Toyota GR Yaris
It’s Meaden’s month with our GR. Will he still enjoy it as a daily driver?
IT’S AN ILLUSTRATION OF HOW BIZARRE things can be on a car magazine that my prior experience of a GR Yaris was in north Wales and Scotland on last year’s ecoty test, then earlier this year bombing around North Yorkshire in the company of an Impreza 22B and an Audi Sport Quattro for issue 282’s cover story.
Funnily enough I’ve consequently got very fond memories of the Yaris, but I’m the first to concede those experiences are a million miles from the everyday lives most GRS will live. A month doing ordinary things would place a very different set of demands on this extraordinary little Toyota.
Encouragingly, just walking up to it still made me smile. The shape is so chunky, the proportions so abrupt and its sense of purpose so clear that you’re left in no doubt it’s something very far from the norm. The interior is simple and somewhat plain. The seats are a focal point, and while you sit a bit high, the driving position sets a serious tone that makes you want to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in.
The control weights are still a stand-out quality, the steering in particular having a measured feel and response that connects you from the off. The engine is talkative and has generous mid-range shove and a strong top-end, though it only truly wakes up if you crank things up via the Sport and Track modes. The six-speed H-pattern ’box slots gears with a solid precision that only ever enriches the driving experience. Brakes? Brilliant. Chassis? Agile, grippy and utterly without vice. Though yes, it might lack a bit of dynamic instability if you want an edgier drive.
The weather was grotty for a chunk of the time I spent with it, but far from spoiling things, the GR felt hugely impressive on cold, greasy roads, finding grip and feel from surfaces that experience and instinct told me should feel glassy and encourage circumspection. The Yaris really does shine in conditions where other cars can lose their lustre. Bugbears? My main one is the piddly range. Drive quickly and use the revs in the manner the GR encourages and you end up stopping every 200 miles or so, which gets tedious. Thankfully, ICE power means a fill-up only takes five minutes.
Other gripes? Our car doesn’t have the Convenience Pack, which means no built-in satnav. I know, I know: just connect your phone, Dickie. I think it bugs me more than it should because the infotainment screen is plonked in such a prominent position. The parcel ‘shelf’ is a flimsy net trampoline affair that looks and feels cheap. Oh, and wrapping a forged carbon roof in carbon-look vinyl seems a bit inauthentic for a rally special that’s unquestionably the real Mccoy in every other respect. Just leave it naked and celebrate the functionality of the material.
I had worried that the car that’s basically been touted as the The Second Coming might not shine quite so brightly when applied to day-in day-out use. I’m pleased to say those concerns were completely unfounded: the GR Yaris is one of those cars that never feels less than special.
Date acquired December 2020 Total mileage 3670 Mileage this month 801 Costs this month £0 mpg this month 24.1
‘The Yaris really does shine in conditions where other cars can lose their lustre’