The Toyota Yaris GR Sport Is A GRMN Without The Power
There’s a cavernous gap in the current Toyota Yaris range. At the very top of the tree, there’s the furious 209bhp GRMN, but the next step down the pecking order from there is massive. That’s because Toyota doesn’t make any other Yaris that’s even remotely sporty.
It seems the Japanese manufacturer wants to address this, however, by releasing this new Yaris GR Sport to try and bridge the divide. We knew something like this was in the pipeline, as last year a whole bunch of GR Sport-badged Toyotas were revealed for the Japanese market last year, including two warmed up versions of the Vitz (the JDM Yaris).
What you see here is the first GR Sport-branded car to land in Europe, and it has a pretty serious spec: much of the car’s chassis components have been lifted straight from the GRMN. It has the same Sachs Performance dampers, and its 17-inch alloy wheels (a design exclusive to the GR Sport) are wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza RE50 205/45/17, the boots used by its big brother.
Ground clearance has dropped by 11mm, and the wheel arch gap is down by 18mm. It’ll still probably fail the shoe test, but hey - it definitely looks a little more sporty than your average Yaris. The final piece of the puzzle is a solid anti-roll bar, replacing the previously-used hollow part.
On the outside, you’ll find various bits and pieces that further demonstrate the GRMN connection, including a black roof, a cute little roof spoiler and a splash of red at the front. The interior has been sportified by the addition of GR-branded ‘Ultrasuede’ seats with contrast stitching, a smattering of satin chrome trim and a steering wheel borrowed from the GT86.
An extensive list of upgrades, but there’s one glaring omission: power. The GR Sport trim - as well as only being available as a five-door - can only be specced with a 1.5-litre hybrid powertrain, which develops all of 99bhp.
A chassis of a hot hatch without the power? It’s an odd concept, but we’ll reserve judgement until we have a go.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Off-Topic
If Toyota manages to make an affordable, mid-engined sportscar with a Supercharged 2ZZ:
They’d make shit tonnes of money
Lotus would cry
The new Supra will be reduced to sh*t
Basically I want a new MR2 xD
BuuuuuuT they won’t 😢
Me, imagining the sound of a 2ZZ-GZE at redline…
SUPER NUT
So you basically pay for two letters less. You get the GRMN or the GR lol.
Boooooooo!!! Lol
Why can’t we get the grmn in North America I would love to have one or at least 1 slightly more powerful engine option cmon Toyota you have a 1.8 ( I think) that’s in the corrola hatch put that in the Yaris
‘Camry’
Sooo wait… the Yaris GRMN has more power than a GT86.
Yes.
I actually want one, slow cars with great handling are a lot of fun to drive once you gain enough momentum
‘’Is a grimmin without tha powah” sounds like something an Italian would say.
GRMN?
German?
Gremlyn
Gazoo Racing Masters of Nürburgring.
But I always read it like “German”.
ill take a mazda 2 thank you very much
We have Yaris TRD here….