Toyota has updated its highly successful homologation special hot-hatch GR Yaris for 2024. Pricing is yet to be announced but expect the new GR Yaris to go on sale across Europe from Summer 2024. In addition to the “regular” GR Yaris we’re seeing here, a couple of special editions named after two of its World Rally Championship (WRC) star drivers Sébastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanperä will be unveiled at the Rallye Monte-Carlo, the opening round of this year’s FIA WRC (Jan 25-28).
Let’s start with the styling revisions then, shall we? On the front fascia, the bumper has been redesigned, more specifically the grille and side intakes. It appears that the front fog lights have been let go. On the side, things remain unchanged, even the wheel design is the same. At the rear, you probably will notice some differences. The lower bumper has an opening that is said to allow air from beneath the floor to escape, reducing drag, improving the car’s maneuverability and stability and dispersing heat from the exhaust system.
The taillights have been redesigned, of course. There’s a connecting light band at the bottom, and notice that there’s no Toyota logo in the middle – or anywhere on the rear fascia. The rear fog and reversing lights are concealed within the dark band in the middle. Also, notice that the third brake light has been moved from the roof spoiler to the dark band in the middle.
In addition to Emotional Red, Precious Black and Super White/Platinum White Pearlescent, the new GR Yaris offers an option called Precious Metal.
Toyota says that the new GR Yaris’ body has been rendered even more rigid with around a 13% increase in spot welds and the application of approximately 24% more structural adhesive. As a result, the car’s yaw response, steering feedback and grip feel have been enhanced, building what was already a taut and highly rewarding chassis.
The suspension systems have been retained – front MacPherson struts and rear double wishbones with trailing arms – but adjustments have been made in response to feedback from competition drivers, the company said. Adding extra bolts to fasten the front shock absorbers to the body suppresses changes in alignment that can happen when the upper bush deforms in high-load driving. The front and rear springs have also been adjusted for optimum performance and improved handling control.
Inside, the dashboard has been redesigned, and as you can see, there’s a new 12.3-inch fully digital cluster that offers normal and sport layouts. Toyota also said that the driver’s field of vision from the wheel has been improved by dropping the top edge of the instrument panel by 50 mm, changing the position of the rear-view mirror and angling the control panel 15 degrees further towards the driver.
There have been some other ergonomic improvements as well. The driver seat has been lowered by 25 mm and the steering wheel adjusted accordingly. The company also said that the shift direction has been changed to suit competition driving so the driver pushes the lever forward for downshifts and pulls back for upshifts – a detail promoted by Master Driver and Toyota Motor Corporation Chairman Akio Toyoda (alias “Morizo”).
Moving on to the juicy bits of the story, the 1.6-litre 3-cylinder turbo petrol engine now offers 206 kW (280 metric hp) at 6,500 rpm and 390 Nm (288 lb-ft) between 3,250 and 4,600 rpm. Compared with the original figures, now there are 19 metric horses and 20 Nm more. While the original car came only with a 6-speed manual transmission, now there’s an option of an 8-speed “GAZOO Racing Direct Automatic Transmission” tuned for fast shifts. I’m told that it is a torque converter. As before, AWD is standard.
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