The new Toyota GR Yaris has changed more than you think

After getting to know the GR Yaris on the racetrack for the first time, we were now able to try it out on an ice rink with studded tires. The differences to the old model became clear.

After an unexpectedly huge success, Toyota’s road rally car is getting a sequel. The updated GR Yaris received more power, a new interior, an improved suspension and optimized control of the four-wheel drive system.

New Toyota GR Yaris

The basis (fortunately!) remained largely the same: a lightweight bomb with a one and a half liter three-cylinder turbo that now spits out 280 hp and 390 Nm. All-wheel drive, with a Torsen limited-slip differential on each axle and a central clutch that distributes power between the front and rear axles, ensures no horsepower and Newton meters are wasted.

Over the last four years, the Toyota GR Yaris development team has collected a lot of valuable information about four-wheel drive control. To give the 4WD some character, there are still three programs to choose from, but all three have been completely rewritten. In conjunction with the firmer chassis, the GR Yaris has become significantly more agile and predictable.

Driving on ice

Driving on ice significantly improves a car’s handling characteristics. Due to the lower grip, understeer and oversteer tendencies are more pronounced and the steering, brakes and vehicle systems react somewhat delayed. This makes differences easy to spot. Toyota first let us hit the ice track with the old GR Yaris, then we were able to switch to the new one to experience it for ourselves.

The Toyota GR Yaris is not only available with a manual transmission, but now also with an eight-speed automatic transmission. This also proved to be an advantage on the ice, as the shorter gears ensure more pulling power. With this car you will quickly feel like a professional rally driver as you dance intuitively from corner to corner. But that’s just an illusion, we realized that because after our own test drive we were allowed to sit in the passenger seat next to Toyota’s rally professional Elfyn Evans, who is currently second in the World Rally Championship. It showed what a real professional can do with a wheeled vehicle like the GR Yaris.