Hot on the road and cutting-edge on the track
The world premiere of Toyota’s rally-inspired GR Yaris has revealed a pure performance car born from Toyota’s title-winning experience in the World Rally Championship (WRC).
Powered by a new 200kW/370Nm three-cylinder turbocharged engine, the GR Yaris benefits from the design and engineering skills of Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) and Tommi Mäkinen Racing, Toyota’s partner in the WRC.
As well as serving as the official homologation model for development of the next Yaris WRC car, GR Yaris also has all the attributes required for owners looking to compete successfully in local rally competitions.
Every aspect of the car has a performance focus: an all-new platform and engine, new suspension, lightweight construction, aerodynamic styling, and a new GR-FOUR permanent all-wheel-drive (AWD) system.
With high power and low weight, it has all the credentials for competition success, and for delivering exhilarating performance as a super-hot hatch for the road.
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In a striking departure from the standard model, the GR Yaris has a three-door body that is lower and wider with dramatic angles, enlarged 18-inch wheels, extended wheel arches, an imposing front air intake, specially designed brakes with red calipers, and twin exhaust tips.
Summarised as a “rally car for the road”, the GR Yaris is the latest in Toyota’s rich heritage of sports cars, including the Toyota 800, 2000GT, Celica, Supra, Corolla AE86, MR2 and 86.
GR Yaris is the second pure sports car model to be launched globally by TGR, following last year’s return of the legendary Toyota GR Supra.
Heritage
The new GR Yaris is Toyota’s first genuine AWD sports car and its first homologation model for WRC competition
since the end of production of the Celica GT-FOUR in 1999.
A lower roofline improved the car’s ability to cut through the air, while positioning the new 1.6 turbo engine further back towards the centre of the car and locating the battery in the boot helped produce a better chassis balance for improved handling, stability and responsiveness.
The new platform allows for a wider rear track and new double-wishbone rear suspension system. The team also devised reinforcements beneath the side members to ensure the suspension’s performance potential can be realised.
To ensure the plans worked in practice, the GR Yaris was put to the test by professional race and rally drivers during the development programme.
All-new 1.6-litre turbo engine
The GR Yaris engine is an all-new, three-cylinder turbocharged unit that benefits from motorsport technologies to maximise performance, including multi-oil jet piston cooling, large-diameter exhaust valves, and a part-machined intake port.
Displacing 1,618 cm3, it produces a maximum 200kW and 370Nm of torque. It is matched to a six-speed manual transmission, engineered to accommodate high torque levels.
Power-to-weight ratio
Achieving a strong power-to-weight ratio, the GR Yaris has the power of a C-segment performance hatch, but the weight of a B-segment machine (kerb weight 1,280 kg).
Its power-to-weight ratio of 156kW/ton helps deliver 0-100km/h acceleration in less than 5,5 seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 230km/h.
GR-FOUR: New all-wheel-drive system
GR Yaris performance is supported by a new GR-FOUR AWD system designed to optimise drive power to each wheel,
while also being simple and lightweight.
The distribution of torque between the front and rear axles is governed by a high-response coupling. The driver can adjust the system’s performance to suit their preference or the driving situation using an AWD mode dial switch.
In normal mode, the base front/rear torque distribution is 60:40; in Sport mode the balance shifts to the rear with 30:70 distribution, to achieve a fun-to-drive quality on winding roads and circuits, and in Track mode the base setting is 50:50 for fast, competitive driving on circuits or special stages.
In each mode, the torque balance will automatically adjust in response to the driver’s inputs, vehicle behaviour and
road or track conditions.
Performance braking system
The performance braking system features large 356mm grooved front discs with four-pot calipers, engineered to cope with rigorous demands of highspeed track and special stage driving with high-level heat capacity. Is it considered for the SA market? Apparently it is, yes.
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