GR Yaris (Gen 2) Armijs GR YARIS MK2

[Armijs]

Well then, this will be my ongoing chronicle of all the things i have done with the car going forth. Car will be living in Latvia, will have the nice number plate of GZ-96 (GaZoo), unfortunately GR-96 was not available to have.

Car is at dealers delivered this morning, will be collecting it probably middle of next week as soon as registration and insurance are done.

White pearl, EA30 interior, Automatic, Premium Spec.

Two specs in Latvia, Sport or Premium.

First thing after collecting, will be wrapping the critical bits with transparent film. Everything after will follow in new posts.
Almost got it now !

 

[GR Fab]

Congrats on your new purchase and first MK2 member car thread!

Could you take some pics of the seat mounting rails when you get the car? Curious to see if they did some modifications to the frame of the car in order to lower the seats.

 

[Armijs]

Congrats on your new purchase and first MK2 member car thread!

Could you take some pics of the seat mounting rails when you get the car? Curious to see if they did some modifications to the frame of the car in order to lower the seats.

Will do !

 

[Armijs]

Well, collecting the car on wednesday, it has been registered today and insured.

 

[Humptydumptyhadabigone]

Is SEA an ejection seat James Bond DB5 style?

 

[Armijs]

Is SEA an ejection seat James Bond DB5 style?

I guess you are joking, but its the new standart safety thing where it alerts the side opening the door if a car or a cyclist in nearing the side that gets oppened if you havent noticed in the mirror.

 

[Armijs]

Well here we are, collected the car today.

Here is the pic of the seating rail

Now going straight to wrapping, atleast will get to drive some 200 km today.

 

[Armijs]

Well, gave the car away to get wrapped, will get it back Friday evening. First trip, doing the speed limit 90-100 km/h, I was very pleasantly surprised about fuel economy.

 

[Onehp]

Well, gave the car away to get wrapped, will get it back Friday evening. First trip, doing the speed limit 90-100 km/h, I was very pleasantly surprised about fuel economy.

View attachment 30117

Will only get worse

Congrats!

Towers for seat rails are lower, only proper way really...

 

[Niqlaz]

Congratulations on the car! You are welcome to report on your impressions of the car. Is it your first GR Yaris, or have you had the previous generation? I have seen two gen2's in real life and both have had bad fit between front fender and bumper, see pictures (press photos...). It has been worst on the left side. How about yours?
Is this something that others have noted?

 

[Armijs]

Congratulations on the car! You are welcome to report on your impressions of the car. Is it your first GR Yaris, or have you had the previous generation? I have seen two gen2's in real life and both have had bad fit between front fender and bumper, see pictures (press photos...). It has been worst on the left side. How about yours?
Is this something that others have noted?

Hey thanks ! My first GR Yaris, will check when i get the car back.
Reminds me the most of the MK2 Focus ST, the heavier steering feel, the suspension stiffness, that is really the only comparison i can make from my own experience, but boy is it planted on the twisties, when i had my first roundabout or sharp corner at speed, i has grinning like an idiot how planted and together it felt, like a breeze, so self assured, the first drive was a blast, even staying under certain rpms while breaking the egnine in, a few times i had to overtake but dont think i went over 4000 rpm at any time. The exhaust is non existant, as in sound, the engine has a nice rumble atleast, the sound system left me a little bit underwhelmed, listened on Spotify volume 30-40, door panels resonate a lot under certain frequencies, will probably have to sound deaden them sooner or later, music without much base is alright sounds great when the panels dont rattle

 

[aitormartin]

The exhaust is non existant, as in sound, the engine has a nice rumble atleast, the sound system left me a little bit underwhelmed, listened on Spotify volume 30-40, door panels resonate a lot under certain frequencies, will probably have to sound deaden them sooner or later, music without much base is alright sounds great when the panels dont rattle

Is this with the upgraded speakers or the regular ones?

 

[Niqlaz]

Hey thanks ! My first GR Yaris, will check when i get the car back.
Reminds me the most of the MK2 Focus ST, the heavier steering feel, the suspension stiffness, that is really the only comparison i can make from my own experience, but boy is it planted on the twisties, when i had my first roundabout or sharp corner at speed, i has grinning like an idiot how planted and together it felt, like a breeze, so self assured, the first drive was a blast, even staying under certain rpms while breaking the egnine in, a few times i had to overtake but dont think i went over 4000 rpm at any time. The exhaust is non existant, as in sound, the engine has a nice rumble atleast, the sound system left me a little bit underwhelmed, listened on Spotify volume 30-40, door panels resonate a lot under certain frequencies, will probably have to sound deaden them sooner or later, music without much base is alright sounds great when the panels dont rattle

Cool, sounds like you're happy with the first impression.
Sound/vibration from the door sides, when you play music a little louder and/or with a little more bass, I recognize that. The price you have to pay if you want to keep the weight of the car down! "cough" BMW M2 2023-
What do you think of the speed limiter? When I was out test driving one, I barely thought about it (the beep), except for the speed symbol flashing which got a bit annoying in the long run...
Will see what you say about the fit of the panels on your car.

 

[Armijs]

Is this with the upgraded speakers or the regular ones?

Yeah, JBL's

Cool, sounds like you're happy with the first impression.
Sound/vibration from the door sides, when you play music a little louder and/or with a little more bass, I recognize that. The price you have to pay if you want to keep the weight of the car down! "cough" BMW M2 2023-
What do you think of the speed limiter? When I was out test driving one, I barely thought about it (the beep), except for the speed symbol flashing which got a bit annoying in the long run...
Will see what you say about the fit of the panels on your car.

As because of work we already have few newish Toyotas in our work fleet, RAV4 2022, Corolla TS 2023, Corolla Cross 2023, Corollas have the same dash and infotainment, i can honestly say that the road noise from the wheels is so loud together with music, you cant hear the beeps at all once it has either read a road sign or taking the speed limit from gps, in town sure you hear the slight beeps, but it really is no issue for me atleast, what i found interesting that on the GR Yaris, i prefered the lane assist off on curved sections, unlike on the Corolla TS where it is always on, i think it has to do for me with how much stiffer the sterring is on the Yaris, but other than that, and i still did not finish all the settings to my liking it has been grand. Today we have a busy day at work, running on Skeleton crew as there is a rally stage in town for the weekend starting today (Cesis, Latvia) my dad will be collecting the Yaris from the wrappers place and bringing it straight here (100 km) so we can do undercoating tomorrow.

I just hope the rattling from the speakers was from the doorcards, because that i can do something about, if its the panel itself, then that makes things difficult, there are like 5 speakers on the front panel, and two in the front doors. Will have to test and see.

 

[Armijs]

Got the car back from wrapping. Looks great all clean now. And also ordered custom made mats for the whole car. Good also for Winter, with shipping only 140 EUR, the wrapping and detailing cost 570 EUR all together. From a professional buddy of mine that does supercars all around the world.
Was also able to get cutouts specifically for the front bumper just released this week.

 

[Armijs]

Tomorrow will be doing a lot of things.

TRD wind deflectors probably. If numberplate lights are halogen yellow 20th century crap will be switched to Osram leds.
And the main thing will be doing a full undercoating.

 

[Inversed]

What will you be undercoating with?
I wonder how painful are these mats to clean, they look cool thou.

 

[Armijs]

LlWhat will you be undercoating with?
I wonder how painful are these mats to clean, they look cool thou.

APP400 WAX, as I am not going rallying it on dirt, nothing else is needed on tarmac in winter, speaking from experience when undercoating like that brand new cars.

In other news...
SMH, f***ing dad, as he was leaving the capital he already got it up to 200 km/h, said they arrived too fast, he feels like any other car will be too slow now for him

And the mats can be pressure washed.

 

[Fred]

Can you give us the link where you ordered the mats?
And, does your wrap- and detail buddy work also in Germany or Switzerland and if so, can you give me his contact?
Cheers, Fred

 

[Armijs]

Can you give us the link where you ordered the mats?
And, does your wrap- and detail buddy work also in Germany or Switzerland and if so, can you give me his contact?
Cheers, Fred

Sure, the mats should be a sure thing for the MK1, not sure about MK2, but they should arrive around august 21, then i will post pictures and a review.

Link for GR Yaris here: Prime Eva

He is primarily based in Latvia, and i guess his company does contract work all around the world, but i dont think it would be usefull for you, for me it was simple local and quick, if he has to go abroad it would be much cheaper for you to do it locally. He works with various wrap material suppliers that already have kits cut out for GR yaris though, as a set for all the vulnerable areas though, and just this week front facelift bumper was already available so he didnt have to custom make it, and i also had him wrap the headlights so they are not mated after a year from all the dust and the debree on our dirty roads:

In other news, things i did today on the Yaris but i did not take pics yet:
Exchanged the number plate lights to leds
Changed the valve caps to nice aluminum GR themed caps, from cheap plastic ones
Tried on the wireless charger for the phone i got, as this model has wireless android auto, it fits perfectly, will just have to add a hidden plug for the charger underneath the panel somehwere so no wires are visible

More pics tomorrow as i start work on the undercoating

I just cant wait for the day i will be able to start daily driving it... soon.... after undercoating, and ceramic coating the body and the wheels