Most worthwhile mod for Yaris?

[Slick]

My best mod was a full body massager that sits in the trunk :D

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by skoolafish

for what it's worth, i'm glad you all started arguing because i got some good info out of it...
...
...bad snow area

Well... I'd been debating whether to make this post or not. But since you've provided such a perfect lead in...

So, at the risk of stirring up a hornet's nest, a funny thing happened on the way to Sandia. I was headed from OKC to Albuquerque on I-40 last Friday night. (Recall the late season snow storm we had in the Rockies and midwest.) Things weren't *so* bad... until just past the Flying C Ranch, traffic was suddenly backed up to a stand still. Both lanes. And it wasn't any normal traffic jam. I waited for about 30 minutes... and there was absolutely *no* movement. None, whatsoever. Both lanes were absolutely still for as far as the eye could see. It was about 10pm, I think. No sign of any sort of authority. No highway patrol cars. No highway maintenance trucks. Just us, the dark, and the snow. No place to exit the highway. Next exit was 7 miles away. It's the first time that I've ever seriously wondered if I might be stuck in a traffic jam for over a *day*! I'm not kidding. It was kind of scary.

Finally, some of the more adventuresome drivers with SUVs formed a new lane on the left shoulder. The snow there was uncomfortably deep. Not feet of it, or anything, but uncomfortably deep, nonetheless. After sitting and fretting for a while longer... I took the plunge. It was *not* an easy drive. We slowly, slowly drove past *miles* and *miles* of stopped cars. Weaving from left to right shoulder where necessary and possible. And it became apparent that many (most?) folks had completely given up. Lights off. Engine off. Everything dark. People literally asleep at the wheel. It was like some sort of "ghost highway". Really weird. I asked myself several times if maybe this was really just a nightmare, and whether I might wake up.

Conditions were bad. I barely made it. Many times, I truly thought I was stuck for good. The crunching sounds made me afraid to even think about what my front air dam looked like. It went on for literally hours. I saw at least two 4WD SUVs get stuck trying to do what I was trying to do. (Of course, they got careless and went off into the ditch.) Several overturned and jack-knifed 18 wheelers lay on the median between east and west bound lanes. I'd never seen anything like this. And in mid-march, no less.

Finally... there was Clines Corners. (A sort of travelers' trap which I despise and normally wouldn't stop in.) It was acting as a sort of emergency shelter for several hundred people who had made it that far. Shortly after I arrived, some paramedics showed up and asked if anyone was having a stroke. Apparently someone had called 911. An older guy came forward and said that his wife was having a flair up of amnesia... but he seemed uncertain that she would be the one they were there for since it was just a routine flair-up of amnesia, and not really a stroke. (Yes... it was that kind of night.)

I decided that even being stuck on the highway in the middle of nowhere would be preferable to being stuck at Clines Corners with 300 other random travelers. (I'm not a people person.) So I got back to the car, found a way out of the completely clogged parking lot, and continued on.

Now. beyond Clines Corners, there was virtually *no* traffic. And the roads were ploughed... right down to a layer of sheer ice. But I wasn't one to complain at that point.

The roads near Albuquerque were in great shape. It hadn't snowed there. So I bypassed Albuquerque and headed straight for Las Cruces... where it was beautiful, sunny, and about 70 degrees the next day. I washed and waxed the Yaris. And the air dam turned out to be fine. Minor damage at the very bottom.

What was the point of this long, rambling story, you ask? Well... to be honest, it was pretty stressful, and I wanted to tell someone about this strange and slightly scary night.

But more on topic... if I'd lowered my Yaris by any at all... I honestly think that I would have spent all night, at least into morning, stuck on I-40. As I'm sure that many people did. There's no way in the world they could have gotten a snow plough in there with all those miles of stuck cars. Only the sun had any chance of improving conditions.

So... no lowering kits for me.

-Steve

P.S. Shadow, my terrier mix traveling companion, seemed to be enjoying every minute of the adventure. As I drove on, he spent most of the time with his front feet on the dash, examining all the stuck cars that we went by. A few had dogs in them.

[tomato]

wow.
OK, so no lowering kits for Steve ;)

If it makes you feel any better, I don't feel comfortable lowering my car either right now either (as long as I have to park in my current parking spot ). The CRX I had before was *always* scraping hard at the bottom, now the Yaris has clearance, which is kind of a relief. I always wondered how much damage the driveway was doing to my poor car. Maybe when I move.

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by tomato

The CRX I had before was *always* scraping hard at the bottom, now the Yaris has clearance, which is kind of a relief.

What the Yaris could really use, for appearance's sake, is larger wheel wells with larger tires. I always liked the "1976 Seville look":

http://tinyurl.com/yckngwj

Wheels and tires are large today. So it is perhaps not as striking as it was in the 1970s: Such large tires on such a small car. But still, I think that the GR78 x 15-B tires worked well. (I think that corresponds to a P215/75R-15 or P205/75R15.) Of course, they would have to be lower profile than "78" today.

-Steve

[tomato]

Originally Posted by Kal-El

Thing is though, is that this isn't a modding forum. YarisWorld is a Yaris forum that talks about everything Yaris with other off topic discussions as well.

They're are specific sub-forums dedicated to mods, this particular sub-forum is a general Yaris discussion though.

+1

Originally Posted by eht13

Well said, I guess this needs to be reiterated. YarisWorld is for all Yaris owners, not just those that are heavily into modding. There are sub-forums for specific mods here, but I put the poll in this sub-forum because it is the most popular sub-forum and it covers all Yaris discussion... not focusing on just one area (which would have rendered a poll about all mods moot).

Thanks for the responses.

and +1

WTF? Hold the bus, everybody.

This forum is for *everybody* who is interested in the Toyota Yaris LB and Sedan, regardless of whether they enjoy driving stock or modded vehicles.

This said, Steve, keep in mind, that the vast majority of peeps on this forum enjoy modding their cars and will take it as a personal insult if you don't agree with them.

Seriously, why mod a Yaris and not buy a more expensive car with all the bells and whistles instead? Why not?!! It's a great hobby, learning experience. You know how you take a computer apart and put it back together for fun, add parts, upgrades and so forth? Well, peeps on here get an econo car, and play with, add stuff to it. Same thing

[tomato]

@ Steve: I have to disagree with you on the sway bar. It does make a huge difference, especially when you toss the car in a corner.

I couldn't figure out what people were talking about on the threads until I actually rode in a car that had one on. You can feel the difference. The car stays stuck to the road and feels more like my old CRX with bar on, and less like a 2CV (without)




here is a 2 CV

[tomato]

Most worthwhile mod on *my* Yaris

http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/sho...&postcount=111

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by tomato

@ Steve: I have to disagree with you on the sway bar.

Well... I have no strong feelings about the sway bar. In my first post of the thread, I was more or less going down the line commenting on the bullet points.

Regarding modding... my opinions and practice have changed a lot over the years. Back in the 70s and 80s, when I was in my teens and twenties, my pride and joy was the 1968 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham that I grew up with. (And still have, along with its twin, which belonged to my father's business partner.) But the car that I considered to be a sort of "Gold Standard" was the 1976 Fleetwood Brougham. It rode more smoothly. It was quieter. It idled more smoothly due to it's lower compression ratio and more advanced ignition timing at idle. It had chimes instead of buzzers. Rear window defroster. Electronic voltage regulator. A tighter, more efficient torque converter. Taller differential ratio. Illuminated entry system. Electric door locks, as opposed to vacuum powered. My points of envy translated into a *very* long list.

And I spent my youth killing that car with extreme shop-wear, trying to beat it into what I wanted it to be. Replacing the original body mounts with thicker, 1976 body mounts, ad-libbing illuminated entry... badly... and generally making plenty of mistakes along the way. Keep in mind that it was an old car when I got started on it. Not like our Yarises. When I turned a bolt, I could never be sure it wasn't going to just break off.

Time passed... and then the 1976 Fleetwood was old, too. Not much point in competing with that. And no point at all in competing with the computerized, electronicized Cadillacs which came later.

Too late... I learned to just appreciate the Fleetwood for what it was. And today... I wouldn't trade a 1968 for a 1976 for anything. Unfortunately, that car is too far gone to save. (Structural rust from the terrible mistake I made in undercoating it with expanded polyurethane in an attempt at sound deadening. Blocked some critical drainage paths.)

Fortunately, its identical twin (except for exterior paint color) escaped the ravages of my youthful obsession. And I still drive that car today. (It has about 160,000 miles on it, and has an engine and transmission which were rebuilt many years, but not so many miles, ago.)

The Sprint is a car that I've always liked, in part, because I don't have any reason to obsess over it.

And the Yaris is a car that I'm really enjoying just letting be itself. I'm taking a very "Don't worry. Be happy." attitude about it. And it's rather odd. After 47 years of cars that have all come into my life through some means other than my going out and buying them, which inevitably gain sentimental value, and end up as my "friends" and responsibilities, like old and faithful, well loved dogs... now I have this 2008 Yaris, which is practically new, and has a warranty of all things! (I have a warranty?!) And I guess I'm just in a mode where I'm wondering why anyone would want to mess with their new Yaris.

For once in my life, I feel like I'm kind of normal. Which is kind of fun.

I imagine I'll get tired of it, though.

-Steve

[tomato]

Fair point. I'm not arguing with that. I was just trying to explain where the peeps are coming from

You should post a picture of your old cars There is a thread on here somewhere where people post pix of old cars they used to own. It's a pretty cool thread actually, we should revive it.

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by tomato

Fair point. I'm not arguing with that.

Oh, I knew you weren't. I just felt like it would be a good idea to provide some detail on my perspective.

-Steve

[eht13]

Originally Posted by tomato

Most worthwhile mod on *my* Yaris

http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/sho...&postcount=111

Tomato wins.

Originally Posted by sbergman27

Oh, I knew you weren't. I just felt like it would be a good idea to provide some detail on my perspective.

And it is a reasonable point. Part of me is of the "it's great, leave it alone" mentality. The other part has thought about making it just that much "better", or at least a little more personalized.

[tomato]

I'm a firm believer in "if it ain't broke don't fix it."

But if you're gonna keep your car for a while and you wanna make it more yours (handling and/or cosmetic), and if you have the cash, why not?

I was really impressed with Taylor's car. He has it slightly lowered (I'm guessing it's not that you lower the car but what you're using to do it that counts?), rear sway bar, and probably did something under the hood too because it seemed a lot more responsive than mine at acceleration. CAI? I DNK, it's tempting.

Originally Posted by sbergman27

Oh, I knew you weren't. I just felt like it would be a good idea to provide some detail on my perspective.

-Steve

good point.

[thewifesyaris]

Depending on the state, lots of sunny hot summers, I would go with the tint. First thing I did to my Yaris when I got it here in Reno NV.

Oh wait this is no longer a poll post about best worth it mod...

I'll get some popcorn and a beer!

[spookybathtub]

I would love to have a full boat tail for fuel economy purposes.

[solarVitz]

I voted lowering springs/other suspension as i got the Megan Racing Coilovers. I just cant stand that big wheel gap on the car. Ever since Ive owned a first car when I was 18 up until now that Im 38, I lowered all my cars that Ive owned as my first mod.

Im looking to get a sway bar soon as most owners here recommended them. Thanks for the input yall. :)

[Steveh27]

My opinion (I'm 59) is based on needing a vehicle under 151" in length & coming from a 1995 Geo Tracker 2 dr SUV 4x4. I wish I could have bought another sub-compact 4x4 suv. My Yaris is nice & I'm happy the seat has me up high relative to the ground. I do worry a bit about the snow clearance in the rear wheel wells. I would like a little more ground clearance rather than less. I've learned most on here are into the sporty mod look & that's !
My car did come with tinted windows, even the front side windows which is not legal in MI. OOOPS. I did debadge the rear & installed an adjustable intermittent wiper switch. Thanks to this site. I'm surprised to hear about the benefit/need for the rear sway bar. I'm very pleased at how good & tight this car turns, of course my Tracker was a bit unstable in high wind. I did notice a possibilty of oversteering at freeway speed. I just need to pay attention. I'm happy with the car as is now.

[Slitwrist Smile]

I say my trd shocks/struts/springs combo was the #1 upgrade, got rid of the 4x4 look, makes the car handle better than before, and it helps me save mpg's because I dont have to slow down around turns (with that horrible stock yaris bodyroll) at higher speeds.
also, the 2 inch drop could be saving me MPG's possibly by having the car squat lower to the road, and not having as much turbulent wind underneath. I need to put more time in with the setup and my scan gage2

[p123456789]

fog lights anyone?