I got to Reno and took 395 north through California, then got on 139 in Susanville as night was falling. That's when it started to snow. It was no blizzard, but the road was covered in an inch or two of fresh powder all the way through the mountains to Klamath Falls. I took 97 north from there, which had been polished down to one long sheet of black ice by constant 18-wheeler traffic. I just kept pace with the trucks and held on tight for 80 miles, when I was finally able to get off onto highway 58 and take the Willamette Pass back down to solid, dry pavement. I definitely should have taken a different route.

I got to spend a few more days with my parents in Albany after that, enjoying their cooking and taking long walks through the constant fog.



The buyer spent a day riding his bicycle down from Portland to Albany. I could have brought the car all the way up to him, and he even had another car, but he likes bike riding. He checked the car out, we talked for a while, and then traded cash for car.

On Monday, I picked up a rental from Hertz, who had the cheapest one-way rates by far at the moment. I had learned that the current inventory had a big impact on rates, and the Corvallis location happened to have a lot of inventory. I took a '15 Yaris off their hands. Still no cruise control.

I took it back up into the mountains, where I was relieved to find the Santiam pass as clear as I've ever seen it in the winter.



The rental Yaris handled the trip really well. I averaged 39.9mpg, even through it was an automatic. That's surprisingly close to the 44.5 I got in the Metro on the way up.



Central Oregon is always beautiful in the winter, when snow covers the high desert.



I turned south at Burns, my normal route home, and spent the night getting through Nevada. I made it through Vegas before the morning rush, and got to Kingman just in time for the sunrise. All that fog and snow made me miss the Arizona sun.



I had to wash and vacuum the heck out of the rental before giving it back to Hertz. Icy roads always make a mess, and black interiors are great at hiding dirt and hair, unless you have a white dog.



I actually enjoy cleaning cars up. My first job, part-time during college, was detailing cars at a body shop in rural Georgia. By the time I was done with it, this car was cleaner than it was when I picked it up. And I hadn't slept since leaving Oregon. Hey, when you have a rental, time is money.





The guys at Hertz had no issues with it, and even gave me a quick ride home. I suggested we use the Camaro convertible they had out front, but no, we used the Yaris again.
scratchpaddy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-05-2017, 05:10 PM   #34
justanotherdrunk
 
justanotherdrunk's Avatar
 
Drives: 2016 SE
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Silicon Valley
Posts: 1,136
very cool trip pics and info thanks


on the bmw 2005

justanotherdrunk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2017, 10:56 AM   #35
ern-diz
 
ern-diz's Avatar
 
Drives: 2007 Liftback
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: CA all day
Posts: 3,794
Quote:
Originally Posted by justanotherdrunk View Post
very cool trip pics and info thanks
+1

What would you have done had he not wanted the Metro after seeing it in person?

Also, why on earth would you clean a rental before returning it! Not having to is half the joy! lol
__________________
On Instagram

On Wheelwell
ern-diz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2017, 11:27 AM   #36
scratchpaddy
Hubcap Enthusiast
 
scratchpaddy's Avatar
 
Drives: '09 3-door 5-speed
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 272
Quote:
Originally Posted by justanotherdrunk View Post
very cool trip pics and info thanks


on the bmw 2005
Motorcycles, too? Were you going solo?
scratchpaddy is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Adventures with Yaris devananne Photo-Video-Media Gallery 10 02-21-2014 08:24 AM
While others are boasting of their sex adventures, practice it! TrilySummer New YARIS Purchase Forum 1 04-14-2009 01:17 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:23 AM.




YarisWorld
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.