Toyota GR Yaris starts at £29,995 10 | 03 | 2020
TOYOTA’S NEW GR Yaris — the carmaker’s 257bhp, four-wheel drive pocket rocket — will be priced from £29,995 for the base-model, or £33,495 for the uprated Circuit Pack variant. No confirmed on-sale date has been announced, but we expect it to be available in the summer, early autumn. First deliveries are scheduled for November. (Related: Toyota GR Yaris gets 257bhp and 4WD)
Developed collaboratively by Toyota Gazoo Racing and Tommi Mäkinen Racing, Toyota’s partner in the World Rally Championship, the GR Yaris includes a range of motorsport-derived design features. Not only is there an all-new 257bhp, 1.6-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine — which delivers 360Nm of torque — but also a dedicated two-door platform and a unique chassis and suspension setup.
It’s expected to deliver 0-62mph acceleration in less than 5.5 seconds, and carry on to an electronically limited top speed of 143mph. Its combination of power and speed, Toyota says, “are on a par with a larger (and more expensive) C-segment performance car”. (Related: New Toyota GR Supra unveiled)
Power is sent through a six-speed manual gearbox to Toyota’s “GR Four” adaptive all-wheel-drive system. This features two limited-slip differentials, plus a unique coupling which automatically manages the torque split between the front and rear axles.
Essentially the GR Yaris is the first “homologation special” produced for a generation, and follows in the wake of rally legends from the Nineties such as the Celica GT-Four, Subaru Impreza and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.
Today’s FIA WRC rules specify that, if a competition car’s chassis and body-in-white are substantially different from its equivalent production model, a production car must be built using those underpinnings.
As the current rally car features a completely different two-door body shell and a unique set of mounting points, plus it comprises a combination of Toyota’s GA-B and GA-C platforms — while the current fourth-gem Yaris uses only the former chassis — Toyota needed to produce the GR Yaris to allow the rally-prepped version to compete in WRC.
And with Wales’ Elfyn Evans already powering his Yaris WRC to victory in Rally Sweden last month, Toyota already has a winner on its hands.
Related: New Toyota RAV4 spec and prices
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Jim McGill