Finishing my suspension

[ChinoCharles]

One of the only add-ons available when I got my Yaris was the TRD suspension. I purchased it and I know it comes with shocks and struts simply because they are easily visible. This website referred to an older TRD trim level Yaris with the included "TRD suspension." It says...

"To reduce that tall-car-in-tall-waves float, TRD equipped the company Yaris with its Sportivo suspension set. That includes stiffer springs and shocks and the addition of a strut tower brace and a lower cross brace."

Is this what is currently on my car or do I have it all wrong? The other question I had was if it is on my car, what else do I add to have a completely kick-ass suspension? C2AUTOSPL listed a Cusco strut bar and lower tie bar in the sponsors classifieds section. Are these additional upgrades I can get?

[heylookitsjames]

It all really depends on what you want out of your suspension, since "Really kick-ass" is a totally subjective statement. Although, I would go as far as to say that buying those tanabe strut bars would be a smart thing to do regardless of what you want out of your suspension.

[ChinoCharles]

I drive around windy Ohio backroads every day through towns where there is literally no police station. I want this car to be point and shoot, or at least as close as you are going to get in a Yaris. No major power adds for now... just the usual intake/exhaust. What can I add right now?

[Ran Kizama]

Originally Posted by ChinoCharles

I want this car to be point and shoot, or at least as close as you are going to get in a Yaris. No major power adds for now... just the usual intake/exhaust. What can I add right now?

Some here. I'm shooting for the following...

16x7 Wheels w/ Appropriate Tires
TRD Shocks & Struts
TRD Springs
Butterfly Lower Tie Bar
Front Strut Tower Bar
Front Anti-Sway Bar
Rear Anti-Sway Bar
Bushings
Rollbar/Cage (If available & daily functional)

Well...that's kind of the general plan anyway. About half of this stuff is already available but the aftermarket is still in it's infant stage for this car. Time will tell what becomes available. Also, 15" wheels would be better for handling, but they're just too d@mn small for my tastes.

[Chris07LB]

My Cusco Lower should hopefully be here this week from C2AUTOSPL.

I will post the install and review once complete. Not a very expensive mod, so what the heck!

[heylookitsjames]

ChinoCharles: If it's a daily driver don't waste time with a cage or sway bars... In fact... I've grown more and more wary of sway bars. I used to think they were cool since they make your car feel better, but realistically it's just a cheap way of solving a problem that proper dampening and rebound would take care of. putting a front sway bar will create more under steer (never acceptable) and putting a rear sway bar will increase oversteer (sometimes acceptable). The problem lies in that they work by decreasing traction of whatever end they are attached to, not by increasing the opposite end. So the end result of putting front and rear sway bars on a car is a car that has less available traction, but feels darn good in the corners. Mind you, finding bound and rebound adjustable struts for the yaris right now is not an option, so you may consider a rear sway bar to make the car more balanced feeling, but it wont really understeer less, just crabwalk more.

[Lizardboy]

Originally Posted by heylookitsjames

ChinoCharles: If it's a daily driver don't waste time with a cage or sway bars... In fact... I've grown more and more wary of sway bars. I used to think they were cool since they make your car feel better, but realistically it's just a cheap way of solving a problem that proper dampening and rebound would take care of. putting a front sway bar will create more under steer (never acceptable) and putting a rear sway bar will increase oversteer (sometimes acceptable). The problem lies in that they work by decreasing traction of whatever end they are attached to, not by increasing the opposite end. So the end result of putting front and rear sway bars on a car is a car that has less available traction, but feels darn good in the corners. Mind you, finding bound and rebound adjustable struts for the yaris right now is not an option, so you may consider a rear sway bar to make the car more balanced feeling, but it wont really understeer less, just crabwalk more.

I may be completely wrong here, but don't sway bars keep the car flatter in turns which keeps the wheels and tires more perpendicular to the ground which means better traction. You are right though about front and rear end balance being affected. By using adjustable endlinks though, you can adjust pre-loading of the various corners of the car depending upon what you're trying to achieve. I've got an aftermarket one on the front of my Miata with the stock one on the rear and it doesn't understeer any more than before I put it on.

[ChinoCharles]

For those of you like myself that are reading all of this and wondering what the f&#^(@ they're talking about... a link for you.

How Stuff Works: Suspension

What about the Cusco products mentioned here by everyone's favorite Yaris-related drug dealer. They're both cheap.

[Chris07LB]

Originally Posted by ChinoCharles

What about the Cusco products mentioned here by everyone's favorite Yaris-related drug dealer. They're both cheap.

Ill have mine soon. Just got the Type One. Cheap mod, figured i'd give it a shot. C2AUTOSPL is the only one that has these so far. I believe I will be one of the first to try it.

[heylookitsjames]

Originally Posted by Lizardboy

I may be completely wrong here, but don't sway bars keep the car flatter in turns which keeps the wheels and tires more perpendicular to the ground which means better traction. You are right though about front and rear end balance being affected. By using adjustable endlinks though, you can adjust pre-loading of the various corners of the car depending upon what you're trying to achieve. I've got an aftermarket one on the front of my Miata with the stock one on the rear and it doesn't understeer any more than before I put it on.

"Tire Lateral Load Transfer Distribution is the relative demand of side-to-side energy control that is placed upon the tires. Because a firmer anti-roll bar allows less deflection, it will transfer side-to-side energy (lateral loads) at a faster rate.

As the rate of lateral load transfer increases, additional demands are placed upon the tire. So if we install a firmer anti-roll bar in the front, then we increase the distribution of lateral load transfer toward the front tires. This increases the front TLLTD value, which will result in additional understeer, holding all else constant.

The same logic also holds true in the rear. A firmer anti-roll bar in the rear will increase the rate of lateral load transfer, placing more demand upon the rear tires, accelerating lateral traction loss and creating more oversteer, holding all else constant.

This is why blindly adding parts to your car may not produce the desired results."
-GRM

[Ran Kizama]

Originally Posted by heylookitsjames

ChinoCharles: If it's a daily driver don't waste time with a cage or sway bars... In fact... I've grown more and more wary of sway bars. I used to think they were cool since they make your car feel better, but realistically it's just a cheap way of solving a problem that proper dampening and rebound would take care of. putting a front sway bar will create more under steer (never acceptable) and putting a rear sway bar will increase oversteer (sometimes acceptable). The problem lies in that they work by decreasing traction of whatever end they are attached to, not by increasing the opposite end. So the end result of putting front and rear sway bars on a car is a car that has less available traction, but feels darn good in the corners. Mind you, finding bound and rebound adjustable struts for the yaris right now is not an option, so you may consider a rear sway bar to make the car more balanced feeling, but it wont really understeer less, just crabwalk more.

Nice write up. I had a rear swaybar on my Sentra back when and yeah, it did make my car feel a lot better, but it also helped cut down my laptimes at TGPR once I had the appropriate shock/springs on it as well. A swaybar by itself probably won't wield anything on it's own, but it's only one part amongst others that work together to allow an adjustable balance for the car.

[samuraivince]

good info here!