Photo: CarPix
Toyota’s in-house motorsport skunkworks, Gazoo Racing, is up to no good lately, and the spy photos in the attached gallery are a perfect example of their upcoming shenanigans.
Established in 2007, Gazoo Racing (GR) was initially a pet project related to Akio Toyoda’s racing ambitions, which then soon transitioned into a large-scale project that now includes motorsport activities for both Toyota and Lexus.
The ‘GR’ moniker has now started to appear on road-going sports cars like the GR Supra, GR 86 and last, but definitely not least, the mighty GR Yaris, which is one of the craziest projects that Toyota or any other carmaker has developed for road cars in recent years.
Essentially a rally car for the road, the Toyota GR Yaris has very few things in common with the Yaris city car it is based on, as the hot hatch is even built on a special assembly line in the Motomachi plant, which Toyota calls the ‘GR Factory’ and is staffed by master craftsmen who usually work on hand-building special cars like the Lexus LFA.
Using a three-cylinder 1.6-liter developed and built by Gazoo Racing, the GR Yaris develops up to 272 PS (268 HP) and 370 Nm (273 lb-ft) of torque depending on market, sent to all four wheels through a six-speed manual.
Rally legend Tommi Makkinen himself was part of the development team, with the GR Yaris initially being built as an homologation special for the World Rally Championship, which required at least 25,000 units to be manufactured over a continuous 12-month period.
Even though the WRC rules changed, Akio Toyoda decided to continue with the project and this is how you can now buy what is essentially a mostly hand-built WRC hatch for the road, with a CFRP roof and everything, at a price similar to that of mass-produced hot hatch.
As it turns out, the GR Yaris is not extreme enough, because an even hotter version is in the works, with slightly more power and extra lightness.
Unofficial sources mention that the tentatively named Toyota GR Yaris GRMN, which stands for Gazoo Racing Meister of the Nurburgring, is undergoing a severe diet by replacing a lot of aluminum with more CFRP parts and losing the rear seats.
The even more aggressive body kit now includes a pair of air extractors behind the two front wheels and a large wing on the rear, which is not unlike those used in WRC. We should expect the model to be unveiled as an even more limited edition of the GR Yaris sometime in 2022.
The ‘GR’ moniker has now started to appear on road-going sports cars like the GR Supra, GR 86 and last, but definitely not least, the mighty GR Yaris, which is one of the craziest projects that Toyota or any other carmaker has developed for road cars in recent years.
Essentially a rally car for the road, the Toyota GR Yaris has very few things in common with the Yaris city car it is based on, as the hot hatch is even built on a special assembly line in the Motomachi plant, which Toyota calls the ‘GR Factory’ and is staffed by master craftsmen who usually work on hand-building special cars like the Lexus LFA.
Using a three-cylinder 1.6-liter developed and built by Gazoo Racing, the GR Yaris develops up to 272 PS (268 HP) and 370 Nm (273 lb-ft) of torque depending on market, sent to all four wheels through a six-speed manual.
Rally legend Tommi Makkinen himself was part of the development team, with the GR Yaris initially being built as an homologation special for the World Rally Championship, which required at least 25,000 units to be manufactured over a continuous 12-month period.
Even though the WRC rules changed, Akio Toyoda decided to continue with the project and this is how you can now buy what is essentially a mostly hand-built WRC hatch for the road, with a CFRP roof and everything, at a price similar to that of mass-produced hot hatch.
As it turns out, the GR Yaris is not extreme enough, because an even hotter version is in the works, with slightly more power and extra lightness.
Unofficial sources mention that the tentatively named Toyota GR Yaris GRMN, which stands for Gazoo Racing Meister of the Nurburgring, is undergoing a severe diet by replacing a lot of aluminum with more CFRP parts and losing the rear seats.
The even more aggressive body kit now includes a pair of air extractors behind the two front wheels and a large wing on the rear, which is not unlike those used in WRC. We should expect the model to be unveiled as an even more limited edition of the GR Yaris sometime in 2022.
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