Ok so there’s plusses and minuses by the sounds of things.
I guess it comes down to your intended uses for the car .
GR Yaris burrellbloke's White CP GR
- Thread starter burrellbloke
- Start date
I guess it comes down to your intended uses for the car .
burrellbloke
Absorbed member
- Oct 29, 2022
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- #22
The Yaris didn't make it to Brands Hatch in December 2022 as the track day was cancelled due to snow. I had booked a track day at Snetterton on 21st January 2023 for my Clio 200 but after it suffered a bit of a prang it was not ready so I took the Yaris instead. My son came along for the day - he is a better driver than I am.
The weather was very cold. When we arrived there was frost everywhere and it was about -2. The track was not frozen, but it took until the afternoon to properly dry out and warm up.
I have had the GR Yaris for a few months and have enjoyed the immense grip and the 4 wheel drive. I thought that that the Yaris would be capable of matching or bettering the best laps that we had set at Snetterton in the Clio 200. Ethan managed to do a lap at Snetterton in October 2022 in the Clio 200 that was 2m 17s. That was the reference lap that I expected us to match.
I went out for a very careful first session when the track was still very, very cold. By the second corner of the fist lap I nearly lost the back of the car even thought I was driving slow and had 4 wheel drive. Lap times came down during the morning from 3m 00s to a more respectable 2m 32s just before lunch as the track dried out and warmed up. I don't go to track days to clock up the best time but I always like to time the laps to see if my driving has got any better.
I tried chasing down a blue Clio 172 but could not catch him. I am not sure how standard the 172 was but I was expecting the extra power and grip to make up for my average driving skills to be able to catch him.
There were no more than 45 cars booked on to the track day so the track was quiet. There were no more than 3 or 4 red flags all day. Most of the cars on track were front wheel drive hatch backs. A lot of cars spun off at some point during the day but the flat back recovery trucks were not needed.
As the day went on a I realised that we were never going to get a lap time that was as good as 2m 17s. My Yaris is a Circuit Pack with PS4s tyres and is standard other than some some camber bolts to give it about -2.5 degrees of camber at the front and -2 degrees of camber at the back. The Clio 200 has a gripper LSD, Akrapovic exhaust, Gaz Gold suspension, MRF ZTE semi slicks and has about 200 bhp.
The Yaris was struggling to corner or carry speed through the corners like the Clio had done before. That may be down to the conditions, but it seemed like it was more of a grip issue and better tyres on the Yaris would have provided a lot more grip. I have got no doubt that a better driver could get a better time out of my Yaris. Ethan managed to get the best last time in the Yaris of 2m 23s.
I have compared the RaceBox data from laps in the Clio from October and the Yaris at the weekend. The Clio does corner better, it is slower in terms of the top speed by 5mph, but the minimum speed is better for the Clio and the cornering Gs are also better in the Clio.
It was great to push the Yaris out on a track rather than be limited to road legal driving. The extra power and boost was noticeable on the longer straights at Snetterton. I will have to take the Yaris out for a summer track day to take advantage of better grip in warmer weather. I really should buy a second set of wheels and put some semi slicks on but I have other things to pay for at the moment.
The weather was very cold. When we arrived there was frost everywhere and it was about -2. The track was not frozen, but it took until the afternoon to properly dry out and warm up.
I have had the GR Yaris for a few months and have enjoyed the immense grip and the 4 wheel drive. I thought that that the Yaris would be capable of matching or bettering the best laps that we had set at Snetterton in the Clio 200. Ethan managed to do a lap at Snetterton in October 2022 in the Clio 200 that was 2m 17s. That was the reference lap that I expected us to match.
I went out for a very careful first session when the track was still very, very cold. By the second corner of the fist lap I nearly lost the back of the car even thought I was driving slow and had 4 wheel drive. Lap times came down during the morning from 3m 00s to a more respectable 2m 32s just before lunch as the track dried out and warmed up. I don't go to track days to clock up the best time but I always like to time the laps to see if my driving has got any better.
I tried chasing down a blue Clio 172 but could not catch him. I am not sure how standard the 172 was but I was expecting the extra power and grip to make up for my average driving skills to be able to catch him.
There were no more than 45 cars booked on to the track day so the track was quiet. There were no more than 3 or 4 red flags all day. Most of the cars on track were front wheel drive hatch backs. A lot of cars spun off at some point during the day but the flat back recovery trucks were not needed.
As the day went on a I realised that we were never going to get a lap time that was as good as 2m 17s. My Yaris is a Circuit Pack with PS4s tyres and is standard other than some some camber bolts to give it about -2.5 degrees of camber at the front and -2 degrees of camber at the back. The Clio 200 has a gripper LSD, Akrapovic exhaust, Gaz Gold suspension, MRF ZTE semi slicks and has about 200 bhp.
The Yaris was struggling to corner or carry speed through the corners like the Clio had done before. That may be down to the conditions, but it seemed like it was more of a grip issue and better tyres on the Yaris would have provided a lot more grip. I have got no doubt that a better driver could get a better time out of my Yaris. Ethan managed to get the best last time in the Yaris of 2m 23s.
I have compared the RaceBox data from laps in the Clio from October and the Yaris at the weekend. The Clio does corner better, it is slower in terms of the top speed by 5mph, but the minimum speed is better for the Clio and the cornering Gs are also better in the Clio.
It was great to push the Yaris out on a track rather than be limited to road legal driving. The extra power and boost was noticeable on the longer straights at Snetterton. I will have to take the Yaris out for a summer track day to take advantage of better grip in warmer weather. I really should buy a second set of wheels and put some semi slicks on but I have other things to pay for at the moment.
