PETALING JAYA: The Toyota GR Yaris, a competition-built WRC car refined for the road, made its local debut today.
Priced at RM299,000, (excluding road tax and comprehensive insurance) only limited units of the GR Yaris Performance Pack Edition will be sold in Malaysia, with each car bearing a special number plate to indicate its exclusivity.
Global production of the GR Yaris is limited to 25,000 units; less than 200 units are allocated for Malaysia.
UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd said early birds who buy the hot hatch will receive an exclusive helmet bag, a GR Yaris scale model and given a GR Yaris Driving Experience in 2021. The combined package is worth RM5,000.
Breaking from convention, Toyota engineered the GR Yaris purely as a purpose-built rally car with its sights firmly set on competing at World Rally Championship (WRC) before refining it into a road-going high performance hot hatch.
The GR Yaris is Toyota’s first homologation model for the WRC since the Celica GT-FOUR was last produced in 1999.
Built on a unique platform combining Toyota’s new GA-B platform (from the new generation Yaris hatchback) and a rear section adapted from the GA-C platform (used for the Corolla and C- HR), the GR Yaris is the first production model to built at the bespoke GR factory at Motomachi, Japan – the same facility responsible for building the Lexus LFA supercar.
The GR Yaris is built to fill extremely large shoes, with Toyota’s WRC heritage dating back to 1973 and includes winning four WRC Manufacturers’ Championship titles and three Drivers’ Championship titles.
Engineered in collaboration with the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team and Tommi Makinen Racing, under the stewardship of its team principal and WRC legend Tommi Makinen, the GR Yaris benefitted from competitive advantage in terms of vehicle development, technologies and expertise from the very beginning of its inception. The team’s WRC designers and engineers were able to focus on perfecting the aerodynamics, weight distribution and light weight construction of the car – the three key qualities essential to achieving the best performance and drivability.
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The result was a lower roofline to enhance the GR Yaris’ aerodynamic performance; an all-new 1.6-litre turbocharged engine; repositioning of the battery in the boot for better chassis balance to improve handling, stability and responsiveness; and the birth of a new three-door body shell made from lightweight materials including carbon fibre polymer and aluminium, to deliver an impressive power-to-weight ratio, while the new platform allows for a wider rear track and new double wishbone rear suspension system.
The front silhouette of the GR Yaris is bold and menacing, projecting its highly-competitive identity. The large front opening at the front takes the shape of radiator and has been designed for maximum cooling performance while vertical intakes on both sides of the front bumper function to cool the brakes.
The top carved edges of the front bumper also function as canards accentuating its wide and low stance.
Moving towards the rear, the GR Yaris gets a tapered roof and rear pillars in addition to a deep, high-mounted GR spoiler to enhance its overall down force.
The GR Yaris is fitted with 18" inch BBS forged alloy wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot 4S 225/40R18 tyres - exclusive to the Performance Pack Edition. GR badges adorn the front bumper, front fenders and the rear tailgate.
Powered by a 1,618 cc three-cylinder, in-line, DOHC, intercooler turbocharged engine, the GR Yaris produces a maximum power of 257hp at 6,500rpm and 360Nm of torque from 3,000-4,600rpm.
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“The 1.6-litre engine follows the WRC 2 regulations. We can safely call it the world’s most powerful three-cylinder engine, the lightest and the smallest 1.6-litre turbocharged unit currently in production,” said Atsunori Kumagaya who led the development project of the GR Yaris.
The GR Yaris is only available with a six-speed manual gearbox with i-MT (Intelligent Manual Transmission) function that detects the driver's shifting operation and matches the engine speed to provide a smooth and comfortable shift feel.
The gear shift lever is positioned high on the centre console and set closer to the steering wheel for quicker shifting while the shift stroke is also shortened and lightened for a more engaging feel.
Using an all-new fulltime four-wheel drive system (GR-Four), the GR Yaris offers Normal, Sport and Track modes. It is the first to be developed since the four-wheel drive system in the Toyota GT-4 some 20 years ago.
The GR-Four system distributes power between the front and rear axle via a high response coupling and an electronically controlled multi-plate type clutch that manages the power split between the front and rear wheels. In Normal mode the torque is split 60:40 front to rear, in Sport the torque split is 30:70 while in Track mode, the torque split is a perfectly balanced 50:50 distribution. The Performance Pack Edition also sees the GR Yaris fitted with a Torsen limited slip differential (LSD).
This includes a roof made of a new forged (rather than woven) carbon material and C-SMC (carbon sheet moulding compound); aluminium bonnet, front doors and rear boot; its design as a three-door which reduces weight by another 24 kg; and thin-sheet steel in the wings and side members, with light and strong high-tensile steels in critical areas to ensure structural rigidity and ability to safely absorb and dissipate impact forces.
Performance by light weight was also fulfilled by the design of the new 1.6-litre, three cylinder turbo charged engine; in the suspension, braking and engine components; and carried through to the interior.
Stopping power comes in the form of 356 mm ventilated two-piece brake discs with a four- piston red aluminium GR calipers at the front, and 297 mm ventilated discs with a two-piston aluminium red GR calipers at the rear. The GR Yaris is also fitted with a mechanical hand- operated parking brake for extreme cornering in rally stage driving.
The interior of the GR Yaris combines simplicity, understated elegance and functionality to reflect its athleticism and performance.
Weight was further reduced through the use of a light but highly rigid seat frame for the black leather with red stitching front sports seats, and all-black rear leather seats.
The car gets a bespoke GR three-spoke leather wrapped multifunction steering wheel while the overall interior is finished in black with smoke silver trim details to the interior door handles, side air vents and centre console.
Drilled aluminium sports pedals designed with a wider surface make it easier to switch pedals and facilitate heel and toe shifting between braking and accelerating. The pedal position, pad angle and pressing angle have also been calculated in line with the driver’s hip point to gain the best possible controllability.
Instrumentation in the GR Yaris is an analogue meter featuring white figures with red pointers for high visibility sports driving, and a 4.2-inch TFT colour multi-information display (MID) with an all-wheel drive indicator showing the torque distribution and driving mode selected for the GR- FOUR system, a gear shift indicator, as well as a turbo pressure monitor.
The GR Yaris also has a Head-up display (HUD).
Infotainment comes in the form of a 7” inch capacitive touch screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, FM tuner, USB, Bluetooth® and a six-speaker audio system.
Other features include a dual zone automatic climate control air-conditioning, electrochromic mirror rear view mirror, electric power steering (EPS), a smart entry system, a push start button with a GR emblem, and power windows with (Auto Up / Down with Jam Protection).
An engine sound enhancement system meanwhile, transmits exhilarating sounds into the cabin in accordance with the accelerator operation amount and torque.
At the heart of GR Yaris’ safety system is the Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) and Traction control (TRC). The VSC also features an Expert mode allowing the driver to disable it and the TRC. Other standard features include Anti-lock Braking System (ABS); Brake Assist (BA); and Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD).
Safety is further reaffirmed with Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) features that include a Pre-Crash System (PCS); Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC); Lane Departure Alert (LDA); Lane Tracing Assist (LTA); and Auto High Beam (AHB).
Protected by 6 SRS airbags, other safety features include Hill-start Assist Control (HAC); front & rear seat belt reminder; automatic retractable wing mirrors with turn signal lamps; automatic wipers with rain sensor; driving video recorder; rear parking sensors; a tyre pressure monitor system (TPMS); and three-point Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) seatbelts with two pre-tensioners and force limiters.
The GR Yaris consolidates Toyota’s Gazoo Racing (GR) line-up of vehicles in Malaysia which also includes the 3.0-litre GR Supra and the newly-launched Vios GR-Sport, giving customers multiple entry points into owning performance-built models from Toyota, said UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd president Ravindran K.
Meanwhile, UMW Toyota Motor deputy chairman and Gazoo Racing Malaysia’s chief motorsport officer Akio Takeyama said the GR Yaris underlined Toyota’s commitment to excel at the highest levels of international motorsports and to channel this experience, knowledge and benefits back into manufacturing ever better vehicles for the masses.
The GR Yaris is available in three signature colours: Platinum White Pearl, Emotional Red 2 and Precious Black.
The GR Yaris is fully-backed by a five-year warranty 5 years warranty from the date of first registration with unlimited mileage (terms and conditions apply).
The GR Yaris is available exclusively at all GR Garage outlets. For more information on the GR Yaris, log on to our website at www.toyota.com.my.
