After waiting nearly 2 years to get hold of my car I finally picked it up on the 5th March with a shiny 23 registration plate. I had 2 people vying for me to sell it to them as soon as I got it home but that drive home was enough that I decided to keep it till at least I had given it a good drive. The initial thing that made me give it a good chance was the gear change. It is possibly the best feeling gear change of any car I have ever driven. Prior to that a few days in a 550 Maranello with the metal gate was my highlight. Not a brilliant shift into second IIRC but the precision and clack of the metal gate was a joy when rev matching and nailing the perfect shift.
Life was busy and I had a deadline to get the running in miles completed. I was embarking on a 1400 mile European road trip with 16 other cars on June 14th caller 4BallR. This was the 3rd 4BallR event which is a hardcore driving tour arranged by a husband and wife team. I had done the previous 2 events and most of the people on the trip had also done at least one of the previous events so it is like meeting up with old friends.
I set off on the trip with just 661 miles on the clock. The start point was Langres in France and the tour was 4 days. The start point was 460 miles away so enough time to get to know the car as a motorway mile muncher. Had the wonderful Mrs Rex with me to let me know how the seats were. She is quite fussy on car seats to say the least. They passed the test.
The actual tour was a mixture of motorways, A and B roads and mountain passes. So many mountain passes they were hard to remember individually but a couple did stick in my memory to smile at when I think about them. The actual route for the day was given to us in the morning and we all split into small groups but you would mostly be travelling with 3-4 other cars. The tour went through Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Austria and finally finishing in the black Forrest in Germany. Usually 10-12 hours per day in the car with a short lunch stop.
So, am I keeping the car? Did it impress? For balance the my previous 2 trips were done in an e46 M3 convertible (manual) and an Aston Martin DB9. The short answer is yes it did impress both me and Mrs Rex and the car is a keeper.
The long answer is I would take it over the DB9 every day of the week unless it was all motorway and A roads. The performance up and down the passes was just superb. Was faster than the DB9 (which my mate was driving), the 2 R8’s that were on the tour and the lad in the M2 competition was no where near keeping up. Chatting to him in the evening he said he was really trying but I just kept pulling away. On the morning after the tour finished I took him out in it up a wonderful single track winding road and he could not believe the grip that it had and he understood why he couldn’t keep up. He wants one.
Going up some of the passes I thought I was pushing it but sometime the curve tightened unexpectedly but the car just ate it up. The confidence the car inspires is almost dangerous as the speed you can carry round corners is much more than is probably safe.
There were periods of more mundane driving on A roads with sweeping bends and I concentrated on ‘is the car run even when not being driven at 10/10ths’. Well it’s not too bad when you concentrate on good road craft and consciously feel the steering, gear change, smooth braking etc. It’s not on the level of my Lotus Elise which always feels enjoyable whatever speed you are doing but it is giving enough sensory input to enjoy more of a potter and not reaching the limits of the car. On a long journey it is sometimes nice to have less feedback. The Lotus is frankly awful on some road surfaces.
Lots has been said about the seat position and my take on it (being not very tall) is it’s just about fine. I swapped a couple of times into my sons BMW 140 and that felt low and on returning to the Yaris I did feel perched upright but not too bad. Also the 140 feels almost floaty (even though it has a Birds B1 suspension and MSport LSD and Michelin PS5’s) where as the Yaris feels hunkered down to the road.
Tried out the radar cruise control. Even on the shortest setting it slows you down quite early when coming up to a slower car so had to modify my driving slightly. Not drastic but annoying. Couldn’t find if could have cruise control without radar. Sure you can but couldn’t find it.
With so much grip the baggage and cool box on the rear seat kept moving around a lot. The rubbish storage or nowhere decent to put your phone was a persistent pain. Fell like the storage is not well thought out although I’m sure the car was not designed to haul a load of stuff for a road trip.
Mrs Rex managed to max the car out at 235kmh before I managed to. I’m very impressed the way a little 3 cylinder engine can pull at such a rate even when getting to the limiter. In general I never really wanted for more power. It was great to hear the driver of the Ferrari 360 say to me over dinner how it always caught up and was on his tail. He would always kindly let me past.
At the end of the event there is a final dinner and awards. There is an award for the organisers favourite car. You guessed it, the Yaris earned itself a trophy.
So, we did approximately 2500 miles in 7 days. A great way to bond with a car and I bloody love it. It will by my high days and holidays car and will be kept absolutely standard. I am very much into my track days but will resist taking it on track as I would like to keep it as pristine as possible but the calling may eventually be too much.
Will be taking it on next years 4BallR event and hopefully a GR Yaris tour that I missed this year.
Life was busy and I had a deadline to get the running in miles completed. I was embarking on a 1400 mile European road trip with 16 other cars on June 14th caller 4BallR. This was the 3rd 4BallR event which is a hardcore driving tour arranged by a husband and wife team. I had done the previous 2 events and most of the people on the trip had also done at least one of the previous events so it is like meeting up with old friends.
I set off on the trip with just 661 miles on the clock. The start point was Langres in France and the tour was 4 days. The start point was 460 miles away so enough time to get to know the car as a motorway mile muncher. Had the wonderful Mrs Rex with me to let me know how the seats were. She is quite fussy on car seats to say the least. They passed the test.
The actual tour was a mixture of motorways, A and B roads and mountain passes. So many mountain passes they were hard to remember individually but a couple did stick in my memory to smile at when I think about them. The actual route for the day was given to us in the morning and we all split into small groups but you would mostly be travelling with 3-4 other cars. The tour went through Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Austria and finally finishing in the black Forrest in Germany. Usually 10-12 hours per day in the car with a short lunch stop.
So, am I keeping the car? Did it impress? For balance the my previous 2 trips were done in an e46 M3 convertible (manual) and an Aston Martin DB9. The short answer is yes it did impress both me and Mrs Rex and the car is a keeper.
The long answer is I would take it over the DB9 every day of the week unless it was all motorway and A roads. The performance up and down the passes was just superb. Was faster than the DB9 (which my mate was driving), the 2 R8’s that were on the tour and the lad in the M2 competition was no where near keeping up. Chatting to him in the evening he said he was really trying but I just kept pulling away. On the morning after the tour finished I took him out in it up a wonderful single track winding road and he could not believe the grip that it had and he understood why he couldn’t keep up. He wants one.
Going up some of the passes I thought I was pushing it but sometime the curve tightened unexpectedly but the car just ate it up. The confidence the car inspires is almost dangerous as the speed you can carry round corners is much more than is probably safe.
There were periods of more mundane driving on A roads with sweeping bends and I concentrated on ‘is the car run even when not being driven at 10/10ths’. Well it’s not too bad when you concentrate on good road craft and consciously feel the steering, gear change, smooth braking etc. It’s not on the level of my Lotus Elise which always feels enjoyable whatever speed you are doing but it is giving enough sensory input to enjoy more of a potter and not reaching the limits of the car. On a long journey it is sometimes nice to have less feedback. The Lotus is frankly awful on some road surfaces.
Lots has been said about the seat position and my take on it (being not very tall) is it’s just about fine. I swapped a couple of times into my sons BMW 140 and that felt low and on returning to the Yaris I did feel perched upright but not too bad. Also the 140 feels almost floaty (even though it has a Birds B1 suspension and MSport LSD and Michelin PS5’s) where as the Yaris feels hunkered down to the road.
Tried out the radar cruise control. Even on the shortest setting it slows you down quite early when coming up to a slower car so had to modify my driving slightly. Not drastic but annoying. Couldn’t find if could have cruise control without radar. Sure you can but couldn’t find it.
With so much grip the baggage and cool box on the rear seat kept moving around a lot. The rubbish storage or nowhere decent to put your phone was a persistent pain. Fell like the storage is not well thought out although I’m sure the car was not designed to haul a load of stuff for a road trip.
Mrs Rex managed to max the car out at 235kmh before I managed to. I’m very impressed the way a little 3 cylinder engine can pull at such a rate even when getting to the limiter. In general I never really wanted for more power. It was great to hear the driver of the Ferrari 360 say to me over dinner how it always caught up and was on his tail. He would always kindly let me past.
At the end of the event there is a final dinner and awards. There is an award for the organisers favourite car. You guessed it, the Yaris earned itself a trophy.
So, we did approximately 2500 miles in 7 days. A great way to bond with a car and I bloody love it. It will by my high days and holidays car and will be kept absolutely standard. I am very much into my track days but will resist taking it on track as I would like to keep it as pristine as possible but the calling may eventually be too much.
Will be taking it on next years 4BallR event and hopefully a GR Yaris tour that I missed this year.
thanks for wrapping up.
