Here’s a car that’s more about show and less about go – almost. But that’s the marketing plan for this vehicle from the world of Toyota’s Gazoo Racing.

Price: $43,290
Powertrain and economy: 1.8-litre Atkinson Cycle petrol hybrid, total system output, with e-CVT automatic transmission, 90kW; front-wheel drive; combined consumption 4.3 L/100km; emissions 97 g/km CO2.
Vital statistics: 4390mm long, 1550mm high, 1795mm wide, 2640mm wheelbase; luggage space 318 litres with all seats in use; 19-inch alloy wheels.
We like: Attractive athletic looks, best handling C-HR; great interior for those in the front.
We don’t like: Lack of visibility from the rear seats, though handling capability matches its looks, performance doesn’t.

AS I watched TV coverage of the teams from Toyota Gazoo Racing achieving their sensational 1-2 victory at Le Mans in the new GR010 hypercar, it suddenly struck me that I was feeling rather proud about it all.

Partly because Palmerston North’s Brendon Hartley was in the car that placed second. Partly because parked in my driveway was a Gazoo Racing vehicle.

It was a hybrid too, just like Brendon’s hypercar. Nowhere near as powerful, mind you. Whereas the GR010 race cars boast a total system output of an enormous 700 kilowatts, my Gazoo model’s output was a far more modest 90kW.

But hey, it was still a Gazoo, wasn’t it?

The answer is yes and no. That’s because in the true tradition of vehicle manufacturers and their motorsport and performance divisions, the vehicle in my driveway was the result of Toyota taking full marketing advantage of the worldwide competition success of Toyota Gazoo Racing.

Gazoo is successfully involved in numerous motor racing disciplines including rallying, circuit racing and endurance. It has also developed a GR brand for a selection of performance-oriented road cars including the GR Supra and GR Yaris that are sold in New Zealand.

In more recent times it has also created a GR Sport brand, which takes stock-standard hybrid Toyotas and makes them look and feel more athletic without doing anything to their drivetrains. All over the world there are now numerous GR Sport versions of various Toyotas, ranging from big Land Cruiser SUVs and Hilux utes, to smaller Corolla hatchback, wagons and sedans.

At this stage there’s just a single GR Sport model in New Zealand, and an example was parked in my driveway. It’s the C-HR GR Sports hybrid, which at $43,290 sits at the top of a nine-model C-HR selection that includes hybrid and 1.2-litre turbo petrol examples.

From the powertrain point of view the GR Sport is no different to the other members of the C-HR hybrid selection. They all have the same 1.8-litre Atkinson Cycle petrol engine and two electric motors that combine to offer a total system output of the 90kW, so they are hardly what you would describe as performance vehicles.

But while the GR Sport’s powertrain and performance remains identical to every other C-HR hybrid, the same certainly can’t be said of how it looks, feels and drives.

The interior feels far more sporting than the standard C-HRs. Front seats are a GR Sports design with synthetic leather and suede-like fabric trim, the steering wheel is covered with leather with silver stitching, the gear lever is also wrapped in leather and has dimpling and satin chrome trim, and the pedals are aluminium.

On the exterior, just like every other GR Sport model on sale around the world, the C-HR version boasts a unique front bumper design and honeycomb mesh grille which combine to give the vehicle a ‘big’ frontal stance. The compact SUV also has black mouldings around the wheel arches and door sills, a two-tone roof, and rear and side privacy glass.

Setting off what is a nicely athletic exterior visual look are black 19-inch alloy wheels with white GR brake callipers, and the wheels are shod with 225/45 R19 Yokohamas which are bigger by at least 3m (one inch) than the tyres on any of the other C-HRs.

Both the MacPherson strut front suspension and trailing arm rear setup have been given a GR Sport tune with stabiliser bar, and a centre floor brace has been fitted. And, probably largely because the GR Sport is running on the low profile 45-Series tyres, the ride is 15mm lower than the rest of the C-HR fleet.

End result is a ride that is beefier, and handling that feels more connected. But it’s not what I would describe as a truly sporting ride, which means the GR Sport remains a pleasant enough vehicle in the urban environment while at the same time offering a more athletic ride out on the open roads. It’s a good mix.

Being a hybrid, the vehicle likes to start off on battery energy around town and include the petrol power when required. It’s all quite refined but also rather sedate – as would be expected as this is a fairly veteran Toyota hybrid setup complete with an old-school nickel-metal hydride battery pack – and the only way the driver can extract any real performance potential is by moving the GR Sport’s drive mode selector into Sport which adjusts engine-transmission performance and also slightly stiffens the power steer.

There’s no such thing as a manual mode for the GR Sport’s e-CVT automatic, so the vehicle isn’t fitted with gearshift paddles on the steering wheel. The auto isn’t electronically stepped either, but despite that it doesn’t seem to exhibit any of the flaring that can be such an annoyance with continuously variable transmissions.

Actually the whole driving experience with the C-HR GR Sport is rather enjoyable, with perhaps the only downside being that nuisance with all C-HRs – the very big C-pillars that make riding in the rear seats rather claustrophobic if the trip is a longish one.

I wouldn’t go so far as to agree with Toyota’s marketing blurb that suggests this GR Sport fuses race car performance, handling and exhilaration with everyday practicality. Rather, it is an ordinary compact SUV that offers a large dose of appeal via an sporty styling with just a touch of athleticism.

But the C-HR GR Sport hybrid does perform well, and importantly despite its reasonably large size it has an official combined fuel consumption of 4.3 L/100km and exhaust emissions of 97 g/km of CO2 – and the amount of time I was able to spend behind its wheel before being forced into Covid-19 level 4 lockdown showed the published fuel economy to be quite accurate.

That’s going to be a vital statistic from first thing next year when the Government introduces its feebate scheme which is likely to initially offer rebates on the purchase price of all vehicles with CO2 emissions of less than 146 g/km.

In the case of the C-HR hybrids, it will probably mean they will attract rebates of $3210. And that in itself will conceivably put Toyota NZ in an interesting position, because the petrol C-HRs, with their 1.2-litre turbocharged engines that run on 95 octane fuel, have an official emissions count of 150 g/km, which means they may not attract any rebate at all.

Interesting times, huh? In some respects its fortunate that there are currently such long waiting lists for new vehicles due to the Covid crisis, because who would now want to take delivery of a new hybrid so late in the calendar year? Even if it is this attractive compact second cousin of the Gazoo Racing lineup?