Toyota GR Yaris
Barker gets his turn in our Yaris, heading straight to his favourite bends
THERE’S NOTHING QUITE LIKE DRIVING a car along a road you know really well. I drove the GR Yaris at Anglesey Circuit and in the Scottish Borders on ecoty last year, and earlier this year had a blat in Litchfield’s 300bhp example, running his Nitron suspension set-up, on freezing, damp Gloucestershire roads (see Driven, evo 285). Yet the chance to wang our long-termer through my go-to series of bends was irresistible and rewarding.
Despite its diminutive size and moderate weight, the Gazoo’d Yaris feels as chunky as it looks and as hefty in control weights as you’d expect of a car engineered for the extreme demands of the World Rally Championship. The turbocharged 1.6-litre triple is a real character, blessed with a deceptively lazy-sounding, three-cylinder drawl but the sort of punch that usually comes from a much bigger displacement. It delivers a massive, near-instant hit from low revs and doesn’t seem to let up, while the steering has a brawny heft, the clutch too, and the deliciously weighty six-speed shift feels like it’s been borrowed from a V12 Aston.
It was a warm, sunny day when I arrived at my favourite bends and I chucked it in with a bit in reserve and was amazed when it hung on like its Michelins were made out of gum. Turn-in isn’t razor sharp but get back on the throttle and there’s no slip at the front, no slip at the rear, all 257bhp hooked up and hauling you through, your ribs pressed into the side bolsters as you nail every apex. If you want, it can tackle the challenge staying on its side of the road through the whole sequence, giving the experience a Scalextric-like quality. The only squealing comes from amazed passengers.
There’s so much grip that on the road the drive mode function is redundant, just as the Gravel and Snow settings on the Mitsubishi Evo were. In terms of dynamic character, the GR Yaris feels unlike an Evo or Impreza, mostly because it’s on a wheelbase so much shorter, though the softer front end and warbling engine align it more with the Subaru. The other difference is that it doesn’t feel settled on the sort of gnarly back roads you expect to feel like home to a rally refugee, the ride a little thumpy.
I managed to squeeze my bike in one weekend but there’s not much rear passenger room. My two younger boys (one 6ft tall, the other 5ft 10in) had a row about who was going in the back, though they both loved it generally.
The Yaris attracts all the right attention and is richly entertaining in everyday use, particularly the engine. At times it feels obvious that there’s a hefty flywheel smoothing out the three cylinders, but then it responds snappily to the throttle and it’ll change gear as fast as you can shift. Surprisingly, the GR can also be reasonably economical too if you’re just stroking along in high gears using the ready torque. Only the 6000-mile service intervals would give you pause about racking up big miles.
John Barker (@evojb)
Date acquired December 2021 Total mileage 4176 Mileage this month 506 Costs this month £0 mpg this month 29.1