Yaris As Track Day Weapon

[iwilson]

Yes it's true! First post here, I've just returned from a series of track days in France. Croix on Saturday, Dijon on Monday and the F1 circuit Magny Cours on Tuesday. Normally I drive a Lotus Elise with a 2L Honda Vtec stuffed in the back. But having blown the engine at Spa a while back my mechanic let me down and the car wasn't ready in time. After mopping around the house on Saturday, the wife suggested I take her car. I initially dismissed the idea, but figured I would pop down to Croix about 3 hours down the road, do a few laps for a laugh and have a night out with the guys.

If I had bothered to read the info pack Lotus-on-track had send me I would have clocked the fact that catching up with everyone would mean driving 120 odd miles to Reims after Croix. Having had the ***** taken for turning up in the Yaris it was my turn to laugh as the group of Elises I was with managed to get lost. Since I was the only one with a GPS it was the Yaris that lead everyone to Reims

By 11 o'clock I was half cut and on the phone to the wife asking when exactly she wanted the car back. Having promised a few bottles of Champagne permission to continue on was given.

An uneventful run down to Dijon the next day in the air conditioned Yaris was met with tales of we were dammed if we put the roof on and dammed if we left it off from the unfortunates unable to afford an aircon'd Yaris. Apparently the sun in France can be quite strong this time of year Turned up at the track the following day and having performed my track day preparation which involved removing the hub caps I signed in. The organisers having spied the Yaris parked up in amongst the GT3's and Elise’s were unable to find a rule preventing me from going out so a wrist band was reluctantly issued. The track opened and I proceeded to lay waste to all I came across. Which admittedly wasn't much :D A major coup was scored when having been overtaken by a Caterham on the front straight I discovered to my delight that not only could I maintain contact I could actually close the gap through the corners. The Caterham having received a number of blue flags had no choice but to submit to the power of the Yaris and let us through. He continued behind us for 5 or so laps till we came in An MX5 and one Elise all meet similar fates and several Porkers were well shook up to see the Yaris still in there mirrors through the twisty bits.

Magny Cours the following day. The Yaris by this stage was track hardened and had no problem dispatching a mate who having suffered a clutch failure in his Lotus Exige was in a hire car diesel Ford Fiesta. What he lacked in pace he made up for with his constant attempts to flatten the enormous kerbs on the entry to the front straight. I was in tears at the sight of the Fiesta literally flying through the air each time he assaulted them. Since I intend to remain married for some time I decided discretion was the better part of valour and handing back the Yaris with wrecked suspension but great photos was not the recipe for a long and happy marriage.

So a great trip all in all.

Some of you may think I'm taking the mick here. But I ain't, had huge fun in the car and at the end of the trip I can assure you there's a lot of people who won't look at a Yaris in the same way anymore. Just to prove it was all true here's a photo taken shortly after despatching a couple of Elises ;) They never stood a chance. When you've got 85hp at your disposal there ain't much that's going to stop you

Another

Mate in the Fiesta

Don't know if you guys get the car on track very often I guess the T-Sport is pretty handy but if you get the chance you'll be surprised at how well it performs.

[Moffmo]

Thats awesome!!!!!!

glad you enjoyed it mate! :D

Completly standard then? and was it the 1.3?

[iwilson]

Thats awesome!!!!!!

glad you enjoyed it mate! :D

Completly standard then? and was it the 1.3?

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Yip 1.3. In all seriousness if the car had another 100hp, I would have been running in the pack. It was just the lack of drive out of the corners and on the straight that held the car back. Now without blowing my trumpet - I'm pretty experienced so much of the ability of the car to keep up was down to a little bit of talent on my behalf and a lack of experience for those I was able to keep up with. But the car was fun, and on a track day that's all that counts.

Here's a few comments from the forums I usually hang out on...

Oh and many thanks Ian for the Yaris pax rides: it's scarier than the rides in the Honda Elise

Pax laps at Dijon with Ian in his Yaris. Faster through the corners than more than a few Elises (I suspect the driver might have had something to do with that)

Back after a good night (in another hotel other than the Holiday inn) and relaxed back roads drive home

Dijon and Magny Cours are top tracks, and there was some serious machines around

(including the yaris )

Many Thanks to Paul and the LoT team, and Sinclair's Support (even though they only had S2 headlamp bulbs and not S1 )

Also for the Yaris and Fiesta battling away at Magny Cours

[Yaris-Nut]

Absolutely brilliant! .. And i love the pics!

But what i dont understand is how a 1.3 bog standard Yaris beat Elise's on the track?? ..

Must have been your driving skills mate! Good on ya!

[Moffmo]

You must have some seroius skill..

very impressed mate :D

[Yaris-Nut]

And the carlo crew should be proud of this aswell!

[iwilson]

You need to remember I was able to hang with everyone else in the corners *only*. I got spanked everywhere else Believe it or not I got overtaken on the front straight at Magny Cours a couple of times by GT3 RS porkers and on both occasions I was able to make back some ground in the corners. Now ordinary a GT3 would romp away, but a 90K car being driven by someone with all the gear but little talent is surprisinly slow through the bits with gravel on one side. Although top marks to their owners for taking them on the track.

I've only got a couple of vids of me in my normal car. One is at a Dutch sprint - more like a Slalom, you never get out of second gear. About 20megs Here. The other one is the death of my old engine at Spa. Only my second lap of the day so not really on the pace, about 4 megs Here

[seveer unaek]

See, we Carlo crew members told y'all it was the best colour... seems it's the fastest too! Pah!! Nah, just kidding... truly awesome fella... always wondered how a standard yaris would fare in the hands of a pro... pretty well it seems!

[BLiTZ]

Unlease the Stig!

[earpl]

ever wondered how a Tsport goes like in the hands of a pro?

www.robertboyle.co.uk/videos/lap1.avi

www.robertboyle.co.uk/videos/lap2.avi

www.robertboyle.co.uk/videos/supra.wmv

"elvis style" "Thankyou very much."

[EGG80X]

wow looks like u had a ball

I race my 1.3L echo in super sprints as well.

Fun car, on some corners where bigger cars have to brake, i just flat chat all the way hehehe

here are some of my track fotos (sorry to hijack your thread)

[Sp33dY]

LOL .. Awesome read ...... :)

[iwilson]

Glad to see I'm not the only one... I could imagine with stiffer suspension, decent tyres and a bit more poke it could run quite well. How much hp does the T-Sport have stock and what have people got out of it reliably?

[Demonic Angel]

Excellent stuff - and in the best colour too - the ol' Carlo Blue!

[reece]

Great photos and great videos

I would have loved to see you in a T Sport round that track

[earpl]

next trackday in the meets section, come on down, i'll take you for a lap or two. even better with new tyres & strut brace

[Ryan1985]

How much hp does the T-Sport have stock and what have people got out of it reliably?

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Stock its got around 108bhp I think. Rossnova on the site has 127bhp I think and thats without forced induction and its really reliable. Kimi on the site has had hers supercharged to around 140bhp and it comes with a 3 year warranty from TTE so its gotta be reliable I suppose. On a side note both they cars are for sale!

[iwilson]

Unforturnately I'm based in Holland so baring any more blow ups of my car, it won't be doing anymore trackdays

p.s. I'm moving back to NZ in October. So it's for sale as well. One careful owner - never tracked

[iwilson]

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Stock its got around 108bhp I think. Rossnova on the site has 127bhp I think and thats without forced induction and its really reliable. Kimi on the site has had hers supercharged to around 140bhp and it comes with a 3 year warranty from TTE so its gotta be reliable I suppose. On a side note both they cars are for sale!

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I thought it might be a little more. Isn't it a 1.5L? I was under the impression the T-Sport branding was supposed to be equivalent to the Honda Type R. I would have hoped for 100hp/L like the Civic Type R.

[Ryan1985]

Afraid not mate. Still lots of fun and alot better than most of its rivals, it was also available as a T-Sport Turbo but it was not available in this country, only 500 were imported to europe and the UK got none of them! :(

[cmarshall]

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Stock its got around 108bhp I think. Rossnova on the site has 127bhp I think and thats without forced induction and its really reliable. Kimi on the site has had hers supercharged to around 140bhp and it comes with a 3 year warranty from TTE so its gotta be reliable I suppose. On a side note both they cars are for sale!

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I thought it might be a little more. Isn't it a 1.5L? I was under the impression the T-Sport branding was supposed to be equivalent to the Honda Type R. I would have hoped for 100hp/L like the Civic Type R.

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The type-r is a much more revvy engine than the t sport least are power bands cuts in well before the type-r's 6000rpm which is way to high in my opinion.

[iwilson]

The type-r is a much more revvy engine than the t sport least are power bands cuts in well before the type-r's 6000rpm which is way to high in my opinion.

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You're right but that's the only way to get decent power out of a naturally aspirated engine. F1 is an extreme example and motorbike engines are another. Because of the short stroke torque production suffers but... You can compensate for a lack of torque by gearing, you can't compensate for a lack of power...

Another shot of the Yaris in action, bit ****** the photographer didn't get one with it three wheeling - saving the tyres This was taken on my first session with the car, before I realized removing the hub caps was essential, given the amount of smoke coming of the brakes and hub caps starting to melt