Toyota GR Yaris: The raining champ

So little time, so much to discover about the most exciting hot hatch Toyota has ever produced. Fortunately, Colin Smith is a quick learner.

WE all only got two laps of a wet Hampton Downs racing circuit today, driving the national layout – so, less than six kilometres clocked, not quite five minutes at the wheel, pit time included. In the rain.

Yet I’m confident I can tell you a couple of things about the eagerly anticipated second car in the Toyota Gazoo Racing family.

The GR Yaris hot-hatch boasts a growling three-cylinder engine note which is blend of raw aggression and cheerful enthusiasm. And in a pleasing contrast to most 200kW cars of recent times, the rally-bred Yaris doesn’t feel heavy.

Keeping the weight of an AWD Turbo hatch to about 1300kg is a fair achievement and achieves a cracking power-to-weight ratio that betters many larger engine and more powerful hot-hatches.

Track impressions are of sure-footed agility with crisp turn-in and direction change. The confident wet track grip level heightened expectations for a run along a twisty road where this little ripper might be even more at home than on a race track.

Even before the all-to-brief time behind the wheel we already knew a lot about the GR Yaris. It has launched with a tasty $54,990 price-tag and Toyota NZ has opted to focus on the premium specification while other markets also offer lower-spec versions.

The car has a close association with the Yaris WRC rally programme and in joining the GR Supra it plays a lead role in expanding the Toyota Gazoo Racing product line.

While it bears the Yaris name the muscular exterior shares only the LED headlights and taillights plus the door mirrors with the new Yaris hatch.

Toyota calls it a hybrid car – not in the sense of a combined petrol-electric powertrain but because under the skin it merges two different vehicle platforms.

The front end is common with the new Yaris hatch while the rear is Corolla-based. That’s how the rear driveline and trailing arm independent rear suspension layout is achieved.

It’s also a three-door and sits 55mm lower as well as being significantly wider thanks to those pumped-out wheel arches. All body panels including alloy doors (a frameless design), rear hatch and power bulged bonnet plus the carbon composite roof are unique to the GR version.

So too are the aerodynamics and the prominent cooling intakes and mesh grille that dominates the facia of the GR.

The engine is a bespoke 1618cc three-cylinder turbo which develops 200kW at 6500rpm and 370Nm of torque from 3000-4800rpm. It has slightly ``under-square’’ bore/stroke dimensions, a 10.5:1 compression ratio, single scroll turbo and Toyota’s D-4ST port and direct injection technology.

Toyota claims 0-100km/h in 5.2secs and a top speed of 230km/h.

The compact and lightweight engine sitting over the front end along with quick ratio (2.36 turns lock-to-lock) steering are also contributors to that immediate impression of a light and nimble car.

If you were around to hear a Daihatsu Charade GTti in full cry you’ll recognise the soundtrack. It’s an enthusiastic growl with the engine not only delivering an early ramp up of torque delivery but it also revs eagerly to 6500rpm and feels like it still has more to give – a rare trait for modern high torque turbo cars.

There’s a six-speed manual transmission with short throw shift and rev-matching function. The sophisticated Active Torque Split all-wheel-drive system features Torsen diffs front and rear and a clever electromagnetic solution for distributing torque between the front and rear.

In Normal drive mode the front:rear default is 60:40. Switch to Sport and there’s a rear-biased 30:70 split and in track mode there is a 50:50 torque distribution for maximum traction.

Beneath the muscular wheel arches and wide track stance is performance suspension and serious braking hardware including 356mm x 28mm slotted and ventilated front rotors with four piston callipers. The 18-inch forged alloy BBS wheels are shod with 225/40 ZR 18 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres.

Considering Toyota’s modern WRC rivals – the Hyundai i20 and Ford Fiesta - are cars that are only offered in front-drive configuration for the road, the GR Yaris is the closest thing you can buy to a current WRC car since Subaru and Mitsubishi exited the top level of the rally game. There’s also a nice nod to Toyota rally history with a GT-Four badge on a tailgate.

As well as the performance focus the GR Yaris is a well-equipped car with dual-zone air conditioning, an eight-speaker JBL audio system, 7.0-inch touchscreen with navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a Head-Up display, heated front seats and alloy pedals.

I’ll add one more attribute to what I learned in two laps. The neatly-sized – and actually round - steering wheel provides a great connection with the car and the front seats offer supportive bolstering around the hips and ribs.

In spite of the rally bloodlines the GR Yaris doesn’t divert from Toyota’s policy of equipping all models with its full Safety Sense driver assist and safety package. However, the car hasn’t returned an ANCAP crash test result yet.

So far 40 cars have been allocated to the Kiwi market with 36 already pre-sold and the company registering the remaining four for itself.

Toyota NZ wants more and is working hard to secure additional units from the limited global supply. Two laps behind the wheel certainly left me wanting more as the GR Yaris had teased one of the sharpest driving experiences of recent times.