[Auto] Yes! This is the new Toyota GR Yaris, and it just wants to race

[El Máster Edwin]

Rally-bred hot hatch gets more power and optional eight-speed auto with ‘competition-standard’ shifting. Yes please

 

Strap in folks, there’s a new Toyota GR Yaris in town. Already a 10/10 hot hatch in TopGear.com’s humble opinion, the Japanese carmaker has returned to the drawing board and come back with something even racier than before. Yikes.

Revealed at the Tokyo Auto Salon show, the headlines are thus: the turbocharged 1.6-litre 3cyl remains, but a host of mods see max power climb from 257 to 276bhp (at 6,500rpm) and torque rise from 266 to 288lb ft (between 3,250 and 4,600rpm).

Care for the details? A stronger valvetrain, sturdier exhaust valve material, increased fuel injection pressure and new lightweight pistons with wear-resistant rings all help the GR Yaris take more of a thrashing for longer. All rigorously tested in the Japan Rally Championship, naturally.

Meanwhile rigidity is up, and the suspension (Macpherson struts up front, rear double wishbones with trailing arms at the rear) has been toughened and its spring rates revised. As before, it rides on Michelin Pilot Sport 4Ss (225/40ZR18), with 356mm four-pot front brakes, 297mm two-pot rears.

 

The other big news is a new (and optional) race-inspired eight-speed auto from the Gazoo Racing department, which Toyota says produced faster lap times than the existing six-speed manual in testing. Good grief.

Using a new torque control system, compact, high-response linear solenoid and much heat-resistant material, Toyota claims the auto will sense how the driver is using the brakes and throttle to work out exactly when to shift.

Failing that, there’s still a lever for manual control: at the insistence of chairman Akio Toyoda, it’s forwards for downshifts and backwards for upshifts, as per your average rally car. Of course.

And as before, it’s all about the driver inside. Only more so. The seat’s been lowered by 25mm, and the cockpit redesigned so the stuff you might need mid-rally stage - intercooler spray, traction control, hazard lights etcetera - is closer to hand. The instrument panel drops by 50mm to give a better view of the road/gravel track ahead.

Three driving modes (need you ask? Normal, Eco and Sport) tamper with the power steering, air con and throttle response, and in the auto they’ll fiddle with the shift behaviour too. The permanent AWD gets three settings of its own: Normal, Sport and Track.

 

As with any facelift, the exterior has been fine-tuned: there’s a new, steel mesh grille with a larger side grill opening, and at the back there’s a new opening on the bottom edge to let air escape, boosting stability and lowering drag. The rear lights have had surgery too.

And as you’d expect, Toyota’s latest safety gear, sat nav and digital key are thrown in. Autos will get a posher spec, with forged wheels and a JBL sound system.

So when does it arrive? Clear your diary for this summer, when the GR Yaris goes on sale in the UK and Europe in a single ‘Circuit’ spec that comes with a powertrain cooling pack with an extra radiator and a modified air intake as standard. Pricing details will follow, but bank on significantly more than the £31k the old one cost.

Oh, and there are two special editions coming; one for each of Toyota’s world rally champions. So keep an eye out for the Sebastien Ogier Special Edition and Kalle Rovanpera Special Edition at the Monte Carlo Rally later this month. Altogether now... ooh!

 

 

 

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