First Moves On Acquiring A Grey 4dr Yaris

[flashman]

Hi folks;

I am a Saab driver who just acquired a light grey automatic

Yaris for delivery by end-December in Calgary, Alberta, Canada,

just out here by the Rocky Mountains.

I am swapping out the mfg's tires for Nokian WR's immediately.

As this will probably be a city car only, the tire guy says "use

14" rims". Any other advices and opinions, gladly entertained.

First priority:

I need to get some Canadian Tire wet-catcher rubber mats for

the odd day here your car's floor catches a lot of grit and maybe

clay particulate matter, not to mention the moisture that carries it

in there.

Biggest beef: no sunroof

Second biggest beef: no side airbag option

My 21-y/o owns a 1998 Subaru Legacy GT and is also getting Nokians.

With a 100K km tire wear warranty, how can you go wrong?

[BLiTZ]

Never heard of any of those brands you talked about

but welcome to the club mate :D

[flashman]

Never heard of any of those brands you talked about

but welcome to the club mate :D

←

Thanks very much. Nice to be here. Top 'o the

Season to you. :D

I cannot fault you for not knowing Nokian except

perhaps by its mobile telephones. Nokian also

produces what us sometimes challenging winter

climes drivers regard as the supreme winter tire

- a tire I had on my 1st Saab and on a Mitsubishi

Mirage turbo on separate rims; the Hakkapeliitta.

(no financial interest)

Canadian Tire is a very popular and successful

Canada-wide franchise operation and one of the

very first retailers to deploy computerized inventory

controls back in the 20th Century.

(also, no financial interest)

I'm afraid all this winter preparation may be premature

and feeling now like not even needed this year. We're

headed for a warm, dry, 'brown' Christmas again. Record

for Christmas here is about 21C. We look like getting 10C

Sunday in what is known as a 'Chinook;' a wind like the

Mistral named for its capability to 'eat snow. In fact, in

the aboriginal language, 'Chinook' means 'snow-eater.'

[Bee]

...automatic Yaris for delivery by end-December in Calgary....

I am swapping out the mfg's tires for Nokian WR's immediately.

...Any other advices and opinions, gladly entertained.

I need to get some Canadian Tire wet-catcher rubber mats...

Biggest beef: no sunroof

Second biggest beef: no side airbag option

...Nokians [tyres].  With a 100K km tire wear warranty, how can you go wrong?

←

Custom molded fit and colour coded Toyota mud flaps

http://makeashorterlink.com/?E27D2545C

The car already has holes for these flaps. If some run-of-the-mill generic rubber flaps are to be fitted instead, probably holes need to be drilled into the wheel arches, not a desirable practice in terms of integrity of the factory provided overall anti-rust protection.

Seeing Calgary is not unusual to be around -30ºC in winter (OK, not now but we'll see. :)), and has heavy snowfalls in early spring, I can't think of an accessory more desirable than a PRE-HEATER. These two in the links below are not Toyota accessories it has to be said. I don't know much about the more expensive Webasto unit, but the Kenlowe modules can be easily taken out and put in your next car without problem.

Webasto Heater

http://www.webasto.co.uk/am/en/am_automobile_3177.html

Kenlowe Heater

http://www.kenlowe.com/pre-heaters/cars/whatwill.html

Have fun with your new Yaris.

--

Bee.

[flashman]

Hi Bee;

What excellent suggestions, tyvm :)

My wife cannot be relied upon to plug in the Saab

and I fear we have lost engine life and possibly the

rear cat because of it. I know she is hurting on

gas mileage from startup as she is now averaging

13.5 l/100km whereas before, we had been getting 12.5,

worst. This is all-city driving at 7 miles to and 7 miles

from work, stop-n-go. Perhaps the O2 sensor has seen

better times.

I was impressed that the Kenlowe was used on F1 and WRC

cars and shocked at the replacement cost of the 1st Saab

block heater, a crude device which has seen no technological

advancement in many years and is (or had been) universally

fit out all cars sold in Canada.

Are you sure the ECHO mudflaps will fit the Yaris? I will

price and compare the dealer models in the meantime.

Thanks again for the reminder.

My first Saab, a '79 900T, came with three (3) sets of mudflaps

making the car look more like Darth Vader than you can

imagine. The underside flaps prevented gravel deterioration

on the underside brake parts, suspension etc. This dark blue

car was a true Dukes of Hazard foothills-mobile on gravel roads

back and forth to the gas plants. In winter, it was equipped with

Nokian Hakkapeliittas, said to be the best snow tire in the world.

These tires are so good, I bought a set for my second turbocharged

car - a Mitsubishi Mirage under the Dodge Colt nameplate (also 106

hp).

The '99 Saab came with only one set of flaps - on the front wheels.

There has been no call for rear flaps.

From what I have read, I am sure to enjoy the Yaris. In computer

use, I am an early adapter and even in Canada, Saabs are

still looked upon as a bit of a curiosity. I'm sure it will be the same

with the Yaris for a bit and I will enjoy that.

Cheers;

flashman

[alanbradley]

Hi and welcome!

For those of us who don't know, Nokian seem to be a very highly regarded winter tyre in North America.

Were I replacing my Yaris with a new one I would probably just keep the 14" steels I use for winter instead of the 15" whells that will be standard here. I don't know about Canada, but here you are supposed to keep your speedo within a certain %-age of "correct" so unless you want to re-calibrate your speedo twice a year its worth making sure there's not going to be too much of a change in rolling radius (there's a calulator thingy on this page if you want to check)

Hope that helps!

Alan

edit: PS If you think your Yaris will be a curiosity then that's nothing compared to how weird the diesel and 1.0 litre versions would seem to many!

PPS You do know that the lines of text wrap and you don't have to press return at the end of each line, don't you?

[flashman]

Very helpful and informative, yes, Alan, thanks.

......... "just keep the 14" steels I use for winter "

That's the plan, yes, except that the Nokians I bought are all-seasons. The best all seasons money can buy, or so I'm informed.

.... diesel

Canada's diesel refineries are not up to European standards. We don't get a broad array of diesel engine choices.

..........press return at the end of each line, don't you?

Firefox does have its differences. I'll give it a try.

Cheers

[alanbradley]

The best all seasons money can buy, or so I'm informed.

Aha! Well, if they're all-seasons then I'd be inclined to get whatever is the original size to start off with (I see that Canada get both 14" and 15" depending on spec...) and then work from there...

As I said, I've also heard good things about them.

We don't get a broad array of diesel engine choices.

I hear about the diesel "problem" regularly on other forums - mainly from people sick of their VWs and don't want/need a Sprinter!

Firefox does have its differences. I'll give it a try.

I use Firefox too (1.5, but previous versions were fine too...)

[flashman]

I hear about the diesel "problem" regularly on other forums - mainly from people sick of their VWs

Before I turned to Yaris, I'd been doing homework on running costs of small cars through Edmunds. I was shocked to find that the VW Golf diesel was no more cost-efficient than a few of the others, including the ECHO. It was at that point I became interested in Yaris. Handling and reliability were considerations. The VW was way too expensive for what you get.

US refineries are setting up to accept EU diesel standards. Lucky them. Canadian refiners have yet to get the high sign on the necessary mods.

[flashman]

...automatic Yaris for delivery by end-December in Calgary....

I am swapping out the mfg's tires for Nokian WR's immediately.

...Any other advices and opinions, gladly entertained.

I need to get some Canadian Tire wet-catcher rubber mats...

Biggest beef: no sunroof

Second biggest beef: no side airbag option

...Nokians [tyres].  With a 100K km tire wear warranty, how can you go wrong?

←

Custom molded fit and colour coded Toyota mud flaps

http://makeashorterlink.com/?E27D2545C

The car already has holes for these flaps. If some run-of-the-mill generic rubber flaps are to be fitted instead, probably holes need to be drilled into the wheel arches, not a desirable practice in terms of integrity of the factory provided overall anti-rust protection.

Seeing Calgary is not unusual to be around -30ºC in winter (OK, not now but we'll see. :)), and has heavy snowfalls in early spring, I can't think of an accessory more desirable than a PRE-HEATER. These two in the links below are not Toyota accessories it has to be said. I don't know much about the more expensive Webasto unit, but the Kenlowe modules can be easily taken out and put in your next car without problem.

Webasto Heater

http://www.webasto.co.uk/am/en/am_automobile_3177.html

Kenlowe Heater

http://www.kenlowe.com/pre-heaters/cars/whatwill.html

Have fun with your new Yaris.

--

Bee.

←

Bee: The car came with mud flaps; nice ones. In the end, I bought

red (my first red car, ever) and I/we love it. The dog needs to

learn to jump higher into the back seat. She flubbed her first

attempt, thinking the seats were like the Saab's back seat.

I got the floor mats (Michelin built and engineered) in a clay

color, as that is the color of our earth here and dirt won't show

as badly.

I hope the Yaris has as good a cabin air-clearing system as Saab,

considered an industry leader in HVAC for cars and you get used

to the quality.

My tire guy sold me a set of brushed alumnum-colored 7-spoke wheels

for the Bridgestones and called them a 3-season tire whereas

Nokian WRs are true 4-season tires. (with a 100k all-in warranty).

My Nokian WRs go on the plain-Jane steel rims and when the really cold

weather comes, the plastic wheel covers come off and the black wheels

are exposed for action.

Subaru WRX people watch out, here I come. I am a seasoned and

fearless winter road warrior having piloted 2 TurboSaabs faultlessly

and quickly through many icy winters on Michelin Alpins and Nokia

Hakkapeliittas. These latter tires were mounted on gorgeous gold

and polished aluminum multi-spoked wheels for the Dodge Colt Turbo

I drove for about 6 years, incidentally during the Calgary Winter Olympics.

I ran your item covering for engine-heating upgrade from the UK (2) past

the Saab people. On balance, the contributors felt (one having owned a

Kenlowe) that these heaters are superb additions to a cold weather car.

Thank you for bringing that to our attention.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hogmanay!

[Bee]

Merry Christmas and Happy Hogmanay!

←

To everyone here, Merry Christmas and...

http://makeashorterlink.com/?A47111E5C

C..H..E..E..R..S.....<burb>....<ooOo>... :D

--

Bee