Updated GR Yaris with Automatic debuts at Tokyo Auto Salon

[KahnBB6]

This video does an initial comparison with the GR Yaris RZ GR-Four (1.6L turbo, 6MT, AWD, LSDs, big brake calipers) with the GR Yaris RS (1.5L NA, CVT, FWD, Open Diff, sliding brake calipers).



I guess this RS version is produced to spread out the cost of the unique chassis further, gain better fleet emissions and fuel economy and also to market basically the same shell and style vehicle to customers who like the image but don't necessarily want to drive a manual turbo street legal racecar.

Which is fine. Spreading the cost, emissions and fuel economy of the performance model out further across a lineup and also thereby getting more of these chassis produced is a good thing over the long term for enthusiasts.

This is also the most in-depth review I've seen so far of the GR Yaris' interior which appears to be 97% the same between the RS and RZ models.

Load the video in a new window, turn on Closed Captions, go to the gear/settings button and select Auto-Translate and scroll down to English (or whatever your preferred language is). Auto translation isn't very good but you'll get enough to understand what the reviewer is showing you and commenting on at any moment.

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[Paolo]

Warm hatch not hot hatch - go to 36min

 

[KahnBB6]

whether it’s a hot hatch or warm hatch I still love it and I’ll happily take an identical driveline in a Corolla hatchback.

Though I’d prefer a GR Yaris.

 

[Galerion]

Warm hatch not hot hatch - go to 36min

Hmm I didn't watch the entire video but I think I see what's the deal there and I find it honestly a bit worrying. Because these guys call themselves JDM Masters and don't seem to get what most Japanese performance cars are about. It's about executing what they set out to do perfectly. Perfection is the keyword here. A car is supposed to drive and a performance car is supposed to do that even faster and better. Therefore a Japanese company would never build something like a Hellcat. It would be an absolutely silly and pointless concept to them.
Take a look at other Japanese performance cars like a Nissan GT-R or a Honda Civic Type R. Those are lauded performance cars but they are not about playfulness and silliness at all. They are dead serious in their performance. How often do you hear that you can drive them with so much confidence and that they handle like they are on rails? Well yes because that's the entire point of them.

If you want a car that feels like it wants to kill you like that one guy said than yes you have to go to something like a Ford or now to a lesser extent Hyundai. Their cars are specifically tuned that way. Just keep in mind that if you deem that fun and exciting, in other peoples eyes those are flaws that cost them performance.
There a quite a few comparisons where a Hyundai i30N /Veloster N is deemed more fun than a Civic Type R but at the end of the day the Type R is still the better performance car and there are no doubts about it. That doesn't make the Type R not a hot hatch though.

So yeah a bit of an odd and awkward conclusion to come to because it shows a lack of understanding what a performance car is actually about. It's not about lighting up the tires constantly or throwing out its ass at every turn or making you feel like it wants to kill you.

 

[Galerion]

 

[Matador]

An interesting video about a bit of off-road fun. The curious thing is that the car is clearly not stock since it has a working anti-lag system and judging from the standing start it could even have a sequential gearbox. It sounds pretty good in general and that turbo flutter at 1:46

Probably a decent example of what could be if laws are not a concern.

About that Anti-lag

 

[Galerion]

So it looks like currently all kinds of journalists are driving the cars and next week Tuesday there are allowed to publish their reviews and impressions.

This fellow has already posted something though. It's not a full-fledged review but his thoughts and impressions. Obviously he is not allowed to say that he is talking about the GR but he makes it obvious that he does

"Remember those stories that used to fly around the benches of the sixth form common room in whispered tones, told simply for the sake of the telling? Gossip and tittle-tattle usually, but occasionally something that seemed momentous at the time – and always told in that “I can’t tell you who I’m talking about or how I know this, but I’ve simply got to tell somebody type of way. Well, I’m dying to tell you one about a car.

It’s just provided what might have been the most amazing drive I’ve had in anything all year. But this isn’t a review. I’ve absolutely no intention of revealing exactly which car I’m talking about, I’m afraid. I’m very much hoping, in fact, that when I’m finished here, the closest you’ll be able to come to knowing exactly what I’ve been frothing on about is via an educated, balance-of-probability guess. Not that I’m really even inviting guesses, either. If you email me a correct one, I’m bound not to tell you that you’re right anyway. Sorry.

But wow, what a car. It’s one of a breed that feels rather like it’s been in hibernation for a decade or so and that I wasn’t sure would ever really return at all. And yet, here it is. It is also a supremely, deliciously unlikely sort of fast car – because of what it is, what it’s like to drive and who has made it.

It’s really fast and incredibly eye-opening to drive but also temptingly affordable. It’s the kind of car that seems purpose-built for racking up improbable point-to-point average speeds that exceed what you imagined might be its true potential by at least double. To be bluntly honest, it’s the kind of car we used to call a ‘licence-loser’, back when it was a little bit more acceptable to joke about these things. But you could park it in broad daylight next to entirely ordinary cars and the vast majority of people wouldn’t look at it twice. “Oh, it’s only an ‘x’,” people will say. If only they knew.

I’ve just spent a couple of days driving this car on UK A- and B-roads that it suited joyously well. We’ve reached the point now when even some of our new and allegedly compact performance cars can feel, at times, like they’ve become uncomfortably large between the hedges and the white lines. We know this – we write about it frequently – and no amount of handling precision or body control can really make up for it.

Well, praise be, this new car really isn’t like that. And as well as being one of the best-sized enthusiast cars I’ve driven in recent times, it’s scandalously sure-footed and has dynamic tuning that seems quite brilliantly judged for devouring cross-country miles at pace. It isn’t over-sprung or over-responsive; it doesn’t feel like a track-day fugitive, because there’s a good dose of pragmatism and progressiveness about its body control; and it has handling manners that allow it to just keep getting better the faster you go.

I can quite appreciate that the car I’m describing may not sound very ‘now’. It was always a risk to make performance cars like this, so plainly and absolutely dedicated to the thrill of speed sampled out in the wild on the public road. There really aren’t many places left where cars like that can be enjoyed at anything like their full potential. Twenty-five years ago, when the likes of the Subaru Impreza and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo were doing their thing and the Lancia Delta Integrale, Audi Quattro and Ford Escort Cosworth hadn’t long finished doing something similar, nobody had even thought that mandatory electronic speed limiters might one day be a thing. These days, the climate in which fast cars exist has changed so much.

And yet there is still a time and a place for lightning to strike, it would seem. The improbably quick, alluringly inexpensive, slightly geeky and cultish, A-to-B-in-a-heartbeat-and-in-any-weather performance car is back – and I can’t wait to tell you more about it.

Matt Saunders
Road test editor

 

[KahnBB6]

This barely coy review makes me excited. I really wish the GR Yaris with the dual Torsen track package were due to be sold in the U.S. The GR Corolla will be acceptable but it is significantly larger and has four side doors.

If only we had a chance of lowering the 25 year import exemption rule to something far more reasonable like 7-10 years or so.

 

[Paolo]

https://www.driven.co.nz/reviews/toyota-gr-yaris-driven-is-this-the-rain-of-the-new-hot-hatch-king/

 

[Galerion]

Gran Turismo players can rejoice. The car will be added along with a Time Trial event on November 13th to the game



https://www.gran-turismo.com/gb/news/00_4311773.html

 

[Galerion]

Well reviews are pretty good I would say



Top Gear: "The GR Yaris is superb - the best Toyota we've ever driven." 10 out of 10.



Autocar: "All-paw Yaris might be the most exciting addition to the hot hatchback market in a decade. Wickedly purposeful, and wonderfully evocative of fast 4x4s of old." 5 stars out of 5. (Car is also the cover star of the print edition and across six pages inside).



EVO: "A true homologation superstar - Toyota's new road-going rally special is a great drivers' car of the type we worried we'd never see again. It's a little gem." 5 stars out of 5.



The Daily Telegraph:"This sensational special project takes the hot hatchback crown". 5 stars out of 5.



Auto Express: "Look beyond the price because the Toyota GR Yaris is no ordinary Yaris. Instead it's a car that will be written about and cherished by enthusiasts for many years to come." 4.5 stars out of 5.



Pistonheads: "Christmas has come early. It's brilliant!" (Pistonheads does not awards stars or scores).



Complete Car: "Toyota, with almost no back catalogue to call upon in the hot hatchback department previously, dangles the H-bomb of 'homologation' in front of us and then delivers a performance three-door for the ages in the blistered, brilliant form of the GR Yaris. Buckle up for what must surely be one of the most sublime on-road fast cars of recent years - size irrespective." 5 stars out of 5.



Motoring Research / Yahoo! News / (this will also appear on the huge-audience MSN Cars in the coming hours): "Toyota took its next WRC race car, then made it road legal. The result is the bespoke and ballistic GR Yaris - our hot hatchback of the year." (MR does not award stars or scores).



Yes Auto (video): "It really does feel like a very special car and they're only making a few thousand of these so jump on it, because once they're gone, they're gone. Such exploitable, accessible performance! It's just...very, very, very good. It's really special." (YA does not award stars or scores).



DriveTribe (video): "One of the most special cars I've driven in the last three years. It's phenominal! Yes I know I've spoiled the entire video by telling you it's good, but...just look at it!" (DT does not award stars or scores).



Johnny Smith's Late Brake Show (video): "I've got to be honest, I think it's going to be a classic as soon as it comes out because of the lengths they've gone to to make this so faithful as a road-rally car. You're buying a car that's rally-bred. I really love it." (JS does not award stars or scores).

 

[ayau]

Who thinks the GR Corolla will get the same GR Yaris powertrain package?

I"m skeptical and would be surprised if the US got more than the 1.6L turbo engine.

 

[KahnBB6]

Who thinks the GR Corolla will get the same GR Yaris powertrain package?

I"m skeptical and would be surprised if the US got more than the 1.6L turbo engine.

A70 has stated that this will be a thing: a Corolla (hatch?) with the GR-Four's 1.5L inline-three, 6-speed manual transmission and a version of the AWD system that will be adapted to the Corolla's chassis.

I am not expecting any more horsepower (I wish but I doubt they'll change it from the JDM power figure) but I do hope all the GR Yaris drive modes, manual parking brake and especially the front and rear Torsen LSD package make it into the GR Corolla.

As it stands the 1.6L inline-three NA with CVT transmission would be a downgrade from the USDM Corolla 168hp inline-four FWD with the 6-speed manual transmission. I can't see Toyota throwing that drivetrain in and slapping "GR" badging on.

 

[KahnBB6]

 

[ayau]

A70 has stated that this will be a thing: a Corolla (hatch?) with the GR-Four's 1.5L inline-three, 6-speed manual transmission and a version of the AWD system that will be adapted to the Corolla's chassis.

I am not expecting any more horsepower (I wish but I doubt they'll change it from the JDM power figure) but I do hope all the GR Yaris drive modes, manual parking brake and especially the front and rear Torsen LSD package make it into the GR Corolla.

As it stands the 1.6L inline-three NA with CVT transmission would be a downgrade from the USDM Corolla 168hp inline-four FWD with the 6-speed manual transmission. I can't see Toyota throwing that drivetrain in and slapping "GR" badging on.

You mean a 1.6L turbo? That's what the GR Yaris has.

I'm also hoping the GR Corolla will receive the 'high spec' LSD package (front, center, rear diff). My expectation for this isn't very high because there's really no other competitor that offers that under 40k. The STI may be the only one.

My guess is that the GR Corolla will just get the center differential and use front/rear brakes to control slip.

@A70TTR, do you have any new info?

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