The Star: May 06, 2021

Thursday May 6 2021 The Star 37
Rally-bred Yaris provides the thrills
TOYOTA IS no stranger to rally
success. I remember well the
heady days during the early 90s
when the amazing Celica GT-
Four dominated the World Rally
Championship.
Toyota distanced itself from
rallying for many years, it dabbled
in formula one and sports
endurance racing, however, it
came back to rallying in 2017
and the company has had success
with the Yaris, winning the WRC
in 2019 and 2020.
While the Yaris is a world apart
from the Celica as I know it – the
latter was part of the Kiddiefamily
line-up for many years
– the Yaris with its hatchback
design lends itself to the WRC,
competing against other small
hatchbacks such as Ford’s Fiesta,
Volkswagen Polo and Citroen
DS3.
Toyota has just introduced a
new Yaris on the New Zealand
market. It comes in many guises –
petrol-only models, hybrids and
the funky Yaris Cross. I’ve driven
all in recent months and can
report that they uphold the values
Toyota has in a small car.
However, there is one major
surprise within the Yaris line-up
and that is the GR model, a car
inspired by the WRC-winning
model. GR is an abbreviation for
Gazoo Racing which is Toyota’s
performance arm that helped
develop the WRC car.
The GR Yaris in road-going
form is no rally car, but it doesn’t
miss out by much. Firstly, it is
powered by a 1.6-litre threecylinder
heavily turbocharged
engine, it has a six-speed manual
transmission and drives out all
four wheels and, what’s more, you
can direct drive to give you that
rally feel, power can be proportioned
heavily to the rear, or to
the front, or have a 50:50 split
should you desire that.
Personally, I like the push you
get from the rear, so during my
time with the test car I drove it
in sport mode which sends 70
per cent in that direction. Under
power you can almost force oversteer,
which is immense fun, and
there is more than enough power
on tap to do that.
Putting that into context, the
engine is rated with 200kW
and 370Nm, outputs realised at
6500rpm and 3000-4600rpm
respectively, all those figures considered,
the Yaris is quick, strong
and willing under all driving conditions.
It is also eager, you know
as a driver it wants to get hunting,
the turbo boost is strong and the
engine will fly to high revolutions
if the accelerator is given any
minor provocation.
According to Toyota, the GR
Yaris will make 100km/h from a
standstill in 5.2sec, and it will also
lunge to 120km/h from 80km/h
in 4.5sec. It will also make
230km/h if laws allowed.
I had some items to pick up
from Rangiora, so the obvious
choice of roads to get home to my
city suburb was through Loburn,
Oxford and State Highway 72.
They weren’t perfect roads for
the GR Yaris simply because there
THRILLING:
The GR Yaris
has the
performance
to match its
sporty looks.
TOYOTA YARIS GR: Based on World Rally Championship-winning car.
aren’t enough corners, but I did
backtrack into an area where
there were some challenges and
enjoyed the feel of knowing the
driver is in command.
Just when you think it will drift
nicely out of a corner, grip comes
in from the front to pull the car
straight and it powers off until
the next corner arrives. When
that happens, huge stopping force
through a premium brake system
comes into play.
Grip is supplied by high quality
Michelin tyres (225/40 x 18in),
and with a comparatively heavy
steering feel all the ingredients
are in place for spirited motoring.
Shifts through the six-speeder
are short and direct, there’s no
chance of wrong-slotting, and
clutch action, while firmish under
foot, is progressive.
There’s also an intelligent
manual transmission mode that
will blip the engine on downshift,
matching the revs to the gearing,
much like we used to do with the
double de-clutch method.
The GR Yaris is an absolute
blast to drive, it feels twitchy with
its short wheelbase, but such
is the grip and control it has it
inspires confidence. It is playful,
yet safe at the same time with
traction control systems intervening
when forces are outweighing
the law of physics.
Even though the GR Yaris is
• Price – Toyota Yaris GR,
$54,990
• Dimensions – Length,
3995mm; width, 1805mm;
height, 1445mm
• Configuration – Threecylinder,
four-wheel-drive,
1618cc, 200kW, 370Nm,
six-speed manual
• Performance –
0-100km/h, 5.2sec
• Fuel usage – 7.6l/100km
based on the WRC car, I didn’t
take it off the seal as such, it had
been presented beautifully and
I didn’t want to risk stone chips
and be presented with a massive
clean-up job. But I did find a
couple of corners that had loose
surface seal and I was able to feel
electronics working in order to
maintain grip and acceleration.
The GR Yaris builds on the fun
angle that Toyota has pitched for
the new Yaris series and you can
glean immense pleasure from it,
it most certainly is an exhilarating
car that tugs at all the senses.
The engine has a characteristic
throb, it sounds chunky but
sings sweetly from 4000rpm
onwards letting the driver know
it is enjoying its work. There’s no
point in the rev band where it
doesn’t want to work freely, it will
also dawdle the city streets in tall
gears, the turbo producing huge
torque that allows the car to pull
from very low revolutions.
There is a little trade-off in
terms fuel usage. Normally, you’d
expect a 1.6-litre engine to garner
an average better than 7.6-litres
per 100km, but if you want performance
that is the price to pay.
When I took the test car back
to the dealership it was showing
9.8l/100km on the readout, perhaps
an indication of how much
I enjoyed hearing and feeling that
engine work. At 100km/h an instantaneous
reading of 5l/10kmn
can be expected (engine speed
2500rpm). All that aside, a
generous 50-litre fuel tank means
frequent top-ups can be avoided.
In terms of fitment, the GR
Yaris has all the goods. It has
an in-cabin environment that
matches the sporty exterior
design, and has specification
that justifies a very respectable
$54,990 price tag.
My wife recently suggested we
buy a Yaris for our retirement. I’d
certainly be interested in the GR,
the only thing is she’s not thrilled
with cars that have manual transmission,
I’ve obviously got a bit of
work ahead if I’m to convince her
the GR is the car for us.
In the interim anyone who does
get to have one in their garage on
a permanent basis will certainly
be rewarded, it is one stroppy hot
hatchback.
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We use world class vehicle depollution systems
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www.pickapart.co.nz