Bought a Yaris?!

[KZJonny]

In the day and age of gasoline prices that are frequently approaching $1.80/L for 87, and the GT being a thirsy bitch on 91... my spending on fuel has gotten a little out of hand.

Of course, I am not about to part with the Legacy, so something had to give. My "other" car is an '05 OBW, and while I've kept pretty good car of it over the years getting 8-9 L/100km with a commuter isn't exactly great. I mean, I get it. It's 3500lbs and all wheel drive. 

Since I moved to the South of Canada, and we really don't get an awful lot of snow here, or at least snow that hangs around all that long, I figure I can do without the AWD and the associated penalties that it comes with. My first choice would have actually been a 2.0L Impreza that I could gut the insides of to bring down the weight, but then they're still fairly heavy and parts are more expensive.

Enter the Yaris. It was local to me and a fair price, doesn't have much rust at all, and aside from some clear coat failure, its all around in decent shape. Of course it's all the things about cars that are boring too, FWD, low powered econobox, but on the other hand, with an upgraded rear sway bar and some decent tires, they are supposedly fun to fling around. It's an MT, which if nothing else makes it more fun than the 4EAT in the Outback.

 

I don't think it will 'compare' or rank any kind of 'vs' against the GT, but it will certainly dominate in fuel economy for the winter months and general boring commuting in the summer when I either am working on the GT or have it in storage. I will see, and report back for anyone who cars. But I am kind of excited for something new to work on and drive. It also rounds out the stable of Japanese Manufacturers I would generally want to own, I now have 1 each of Subaru, Datsun and Toyota. Sorry Honda, not my thing. And I can't afford a Miata, which is the only Mazda I would likely ever want to own.... Hah! So, done for now.

[tysparks81]

Great pickup for a a more fuel efficient car.  Post some pics, I am already thinking of the engine swaps and power adders you could throw at the yaris, but I will keep those to myself for now.

[KZJonny]

I take delivery of the car next week. The young guy selling it is moving to Manitoba of all places and he figures he won't need a car once he's there, so my gain? I will definitely post some photos when I have it. Pre and post clean up.

 

And yeah... the modifying world for these little things is a great deal more active that I would have ever though. People are throwing engines from all manner of other cars into them, some of which probably make for a frightening ride once all is said and done. But part of the point of getting this is to burn less fuel !!!  Not to add too much power and ruin a good thing, Lol!

 

I think for a start some tasteful stuff like a short shifter, and fresh set of KYB or Bilstien shock + some good tires will do. Maybe a lightwieght pulley set for better economy and a little more rev. Someone already put some nameless alloy wheels on it, so that should at least be lighter than steelies? Maybe some window tint to keep the fishbowl cooler, and away you go. I think that would be more than enough money spend for the time being. My Datsun still needs lots of love, and I don't have much spare cash right now with the economy the way it is!! 

Edited November 4, 2023 by KZJonny

[KZJonny]

Okay, so she won't win any prizes, and has plenty of clearcoat damage and parking lot dings. Don't care, it was cheap.

246k kms on the odometer. These 1NZ-FE engines are known to do 400k kms easily, and I have seen some with a pile more than that. Sure... by then they're burning oil too, but seriously. I could lift this shortblock out by hand and I bet a piston and ring set is like $100....

My lift actually laughed at me when I hit the button to raise the car:
"I am a joke to you? You put this little thing on me and ask me lift it? I laught at your tiny excuse for a car!"

Plus side: Parts are Cheeeeeeap. I picked up a set up 4 year old Michelin X-Ice tires in great shape, stored in a garage nearly no wear, on wheels, for $300. Nice. Also found a set of R81 BMW Mini Cooper wheels for it in a massive 15" for $200 for the set. Tires are garbage, but the wheels are 12lbs each! Ridiculous.

Yeah, it is an underpowered econobox, but things to actually make it fun to drive and maybe even a little quicker than stock are in EVERY scrapyard, and are, again, cheap. Seems as tho a popular mod is to slap on the throttle body from a 1.8L Corolla/Matrix, whatever.... Still restrictions in the intake, but it is bigger and gains a bunch of throttle response. Can be had for.... $40 at a wrecker? Ridiculous.

Engine bay is a disaster. It's like they took a normal engine, cut it in half, and lined up all the pistons in row, then faced them all upwards? (Yes. I stole that.) It will take some figuring out, but I will get there.

 

On the whole, it is a wagonlike hatchback, it's manual and while I still do have a fondness for my 05 NA 4EAT Outback, this nugget is winning my internal battle about which car I keep in the Spring when they are both fixed. I have only ever owned Toyotas and Subarus (And one Datsun...) Failing a dirt cheap Miata turning up somewhere in my life, I'm pretty good to soldier on with these cars....

Battery tie down strap was sitting in the Evaporust bucket.... I cleaned up the engine bay a little. It was not quite this nice when I got it. Intake at the front of the engine and not the top? So strange.

Basic but comfortable enough. Needs a more thorough cleanup, but snow is coming, and just want something to flog through the salt while I work on the Legacy.... (sorry, not too sorry Yaris...)

Edited November 22, 2023 by KZJonny

[KZJonny]

Oh Man. Rewatched the Might Car Mods "Yaris Hilton" series. That was a mistake. Swapping in the 1.8L 1ZZ-FE 2ZR-FE looks sooo easy. Hah! Even plugs into the stock ECU and runs right out of the box... 

Gotta stop teasing myself like that. Hah!

Edited November 27, 2023 by KZJonny

[tysparks81]

57 minutes ago, KZJonny said:

Oh Man. Rewatched the Might Car Mods "Yaris Hilton" series. That was a mistake. Swapping in the 1.8L 1ZZ-FE looks sooo easy. Hah! Even plugs into the stock ECU and runs right out of the box... 

Gotta stop teasing myself like that. Hah!

If you keep it past spring.......Dooo it!

That is a Sat. afternoon swap.  Turn it into a go-kart on steroids also pretty sure you can still run cheap fuel in that too. 

[KZJonny]

Man... I know.  Haha! I have a problem.

The garage needs metal siding and I've got a dozen half finished reno projects in the house. And here I am thinking of how much fun a dual vvt-i engine would be in what is supposed to be my fuel saving econobox.

I'll keep my eyes open for someone parting out a 'rolla with the 1.8L. I will do this, but only if I can do it on the ultra cheap.

Edited November 27, 2023 by KZJonny

[Enlight]

4 hours ago, tysparks81 said:

If you keep it past spring.......Dooo it!

That is a Sat. afternoon swap.  Turn it into a go-kart on steroids also pretty sure you can still run cheap fuel in that too. 

Don't encourage him, Ty!

[KZJonny]

Yeah. Econobox car. This thing will be so cheap! Take a break from spending $$$ on the GT.

I certainly should have known better. 

[KZJonny]

On 12/2/2023 at 2:06 PM, KZJonny said:

Yeah. Econobox car. This thing will be so cheap! Take a break from spending $$$ on the GT.

I certainly should have known better. 

Okay.... Installed all that garbage on the weekend. And while it did cost something, I got the RSB on a ridiculous Black Friday sale, then didn't pay any duty on it to get it back across the border, so not too bad.

I will say tho, that for the total cost of some new KYB struts (OE springs) and the RSB the difference in handling is pretty incredible. I didn't go far, since it still has no plates or insurance, but where it was a nightmare of understeer and body roll before, it's actually pretty snappy now, and that is on skinny winter tires.

It is still slow, which isn't easily fixed, but it's beginning to feel quick, which is the point. After driving the AT Outback for the past little while, I am beginning to think I may very well keep this and sell on the autowagon once I patch the rust holes. I already had a couple people mention they'd be interested when I casually said it may be time to move it on. (Mainly probably because they know I'm always working on things, and that while old, it is really well maintained.)

Edited December 4, 2023 by KZJonny

[KZJonny]

So, the car now has insurance on it, and a set of plates from the GT. So... I shouldn't technically be driving it, but that is just a registration issue (and I am on it; the car goes in for a safety inspection tomorrow...), it is fully insured, which is the main thing. CYA in case of an accident while in the process of transferring ownership.

Also definitely finding our more about how the car drives by scooting around in it lately.

- I think I've sold myself on the SSK for it, not terribly expensive, and I'll probably stop grinding second because: "Surely that's far enough to get the second gate right?" I now know that apparently when you install a short shifter on one of your manual cars, you are going to have to install one all of them, coz there is no way a 6-7" throw is ever gonna feel okay again.

- Even good snow tires (Michelin X-ice with lots of tread) are gonne wheel spin on wet pavement when it's like 15C outside and drizzly. Again, too used to Subaru AWD, I can't remember the last time I spun tires. This thing chirps and jump like every 3rd time I come to a stop, hah! (I haven't pushed on it yet, but am 100% it will be the old one-wheel-peel as well, aha!) Getting some good rubber on it for the Spring if I decide to keep it on the road during warm weather will definitely mean getting something wider and a little grippy. If for no other reason than more confidence in cornering; the whiteline sway bar really does keep the car pretty flat and a little throttle through a corner pulls the front end in nicely, but I have little faith in not just doing a FWD drift if I ask for too much from the little 165s. 15" rims + 205s ought to do the trick on dry roads.

- Car is a riot up to about 60-80 kph. Much at all after that, and it is SLOOOOW. Like my first time pulling onto a main 400 series highway I figured, "Well, let's see what this little 1.5 has got....!" The answer: not much.  Which is okay. There were two of us in the car, but stil.... I just put my foot to the floor and started counting steamboats. Let's just say there was a measurable time that went by between 80 and 120, even holding 3rd and 4th right up the redline. Not what the car was meant to do, so fair. I am also somewhat biased by driving the GT all summer, which as you all know would from 80 kph to "holy hell Ima lose my license!" in the literal 5-6 second it took get up to highway speeds in the Yaris....

- Reasonable plus: I spun through the gas station last night after driving around picking some things up... the fuel indicator light blinking at me the whole time. So, from a really pretty empty fuel tank to full to the tits = ~$48 CAD worth of 87.  Niiiiiceee... And I am fairly sure that'll go about at far as a tank of 91/93 in the GT. Hah! It is decidedly not as much fun, but I knew that, and when all I am doing in the morning is the 20km highway commute to work, it's not like I'm really putting the Legacy through it's paces. I just want to not spill my coffee and be at work on time...

 

So, keeping it for now, and will do a couple of the inexpensive things to make it a little more fun still, but weather it becomes a permanent replacement for even the boring OBW or not will remain to be see. If my unicorn: manual GD NA manual bugeye Impreza that isn't a rustbucket comes around.... I'll have a second think. For now it's still smiles and chuckles winding this nugget up and zipping around town.

[KZJonny]

Safety inspection found one brake line with too much corrosion to pass. One of the front sway bar links was a little noisy, and the licence plate light was half painted over by whoever resprayed the bumper forever ago….

Proposed cost to repair all of this at the shop I go to when I need a safety…. $1000. Granted, this included just buying a whole new licence plate assy. instead of just replacing the bulb and sanding the paint off the lens… (!?!)

Actual cost in parts minus my time: $55 in materials. Maybe little more if you include penetrant + paper towels + brake fluid I already had….

I mean, I know DIY saves money, but that was just silly. I think I might need to find a new shop to get safeties done…. The folks there are pretty straight and all, but man…. That’s a large bill for some very basic work.

[tysparks81]

20 hours ago, KZJonny said:

Safety inspection found one brake line with too much corrosion to pass. One of the front sway bar links was a little noisy, and the licence plate light was half painted over by whoever resprayed the bumper forever ago….

Proposed cost to repair all of this at the shop I go to when I need a safety…. $1000. Granted, this included just buying a whole new licence plate assy. instead of just replacing the bulb and sanding the paint off the lens… (!?!)

Actual cost in parts minus my time: $55 in materials. Maybe little more if you include penetrant + paper towels + brake fluid I already had….

I mean, I know DIY saves money, but that was just silly. I think I might need to find a new shop to get safeties done…. The folks there are pretty straight and all, but man…. That’s a large bill for some very basic work.

I had the same experience going to safety the Forester.  They wanted $2400 (parts & labour) to replace two rear wheel bearings and two rear control arms (due to a 'little' play in the ball joint)  I paid 300 in parts & 300 for labour at a local mom and pop shop.  Mind you the play in the ball joint was not enough to cause concern and the rear wheel bearings had zero left to right/up & down play.  They were just noisy/rusty from sitting for 6 months.