After a lot of teasing, finally: Toyota Yaris GR
In the run-up to the new Yaris GR, Toyota has given us teaser after teaser after teaser. But now we can finally welcome the newest hot hatch. And believe us: it's HOT!
The last Toyota Yaris had a superlative called Yaris GRMN. That little pocket rocket had 212 hp out of a supercharged 1.8-liter turbo benzine. Pretty impressive for a car of that size. The new one is being downsized to a 1.6-liter three-cylinder turbo benzine with a scary 261 hp and 360 Nm torque. Its main rivals, Ford Fiesta ST and Volkswagen Polo GTI, have to do with only 200 hp.
All the power is sent through a 6-speed manual gearbox to all the four wheels. The GR-Four, Toyota's Quattro, divides 60 percent of the power to the front wheels and 40 to the back. In sport, 70 percent will be sent to the back wheels and in track-modus, there will be a 50/50 power distribution.
On the exterior, the most noticeable difference to the normal Yaris isn't the big spoiler, changed body kit or the wider ass (5 cm more). But the fact that this Yaris GR is a three-door hatchback, while the not potential Yaris is a five-doors. Besides that, the roofline is lowered by 9,1 cm. Toyota had to combine 2 chassis (GA-B of the Yaris and GA-C of the Corolla) to fit all the changes to the car.
The strength of the chassis has been taking care of, while the weight of the car has been kept as low as possible. We can thank this to the carbon bonnet and aluminum roof, tailgate and doors. The kilograms, that the Yaris GR needs to take with it, gets an optimum weight distribution. The 1.6 is put pretty far back and you can find the battery in the trunk.
Bigger brakes will help you stop the Yaris GR when you are hitting your local roads, just like the rally pilots. They need this car as a homologation model, so it can be used as rally model. The Toyota Yaris GR will be here in the second half of this year.
Toyota, we are glad to sacrifice ourself to test this little fighter.
