Toyota GR Yaris: More of the good stuff

What is it?

Like sports nutritionists, Toyota engineers continue to feed the company’s motorsport stars with performance enhancing – legal, of course – characteristics.

Latest to follow this trend is the GR Yaris hot hatch. Upgrades, developed last year from motorsport competition, have found their way into the latest road-going models in the form of steering features, including race-bred Bridgestone Potenza tyres for the flagship GTS.

Enhancing the steering is an expanded operating range for the electric power assistance, while the steering wheel itself has been trimmed from 365mm to 360mm with a redesigned hand grip shape that fits comfortably in the palms when cornering.

Switches have also taken a leaf out of the motorsport book, being positioned on the wheel independently with ringed illumination for easy operation.

The GR Yaris hot hatch has been made even more engaging with the addition of the new GTS Aero Performance Package, consisting of a new bonnet-mounted cooling duct and grille, which discharge heat from the engine compartment to help keep the 1.6-litre turbocharged three-cylinder motor cool.

What’s it cost?

As mentioned above, aerodynamics plays a major role in providing the automatic transmission with adequate cooling.

The front-end of the GR Yaris has a new, wider lower grille which houses a transmission cooler, and on GTS grades, a sub-radiator and intercooler spray system.

The new grille helps to channel airflow through side ducts placed in front of the wheels and has a split construction to make a damaged bumper easier to replace.

At the rear, a body-coloured spoiler and new combination tail lights now stretch across the width of the tailgate, while larger twin exhaust tips have been added to take the engine’s increased output.

The upgraded GR Yaris range is available in two grades – the entry-level GT and newly introduced GTS which replaces the Rallye in the hot hatch line-up.

Both grades are offered with the choice of manual or automatic transmissions, and start from $55,490 plus on-road costs for the GT manual and $57,990 for the automatic.

A new Liquid Mercury metallic paint colour has been added to the GR Yaris range, bringing total colour choice to five along with Glacier White, Frosted White crystal pearl (GTS only), Tarmac Black pearl and Feverish Red mica metallic.

The flagship GTS, which adds features including BBS forged alloy wheels, high-performance suspension, a Torsen limited-slip differential, red GR brake calipers, an intercooler spray system and sub-radiator, is priced from $60,490 and $62,990 plus on-roads for the manual and automatic respectively.

Connectivity is a new 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen display with the upgraded system supporting wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Vital driver info is displayed on a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster that offers multiple readouts via three configurable sections, allowing owners to customise the display.

Other interior upgrades include two new USB-C ports in place of the existing single USB-A port, one of which sits in the passenger-side dashboard tray, the latter enlarged to allow the storage of bulkier items.

An extended Toyota Safety Sense active safety technology suite now includes safe exit assist, front and rear parking sensors, and rear cross traffic alert, to complement the existing comprehensive line-up of systems including the pre-collision system, high-speed adaptive cruise control, lane departure alert, lane trace assist and blind spot monitor.

Automatic grades gain parking support brake with object and vehicle detection, and full-speed functionality for the adaptive cruise control system.

The Toyota GR Yaris in Australia comes with a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty.

What’s it go like?

Inside, once again, the GR Yaris has undergone a substantial redesign based on feedback from rally drivers around the world with a dash that now tilts 15 degrees towards the driver.

The driver’s seat hip point has been lowered by 25mm, while the clutch and footrest positions and steering column angle have also been revised for a more natural feel.

The lower driver’s seat hip point has also created an extra 37.5mm of headroom, making it easier to drive with a helmet on.

GR Yaris running bits are shared with the GR Corolla in the form of a power and torque boost of 21kW and 30Nm respectively for its 1.6-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, taking maximum outputs to a total of 221kW at 6500 rpm and 400Nm from 3250 to 4600 rpm.

Customers are now able to order the upgraded GR Yaris – in either GT or GTS grades – with the six-speed intelligent manual gearbox, or new eight-speed torque-converter automatic transmission and all-wheel drive

Tuned to high standards the new eight-speed automatic transmission has fitted into the Yaris GR family nicely, with instant action, swift shifts and intuitive behaviour, the perfect foil for the all-wheel drive conversion.

The high-performance suspension does not so much soak up rough road as fight back, leading to a not-so-smooth ride.

The tyres add to the cacophony, with a roar that puts up a good fight with the audio at full noise.

Okay, it is a replica rally car, not a high-street cruiser.

For something completely different, Drive Mode Select allows owners to choose between Sport, Normal and Eco, regardless of powertrain, adapting power steering, throttle, and air-conditioning and, on automatics, transmission shift points, to match driver characteristics and conditions.

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An extra Custom mode can also configure the powertrain, steering and power steering.

Three modes are also available for the AWD system – Normal, Track and Gravel – which allow the driver to distribute front and rear torque either 60:40 (Normal), 53:47 (Gravel) or variably (Track).

What we like?

• Motorsport-derived upgrades filtering into the road car  
• Strong power and torque gains from the 1.6-litre turbo engine  
• Choice of manual or new eight-speed automatic transmission  
• Extensive safety and tech upgrades

What we don’t like?

• Firm ride quality on rough roads
• Tyre noise can be intrusive  
• Pricing continues to climb  
• Not suited as a comfortable daily driver  

The bottom line?

The GR Yaris, with modifications, puts on an outstanding performance of Toyota rally-bred tech and design inside and out. Turn a blind eye to the price, it’s worth it.

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