2007 Yaris hatch - thinking TRD

[Type-Y]

I've had my 2007 Yaris hatch for a little over 2 years now. I got it as our 2nd car (my wife is the main user of our primary, a 2016 Subaru Forester - love the Forester, we're on our 2nd one). When looking for a 2nd car I wanted something simple, reliable and small for easier city parking. Something I didn't have to worry about getting dinged or scratched (It came with some of these and some new ones were added, but I don't care). I got it from the original owner with 48,000 miles on the odometer (sitting at about 59,000 as of this post). I call it the toaster, because to me it was (and is) an appliance, just a small, reliable, well designed car to get around the city.

I love the car. It's cleverly designed and it's truly roomy inside; it feels like a bigger car when you're sitting in it, which I can't say about the Smart or Fiat 500, which I also considered. I've sat in the back seat as a passenger and it is comfortable back there (I think it has more leg room than our previous Forester which was a 2007). It has a great amount of storage space (not to mention all the cool, various storage compartments), with the back seat down it has surprised people with how much it can fit. Overall, it's a great city car and I could easily live with it as our primary vehicle.

The other thing I wasn't expecting is that this slow (but pretty peppy, from 0-25 at least ) little car is actually fun to drive. It handles well, with an almost go-cart feel zipping around town. That brings me to the post title. I'd like to enhance that go-cart like feel. I've been researching sport springs and the rear sway bar and based on what I've read, TRD is my best choice. My questions are:

1. What's a good place to order these parts from?
2. How much can I expect to pay for installation?
3. How much harsher will the ride be?
4. Can I keep my stock struts/shocks for now?

[Type-Y]

I got quoted $600 for installation of a set of TRD springs....

[enviri]

spring ride quality isn't much different from stock. You can keep your stock struts, sure.

[Type-Y]

Originally Posted by enviri

spring ride quality isn't much different from stock. You can keep your stock struts, sure.

Thanks, good to hear. I was a little concerned about the ride - NYC streets are not the greatest. The $600 quote was from a larger shop and sounds way high to me.
I ended up calling a smaller local shop and they quoted $300 on the spring install which sounds reasonable to me.

[enviri]

my previous yaris had plenty of saw mill parkway/FDR drives on TRDs..they did fine.
My current yaris with a lip kit and coilovers though...

[Type-Y]

Here are some current pics

[Type-Y]

Just placed the order for the TRD rear sway bar and springs.

[Type-Y]

So, its been a while. I got the sway bar and the springs, but I haven't put them on the car yet. At this point I'm considering getting new struts/springs too. I've been searching and it looks like they don't make teh Tokico HP's for the Yaris any more. Besides the TRD struts/shocks, what others are good for lowered springs?

[thebarber]

TRD springs are mild and you don't really have much mileage. i would run them on your stock shocks... or get some oem replacements from rockauto if you're dead set on new struts/shocks. i don't think you need the bumped up valving of a sport shock...unless you've got the dough for them

[Type-Y]

Originally Posted by thebarber

TRD springs are mild and you don't really have much mileage. i would run them on your stock shocks... or get some oem replacements from rockauto if you're dead set on new struts/shocks. i don't think you need the bumped up valving of a sport shock...unless you've got the dough for them

That is good to hear. I prefer to save my money.

I'm also really tempted to get the Tein S techs instead of the TRD's. Would the stock struts & shocks work with them too?

[enviri]

should be fine, the drop is similar to trd.

[Type-Y]

Originally Posted by enviri

should be fine, the drop is similar to trd.

Cool thanks.

The more I drive this car the more I like it, so any changes I make, I want to make sure are a definite improvement.

I also have my eye out for some Mini Cooper R81 Imola rims. I plan on painting them black, but if I snag a set of white ones I'm going to see what that looks like first, because white may look great with my color. I found a set in the $400 range, but they were a bit too far. There are single rims on ebay for $100 to $169, but I think I can do better if I'm patient. I was also considering some Miata rims, but I'm not that crazy about any of them except the ones that look a little like Enkeis. I can easily just get a set of the Konig Helium's which I like, but I'm on the fence, because 1. they have more of an aggressive look and my taste is more under the radar; something that could almost be factory and 2. those wheels may possibly attract thieves.

[enviri]

mr2 spyder wheels? maybe some fiats? honda fit wheels are a hot commodity on the streets recently lol

[Type-Y]

Originally Posted by enviri

honda fit wheels are a hot commodity on the streets recently lol

Lol, exactly what I'm hoping to avoid.

I think what I want is a slighty prettier version of the steelies...

[Biker88]

If you dont mind, where did you get the sway bar and spring from?

[Type-Y]

Originally Posted by Biker88

If you dont mind, where did you get the sway bar and spring from?

I believe I got the sway bar from OEM Part Source Company. Google part number PTR11-52071 (prices tend to fluctuate on these parts, so shop around).

Originally, I was going to order the TRD springs from the same place, but got lucky with a Craigslist find, so I saved a few bucks. However, as I mentioned earlier, I decided to get rid of the TRD's and they are now gone (sold locally on CL) and I'm getting the Tein.

[Type-Y]

Today I had the TRD sway bar installed by my local shop. I had it done during my annual inspection, since I knew they were already going to have the car up on the lift anyway. Only charged $55.00 for the install which I thought was very reasonable.

I drive this thing daily, so I felt the difference right away. The car feels tighter and flatter when turning (definitely not placebo).

[Type-Y]

Loving the TRD sway bar.

Now I've gone down the rabbit hole of:

1. Just the Tein S tech springs with stock struts/shocks.

2. Tein S tech springs and high performance struts/shocks. My mechanic suggested changing the struts/shocks at the same time. I can still piece together a Tokico Blue setup using different online vendors for a complete set. (I got quoted $350 for installing the springs and struts/shocks, including an alignment, which seems reasonable to me - pretty much same price for coilovers).

3. Just get the Tein Street Advance Z coilovers - this actually comes out to about the same price as the Tein S techs/Tokico blue setup. (again, install cost is pretty much the same).

4. Just stumbled across what Fiat 500 Abarth's are going for these days (2013 with ~ 35K miles asking $9900 and that's dealer pricing, which is crazy.
When this car came out it definitely got my attention. I know they are no Toyota as far as reliability goes, but they have a rep for being somewhat more reliable than the Mini Cooper S - which I guess isn't saying all that much , but damn it's tempting. This is probably temporary insanity on my part though.

I'm not just going for looks (as my dinged and scrathed car will attest), I want to give a shot at doing a little autocrossing with this car. Am I putting the cart before the horse by not focusing on tires/wheels first? (both suspension and tires/wheels will come, I'm just not sure what the correct sequence should be).