Yaris Hybrid stability at 70mph... disappointing. Please any advice?

[Maxin]

Hello everyone!

I wonder if you can share your opinion on how the car feel and handle at motorway speed.

I recently bought a 2018 Yaris Hybrid.
For the first month I drove the car just in town or on dual carriage way limited at 50mph.

When I finally took the car to on a motorway at  70mph I felt the car from time to time a tiny bit unstable and kind of ''wobbly''.

Anyone having the same issue/experience?
If so there is anything I can do to improve the car stability?  (as it felt a bit uncomfortable sometimes)
 

The car run on Dunlop Sp Fastresponse 175/65/R15 and the tyres are aligned and in excellent conditions.
I drove many other cars, smaller and bigger and this is the first time that this was so noticeable in a car.

 

Thank you! 🙂

[stevecrvn]

I have a 2015 Yaris Hybrid and I find it very stable . Have you checked your tyre pressures I have mine set to 33 front and 32 rear or possibly have a damaged tyre that can not be seen as on the inside wall 

[Mikw]

They're usually pretty stable on the motorway, so could be a wheel balancing issue or damage to the tyres perhaps?

[bathtub tom]

Was it windy? I find my Yaris very susceptible to side winds.

[Maxin]

Hi all, thank you for your replies! 🙂

Yes, it was windy and I suspected that could have been the sidewind that made it feel that way.
Just surprised by the car reaction considering that its a modern car and it was quite noticeable compared to other cars.

I did check the tires and they are currently at 35psi front and 33 back.
Not sure if they are Eco tires, which on user guide are reccommended to be inflated a couple of psi higher than the  standard 33psi on regular tires, (36psi front and 35 back) I will double check.

The tires seems good without damages,(I had them recently checked)

I started to think that being 175, they are a bit narrow for the car size considering that a friend Fiat 500 1.2 75cv have 195 /15 inch from factory and a recently rented Corsa 1.2 100hp had 205 wide on.
 

I saw that the car can mount 195/16inches. Do you think that upgrading to 195 wide will increase the car stability from sidewind at motorway speed?

 

Thank you 🙂

 

 

[Catlover]

Are you sure the MWay road surface is not worn due to heavy goods vehicles. That would mean where their weight has been there are tyres groves, and because the distance of these grooves across the width of the vehicles is vastly wider then your Yaris you will get a bit of wandering. You live in London, what Mway are you talking about? Maybe M25. Whatever, it’s probably a well used Mway and potent ion ally grooved. Drop your tyre pressure to what Toyota say - see your manual, or look for sticker on vehicle door opening, and see what that does for you.

As to you thinking the tyres/wheel combination is the wrong size for the car, Toyota is a massive world wide manufacturer, the biggest seller of cars in the world. I don’t think they going to put a car on the market that has got wrong size wheels/tyres. Sure they will be optional fit, but that does not imply incorrect fit.

And it sounds like you only been on a Mway at those speeds just the once and you thinking of throwing £1000 at new wheels and tyres of a different size!  In over 55 years of owning cars, I have never changed away from standard fit, that is what the manufacturer fitted. I have had car wander on MWays due to what I explained in my first paragraph. The only way to combat that is buy a hgv so you sit in the same grooves.😀

[Gerg]

3 hours ago, Catlover said:

Are you sure the MWay road surface is not worn due to heavy goods vehicles. That would mean where their weight has been there are tyres groves, and because the distance of these grooves across the width of the vehicles is vastly wider then your Yaris you will get a bit of wandering.

This is a very valid point that Catlover makes, perhaps you could see if the effect is only evident where the lorries create these grooves - in the left hand lane?  The feeling of having your wheels climb up the sides of these channels can be quite disconcerting.  And a brisk crosswind might make this effect much more obvious.

Also, how and who checked the wheel alignment?  I think that the Yaris, as almost all cars, will have the wheels set with some very slight toe-in (wheels pointing towards the centre of the car very slightly).  If the car has a some toe-out (wheels pointing away from the centre of the car), then this can have the effect of making the steering a little vague, but it's usually quite subtle, and I would be surprised if your wheel alignment check left this unreported (revenue opportunity missed!).

If the tyres are over-inflated, this can sometimes give the car a feel slightly like it's on 'tip-toes', but not with the amount of excess pressure you are talking about, and this, again, is quite subjective.

I did have a Yaris as a loan car for several days, but that was so long ago that it was the same car as yours in name only (17 years!), but that one was badly affected by side winds, that is what I most remember about it...

[martswain]

The Yaris does not like windy weather. Full stop.

[TonyHSD]

Hi, all cars are affected by side winds, some more some less, the taller the vehicle is more affected is, that’s just physics. The tyres should be dead on recommended pressure, anything above or below will off set the car driving characteristics and may cause noise, harsh drive, uneven tyres wear and suspension wear. No problem to change wheels size as long as the new size matches manufacturer charts., but that will not affect the stability of the car a lot, even can be unnoticeable. As mentioned, road surfaces, side winds, profile of the car, wheel base,  tyres type and pressure, weight of the car, these are important things to double check. On cars with independent suspension on all 4 wheels ( your one I believe it’s not) when rear wheels are out of alignment they can cause front end to loose grip and stability when driving at higher speeds on motorways. If you had checked all above you have nothing to worry about, you have to accept as normal behaviour. I been driving a small car very similar to Yaris in heavy winds and was feeling like landing a small turbo prop airplane during a storm. 🤭🚘😂

[FROSTYBALLS]

If considering changing the wheels/tyres, check with your insurer whether they will accept the modification. The fact that other specs of the Yaris offer a different size is irrelevant - the insurer will have based your insurance on the standard tyre for your specification (eg. Icon) and  changing the wheel/tyre size changes that, plus at each renewal you agree that the car is to standard specification.

Also depending what wheel/tyre size you're considering, use a speedometer error calculator to check the effect on the speedometer - eg http://www.autopartuk.com/tyre-calculator      It is illegal for a car's speedo to show less than the true speed (under read) and there are limits to how much the speedo can over read.

[Maxin]

On 5/9/2021 at 12:45 PM, TonyHSD said:

Hi, all cars are affected by side winds, some more some less, the taller the vehicle is more affected is, that’s just physics. The tyres should be dead on recommended pressure, anything above or below will off set the car driving characteristics and may cause noise, harsh drive, uneven tyres wear and suspension wear. No problem to change wheels size as long as the new size matches manufacturer charts., but that will not affect the stability of the car a lot, even can be unnoticeable. As mentioned, road surfaces, side winds, profile of the car, wheel base,  tyres type and pressure, weight of the car, these are important things to double check. On cars with independent suspension on all 4 wheels ( your one I believe it’s not) when rear wheels are out of alignment they can cause front end to loose grip and stability when driving at higher speeds on motorways. If you had checked all above you have nothing to worry about, you have to accept as normal behaviour. I been driving a small car very similar to Yaris in heavy winds and was feeling like landing a small turbo prop airplane during a storm. 🤭🚘😂

 

On 5/9/2021 at 12:45 PM, TonyHSD said:

Hi, all cars are affected by side winds, some more some less, the taller the vehicle is more affected is, that’s just physics. The tyres should be dead on recommended pressure, anything above or below will off set the car driving characteristics and may cause noise, harsh drive, uneven tyres wear and suspension wear. No problem to change wheels size as long as the new size matches manufacturer charts., but that will not affect the stability of the car a lot, even can be unnoticeable. As mentioned, road surfaces, side winds, profile of the car, wheel base,  tyres type and pressure, weight of the car, these are important things to double check. On cars with independent suspension on all 4 wheels ( your one I believe it’s not) when rear wheels are out of alignment they can cause front end to loose grip and stability when driving at higher speeds on motorways. If you had checked all above you have nothing to worry about, you have to accept as normal behaviour. I been driving a small car very similar to Yaris in heavy winds and was feeling like landing a small turbo prop airplane during a storm. 🤭🚘😂

 

On 5/9/2021 at 9:02 AM, martswain said:

The Yaris does not like windy weather. Full stop.

Thank you all for your answers!

I believe that in the end the main cause was the wind/sidewind that really affected the car and probably was more noticeable at motorway speed. 

Being the first time having this combination togheter I was quite surprised by the car behaviour. But seems a common feedback, I will get use to.

Other than that brilliant car!

Thank you all!

 

[stevecrvn]

On 5/8/2021 at 8:18 PM, stevecrvn said:

I have a 2015 Yaris Hybrid and I find it very stable . Have you checked your tyre pressures I have mine set to 33 front and 32 rear or possibly have a damaged tyre that can not be seen as on the inside wall 

My son drove my Hybrid this week for the first time , his daily is a sports Seats Leon . He commented that he found the Yaris was very light and followed groves in the road so maybe I have just got used to the it over time

[Maxin]

Hello, just a quick update, the tires are actually Dunlop sp blue response and not sp fast response.

Took 2 psi off (33, 32 as reccomended pressure) and I can feel the car a bit more more responsive.

Just wanted to add this in case can be of help for anyone.

Thank you again.