Are you a ‘love at first sight’ or ‘second chances’ kind of person?
You may be wondering, quite rightly, what’s that got to do with a car and what on earth I’m talking about on this motoring website. Well, I’m talking about the Toyota GR Yaris, and more specifically the GR Yaris Rallye I recently drove for the first time since its initial launch four years ago.
READ MORE: 2021 Toyota GR Yaris review
You see, back when Toyota launched the GR Yaris back in 2021 you could be forgiven for thinking they’d released a wallet that never ran out of money or a magical bottomless cup of coffee or something equally wonderful and without imperfection. There was immense hype around it, in large part because of the pent up demand for a Toyota hot hatch after decades of waiting, that everyone lost their collective mind.
Except for me.
I was left a little… underwhelmed isn’t the right word, but a little bit less enamoured with the GR Yaris that everyone else I knew who’d driven it. I just wasn’t impressed with the way the GR Yaris performed on its standard Dunlop tyres, repeatedly falling into understeer on the road, and worryingly so in the wet. In other words, unlike everyone else, I didn’t fall in love at first sight with Toyota’s pocket rocket.
The GR Yaris Rallye, with its standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4 rubber and front and rear limited-slip diffs was meant to correct this and I was excited to drive it… only for my test car to be fitted with the same Dunlops as the ‘normal’ model, thanks to pandemic-related supply constraints (remember those?).
Now, a few years later, both the GR Yaris Rallye and I are a little older, and maybe a fresh drive will bring a new perspective and change my view? Thankfully, this time around (with the world back to normal) Michelin’s finest are fitted and I can give the Rallye a proper test drive.
A big part of the appeal of the GR Yaris to die-hard performance car fans is that it represents both a throwback to a bygone era and marks a moment in time when the world’s biggest, most sensible car companies did something wild. That’s because the GR Yaris is a pure WRC homologation special, built primarily to ensure the brand has a competitive Rally1 machine. That’s why it has a unique three-door body with carbon fibre roof and aluminium panels for the bonnet, liftback and doors; rather than the boring, five-door hatchback Yaris that’s aimed at city car buyers.
Climbing aboard the cabin is familiar (although a refreshed cabin is on the way in 2025 with a mid-life facelift for the model) in both a good and bad way. The cabin has some really nice sporty touches, namely the front sports seats and thick-rimmed steering wheel, but it’s also really small. Unfortunately for my friends visiting from out of town the week I reviewed the GR Yaris, they were often forced to ride in the very cramped rear seats. It does make sense, there’s no back seats in a WRC car, but the overall cramped interior and small boot does undermine the everyday usability a good hot hatch should possess.
But then you start it up and forget those quibbles as the 1.6-litre turbocharged engine barks into life. It’s the one aspect of the GR Yaris I had no problems, at all, with four years ago. Back then I called it a “firecracker” and said it “has the ability to show you back in your seat” – and nothing has changed. How Toyota has managed to extract 200kW of power and 370Nm of torque from just three-cylinders is a mystery to me, but I’m glad they have.
The engine is paired to a six-speed manual transmission (an eight-speed automatic option is coming soon with the mid-life update) which is really well-suited to it. The ratios are nicely spaced and the selector has a nice, short and purposeful throw to the action. This is a hot hatch purist’s dream.
Then there’s the Rallye’s party tricks, a pair of Torsen limited-slip diffs, one at the front and one at the rear, which combine with the grippier Michelin tyres to eliminate the understeer that blighted my first experience. The Rallye not only has more grip it has more poise and control at the front end, allowing you to place it with more precision and confidence; elements which are lacking in the standard GR Yaris on the Dunlops and without the diffs.
It also helps that the GR Yaris Rallye gets a unique suspension tune, with stiffer springs and anti-roll bars for an even more dynamic driving experience.
This was what was sorely missing on my first experience and it explains why I didn’t fall in love with the GR Yaris at first drive. However, after this second encounter, with the more capable GR Yaris Rallye, I do find it a very appealing package for both what it is, how it drives and what it represents for Toyota.
The one challenge to really falling head over heels for it, though, remains the price. Unlike most goods that get cheaper as they get older, cars have a tendency to go up in price. The GR Yaris currently starts at $51,390 (plus on-road costs), which is up from $49,500 four years ago. The GR Yaris Rallye starts at $56,390, up from $54,500 at launch.
In Toyota’s defence, those prices only represent a 3.8 and 3.4 per cent increase respectively, which is well below other key challengers in this hot hatch space. For example, back in 2021 the Hyundai i30 N cost $41,400 and a Honda Civic Type R was $54,990, now those two are $50,000 and $74,100 respectively. That’s a 20 per cent price jump for the Hyundai and a massive 34.7 per cent rise for the Honda – a huge change in a very short amount of time.
In that context, the GR Yaris Rallye has even more appeal. Even if it is compromised by its lack of space and big bucks for a small hatch, it has one of the best engines on the market today housed inside a well-tuned and playful chassis. What’s not to love…
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