It was the beginning of November 2019 when Toyota first revealed a hot hatchback wrapped in camouflage, featuring GR-4 on the license plate and GR Yaris badging on the tailgate. Most likely called the Yaris GR-4, the successor of the Yaris GRMN is an all-wheel-drive pocket rocket with rallying know-how.
“Master Driver Morizo puts GR Yaris to its final test. Get ready for it,” is how Toyota describes the second teaser of the long-anticipated model, and as you can tell from the short scene of the car accelerating, all-wheel drive is definitely on the table. The lightweight wheels shod in all-terrain tires are complemented by a set of mud flaps that wouldn’t look out of place on a genuine rally car.
Brightening up the screenshot used as the main picture of this article reveals an interesting detail. What appears to be an intercooler would translate to turbocharging, and the soundtrack seems to confirm our suspicion. The most interesting piece of information, however, is that Japanese outlets report three cylinders under the hood instead of the more common four-pot setup.
If the reports turn out to be true, then Toyota can thank Ford of Europe for starting the three-cylinder hot hatchback trend. The Fiesta ST packs the 1.0-liter EcoBoost with 200 ponies from 1.5 liters of displacement. While the soundtrack may be a disappointment, the thrills behind the wheel of the FiST certainly aren’t.
Known as the Vitz in Japan, the Yaris that Europe and Australia get is available with a 1.5-liter as well. Codenamed M15A and available with hybrid assistance, this engine boasts a thermal efficiency of 40 and 41 percent. The compression ratio also differs between the powerplant’s two variations from 13.0:1 to 14.0:1.
Turning our attention back to the Japanese media, some say the GR-4 will be a series-production model instead of a limited edition like the GRMN. And on that bombshell, competition-spec Yaris GR-4 models are expected to get… wait for it… a 1.6-liter with four cylinders and a turbo instead of a supercharger!
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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