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Old 04-08-2018, 11:19 PM   #1
David C
 
Drives: White '07 3dr LB
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Dropping everything and going west

On the 24th of April, I'll be heading out the door in my car with the bikes on the rack to drive from Montreal to downtown Vancouver where I've booked a condo for the month of May. Afterward I'll be going to travel the multiples islands of the northern pacific coast and come back down trough the Rocky Mountains by the end of the summer. If the car is still going maybe I'll head down to California or what not.

This Yaris HB is my first car, but like anything else I've owned, it's pretty loaded and customized to get the most of it. It's no off-road suv, camper or expedition vehicle, but for the price and expenses, I'm hard pressed to find anything else that reliable and that runs this low on $/km driven that does at least everything this car has been able to.

In preparation for the trip, I've installed air coil bags to keep the rear end up since I'll be having a full time bike rack with 1-2 bikes as well as a full cargo load. Extra reverse lights and extra driving lights, extra interior lights, secondary battery with smart charging relay, 1000w pure sine inverter, rear seat delete with flat deck, air compressor, upgraded sound system, upgraded mud flaps and liners, window visors, big rig horn, duct tape reenforced bumper cover, multiple dash cams, cruise control, upgraded driver seat, hitch receiver, etc

I've had a lot of fun and bloody time loading up this car and caring for it in the last 2 years since I bought it. Drove a little over 40 000km and all over the eastern shore of North America. It's a perfect sized vehicle for traveling solo.

I know lots of you have had yours from brand new and are slowly looking for something new, especially since the new Yaris aren't cutting it. I have no idea what will be my next car, all I know is that I want something even cooler than what I built up, not just a fancy newer car. I want to keep it wild and the right size. I have a feeling I'll learn a lot more in the next few months than I have in the last decade.

So if you're out there and wanna invite me to stop over during my trip, let me know ! I'm dropping everything, selling off my stuff and heading out to the west.
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Old 04-09-2018, 12:04 AM   #2
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Love seeing someone have the guts to get up and go like this. Wish you all the best on a safe and fun adventure!
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Old 04-09-2018, 04:23 AM   #3
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Wow. Keep us posted on where you're at with pics. ;)
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Old 04-09-2018, 10:50 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaotic Lazagna View Post
Wow. Keep us posted on where you're at with pics. ;)
+1


and have a great trip
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Old 04-29-2018, 09:51 PM   #5
David C
 
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Wawa, ON
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Moose Jaw, AB
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Funny stuff being hauled in the Prairies
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Revelstoke, BC
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Logging road in Squamish, BC
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Lake Louise lodge, AB
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Holly Crap !
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Old 04-30-2018, 11:05 AM   #6
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So awesome.

That logging road in Squamish, BC!
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Old 04-30-2018, 11:15 AM   #7
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HOLY CRAP !
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Old 04-30-2018, 11:33 AM   #8
kimona
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Great photos. Keep 'em coming.
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Old 04-30-2018, 06:48 PM   #9
David C
 
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First ride of the year in Lake Alice National Park trails a few minutes north of Squamish. 10.5km of healthy stuff.

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Old 05-01-2018, 12:00 AM   #10
David C
 
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Also during the drive in BC on the old route 99 from Lillooet down to Squamish, there was some pretty steep down grades, 9% to over 11% for miles and miles. With the heavy cargo and bikes, the car was having a hard time keeping speed going up and keeping slow going down. I was keeping the engine brake on all the time trying to reduce the heat buildup on the brakes, but it was steep ! I had heavy brake fade by the end of the last downgrade, and I was keeping the car under 40km/h ! Took some shots with my thermal camera while letting them cool down for a bit.

Rear drums covers were over 100° C ! Front rotors actually did a good job dispersing the heat trough the hat and cooling fins, keeping their braking surface cool to under 100° C, however showing some blueing tint. The fins and hat had reached over 240° C because they were at least that hot by the time I got to take the readings. Brake pads were also pretty hot, but didn't transfer much of their heat to the caliper itself.

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Old 05-01-2018, 03:00 AM   #11
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Did some wildlife spotting tonight with my thermal imager on local forest roads. Saw about 20 deers total.

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Old 05-01-2018, 11:19 AM   #12
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great pics thanks

made me think of this

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Old 05-01-2018, 02:24 PM   #13
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Old 05-01-2018, 03:54 PM   #14
David C
 
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Not quite there yet. On my way into Vancouver I was following a Porsche Carrera S doing 130 together. Now I just unloaded the car and bikes, so there's close to 300lbs plus the aerodynamic drag off the vehicle now. Feels like I'm flying now after hauling all that for the last 5 000km. Gonna drop the air spring pressure to 5psi too, and I left a little bit of camping gear in the back to weight it down so it will still handle nicely on the highway. The air spring really made a huge difference in how well the car was handling and to keep it at a proper riding height. For having done a 1 000km drive with a similar load out without the air spring, the car definitively doesn't feel rear heavy and deep sagging over speed bumps and curbs like it did without the air spring. I had them at about 20psi, started off closer to 25-30psi but felt like I had too high of a gravity center in the rear because the car had a tendency to move sideways from the rear when I was on the highway.
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Old 05-02-2018, 10:00 PM   #15
David C
 
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If these aren't sexy enough for a full size poster above the desk of Toyota's vice-president of sales in North America, I don't know what else is.
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Old 05-02-2018, 10:27 PM   #16
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Old 05-03-2018, 12:01 AM   #17
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Very cool trip, and an awesome ride to do it in too.
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Old 05-03-2018, 01:26 AM   #18
David C
 
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This Saturday there's the Diamond Rally in Vancouver. It's a super cars charity type of rally that starts in north Vancouver and use the route 99 "sea to sky" highway up to Whistler. Since it's a street legal rally, they have to drive within the posted speed limits and the highway isn't closed to public. In short I can race against all those fancy cars just by being there on the road with them hehe. Pretty sure I won't win since it's all uphill, but it's fun to pretend that I have an extra digit under the hood like they have :p
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