Beginner looking for advice on Mods?

[hcl77]

Hey Guys,

Just picked up my 07 liftback Yaris a few weeks back and I really love it, but there are a few things here and there that I want to do to it to make it my own. I'm not a racer and don't want to get too crazy, but I do have a bunch of questions and figuring it all out is very very confusing to me. This is my daily driver so it needs to be reliable. I don't car to take on anyone on the road/highway. I just want it to look nice and be a little quicker.

With that said I live in a city with a ton of potholes but really like the look of a minimally dropped car with 16s. The one thing I don't want to sacrifice is the ride quality i.e. I don't want to hit a giant pothole and have it going in and out of the shop for repairs nor do I want to get spanked every time I hit a bump. Any thoughts on what might be the right route? I'd really like constructive feedback, because it's hard to understand what all the pros and con's are to coil overs vs. trd springs etc. I just really dislike the body roll when taking corners (even slowly). So if I could get something that would eliminate that problem that'd be great I'm not married to the idea of dropping my ride and know it requires more maintenance. My initial reaction was to get a trd rear sway bar and see how it felt.

2. Again it'd be nice to have a little more performance out of the car. My question is at what point does one need to upgrade the suspension and/or brakes in order to keep up with the performance upgrades? I'm ok with doing the exhaust thing, but could do without the "I want to race" noise. Are there any other light performance mods where I wouldn't need to mess around too much with the suspension/ride height?

3. Does anyone have a body kit on an UNDROPPED ride? I really liked the Kaminari, but was concerned it would look really odd without dropping the ride. Does anyone have any opinion on this or have a pic of their ride (with body kit) that isn't dropped?

Just super confused about the process and would love some step-by-step guide on Tuning. Also if there are any shops that people know of in Pittsburgh I'd be willing to pass any work I do on the ride to them.

Thanks in advance for all constructive feedback.

[tk-421]

Welcome to the forums.

Please consider doing a search. All of your questions have already been answered and there are great tips to be found. For example, check the best/worst investment thread (in my sig), and the Performance Mods and Wheels/Tires/Suspension sections.

[1.5]

First mod I would do is suspension. These cars are like 4x4 boats. I could fit an entire car in my stock wheel gap not to mention the body roll. You have a few options for suspension. I like being "spanked" like you say so I'm slammed on coilovers but these are your options.

1. Coilovers are going to be your most pricey option but you will probably get the best performance out of them and they are adjustable. Some Allow you to only adjust ride height/preload others will allow you to adjust ride height, spring preload, damper force, and shock stroke length. With all of these options you could deff adjust it to be a minimal drop while greatly increasing the handling performance. None of the other options will allow you to go as low as coilovers will. $850-$2000

2. Springs combined with shocks/struts. This option can be much cheaper depending which spring you chose and which shock/strut you pick. The performance gain will be almost what you get from coil overs. The spring will stiffen the ride and lower the ride and the shock/strut will further stiffen the ride and increase handling but have no effect on ride height. Most people will tell you to go this route as it is affordable while giving you great performance gains. You can go with tokico blues, kyb, or Tokico Red shocks/struts. The reds are considerably more expensive only because they have damper force adjustablity. $350-$1300 (only this expensive if you go with reds as they are $999.00)

3. Your last option is springs by themselves. This is the cheapest easiest way to lower the car and increase handling. The springs will be stiffer and may be linear (one constant spring rate regardless of the amount of compression) or progessive (as the spring compresses further the spring rate increases and gets stiffer). The linear will be slightly stiffer than progressive as the progressives under minimal compression will be closer to the stock spring rate. The main negative about springs is that your stock shocks will lose life because they are not made for the shorter/stiffer springs. There are many spring choices ranging from 1" drop to 2" drop and various spring rates including H+R and Ksport for your progressive rate options. $100-$200

The RSB is a great way to increase cornering ability and decrease body roll or side to side flexing. This will be noticeable and is a nice place to start for pretty cheap. Not to mention the install could not be easier.

As far as performance, intake/headers/axelback are going to be your basic mods. Our small 4 cylinders are not going to creat much power but to me any little bit helps. The exhaust will make the car louder and sportier but some exhausts might have a more subdued than others. Like the tanabe medallion is going to be pretty close to stock for noise. There are also drivetrain/tranny mods like lighter pulleys or a short shift kit which will not make power but will help deliver what power you do have to the ground.

Any of the mods listed above are a nice place to start but my personal preference is suspension first. All of the mods listed above can be found at microimageonline.com and I recommend them for price/service/and support.

DO NOT throw a body kit on a stock height car. To me that is super ugly.

Welcome and congrats on the purchase.

[Astroman]

Check out this thread, the yaris performance primer

http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/sho...ormance+primer

[hcl77]

Originally Posted by 1.5

First mod I would do is suspension. These cars are like 4x4 boats. I could fit an entire car in my stock wheel gap not to mention the body roll. You have a few options for suspension. I like being "spanked" like you say so I'm slammed on coilovers but these are your options.

1. Coilovers are going to be your most pricey option but you will probably get the best performance out of them and they are adjustable. Some Allow you to only adjust ride height/preload others will allow you to adjust ride height, spring preload, damper force, and shock stroke length. With all of these options you could deff adjust it to be a minimal drop while greatly increasing the handling performance. None of the other options will allow you to go as low as coilovers will. $850-$2000

2. Springs combined with shocks/struts. This option can be much cheaper depending which spring you chose and which shock/strut you pick. The performance gain will be almost what you get from coil overs. The spring will stiffen the ride and lower the ride and the shock/strut will further stiffen the ride and increase handling but have no effect on ride height. Most people will tell you to go this route as it is affordable while giving you great performance gains. You can go with tokico blues, kyb, or Tokico Red shocks/struts. The reds are considerably more expensive only because they have damper force adjustablity. $350-$1300 (only this expensive if you go with reds as they are $999.00)

3. Your last option is springs by themselves. This is the cheapest easiest way to lower the car and increase handling. The springs will be stiffer and may be linear (one constant spring rate regardless of the amount of compression) or progessive (as the spring compresses further the spring rate increases and gets stiffer). The linear will be slightly stiffer than progressive as the progressives under minimal compression will be closer to the stock spring rate. The main negative about springs is that your stock shocks will lose life because they are not made for the shorter/stiffer springs. There are many spring choices ranging from 1" drop to 2" drop and various spring rates including H+R and Ksport for your progressive rate options. $100-$200

The RSB is a great way to increase cornering ability and decrease body roll or side to side flexing. This will be noticeable and is a nice place to start for pretty cheap. Not to mention the install could not be easier.

As far as performance, intake/headers/axelback are going to be your basic mods. Our small 4 cylinders are not going to creat much power but to me any little bit helps. The exhaust will make the car louder and sportier but some exhausts might have a more subdued than others. Like the tanabe medallion is going to be pretty close to stock for noise. There are also drivetrain/tranny mods like lighter pulleys or a short shift kit which will not make power but will help deliver what power you do have to the ground.

Any of the mods listed above are a nice place to start but my personal preference is suspension first. All of the mods listed above can be found at microimageonline.com and I recommend them for price/service/and support.

DO NOT throw a body kit on a stock height car. To me that is super ugly.

Welcome and congrats on the purchase.

Would the stock brakes be ok if I did some of the performance mods you mentioned? Thank you all for the great advice.

[WeeYari]

Originally Posted by hcl77

Would the stock brakes be ok if I did some of the performance mods you mentioned? Thank you all for the great advice.

Nothing needs to be done to the brakes regardless of what you do. They are more than adequate to handle even the most extreme of FI mods. The only place stock brakes begin to weaken is at the track.

[b20vteg]

^just get better pads when the stock ones wear out.

[baseballfan416]

Originally Posted by b20vteg

^just get better pads when the stock ones wear out.

if they wear out