Most worthwhile mod for Yaris?

[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

[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