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

[tmontague]

I headed out with Ron and the crew for the last session of the year at TMP this past Friday. It was only my second track day of the year due to finances and the crazyness of life. I actually had not been to the track for a few months this year and my Yaris has sat in the back of a warehouse for that time.









I had started decluttering the wiring a few weeks ago as I was itching to work on my car and had the help of my son to do this. This was a much bigger project than I had anticipated and I was not able to properly finish it before the track day. I ended up semi finishing it and just tucking everything away so I could still drive around the track. In all this haste I ended up cutting and removing a few extra wires and my speedometer wasn't functioning. This only really mattered on the drive to the track as I don't really look at my speedometer much while on the track.





I have since fixed the speedometer after pouring over some EWD's and finding the respective wire that was missing and reconnecting it to the speed sensor wire. I currently don't have any dash illumination and my oil pressure light and CEL are not working. I'm still not sure if I will be reconnecting these as it really isn't useful for me at this point with what the car is used for.

I ended up removing about 2 piles of wired this big...



Anyways - the last time at TMP I managed to do a PB of a 1:26:44 which I was very happy with. I knew there was more time in the car as this was on a new tire set up and I was starting to push the brake pads outside of their limit as they were mildly fading and lacking that sharp bite at every brake zone.

I had very little left on my track pads and wasn't sure how much time I would have on them for the last lapping day of the season. I was hoping for a faster lap time but realistically didn't think it was going to happen. I did a quick 6 or so lap warm up session and then set tire pressures (fwiw I run a 30 psi rear and a 31 psi FR and a 34psi FL hot pressure). I headed out for a 20 minute second session and was very sloppy with my footwork. It had been a while and I wasn't feeling very confident in my sharpness. I managed a 1:27 in that session.

I headed out for my 3rd (and last) session of the night and started out by following Ron and his buddy in the two cup cars while I warmed up. There is nothing more fun on the track than chasing around two excellent drivers in these cup cars! They drove the pi$s out of them, one wheel in the air, then two, locking tires, sliding etc it was a wack of fun and helped me get my confidence back to over drive my car. They pointed me by and I just set out to have fun.

I started gaining confidence each lap and my footwork and braking zones drastically improved. My lap timer was showing that I was taking seconds off on some laps. I started pushing the limit in the big corners and the car reacted very well and in control. I was working my ass off to keep the car pointed where I wanted it to go, but it was getting faster. The track at this time was very quiet as most people went home so I decided to send it. I ended up turning a 1:24:98 on my last lap! I ended up pulling in because my brakes started making noise as if they were onto the backing plates. I was actually getting faster and faster every lap.

I removed the brake pads and sure enough it was virtually down to the plates, calling an end to the season on brake pads that owed me nothing else. I was extremely happy with a 1:24, check out Speed Academy's lap board to get some insight into lap time at TMP https://speed.academy/speed-academy-...e-leaderboard/

All those times are completed by Dave Pratt (sp?) who has over 15 years of driving at TMP and it a very fast driver - essentially as fast as most can expect to go in each lap time he has complete. On most lapping days at TMP a decent track day bro in an STI will throw down a 1:27 so a 1:24 in a Yaris is pretty darn fun.

The car ran flawlessly, it was a cool day (ambient around 10*C), oil temps sat around 230 and peaked at 240*F, coolant hovered around 195*F and peaked at 202*F. The AR-1 tires are phenomenal especially given their price range. They handled the continuous laps without becoming greasy and their wear is respectable. They actually felt faster and faster late into my sessions, meaning they probably could have stood to use some more heat in them. They also are not outright slick when cold like the BFG R1's were.

All in all I am very pleased with how the season ended even though the season was a bit of a write off in terms of track time. My plans for next season are to get a tow dolly, replace all of the side and rear glass with lexan so I can remove the inner door skins and heavy window motors. I will be getting a new set of more aggressive brake pads and adding in front windshield defrosters. I also plan on finalising the wiring and removing useless wiring from the engine bay and fuse blocks. The cabin wiring is almost done, but I need to properly mount the wiring so it is not just hanging around.

My wife and I recently purchased a new home that has a 12' wide single car garage that is heated and insulated. This is large enough to keep all of my car tools in there as well as store my Yaris. I'll finally be able to work on the Yaris as I please, even if it is just for an hour or so. No more commuting and bringing tools to go work on it!