New Toyota GR Yaris Goes ‘Round Tourist Nürburgring in Under 8 Mins
Reason No. 47 the new Toyota GR Yaris hot hatch should be sold in the United States: It just lapped the tourist layout of the Nürburgring Nordschleife in under eight minutes, and in less-than-ideal conditions at that.
So far, all of the reviews of the new GR Yaris point to it being an excellent little car, one unfortunately unavailable for us folks on the west side of the Atlantic. Clearly, there just aren’t enough of us who are bummed out about this fact, because Toyota has deemed that selling its fun new car in the U.S. just wouldn’t be worthwhile. After all, if it isn’t a high-riding SUV or pickup truck, it seems most Americans are simply not interested.
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In the video embedded below, you’ll see what seems to be a non-professional but definitely capable driver hauling his new GR Yaris around the Nordschleife’s bridge-to-gantry section, which excludes the long Döttinger Höhe straight where supercars typically like to show off their top speed. That part of the track is often unavailable for hot laps during tourist track days as it is used by drivers to get off the track and queue back into it.
Nonetheless, the driver’s lap time of 7 minutes and 56.8 seconds is impressive even if it was performed on the 11.9-mile portion of the circuit rather than the full 12.944 miles. That the time was set on a 43-degree day with other cars to overtake makes it all the more notable.
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Under the hood, the GR Yaris has a turbocharged 1.6-liter three-cylinder rated at 257 horsepower and 266 lb-ft of torque. Power is sent to all four wheels via a six-speed manual and advanced all-wheel-drive system that incorporates locking front and rear differentials. The sticky Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires are a big help, too.
And as exciting as the Yaris is to drive, there’s good evidence that Toyota is building an even hotter, GRMN version of the hatchback, with a massive rear wing, big air outlets, and front canards. Toyota: are you sure you can’t bring it over to the States? Pretty please?
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.