A special edition of Toyota’s upcoming GR Yaris sounds tasty … as does our neighbour’s incentive programme for this new hottie. We might see one, but probably not the other.

AN even wilder version of Toyota’s super-heated GR Yaris is heading into production.

Set to be available in the first half of 2021, the GR Yaris Rallye – the white car seen here - further enforces the maker’s assertion that this three-door racer was not only born from Toyota’s success in the heat of motorsport but will have a credible ongoing homologation role with Toyota’s World Rally Championship programme.

The Rallye’s status with the emergent Gazoo fanbase will also be elevated through it being a limited-edition car.

The difference between it and the ‘regular’ edition (represented by the black car) arriving in New Zealand soon isn’t defined by outright performance but by enhancements elsewhere.

Specifically, the Rallye will have circuit-tuned suspension, Torsen limited-slip diffs for both the front and rear axles, 18-inch forged alloy wheels from BBS, Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres and red brake calipers.

Naturally enough, those ingredients have been developed by Toyota Gazoo Racing in collaboration with Tommi Makinen Racing, the team that took the original Yaris WRC to a world title in 2018, 12 months after the car entered competition.

The Rallye’s additional content is undoubtedly more than window dressing.

Makinen’s outfit is now developing the new road car into their contender for the 2021 season and beyond – undoubtedly those extras will some way or another prove useful for the motorsport process.

The Rallye – which also restricts to just three paint colours; black, white and red – maintains the 1.6-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine in the same tune as the standard GR and also keeps the six-speed manual gearbox.

With 200kW and 370Nm the engine is the most powerful triple in production and gives both editions of the car an ability to sprint to 100kmh in just 5.2 seconds. The Rallye’s edge will undoubtedly come in the corners and under braking.

Talk of the Rallye has emerged with Toyota in Australia announcing a pricing plan for the GR Yaris that perhaps might leave New Zealand enthusiasts wondering how they might find a way to secure the model there and ship it back across the Tasman.

Toyota New Zealand’s announced sticker of $54,990 has been undercut by our neighbour – and massively so during a programme designed to elevate the Gazoo image across the Tasman.

Toyota Australia’s car, which seems to be kitted identically to that coming here, will only be $1200 less expensive than here at full recommended retail – but to ensure it gets off to a smart start, the first 1000 sold will only cost $NZ43,400 drive away. A huge $11,590 undercut.

The Rallye is not included in that programme and how much of a premium it will carry over the GR has yet to be announced.

Toyota Australia’s vice president of sales and marketing, Sean Hanley, says the launch price was to incentivise support for the Gazoo Racing brand, which is probably newer to our neighbour than it is here.

The NZ awareness programme began even before the first GR car, the Supra, landed last year as it was used in a sponsorship association with the international single seater Toyota Racing Series since the end of 2018.

As for a discount start here? It doesn’t sound likely, from the tenor of comment from TNZ chief executive Neeraj Lala.

His thought about what’s going on across the Tasman?

Says Lala: “Toyota New Zealand has not offered a Recommended Retail Price in New Zealand for the past 2.5 years to avoid this situation.

“This means our Toyota Driveway Price (TDP) provides our customers with an up-front and transparent transaction price which includes on-road costs and subsidised servicing.”

BTW, he declined to comment on the potential of the Rallye coming here.

The GR Yaris is the first homologation special since the Celica GT-Four, the car that was used to find WRC rally success when Toyota was last involved in international rallying, becoming the first Japanese maker to win the WRC manufacturer’s title, in 1993.

Toyota’s plan is for the GR Yaris to be an even hotter ticket for road use than the Celica and the hope is it will establish the same street status as such stage-to-road greats as Ford’s RS Escort Cosworth and Subaru’s Impreza WRX.