GR Yaris Bronson's B-Road Blaster

Bronson said:
But I think I'd have had more fun in the Twingo - less power, but skinnier tyres...
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You just pushed me over the edge to continue to experiment with narrower, lower grip (but not utter crap) tyres, as I just came home with similar sentiments last night. With regular sports tyres my car is effing fast even in the wet, but ultimately less fun on real roads. Still remember my first drive on unscrubbed brand new all season tyres, that was hilarious in the dry. So just ordered some 215 tw420 semi/drift tyres and will see how they behave on the street...
 
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That’s the thing; I’ve been toying for weeks about going to 8.5-9J but being careful not to over-tyre the car and lose all of its qualities. But even on 225 you really have to be beyond our highly policed roads to appreciate the dynamics that it’s capable of. So the search is on to find that balance at lower speeds..I guess, in short, it’s about finding a tyre that loses traction in a predictable manner.
 
Yesterday saw the Mountain section closed off whilst the police/DOI setup the one way signage/cones for TT. I think it re-opened late afternoon, I went for a late evening run and there wasn't another vehicle on it from the Hairpin to the Creg. I love it when it's like this, great weather too, crappy dashcam screenshot doesn't do it justice!

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Wheel swapped with another forum member in early July. These are Wedssport SA-25R in 18x8.5 ET 35. Should give an extra 15-20mm of poke and change the scrub radius by 7mm - which shouldn't be too noticeable, I hope.

I've had these powdercoated (courtesy of Wheel Class, Sittingbourne) in something close to a matt black - they came to me in a silvery colour which I assume is PSB? (Platiunum Silver Black? not sure what it is!), I didn't think they'd suit a white car as they were.

They're about 8.5kg, so a little heavier than the stock BBS but then I didn't need to spend anymore £££ for TC105x!

Hoping to wrap these in AD09's, most likely in 245/40. Despite the above about staying with 225, I've been convinced to try 245..

Have also bought a number of parts including;

BC Racing ER coilovers with 8kg springs
Hardrace front strut brace
DNA top mounts
Verkline and Super Pro droplinks

I will also do a full driveline fluid change, new pads, new brake fluid and shims. I'm going to do the gearbox and engine mounts all at once, too. It's going to be a busy autumn/winter!
 
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So pads and shims installed, along with a fluid change - Motul 660 (1h 45)

Front strut brace (5 min job) in and also had the Powerflex torque, engine and gearbox mount inserts put in (1h 30) - I can already feel the difference! Gear shift feels much more smooth.

I also ended up ordering some Cup 2's in 245.

Next up coilover installation...
 
Bronson said:
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Have also bought a number of parts including;

BC Racing ER coilovers with 8kg springs
Hardrace front strut brace
DNA top mounts
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Did you have a chance to install the DNA Racing top mounts? If yes, any disadvantages for road use? I ask as I recall others posting that they can be a bit much for the road and I noticed that you're probably conscious of creating unnecessary vibration and harshness, as you went for yellow Powerflex bushes.

Bronson said:
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I also ended up ordering some Cup 2's in 245.
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Aware that you mentioned your car was not always used much in the winter, still, if your use is still primarily road rather than track, have you considered tyres that are not 'severely allergic' to water like the Cup 2s are? Eg, Continental SportContact 7 if they're offered in the dimensions your after.

Thanks
 
I’ll get the top mounts installed when the coilovers go on, as well as the adjustable droplinks (keeping the stock roll bars). The DNA will work with the stock dampers, maybe I should try them first..

As for the tyres, my plan was a set of AD09’s but I could only find three! I did contemplate the new Bridgestone Potenza Race, but there are very few reviews on them. The Cup 2’s have a similar tread pattern and I’m not fussed about wet weather because I rarely take the car out in the rain, whatever time of year it is. It’ll get a winter run out on those days it’s dry and the salt spreading hasn’t been too severe!

I was pleasantly surprised by the mount inserts. I know most people fit just the lower torque mount, but getting all three done together made more sense and I didn’t notice any intrusive harshness or vibration into the cabin, but already changing from 2nd to 3rd there is an improvement. Would recommend 👍🏻
 
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Well that wasn't an easy job! Calipers, discs and hubs disassembled just to get to the wheel studs...what we thought might be a 2-3 hours job was 5! No wonder, not many people have tried it...still big thanks to Abbey Motorsport for getting the job done. I'm happy with the way the wheels both look and feels now. Got easily well over thirty turns on the nuts than the seven on the stock wheel studs!
 
Updated list:

Aesthetics:
Satin black Rallyflapz
Tegiwa mirror riser
Retrimmed alcantara steering wheel by Control Customs
Carbon gear knob
'Half' wrap, ceramic coating and detail by Race by Design

Chassis, suspension, wheels and brakes:
Powerflex front camber bolts
Hardrace adjustable rear camber arms
String Theory adjustable springs
HEL Performance brake lines, P-Def brake shims + Motul RBF 660 brake fluid, EBC Bluestuff pads
Skunk aluminum wheel nuts, Hardrace extended wheel studs
Wedsport SA-25R 18x8.5 ET 35 with Michelin Cup 2 in 245/40
Hardrace front strut brace
Powerflex Upper Engine, Upper Gearbox and Lower Torque Mounts (all Yellow, road versions)

Exhaust and engine
Airtec enclosed intake
Whifbitz Titanium cat-back exhaust
Whifbitz Titanium GPF delete pipe

Bits to go on in 2024:
Super Pro adjustable droplinks front and rear
BC Racing ER Series coilovers with 8kg springs
DNA Racing Top Mounts
VBD Seat lowering bracket
Whifbitz decat pipe

Other plans for 2024:
Intercooler
Hardrace rear strut brace
Lithium battery + charger
 
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Got around to installing the VBD seat lowering bracket, just for the drivers side. All pretty straight forward. I put the base in and set the seat up, as there are different settings for taller drivers wanting more legroom. It was then easier to take the whole thing out, attach the base to the runners and then put it back in again.

With the bits of trim that need sacrificing (a couple of pieces underneath need cutting, but you won't see them) and what's taken off the original seat, the net increase in weight is just 6kg, which was a nice surprise. From my measurements its closer to 25mm drop than 30mm but I maybe slightly out on that.
 
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Lots been going on the car in the last few days; Pro Alloy intercooler and boost pipes, BC ER coilovers with 8kg springs, DNA top mounts, adjustable drop links front and rear, Hel clutch line, plus all the driveline oils getting changed. Will add more photos in due course.

A few issues with the intercooler see here plus anyone installing the DNA top mounts should note that the little red dust cap doesn't quite fit underneath the scuttle (I've been unable to use the BC provided adjusters, as they're too big), but I have had the little red caps shaved down - I think it's worth using them - so I will need to use a 3mm allen key to make adjustments to the shocks, whenever that's required. After an alignment I will hopefully get the car out on the road this week for a bit more fine tuning.
 
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A few points about the DNA top mounts...it's almost impossible to access them for adjustment as they are so close to the scuttle, once it's back installed. So for now we've had to stuff some plugs in the top to keep the water out from falling into the top adjuster. The original red caps are simply too big to fit, so we'll have to work out a way to shave them down and I've no chance to install the damper adjuster for the front shocks. We were really struggling with camber adjustment too, we could not get the front below 3 deg, so current settings are -3 at the front -2 at the rear with 0.1 toe in all round. Some advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
Make a hole straight through the plastic and use a long end of an L shaped allen key to adjust. Preferably a hole size where you have found a nice rubber plug to fit.

That is after you found a good camber baseline setting, use lobed camber bolt on strut for finetuning.

Just of the top of my head
 
I was concerned with piercing the scuttle might get water ingress into the engine bay, but yeh a little plug might be a good idea, thanks.

I’ve got Powerflex front camber bolts on, it was off to another garage to do the alignment, so I think we’ll have a go ourselves for fine tuning.
 
Hmm so it doesn’t appear that we can get below -3 at the front. Is it possibly the orientation of the mounts that’s causing this?

Also (facing the engine) the scuttle on the right hand side has some angled moulding that will be very difficult to drill accurately and harder to plug, the left hand side is flat and not an issue. Not sure how to resolve this. May take these top mounts off at this rate as they’re more trouble than they’re worth.
 
Bronson said:
Hmm so it doesn’t appear that we can get below -3 at the front. Is it possibly the orientation of the mounts that’s causing this?

Also (facing the engine) the scuttle on the right hand side has some angled moulding that will be very difficult to drill accurately and harder to plug, the left hand side is flat and not an issue. Not sure how to resolve this. May take these top mounts off at this rate as they’re more trouble than they’re worth.
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As they sit now they are adding caster not (much) camber. Rotate 40 degrees ish inwards you get a maximum addition of both caster and neg camber, rotate them 85 ish (strut hole fully inward) and you get max neg camber added only and will probably make reaching the strut adjustment easier....

Assuming they rotate ;)
 
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