Toyota is giving the rapid GR Yaris hot-hatch an upgrade for 2024, and the tiny tearaway now has 280hp to play with.
Does the GR Yaris keep the same engine?
Yes it does, and the 1.6-litre three-cylinder unit retains its position as the most powerful three-pot engine you can buy. Not only does it now have 280hp, but there’s also now 390Nm of torque, meaning that this engine has gained 19hp and 30Nm of torque. Probably the last thing the GR Yaris needed was more power, but we’re certainly not going to complain.
Toyota says that, as you might expect, those increases in output haven’t come at the expense of reliability. In fact, the Japanese giant has been running GR Yaris models in the Japan Rally Championship and the Japanese Endurance Race series and thanks to that experience it has changed a number of engine parts to make them more robust. Those include a strengthened valvetrain, a new exhaust valve material and an increase in the fuel injection pressure. New lightweight pistons with wear-resistant rings have been fitted and a new intake pressure sensor has been added.
To help the GR Yaris cope with higher temperatures, models coming to Europe will get, as standard, the ‘Circuit Pack’, which includes a cooling system with an additional sub-radiator that extends the time the vehicle can be driven in full-throttle, modifications to the air intake, and an intercooler water spray.
There’s also a new sound generator - which amplifies noise coming from the engine and exhaust via the stereo - and an active noise cancelling system for when you just want to sit back and cruise (at which point you’re arguably driving the wrong car, but anyway…).
Oh, and this GR Yaris can also be (technically, sort of…) a zero-emissions vehicle. Toyota is exploring the potential of burning hydrogen fuel in internal combustion engines, and this 1.6 three-cylinder, thanks to a new fuel system with injectors, piping and spark plugs, is technically hydrogen-ready (although you’d need to install hydrogen tanks and a refuelling system, so it’s not really, but the thought is nice).
Please tell me you can still get it with a manual?
You can. While the GR Yaris’ slick-shifting six-speed manual gearbox is - thankfully - carried over, there is now the option of a new eight-speed automatic, which is known as the Gazoo Racing Direct Automatic Transmission. Not your average automatic, Toyota says that it went in search of the fastest possible down-change speed with this auto’. To do that, Toyota fitted the gearbox with the usual deceleration g-force and speed sensors but also added some clever software that takes note of how the driver is using the brakes and throttle and adjusts the gearbox’s behaviour to suit and can actually think ahead and anticipate when a gearchange might be needed. According to Toyota, the system’s: “gear selection reflects the driver’s intentions and is similar to how professional drivers operate.”
It seems to work too, and the automatic GR Yaris is actually faster around a test track than the manual version. Again, the ‘box has been proven in competition, with Toyota using it in the Japan Rally Championship, the Toyota Gazoo Racing Rally Challenge and the Super Taikyu Series. It’s also been driven on rally stages in Finland by Toyota’s World Rally Championship team (indeed, much of the development and ideas for this upgrade came out of the WRC’s team HQ in Jyväskylä, Finland).
The automatic gearbox has three modes - Sport, Normal, and Eco - and the changes are tailored to suit each mode, with Toyota saying that: “In Sport mode, response is prioritised in the D range, while using M range ensures the quickest shifting. The driver will find that working within the rev band from 4,900rpm to the 7,200rpm red line puts them at the heart of the action.”
The six-speed manual hasn’t been forgotten either - it gets a new dual-mass flywheel and a beefed-up clutch which has a slightly heavier pedal action than before, as Toyota reckons that’s what keen drivers want.
The GR Yaris is still four-wheel drive, right?
It certainly is. There’s, as before, a ‘high-response’ centre coupling splitting the torque between front and rear, and there are two Torsen limited-slip differentials manage the split between the left and right-side wheels.
There are also some clever tricks with the front and rear axle gearing, allowing - in theory - power to be fully sent to either end of the car. Toyota claims that the system is not only faster-responding than a traditional centre-diff system, it’s also lighter. The interior shift lever for the auto version has also been set up in the proper racer’s style, so you push forward for a downshift and pull back for an upshift - apparently, that was at the behest of Toyota’s car-mad president, Akio Toyoda, working under his ‘Morizo’ racing nom de guerre.
The driver can adjust four-wheel drive performance to suit their preference or the driving situation using a 4WD mode dial switch. In normal mode the standard front/rear torque distribution is 60:40, but with new variable drive torque, the balance shifts in Track mode between 60:40 and 30:70. This gives the GR Yaris more of a rear-drive balance: the car will enter a bend with 60:40 distribution, but this will change to 30:70 to gain more rear wheel traction and secure better acceleration out of the bend. In Gravel mode the base setting is 53:47 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.
Any other mechanical changes?
Oh yes - Toyota has clearly been working hard on its pocket rocket. Body stiffness is up, thanks to an increase in the number of spot welds and adhesives. As before, there are lightweight panels, including an aluminium bonnet and a forged carbon composite roof. The suspension - front MacPherson struts and rear double wishbones with trailing arms - is carried over with some small tweaks such as adding extra bolts to fasten the front shock absorbers to the body suppresses changes in alignment that can happen when upper bush deforms in high-load driving.
Those extra bolts also stiffen up the front suspension and, therefore, give a slightly sharper steering feel. The brakes - 356mm ventilated front discs with four-pot, lightweight aluminium calipers and 297mm ventilated rear discs with two-pot aluminium calipers - are carried over. The GR Yaris rides on 18-inch alloy wheels shod with Michelin Pilot 4S high-performance tyres. 18-inch BBS forged alloy wheels are available as an option.
What about the interior?
Toyota says that there have been ‘significant changes’ to the GR Yaris’ cabin: “to give the driver’s cockpit an authentically sporty feel with a design that’s true to the “driver first” principles that define the car. The GR team took the inputs from racing and rally drivers as inspiration for re-positioning controls and giving the driver faster, clearer access. Race and rally drivers also had direct input into the changes.”
Controls that often need to be used in competition driving, such as intercooler spray, the switch for turning off the stability control, and hazard lights (can’t help but feel that those might be linked…) have been moved closer to the driver so they can be reached quickly and easily when using a racing harness. On the passenger side, the tray in the instrument panel has been made larger so there is space for extra meters or a co-driver’s monitor to be fitted.
Even the driver’s field of vision from the wheel has been improved by lowering the top edge of the instrument panel by 50mm, changing the position of the rear-view mirror and angling the centre console 15-degrees further towards the driver.
Meanwhile, there’s an all-new 12.3-inch digital driver’s instrument panel with Normal and Sport layouts. On the automatic model, the digital read-out includes transmission oil temperature and a visual warning in addition to an alarm to alert the driver when engine revs are too high for downshifting.
Any changes to the outside?
Yes, a few but Toyota says that these are not mere styling updates, but genuinely functional changes based on feedback from professional and master drivers and ‘experience gained in the heat of motorsport.’
Once again, only the headlamps, radio antenna, and door mirrors are carried over from the standard Yaris hatchback. Up front, there is a new steel mesh for the lower grille, optimised for the best balance of thickness, strength, and weight reduction. The side grille has a larger opening, and the lower bumper has a new split construction that makes it easier and less costly to repair or replace.
At the rear, an opening in the bottom edge of the lower bumper panel allows air from beneath the floor to escape, reducing drag, improving manoeuvrability and stability and dispersing heat from the exhaust system. The fog and reversing lights have been relocated, moving from the lower bumper to be integrated in the rear combination lamps, reducing the risk of damage. Similarly, the high-mounted stop light has been moved from the rear spoiler to lower down on the back door so that all rear lamps are aligned and in a clear line of sight for following drivers. Moving the stop light apparently also makes it easier for the spoiler to be changed or customised.
There’s also a new colour option - Precious Metal - which joins the existing Emotional Red, Precious Black and Super White/Platinum White Pearlescent.
Anything else I should know?
Well, Toyota is going to launch a pair of special editions named after its World Rally Championship drivers - Kalle Rovanperra and Sebastian Ogier. The Ogier Edition gets some tweaks to the four-wheel drive system, including two extra modes - Morizo and Seb. Moriza mode was, as you might have guessed, developed by Akio Toyoda based on his own preferences and experiences, while Seb mode sends more power to the back wheels, allowing for a little more hooliganry.
The Ogier version comes in Matte Stealth Grey paint finish and features the French national flag on the radiator grille and the optional BBS forged alloy wheels. WRC commemorative stickers are added to the front wings, there’s a new-design carbon fibre rear spoiler and blue-painted brake calipers. Inside, there is a WRC victory commemoration plaque on the passenger side of the instrument panel and contrast blue, grey and red stitching (again, honouring Seb Ogier’s French nationality) on the steering wheel. Grey stitching is used for the shift, parking brake gaiters, and seat upholstery.
The Rovanpera version gets a special ‘Donut Mode’ for deploying when there’s plenty of space around you. Like the Ogier version, the Rovanpera model gets rear-biased power distribution, but it also has a constant-velocity rear differential gear (important for the Donut Mode) so it ensures nice stable drifting slides. The car has an exclusive three-tone paint finish, applied as a series of painted motifs by the designer of Rovanpera’s personal drift car livery, Henri Liupakka, and inside there are grey and blue seats and trim as a nod to the Finnish flag.
When can I have one?
Soon. The updated GR Yaris goes on sale across Europe this summer, and actually it’s a car that’s been a surprisingly big success for one so focused on fun - Toyota has already sold 20,000 GR Yaris, with a 99 per cent customer satisfaction rating so the company tells us.