Thursday, March 4, 2010

New suspension on my Yaris

Yaris suspensionWell, now; there's a lot of color going on underneath my Yaris, nowadays. I recently replaced my Megan Racing coilovers with Tokico HP shocks (aka "Blues") and Tein S-Tech springs. (FYI, I got them from Micro Image, which I highly recommend). So why the switch?

The Megan Racing coilover set is very stiff. In fact, it was too stiff after about a year-and-a-half's worth of street driving. Plus, I never adjusted the height, and very rarely adjusted the dampening. It kind of defeats the purpose of an adjustable coilover system, no? In addition, some of the paint had begun to flake off of the springs. Granted, some sanding and some paint would've remedied this, but it was time for a switch anyway.

The new setup rides a bit softer than the Megan coiloevers when they were on setting 8 of 32. The ride is less bouncy, too. And, on the street, the increased suspension travel allows the car to soak up the bumps better, offering a more controlled feel. The ride is still firm, but not as kidney-jarring as the Megans. It's definitely sporty, handles well, and a great street setup, especially with my TRD rear sway bar.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

dang, are those coils supposed to be touching!?

Andy Lilienthal said...

I don't know if they really are or not (it could be the angle). The car is on the ground, so they are compressed ...

AccentPlanetDotOrg said...

That Yaris of yours is ready to go man, keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

correct me if I'm wrong, but Yaris' rear beam suspension is same/similar to xA, no? My guess is you only got front wheel alignments when you did suspension changes. Sweet car btw. Only if I had a 5-spd in the xA.....:P

MconYaris said...

I’m interested in setting up my Yaris with the same suspension you have. Unfortunately I can’t find find anything on Tokico HP shocks specific to Yaris, do you have the parts number or recommend a website I can find the parts at. I’ve tried micro image but they’re no longer around. Thanks

Andy Lilienthal said...

Unfortunately, Tokico no longer makes the HPs for the Yaris. I think I'd go with the TRD shocks/struts as a replacement when the time comes.

https://www.trdusa.com/parts-detail.html?p=PTR04-52061&years=2007&models=Yaris%20Hatchback&categories=Performance%20Suspension%2FChassis&subcategories=Shocks%20and%20Struts