Car News

SUPER HOT HATCH: Toyota introduces 192kW/360Nm GR Yaris

10 Jan 2020

Alex Rae 1

Toyota has announced official details of its first proper hot hatch in decades, the 2020 Toyota GR Yaris.

THIS IS THE most expensive and powerful Yaris you’ll ever be able to buy.

The three-door widebody homologation of the successful Yaris WRC car created for Toyota’s revival in rally motorsport, the GR Yaris is a bespoke build unlike many hot hatches that simply add to the base model.

It houses a 1.6-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine producing a whopping 192kW of power and 360Nm of torque through a six-speed manual transmission to all four wheels. Weighing just 1280kg and producing a power-to-weight ratio of 150kW per tonne, it is more powerful than hot hatches in the class above it.

It will arrive in Australia later this year, and while pricing is yet to be announced, we’d expect this expensive development to cost near $50,000. That’s a lot of dosh compared to a rival like the Fiesta ST, but this is another beast entirely.

Toyota says its WRC partner, Tommi Mäkinen Racing, was behind some of the development.

“The WRC-skilled team of designers and engineers at Tommi Mäkinen Racing focused on perfecting the aerodynamics, weight distribution and lightweight of the new car – the three qualities essential to achieving the best performance and drivability.

“The three-door body shell is made from lightweight materials including carbon-fibre polymer and aluminium, to deliver an impressive power-to-weight ratio.

“The new platform allows for a wider rear track and new double-wishbone rear suspension system. The team also devised reinforcements beneath the side members to ensure the suspension’s performance potential can be realised.

“To ensure the plans worked in practice, the GR Yaris was put to the test by professional race and rally drivers during the development program.”

It rides on 18-inch lightweight alloy wheels with Dunlop SP Sport MAXX050 225/40 rubber. There is unique sports suspension on the McPherson front and torsion beam double-wishbone rear suspension setups.

Toyota dubs the all-wheel drive system ‘GR-FOUR AWD’. It has a high-response coupling with different gear ratios on the front and rear diffs, which allows for a theoretical range of front/rear torque balance from 100:0 (full front-wheel drive) to 0:100 (full rear-wheel drive).

It is speed limited to 230km/h and will reach 100km/h from a standstill in under five and a half seconds.

All we need now is pricing and availability from Toyota Australia. Or is this likely to be too expensive a hot hatch?

YARIS GR SPECIFICATIONS

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