This little Toyota is more powerful than a Porsche 911 GT3 RS

In addition to solid and reliable cars, Toyota also builds real enthusiast cars. Think of the Toyota GR Yaris. A hot hatch That’s miles away from the standard Yaris. With a few modifications, the small 1.6-liter engine even puts out more horsepower than a brand-new Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

Undoubtedly against the advice of financial advisors, CEO Akio Toyoda had a high-performance GR version of the Yaris developed. This powerful road car served as a homologation model for the WRC, in which Toyota participates. When the 2020 Toyota GR Yaris was unveiled, it caused quite a stir in the car world.

pocket rocket

The cost of this project will likely outweigh the benefits for Toyota. However, the brand has gained a multitude of new Toyota fans. From the factory, the GR Yaris is already a real one pocket rocket that makes the heart of many car lovers beat faster. Under the hood is a 1.6-liter three-cylinder engine that delivers no less than 261 hp and 360 Nm of torque with the help of a turbo.

As befits a good rally car, power is sent to all four wheels. It’s even possible to send 70 percent of the power to the rear wheels, maximizing driving pleasure.

Toyota GR Yaris stronger than Porsche 911 GT3 RS

Tuners soon dived into the little three-cylinder. Take your Toyota GR Yaris to the chip tuner and the engine block will be exchanged for one Level 1 melody easily ticked up to 300 hp. But it gets even crazier, as evidenced by Ekanoo Racing, a Middle Eastern tuning company that also ran away with the hatchback. The tuner conjured up 556 hp from the GR Yaris. That’s more than the 525 hp that a brand new Porsche 911 GT3 RS produces. EKanoo Racing’s GR Yaris completes a 400-meter sprint in just over 10.5 seconds.

This performance was measured on the wheels on the dynamometer. A car always loses some power in the powertrain. That means the engine itself is likely to make more than 600 horsepower. Of course, the three-cylinder had to be overhauled. For example, the tuned Toyota GR Yaris comes with a custom exhaust, a different turbo, and a convenience store ECU.

tons cheaper

The cost of the extensive upgrades Ekanoo Racing is making to its GR Yaris is unknown. However, it won’t be cheap. A simple visit to the chip tuner usually costs no more than a few hundred euros.

You will soon be paying thousands of euros for a different turbo, exhaust and most likely also adjustments to the interior of the three-cylinder. At the new Dutch price of around 64,000 euros, this quickly becomes an expensive joke. The lightning-fast Toyota GR Yaris is still a ton cheaper than a Porsche 911 GT3 RS.