GR Yaris Hot Ketchup - The 1000 Days GR Yaris

[GR17]

I call my GRY "Hot Ketchup" but it is (sadly) named 1000 Days GR Yaris by my friends so that is only appropriate that I include both names in the title of this thread.

It is a High Performance Pack (Circuit Pack) prefacelift GR Yaris in red. I got the car delivered in Köln and first thing I did with it was to visit the GR Factory in Köln.

Two weeks ago, I took it to the Swiss Alps and took some pictures. The trip convinced me to open a thread about the car and my adventures with it.

 

[GR17]

We drove from Zürich to Grimselpass -> Furkapass -> Sustenpass. Sustenpass was by far my favorite to enjoy the GR Yaris. Not as many hairpins as the others but lots of twisty mountain edge driving and much emptier roads. With a biker following closely we raced to the top of the pass. It was the best drive I have ever experienced in any car. So after such a drive I had to stop and shoot some photos of the car on Sustenpass:

 

[GR17]

On top of the Grimselpass, we met a couple from Italy. Great people, chatted about the car for a little. He loves the car and intends to keep it stock. He was surprised to hear GRY was my only car and recommended I do underbody protection before the winter months. Which is probably a good idea.

 

[ElWayne]

...recommended I do underbody protection before the winter months. Which is probably a good idea.

I had mine for underbody protection at Rostschutzklinik Freiberg in August, can only recommend. They have a lot of experience with GRYs, even had a white one there when I dropped mine of. Takes about a week.

 

[Chris64]

Wow! Looks like an amazing road trip, would love to do something like that in mine. Thanks for sharing

 

[GR17]

I haven't been posting here much lately. Here are some updates:

Drove 7 hours to Paris for a concert. The drive was horrible but Paul McCartney was as awesome as ever. Maybe it was worth driving to get these pictures but I'll be taking the train next time for sure.

 

[GR17]

Spent couple days in France's Vosges region. Great roads and during early April, mostly empty too. Enjoyed it a lot despite being on winters. Not regretting the Michelin Pilot Alpin choice.

 

[GReeni]

great photos, thanks for sharing.

 

[GR17]

Repeat of last year's trip. This time with friends. We thought we were unlucky due to weather but passes were pretty much empty due to weather and it only began raining towards sunset.

 

[GR17]

Also shot a video of our Sustenpass climb. Spectacular views despite (or thanks to) foggy/rainy weather:

 

[Euge]

Repeat of last year's trip. This time with friends. We thought we were unlucky due to weather but passes were pretty much empty due to weather and it only began raining towards sunset.

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This is on my wish list for next year, Swiss alps in my GR.

 

[GR17]

This is on my wish list for next year, Swiss alps in my GR.

Definitely recommended. We have a saying between friends. "Sustenpass never disappoints". Rainy, foggy, sunny, cold, hot, busy... doesn't matter. Sustenpass never disappoints! By far my favorite pass to drive.

 

[Euge]

Definitely recommended. We have a saying between friends. "Sustenpass never disappoints". Rainy, foggy, sunny, cold, hot, busy... doesn't matter. Sustenpass never disappoints! By far my favorite pass to drive.

I will add it to the list, I drove Maloja Pass on my way to St. Moritz and Furka Pass on my way to Zermatt last year in a hired Audi. Vowed to return in my GR.

 

[GR17]

I gave up on my rally dreams and decided to focus on asphalt/track performance from now on. Got a new set of wheels and tyres, lowering springs and a proper alignment.

Protrack One 9x17
Yokahama Advan AD09 255/40/17
Eibach Pro Kit

 

[RichM]

Wheels look great. What's the tyre profile? Presumably more than the 40 profile of OEM rubber, if so, is there much difference in comfort? I'm wondering in the context of the horrendous UK potholed roads.

 

[GR17]

Wheels look great. What's the tyre profile? Presumably more than the 40 profile of OEM rubber, if so, is there much difference in comfort? I'm wondering in the context of the horrendous UK potholed roads.

They are 255/40/17 so definitely more sidewall than the stock ps4s.

I can’t comment much on comfort because, I also installed lowering springs which reduced the comfort. Also the sidewalls on the ad09 are supposed to be much harder than the ps4s so that somehwat negates the benefits of more sidewall.

That said, there is this small pavement height difference I have to slowly drive over when entering my garage which feels noticeably softer now.

 

[GottGry]

It's good to have a bit more sidewall to be able to lean on when driving hard on track

 

[GR17]

Been working on a better integrated data logging solution.

GPS
Instead of ordering a ready made GPS with built in battery like a normal person I decided to buy the DIY version from Racebox which supports all the features the normal ones does but doesn't come with a power source, therefore in a very compact and modifiable form.

Since I changed the stock mirror with an unpowered Opel Astra mirror, the cable for the stock mirror remained unused. Turns out I can simply tap into that cable to power the Racebox Micro which supports anything from 3.5V to 16V.

I designed this part that fits into the mirror assembly and integrates a slot to slide the racebox micro in.




Some test prints and earlier versions:



Connected it all and now I have a 25Hz gps module that turns on/off with the car now!

OBD
This one is easy, OBDLink seems to be the gold standard and it is supported by all major apps. Nothing fancy here, plug and forget. Apparently not recommended with a lesser quality obd adapter, so get an OBDLink if you can.

The app
This is where some headaches start. You have to pick a software solution that supports both devices and works reliably enough. I ended up with RaceChrono Pro running on an Android device. Looked at some PIDs that I had added to Torque Pro and converted them to RaceChrono Pro. You can't transfer everything 1:1. Most of it works but I couldn't get some of these to work yet. I would love to get the tyre information to work.




I will take some day photos when I get the chance.