Making YarisWorld Proud- Yaris at Thunderhill in Nor Cal

[Vanderkitten]

It's finally here, my chance to see what this little econo-hatch car do, under the guise of the SCCA High Performance Driving School. I am excited to finally get the Yaris out to the track and see what it's made of. I have Megan Racing coilovers, 15" wheels I got on closeout from TireRack for $82 each, and some Avon Tech-R DOT R slicks. (yes, minus 2 gooves running longways in the tire where the wear indicators are, they are slicks). Did I mention the Weapon R intake with Ram Air kit?

When I arrive at the track, I park behind a lightly modded, 258HP GTI driven by an older guy named Dave. I believe he's about 62 or so. Next to him is a modded up 2005 Mustang GT, to my right a big BMW 650 coupe, and some more mustangs, evos, porsche's etc. The Yaris, draws little attention and some humored glances. Since I removed the badges (It only has the Toyota emblems) it was unknown even what it was.

I unload the tires, all of my crap, the jack, etc out of the car, and take out the rear floor, the spare, the little plastic boxes, etc. everything that wasn't needed got taken out. A couple of guys saw the stack of track tires and came over to investigate. (Of course, I left the camera at home). We have a meeting that I rush to get to, and then about a half hour to get to the hot pit for our first session.

It's already about 90 degrees, and I am rushing to put the track wheels on and get tech'd. I had signed up for beginner group, because I have never driven a car on a track before. I have, however, raced and ridden motorcycles at this track a number of times, so the organizers felt I should be in "B" group. Every class had exotic, fast and sexy cars, so that was pretty awesome.

Tires on, in the grid, my coach hops in the car and asks what experience I have at the track, I told him and he said, "This should be easy for you then. What kind of car is this anyway?" I said "Yaris", and he said, "Matrix?" We would revisit this many, many times throughout the day.

My first session was 70% of race pace, maybe slightly less, getting the car warmed up, the tires warmed up, getting familiar with the track, etc. I had a hard time believing I needed to be in 3rd and 4th the entire lap, but later in the day, that would prove to be the fastest way around. I know you guys don't car about the details, so I'll get to the good stuff: the Victims!

First of all, Fast Cars do not = Fast laps. Same goes for Slow Cars. The next lowest HP car was a Subaru RS hatchback (165HP). The idea is that passing is only allowed on 2 places on the track, the 2 long straights and NOT in the corners. Some of these cars were $50k and up, so it is in an effort to preserve people's investments! The first session, no one wanted to move over for the Yaris, and once you hit the brakes coming out of a corner because some jerk nut in an M3 is not going to let you by, you're hosed for the entire straight, and faster cars (in a straight line) motor by. That sucked, and was pretty much the story of the morning.

The word was getting out about this little, black Toyota hauling ass around the track, and the Weapon-R intake sounded all the business at the limit. Seriously, there was no car I encountered, or encountered me, that was cornering faster than the Yaris. In fact, I would come off of corners 5 mph-10 mph faster than a lot of cars and had to tap the brakes to keep a safe distance (remember- they weren't moving over for me!).

The 3rd session was the eye-opener for A LOT of cars. I had a line of 5 cars behind me and was stuck behind an M3. (old guy, sucky driver). He moved and I told my coach I was passing and then would pull by and point the other cars by. I did and a host of cars form an EVO to a 350Z went flying by... well, 3 turns later I was on their ass, hoping they'd let me by, not a chance.

At the end of the session, I had about 6 guys around the Yaris, looking at it, wondering if I had 180 or 200HP in the motor!! LOL!! 106, at the crank, bitch! I brought up in the group download session (after the track sessions we all meet with an instructor and have a mini-class for 30 minutes) that I was hoping people would let me pass if I caught them, because I was on the brakes very hard when I'd catch people would pass me on the straight. I simply asked, "If a car catches you and sits behind you for 10 turns, it would make sense that, even if it's slower on the straight, to let him by, right?" That was my announcement to the Group that the Yaris was coming hard, and to get out of the way.

4th session was HOT and the track was greasy. I had a Superformance Cobra behind me, but again, would pull away in the corners and he'd make up some ground on the straights. I had caught some mustang and was pushing him pretty hard, and he was being held up by the another Cobra. I looked in my mirror to catch the Cobra behind me spinning off the track coming out of the tight esses. SEE YA! He was dirty, but OK. The next car that came up was a Porsche Carrera, and luck finally was on my side when the Mustang slowed and let me by. I fully expected the Porsche to come by on the next straight, but he came close, but could not catch up to pass. As the lap went on, I got further and further out, the tires were just cooking and the car was hauling ass.

In the end, the little Yaris was a crowd favorite. People could not believe I was sticking to the ass of an EVO! He gapped me on the straight, but I was back on him by turn 2, and having to brake to keep from getting too close to him. Guys from the other groups came over to share their stories of seeing me catch everything from Z's, to Vette's, to Mustangs, etc. The instructor's were amazed at the cornerspeed of the jelly bean.

I have to say, the suspension and tires made all of the difference. I was able to carry mass amounts of corner speed which helped the car stick to the track and get out of the turns quicker. I wish I had the Turbo kit though and am gearing up to get it and some bigger front brakes. (the Wilwood smaller rotors and 4-piston brakes so I can run the 15" track tires since the 15" DOT-R tires are cheaper than 17's).

Many people, including myself, think the stock brakes are fine, and they are for the street, but for the track you have to change the fluid to a high-temp synthetic at the minimum. I think a 4-piston caliper would be awesome too, as the car was killer when no one was in front of me, but the brakes faded fast in traffic, which is where you don't want to lose the braking.

I highly recommend taking the car, even stock, to a track day. you will have a blast and surprise a lot of people... even the Miata's! At the end of the day the SCCA instructors moved me up to Advanced for the next time I go out. Now we'll have Lotus', Vettes, Audi, Porsches, WRX's and EVO's... and presumably I will be moving out of the way a lot more.