Yaris MK3 driving tips.

[CMJToyota]

My wife is the driver of our  MK3 Yaris and isn’t getting on with it. She finds that to pull away from a standing start she is over revving and sometimes you can hear the wheels slipping  and if she doesn’t do this it stalls. Her previous cars have been two very manual Corollas. Do you have any advice for her? 

[flash22]

Manual or auto or hybrid ?

[Stevie J]

I have recently acquired a Mk 3, (2014 1st facelift 1.33 Icon) which used to belong to my mother who owned it since it was 18 months old. She always seemed to have issues over revving the engine when pulling away from a  standstill in first gear. She said it  always annoyed her that the clutch biting point was high up on the pedal travel and after the Mk2 she had before, where the bite point was almost at the bottom of the pedal travel,  meant that she was over revving before the clutch came up enough to engage drive.

I have found the exact same issue, I myself now find myself roaring the engine even at modest accelerator pedal pressure on the take off in first gear. It seems the Mk3 has a particularly high biting point on the clutch pedal, and a very sensitive throttle, meaning not much pressure is needed on the accelerator pedal whilst bringing the clutch pedal up to biting point. I myself have stalled the car a few times trying to be less fierce on the throttle when taking up drive, so I think its just something you have to get used to over time, and keep an eye on the rev counter when starting off in first gear - keep the revs around 2000 and be light on the throttle. Compared to the Mk2 the mk3 is a pretty different car, and even after 33 years driving, I still find the Mk3 throttle and clutch rather difficult to co-ordinate for a successful pull away without over revving.

[CMJToyota]

It is a 1.5 manual.I wonder if the traction control is doing a poor job when moving off.

[Cyker]

Obvious question: How old is the clutch? I'm wondering if it could be worn or glazed.

Also, IIRC the Mk3 had some sort of throttle assist thing the Mk2 didn't have, which made it add a pulse of throttle when the clutch was depressed which might be what's happening here.

 

[Max_Headroom]

5 minutes ago, Cyker said:

Obvious question: How old is the clutch? I'm wondering if it could be worn or glazed.

Also, IIRC the Mk3 had some sort of throttle assist thing the Mk2 didn't have, which made it add a pulse of throttle when the clutch was depressed which might be what's happening here.

 

Glad you posted that i noticed mine was revving a little high when cold like having choke on (the olds will get that) too much back in the day.

It kind of revs up when you shift gear but only for a second, it hasn't made driving any different and i don't wheel spin,  as you say Stevie may be having clutch issues. 

[flash22]

Try some flatter shoes, it's throttle by wire, the pedal is very sensitive, on its original tyres ? cheap no name tyres  or odd tyres (brand, tread pattern or wear) the tyres may have started to go "off" they go hard, and you usually get wheel spin and poor braking especially in the damp/wet

Any unusual tyre wear ?

[CMJToyota]

The car is four years old with 9000miles on it and the original tyres.She has always driven without shoes on (forty years) . I will have a look for any unusual tyre wear but it does sit  undriven for at least fourteen days between going out in it.  

[Gray86]

We have had a 2015 1.33 manual for the last 5.5 years, the throttle is sensitive and the clutch bite from cold is quite abrupt, nothing unusual in my experience. It’s the sort of thing you get used to and adjust your driving style. Only needs a gentle prod of the pedal and gentle clutch movement to get off the line smoothly 

[Max_Headroom]

8 hours ago, CMJToyota said:

The car is four years old with 9000miles on it and the original tyres.

I think that will rule the clutch being the problem out. 

[paul9]

1 hour ago, Max_Headroom said:

I think that will rule the clutch being the problem out. 

You obviously haven't considered the way people like me beat up their clutches. 😉

[Mojo1010]

May want to consider swapping for another car if cannot get on with this issue. Even go to a Yaris hybrid, no clutch, no stalling ever. 

[TonyHSD]

13 hours ago, CMJToyota said:

My wife is the driver of our  MK3 Yaris and isn’t getting on with it. She finds that to pull away from a standing start she is over revving and sometimes you can hear the wheels slipping  and if she doesn’t do this it stalls. Her previous cars have been two very manual Corollas. Do you have any advice for her? 

Perhaps she needs to adapt to the car clutch a bit and get use to it.  
Every car has slightly different bite point on the clutch, different torque and those are important. The first and most important to do is to take her time and try to drive off slowly, perhaps at quiet street for beginning just to get use to know her clutch and watch the rpm on the rev counter., make a note at what rpm the clutch operated at its smoothest.  
Another important thing to note is that when the engine is cold and rpm are higher 1200+ for example she will need to be more gentle with accelerator where when the engine is warmed up the rpm will be lower 8-900 and she may need to press a bit more accelerator on initial start up from standstill. 
Patience and practice are the key here 👌👍
 

[flash22]

Take it for a long on some fast roads/motorway to get heat in the engine, brakes and tires, if its doing short runs it never gets up to temp, if tires don't get heat in them, they can turn hard

[Cyker]

One other thing I was thinking about is if she or the previous owner used to ride the clutch a lot.

I was reminded of my first Mk1 Yaris, which developed a weird issue where it became very tricky to move off on an incline as it felt like the clutch was slipping and bit much higher, but on a flat surface it was fine, and it didn't slip when engaged even under full torque (And that little diesel engine put out a lot of torque!  )

I eventually got the clutch changed as it got harder and harder to move off smoothly, and we found the diaphragm springs were practically collapsed on one side of the pressure plate, which was causing a very uneven engagement; The clutch was engaging at an angle and the outer half of the ring was worn practically to the rivets while the inside had lots of thickness left.

It was suggested that this was caused by me riding the clutch too much (Which I was quite insulted by as I have superb clutch skills and blamed the previous owner instead   )

After the replacement it was much better, biting dead centre and very easy to move off smoothly, even on an incline and full of people.

[RJ414i]

On 2/23/2023 at 7:07 PM, CMJToyota said:

My wife is the driver of our  MK3 Yaris and isn’t getting on with it. She finds that to pull away from a standing start she is over revving and sometimes you can hear the wheels slipping  and if she doesn’t do this it stalls. Her previous cars have been two very manual Corollas. Do you have any advice for her? 

My wife's 1.5 (17 reg) is exactly the same revs wise when pulling away. It was a private sale (16k miles) about 18 months ago and I never "liked" the clutch.

It's serviced at a Toyota dealers, and the first time she took it for a service they must have adjusted it. Totally different feel (improved) on it's return.