Dirt Road / Off Road Yaris

[Jason@SportsCar]

Originally Posted by justjesus

Some years ago, and I forget what triggered the idea, I had decided to pursue the idea of taking the Yaris off road. Was it a bad idea? Maybe. Depends on who you ask. Was it a crazy idea? It might still be! Is it possible? Very much so.

Just so we're clear, I wasn't looking to do some crazy rock crawling. No, the Yaris has it's limitations (provided you don't want to do some crazy 4x4 conversion). I was mainly looking to take the little guy off the paved road and onto some dirt roads. To tackle some "mild" off road trails. I wanted to go off into some remote areas that didn't necessarily require a 4x4, or even a high clearance vehicle.

The idea of having a minor lift, some all terrain tires, coupled with the fuel efficiency of the Yaris, made it an idea worth pursuing to me.

There are no "lift kits" readily available, so that is the first challenge. Small all terrain tires are not readily available, even less so on a 15" wheel.

CTScott has already proven that Yaris owners CAN be creative, and can have a pretty aggressive little Yaris. He's got a good size lift in the front (I believe his is 4") and some mean looking tires.

At this point in time, I took my Yaris back to stock springs, but upgraded the shocks to the Tokico HTS (reds) for the adjustability and because it has a softer-than-stock setting! I figured this would come in handy if I wanted to pick up some speed over some sections of the trails. In testing, this turned out to be correct. I easily outran my friend in his heavily modded 4-Runner!

Specs:
2008 Toyota Yaris - 3dr liftback
Engine: stock with K&N filter in stock box
Trans: stock
Shocks: Tokico HTS
Springs: Stock with Firestone airbag helpers in rear
Wheels: Honda Civic HX 14x5.5, et 45 with spacers in front
Tires: 195/75-14 BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO
Brakes: stock
Exhaust: stock
Other: Tow hitch receiver for the bike rack





Some short videos of my initial day out for some testing:

Short Vid - Easy Trail

Trying to go up rutted hill. NO CAN DO!

Finishing the Trail - Just casual drive

15" rally tires are easily sourced, and should be a better fit in your fenders.

I say go with the least expensive coil over kit you can find, maybe Ground Control sleeves on your existing struts, then swap the springs out for taller ones.

You MUST get an LSD for that thing, you are nuts going after that stuff with an open diff.