A few days after putting out an initial teaser featuring Akio “Morizo” Toyoda at the wheel of the upcoming GR Yaris, Toyota has launched a few more clips — along with mouthwatering details — that have us thinking the car may become the king of hot hatchbacks when it launches.
The GR Yaris will serve as the foundation for Toyota’s entry in the 2021 World Rally Championship, and is planned to have much in common with its rally-bred sibling. It will be lightweight, have four-wheel drive, and notably, it’ll be the first true performance car developed entirely in-house by Toyota in about 20 years.
According to Autocar, it will be driven by a turbocharged 1.6-liter three-cylinder producing at least 250 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque. Compared to the regular, grandma-friendly Yaris, the GR variant is 95 millimeters lower and comes with larger wheel arches, a wider track, a massive front grille for extra cooling, and twin exhaust tips.
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It’s also 38 kilograms lighter than the regular Yaris despite being stronger, as the bodywork is made from a special mix of aluminum, forged carbon fiber and carbon fiber-reinforced polymer. Needless to say, it won’t be quite as affordable as the standard Yaris either.
It’s notable that there was absolutely no need for Toyota to make this car, as was once the case because of WRC regulations that required manufacturers to build a set number of road-going examples of the cars they introduced in competition. Toyota just went out and made a WRC homologation special…just because it felt like it. Who knew that Toyota, once criticized for making lethargic vehicles, would be so keen to keep the passion alive for driving going into the 2020s?
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