Nov. Trackday @ California Speedway! - Toyota Yaris Forums

jkuchta · 11-24-2008, 11:11 PM

I was in the white group...lots of fun.

The first session I was waved past an M6, a Z06, and an E36 M3. Got lapped twice by a guy in what was either a 360 or a 430 (didn't get a good look!). There isn't very much that can run away from a yaris in turns, especially the last series of lefts that lead onto the front straight. The last three sessions saw fewer point-bys, but my laptimes dropped considerably. I was running 2:32 in the first session, and 2:25 in the third (haven't seen the results for the last session yet).

As for how the car handled....it did quite well!

My HB is more or less stock suspension wise (stock struts/springs, no sway bars, stock steelies). I have installed a Thermal axle back, Simota carbon SRI, and nology hotwires plug wires. The tires I ran were Yokohama Avid V4s, with about 1500 miles on them. As far as brakes are concerned, I'm running Carbotech XP8 pads on slotted rotors up front, and Carbotech 917 shoes on stock drums out back. The fluid was changed to ATE Super Blue Racing DOT 4 fluid.

First off, the brakes were crazy good. So good in fact that I could feel the tires squirming around pretty bad under braking once the tires got too hot. I never experianced ANY brake fade, though there was a pretty much 1 mile long straight to let things cool off just a little bit. Initial bite was great, hot or cold (though better hot), and modulation was a piece of cake. An added benifit of the 917 rear shoes is that they shifted a little bit of the braking bias rearward, such that under really hard braking I could feel the rear end moving around a little, such that I was able to get a little bit of a slide going pretty easy which, timed right, helped just a little bit in getting the car turned in some of the tighter turns in the infield

The tires, as good as they are on the street, just could not handle the monster cornerspeed and braking that a stripped Hatch with race pads a fluid can through down. For the first two or three laps the tires were really grippy and responsive, but after that things just kind of went south. Once overheated, these particular Yokos get really gooey, such that they'll slide without making any noise whatsoever. The entire day I never heard so much as a chirp from them. They were very perdictable though, and once really hot the car would develope a bit of a push on corner entry, with a little bit less push on corner exit under power (thanks front wheel drive). Slides, both 4 wheel and rear only, were easily managed, which allowed me to do a bit of exploring in terms of corner speed. Another nice thing with these tires is that they recovered really well between sessions. I thought once they got overheated that would be it for the day...that they'd just get worse and worse. In fact, though, they came back more or less to normal in time for the beginning of the next session, where they would hold on for 3 or so laps, and then cook off again. All in all not bad for a 500 AA A rated tire.

As far as the suspension is concerned, I think everyone pretty much knows that the stock setup is really soft, such that body roll is really evident on the outside sholders of the rear tires. The thing really liked to lean, but I have to say it would take a pretty mean set, once leaned all the way over. It'll corner like a mofo! A set of coilovers would make this car a true weapon at the streets of willow, and would bring the laptimes down even further on the roval. Lowering the C of G couldn't hurt either.

All in all, after a day of 4-6k rpms, and half of a tank burned in a little more than 100 miles, the yaris is none the worse for wear. The highest oil temp I saw during the day was 103 C (217 F), and the water temp was pegged on 184 F all day on the track. I think she'll be ready for the streets of Willow this weekend, especially with the WR 4-2-1 header that Garm helped me install this afternoon. Maybe the slightly lower speeds will help the tires hang on a little bit better too.

I should have some pics to put up in the next few days. I'm waiting to see what the event photog comes up with, and my instructor took a few pics of the car in the pits...numbers and all.

If there are any questions I can answer just let me know.

11-24-2008, 11:11 PM	#11
jkuchta View User's Garage Drives: 2007 Yaris hatch (red) Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: L.A. Posts: 557	I was in the white group...lots of fun. The first session I was waved past an M6, a Z06, and an E36 M3. Got lapped twice by a guy in what was either a 360 or a 430 (didn't get a good look!). There isn't very much that can run away from a yaris in turns, especially the last series of lefts that lead onto the front straight. The last three sessions saw fewer point-bys, but my laptimes dropped considerably. I was running 2:32 in the first session, and 2:25 in the third (haven't seen the results for the last session yet). As for how the car handled....it did quite well! My HB is more or less stock suspension wise (stock struts/springs, no sway bars, stock steelies). I have installed a Thermal axle back, Simota carbon SRI, and nology hotwires plug wires. The tires I ran were Yokohama Avid V4s, with about 1500 miles on them. As far as brakes are concerned, I'm running Carbotech XP8 pads on slotted rotors up front, and Carbotech 917 shoes on stock drums out back. The fluid was changed to ATE Super Blue Racing DOT 4 fluid. First off, the brakes were crazy good. So good in fact that I could feel the tires squirming around pretty bad under braking once the tires got too hot. I never experianced ANY brake fade, though there was a pretty much 1 mile long straight to let things cool off just a little bit. Initial bite was great, hot or cold (though better hot), and modulation was a piece of cake. An added benifit of the 917 rear shoes is that they shifted a little bit of the braking bias rearward, such that under really hard braking I could feel the rear end moving around a little, such that I was able to get a little bit of a slide going pretty easy which, timed right, helped just a little bit in getting the car turned in some of the tighter turns in the infield The tires, as good as they are on the street, just could not handle the monster cornerspeed and braking that a stripped Hatch with race pads a fluid can through down. For the first two or three laps the tires were really grippy and responsive, but after that things just kind of went south. Once overheated, these particular Yokos get really gooey, such that they'll slide without making any noise whatsoever. The entire day I never heard so much as a chirp from them. They were very perdictable though, and once really hot the car would develope a bit of a push on corner entry, with a little bit less push on corner exit under power (thanks front wheel drive). Slides, both 4 wheel and rear only, were easily managed, which allowed me to do a bit of exploring in terms of corner speed. Another nice thing with these tires is that they recovered really well between sessions. I thought once they got overheated that would be it for the day...that they'd just get worse and worse. In fact, though, they came back more or less to normal in time for the beginning of the next session, where they would hold on for 3 or so laps, and then cook off again. All in all not bad for a 500 AA A rated tire. As far as the suspension is concerned, I think everyone pretty much knows that the stock setup is really soft, such that body roll is really evident on the outside sholders of the rear tires. The thing really liked to lean, but I have to say it would take a pretty mean set, once leaned all the way over. It'll corner like a mofo! A set of coilovers would make this car a true weapon at the streets of willow, and would bring the laptimes down even further on the roval. Lowering the C of G couldn't hurt either. All in all, after a day of 4-6k rpms, and half of a tank burned in a little more than 100 miles, the yaris is none the worse for wear. The highest oil temp I saw during the day was 103 C (217 F), and the water temp was pegged on 184 F all day on the track. I think she'll be ready for the streets of Willow this weekend, especially with the WR 4-2-1 header that Garm helped me install this afternoon. Maybe the slightly lower speeds will help the tires hang on a little bit better too. I should have some pics to put up in the next few days. I'm waiting to see what the event photog comes up with, and my instructor took a few pics of the car in the pits...numbers and all. If there are any questions I can answer just let me know. Last edited by jkuchta; 11-24-2008 at 11:43 PM.