Posted by solja786
i bought a 03 model Yaris A.K.A Vitz. Its ground clearance is very low.. it hits every odd speed breaker here in my country and most of them are very odd..not ur standard speed bump..and this scratches the bottom of my car.
so i have a couple of options..one is that i raise the car a couple of inches but my concern is that how much road grip will i lose? i dont want my car to go skidding if i ever hit the brakes hard..or roll over
So wat do u guys suggest?
Posted by number1
larger wheels 15" or 16".
Posted by JiSm
Cross the speed bumps on an angle - so left front and right rear cross at same time
Posted by Rookwise
I would go with slightly bigger wheels. The Yaris/Vitz came with 14/15 inch wheels as standard depending on the model.
Try looking into 16 inch with a similar size tyre wall as what you have on your existing wheels.
Oh yeah. Go slower over the speed bumps
Posted by arien617
If it's got ESP/traction/ABS on it, I'm sure you'll be alright with an inch extra on the springs. Let Toyota take care of it..
Posted by solja786
thnx for all ur replies
as far as bigger tires are concerned i dont think that is an option firstly as far as i kno the speedo reading will get screwed up with bigger tires..and even if we can get around that problemo the roads aren't so great outside my city where i travel often..and if i hit a pot hole or something like that there are chances ill end up damaging the rims
going sideways..tis a good idea but not always..specially with the traffic down here.
but i do like the idea of raising it a lil..and dats wat some of the other ppl have done too..so ya..mayb ill get that done..wat do u guys think about 2 inches..will i lose the road girp?
btw: my car has 13 inch rims atm..secondly it does have abs..dunno about traction and ESP but i doubt it (frankly i dont even kno wat ESP is)
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k750>k790>w850>p990>k800(again)[ This Message was edited by: solja786 on 2008-07-05 12:21 ]
Posted by QVGA
Well obviously the speedo will need recalibration, its no biggie. Just get it done by a toyota shop.
And I've seen vitz with 15'' rims, and it looked good, with decent ground clearance. Get good quality rims and they wont suffer on bumps. Everyone car these days has alloy rims.
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[ This Message was edited by: QVGA on 2008-07-05 12:49 ]
Posted by Daedalus85
Ground clearance is very low? Where do you live, up in the mountins or something?
Posted by solja786
^^^
man..u dont kno the condition of some of the roads here..
btw im not in Europe or North America
Posted by Daedalus85
Then why buy a car like that, really? I mean, if you know it's rough terrian, why buy a small hatchback?
Posted by arien617
^^^
He's got a point. Why not something like a Toyota Hilux? It's totally indestructible!
Posted by solja786
^^^
too much top gear man...lol
nahh..i dont live in a hilly area and the terrain is not rough..the roads are not maintained properly so at some places we face problemos...and as i mentone the speed breakers down here..some of em are made properly but some off em are made very improperly..the are very odd...for example as far as i kno its supposed to b 3 feet or meters (i dont remember exactly) on each side..but the ones we encounter are like one foot/meter on each side and there heights are unbelievable.
and suv is not an option..a small car cuz of affordability reasons
and ill tell u another thing
the car makers down here make their cars very high cuz they kno of this problem.,.our corolla is much higher then the one sold in Europe or America...and the rest of the cars as well..but my Vitz (yaris) is imported from Japan hence its the proper height
[ This Message was edited by: solja786 on 2008-07-05 21:00 ]
Posted by arien617
Well raising yours in the same way as the vehicles destined for your market are raised is the best way then..?
If the manufacturers do it then I'm sure it'll be fine..
Posted by Daedalus85
Yes but airen, they do it while strenghening the rest of the car and suspension so it's safe etc. You can't just do it yourself.
Posted by arien617
I can't see them doing anything other than playing with/replacing suspension components. No one's going to go to the extent where half the underpinnings of the car are changed because of crappy road surfaces.
Instead of this discussion why not take it over to your dealer?
Posted by Coxy
Hey
Do you know if the car is lowered at all? If so then you are already in the poo! If it is, just get standard springs. If not, you will be looking at custom springs.
If you get bigger wheels, the ride height will increase, although the car will look a little like a tractor!
You can fit 17" wheels on a Yaris (Vitz), but if you value your friends this is not a good idea as it will scrape all the time with almost any weight in the back. 16" are fine, even when lowered. So with standard springs and 16" wheels you should be fine.
However, if you don't want new wheels, it looks like custom, bigger springs are needed. But beware, the body roll is pretty bad as standard, and increasing the height won't help, so you will have to take it steady, especially on corners.
Oh and investigate new shocks if you are getting new springs, just to be safe!
Sorry for the long post, hope it helps.
Posted by solja786
@arien
man ..the stupid manufacturers down here dont give that type of support..all these people who have raised their rides height have done it on their own risk..and i dont wanna do that
@coxy
thnx man..
how about if i get the same size springs but harder ones..so they dont get pressed too much with more weight because the problem becomes pronounced when there is weight in the back