Yaris

We bought a 2010 Toyota Yaris in May. First time for a new car. We named her "Alba" because she is white.

I have been having a lot of fun with the car, mostly changing it, and on rare occasions, driving it.

Alba, the name

substantia alba the whitish tissue of the brain and spinal cord, consisting mainly of myelinated nerve fibres (World English Dictionary)

Alba replaces our beloved 1985 Chevy Sprint (aka Suzuki Swift) with 380,000 miles on it. If I could buy a 2010 Swift I would have. I loved the 992 cc 3 cyl engine and the 5 speed gearbox and the small size. This sounds like a lament!

"alba: in the music of the troubadours, the 11th- and 12th-century poet-musicians of southern France, a song of lament for lovers parting at dawn or of a watchman's warning to lovers at dawn. A song of the latter type sometimes takes the form of a dialogue between a watchman and a lover. Some sources consider the alba an early form of an aubade, though unlike the alba an aubade is usually a celebration of the dawn. Examples of albas for which music also survives include Reis glorios by Giraut de Bornelh (c. 1140-c. 1200) and the anonymous Gaite de la tor. The minnesingers, the German counterparts of the troubadours, also used the form, calling it Tagelied ("day song")." dictionary.reference.com

The story so far

I am making changes because it's fun but mostly my goal is higher MPG, just to see what is possible, not because it saves money. We are currently getting 39-41 mpg.

When I had no money, I had sports cars (MG, Fiat, Opel). Now I can afford a new car and I value the reliability and comfort for longer trips. (We now ride bicycles for 95% of our road miles.) I still want a car that's fun to drive but I need a place to carry luggage and bicycles too. Alba is the best compromise we could find today.

In chronological order

1. 19mm Ultraracing rear swaybar (this is a great addition)
2. Cabin air filter (per Jake von Slatt's instructions) That worked but 2024-01 I bought one from Autozone LOL
3. Cruise control using factory stalk ordered from CTScott
4. Intermittent wipers using Prius factory stalk ordered from trdsparks.com
5. Removed rear seat and built a cargo deck. We now have a 2 seater.
6. Micro Image belly pan installed, keeping the engine nice and clean and possibly adding 1 mpg?
7. Sound Dampening: done finally! see Seeking a quieter Yaris.
8. Stripes :-) Yellow and black on hood
9. Rear power outlet (in back of console) -- 2024-02-17 did not need, removed
10. Powerpole outlets (next to stock power outlet)
11. LED interior lights
12. LED park lights 168, 12496 side marker
13. LED license plate light
14. Garmin Nuvi + Ecoroute HD navigation system -- 2022 Ecoroute deleted! Stopped working
15. JDM replica tailights from Microimage (5/11)
16. Smooth wheel covers from AutoAmmenity.com looked great but 2 fell off and are gone!
17. Lowered 1" with Tanabe NF210 springs (11/11) removed (10/17) due to ride quality spousal complaints
18. Tokico Blue struts and shocks (11/11)
19. CRL Newport 17x28 sunroof - required removing the dome light. Get the kit with the wide trim ring!
20. Micro Image lightweight crankshaft pulley; looks nice, no discernible change in performance or MPG; probably contributes to squeeky fan belt!! Argh.
21. Clazzio leather seat covers w/ heaters NICE ***** that's 5 stars; from Micro Image. Heaters plug into a powerpole outlet. (10/12)
22. Upgraded JDM incandescent reverse lights to brighter LEDs
23. Relocated dome light combined with map lights and now have switched red or white LEDs (11/12)
24. Dual band ham radio Kenwood TM-D710A (11/12)
25. Trailer hitch, mostly for Kuat bike rack
26. LED H4 headlights from SuperBrightLeds.com (05/21)
27. UBlox AEK-4P GPS receiver under rear deck next to the TM-D710 radio
28. Kenwood KAC-M1814 + Mil-trec Bluetooth replaces the worst stereo ever (Pioneer DEH..) Manual Wiring diagram

Removed the USB power outlets, did not like where I mounted them in the console and I am now using a USB power outlet adapter in the stock power outlet. It has two connectors which I tend to use for charging a phone and powering my Android phone when using it in the car.

The wish list

• OBD II interface (have one now but need a computer to hook it up to)
• Put some pictures here
• Skirts for rear wheels
• Delete passenger side mirror

That's about it.

Current projects

Kenwood stereo

Stereo purchased for $125 from Crutchfield in August 2024; the double din chassis required additional adapters purchased from I5 Toyota.

"Radio Receiver Bracket A" #86211-04050 and "Radio Receiver Bracket B" #86212-52200

See https://autoparts.i-5toyota.com/products/product/bracket-radio-recei-8621252200?driveline=2WD%201.5L%20L4%204AT&grade=3Dr.%20Hatch%20Back&series_name=YARIS%20LIFTBACK&model_year=2010&model_year_code=2010:1422 about $18 each,

I had a thought of putting in an oil pressure gauge and a volt meter. I would replace the stock oil pressure switch with this one: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/VDO-360009/ Should be doable from under the car, possibly pulling the oil filter and maybe the starter motor?

I'd kind of like to have a water temp gauge (did not have one in the aircooled VW bus! :-) OBD does water temperature so I might pass on that. Not sure where the sending unit goes. Real gauges can be nice though.

I'd like a super-accurate fuel rate consumption gauge too.

Onboard Computer

Oct 2010-- Today I ordered a 7" monitor, a Lilliput UM70 using DisplayLink (USB) technology from MP3Car. I like the DisplayLink idea, since it means only a skinny little USB cable has to go from the monitor to the computer, and it provides video, touch and power connections.