New rolling stock for my Yaris: Pt. 2

Unfortunately the Konig wheels I ordered (see below post) were on order for 6-8 weeks, and I didn't want to wait that long. Instead, I found a great deal on some Speedy Race Mode wheels (15x6.5, +40) and Falken Ziex 912 tires. Although I wasn't going to go with an all-season tire, the 912s were a smokin' deal, so I figured what the heck. I've owned three sets of Falken Ziex 512s, and have been very happy with them. More info once they're on.

New rolling stock for my Yaris

I've switched things up a bit on my '07 Yaris. I sold my Speedmaster wheels and Kumho AST tires, and just purchased a set of 15" Konig Daylite wheels (15x6.5, et +40) and a set of Yokohama S.Drive tires (195/55/15). Can't wait to get them on! A bit more offset, and a narrower tire should reduce the small amount of rubbing I was getting with my last setup. Plus, the S.Drives are a much stickier tire than the Kumho ASTs.

The squeaky wheel ... er ... suspension gets the grease

I've developed a really annoying squeak in my driver's side rear suspension. I can't figure it out. It's pretty intermittent, but is loud when it happens.

I've been trying to troubleshoot this thing for nearly a week now. I started by simply jacking the car up, and rotating the coilover perches. That seemed to take care of it for a few days. Heck, I took an 800 mile road trip to Northern California, and never heard the squeak.

After returning to Portland, the squeak came back. I jacked the car up and removed the rear spring and shock. I took the mounts off and used "disc brake lube" (as recommended by the guy at Baxter's Auto Parts) to lubricate all of the bushings (top and bottom mounts on the coilovers). Reassembled, test drove, and the squeak is still there. Grrrr...

Next, I made sure the tops on the shocks were tight. I noticed the squeaking side wasn't at tight as the non-squeaking side, so once everything was snugged up, it was off for a test drive. And yet again, the damn thing squeaked.

Angered, I drove to work, listening to all the squeaking. When I left work yesterday, I headed home and noticed no squeaking. Okay. I set off to run some errands that evening, and again, no squeaking. Whatever.

I'm wondering if it has something to do with the temperature outside. On my road trip, it was in the 70s. The squeak returned when it got cooler. Yesterday it was warmer. We'll have to see what today brings.

Better breathing for my Yaris

Rather than spend the money on an expensive air intake for my Yaris, I decided to save some cash by making my own high(er)-flow intake. I'd done this before on other cars with good results, so I figured why not?. No, I don't have any dyno numbers, but it sounds good and I'll never had to buy another filter since I used a K&N.


Basically it goes something like this: I bought a spare airbox from a Yaris owner. I proceeded to remove the built-in charcoal filter in the top of the airbox. Next, I broke out the Dremel tool, and removed much of the lower portions of the airbox, thus making the bottom of the K&N air filter exposed and able to suck more air. However, since I didn't remove all of the airbox, it still bolted into the stock location and fits perfectly. The photos above are of the bottom-half of the airbox with the sections removed.

The result was an inexpensive intake that looks stock and sounds great.

I know – some of you are thinking it's not dyno proven, it's sucking in warm air, so on, and so fourth. Well, perhaps, but I really don't care since the short-ram air intakes typically don't make a lot of power to begin with, and I'm not paying the money for one. Call me cheap. Regardless, this project was quick, easy, and effective. And to paraphrase a friend of mine on Honda-Tech, "If your ass can feel the difference between 90hp and 95hp in a 2300 lb. car, you should be flying experimental aircraft for another planet in a galaxy far far away."

So there.