The Toyota hot hatch – Toyota’s homologation special.

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The Toyota GR Yaris is much more than just a hot hatch and much less of a Yaris as we know it.

Now, let’s talk about how the Yaris GR was born. In order to comply with regulations in rallying, your car has to be based on an existing road car. This is called homologation. Simply put – a homologation special is a road legal car manufactured to meet race sanctioning body requirements. - A race car for the road. The governing body would typically state that a certain number of these street cars has to be produced in order to allow the car to compete in the racing series. The most popular examples of homologation specials derive from Rally Championship series’ and Touring Car series’. A few popular examples are the Lancia Stratos, Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3 – 16, Audi Sport Quattro and Ford RS2000.

The GR Yaris is a race car, born from Toyota’s WRC title winning experience. The experts at Gazoo Racing brought motorsport technology directly to the world of road cars with the GR Yaris.

Performance

Under the bonnet you will find the world’s most powerful production 1.6-litre, 3 cylinder turbo engine, producing 192kW and 360Nm. Interestingly, the engine is hydraulically mounted on one side to reduce unwanted vibration and movement.

The GR Yaris benefits from a rally-bred MacPherson strut and double-wishbone suspension setup which is tuned by the Gazoo Racing World Rally team.

The experts at the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team developed the GR Yaris with GR-Four, the claimed lightest AWD system currently on the market. Though lightweight, the GR-Four AWD system is far from basic. An aluminium central transfer case splits torque, 60:40, front to rear in normal mode. Sport mode is 30:70 and tack mode, 50:50. Furthermore, torque is divided between the rear wheels through an electronically controlled clutch pack.

Aluminium body panels and a carbon fibre roof contributes to the GR Yaris curb weight of 1,280kg. This gives the car a power-to-weight-ratio of 156kW per ton.

The combination of the GR-Four AWD system, light weight, the 192kW power plant and the 6-speed manual gearbox will get the GR Yaris from 0-100km/h in just 5.5 seconds.

There are three variants of the GR Yaris. The normal GR Yaris, the GR Yaris Convenience Pack and the GR Yaris Circuit Pack.

Interior:

Under the bonnet you will find the world’s most powerful production 1.6-litre, 3 cylinder turbo engine, producing 192kW and 360Nm. Interestingly, the engine is hydraulically mounted on one side to reduce unwanted vibration and movement.

In the GR Yaris cabin you will find equipment directly developed alongside the Toyota World Rally Team such as:

• 8” Multimedia system with Smartphone integration.
• Smart entry & push-button start.
• 6 speakers, USB connector and DAB radio.
• GR leather steering wheel.
• GR floor mats.
• Black leather gear shift and handbrake with red stitching.
• Aluminium pedals.

In addition, you can expect the following from the Toyota GR Yaris Convenience Pack:

• JBL Premium Sound System.
• Voice Recognition.
• Head Up Display.
• UV Windscreen.
• Blind Spot Monitor (BSM)
• Illuminated entry system.

Toyota SA says that the Toyota GR Yaris will hit South African shores mid- 2021. Keep a close watch for detailed specifications, variations and pricing to be revealed closer to introduction time.