Toyota has officially quelled speculation about the forthcoming Yaris GR-4 lacking a four-wheel-drive layout as indicated by the ‘4’ suffix.
In a new teaser video, and decked-out in the same Gazoo Racing camouflage as the pre-production Supra, the GR-4, driven by Toyota President and CEO Akio Toyoda under the alias Morizo, is seen blasting off the starting line in thick sand with all four wheels gripping at the same time.
As well as confirming the GR-4 as Toyota’s first road/rally car to feature four-wheel-drive since the Celica GT4, the teaser also sees it receiving wider wheel arches, side vents on the flanks of the front bumper, a just visible deep lower air intake and integrated bootlid spoiler.
Like the regular Yaris, the GR-4 will ride on the GA-B version of Toyota’s TNGA platform, but, aside from the all-wheel gripping system, have more power despite exact technical details being unknown.
According to a report by Japan’s Motor Magazine last month however, the GR-4 is set to come powered by a turbocharged version of the standard car’s 1.5-litre engine, but with a cylinder locked-out, therefore resulting in a three-pot configuration also employed by the Ford Fiesta ST.
Despite its smaller size, the GR-4 will be more powerful than the 155 kW 1.8-litre supercharged Yaris GRMN, as well as eclipsing its 0-100 km/h time of 6.3 seconds. Aside from the drivetrain, expect extensive revisions to have taken place underneath its skin relating to the suspension, steering, brakes and chassis.
With its planned unveiling last month having been canned following the cancellation of the penultimate round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) in Australia due to the devastating bush fires around the hosting town of Coffs Harbour, the GR-4 is only expected to make its world debut in early 2020.
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