Hot Yaris depends on Aussie choices
Wednesday, 15 January 2020
Confirmation New Zealand will be a special stage for the exciting rally-flavoured Gazoo Racing Yaris comes with a caveat of the car being taken in a form that suits Australian tastes.
In answering follow up questions about its announcement that the 1.6-litre turbocharged four-wheel-drive rocket will be sold here from late this year – potentially tying to our neighbour's September launch schedule – Toyota New Zealand has also let slip a detail about how the deal works.
Specifically, it's a matter of New Zealand accepting what Australia has ticked off.
The requirement for an ANZAC agreement – unusual because each country normally goes its own way on model choices, lines and even names - aired when Toyota NZ was asked if it knew yet which version of the GR Yaris it is getting.
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In addition to the full-strength model has been aired to the world, Toyota also intends a slightly pared-back version that retains all the grip-and-go fundamentals and maintains the three-cylinder 1.6 in its full 192kW/360Nm tune, but loses some fineries.
This is presumably to better suit conversion into a motorsport configuration – not for the World Rally Championship held by the current model but to run in the promising R5 sub-category, which already has a presence in NZ's national competition.
Although a second-gen WRC Yaris set to be revealed later this year will likely reflect the GR's look, the three-cylinder engine is not going to be used in rallying's premier league.
Notwithstanding, being developed in-house by Toyota's Gazoo Racing division in Japan, with input from its Europe-based motorsport team run by Tommi Makinen, surely earns the GR every bit as much motor racing kudos these days associated with Toyota's last full-blown race car with a road-going equivalent, the Celica GT-Four.
The latter spanned two generations and three models and brought the company 30 rally victories, four drivers' championship titles and one manufacturers' championship. Note for anoraks: In a reference to its illustrious predecessor and its AWD technology, the GR Yaris features a GR-Four logo on its tailgate.
TNZ's spokesperson said the matter of which Yaris model was coming is still a matter for discussion.
'We don't have confirmed yet 100 percent which model we are able to take. This is always reliant on the Australian market though.'
The other big question with release of full technical details, plus images of the car without camouflage, is obviously how much it might cost.
Clearly it will have a fat premium over the standard new-generation Yaris, set to release here before June, but how much more is open to conjecture.
TNZ said that was unlikely to be known for some time. 'There is not a confirmed price yet – we usually only know this roughly three months out… so when they announce it globally.'
It's worth noting that the second car produced under the 'Gazoo Racing' mantle – following Supra – and the first sports car it has wholly developed in almost two decades (Supra being tied to BMW, 86 to Subaru) is more a distant relative to the orthodox Yaris than a full sister ship.
Even though the GR was developed alongside the standard model, and shares the same wheelbase and platform, it is effectively a distinct car. The GR body takes Yaris styling cues, yet is so different no panels apparently interchange. The performance model's emphasis on weight-saving means it incorporates more exotic materials – the payoff is in it being 38kg lighter than the standard car, which bodes well for power-to-weight, which officially rates at an astounding 158kW per tonne. Toyota has yet to cite a 0-100kmh time, but says it will clock that sprint in 'less than 5.5 seconds'. Top speed is electronically harnessed to 230 kmh.
As previously mentioned, GR's roofline is 95mm lower than the standard car, it has a substantially wider rear track (and entirely new double wishbone rear suspension, features three doors - whereas a standard Yaris is a five-door – and the sole transmission is a six-speed manual.
The four-wheel-drive system, tagged GR-4, comes with three settings, and uses slightly different gear ratios for the front and rear axles and allows for a theoretical range of front/rear torque balance from 100:0 (full front-wheel drive) to 0:100 (full rear-wheel drive). Toyota says this flexibility gives a performance advantage over AWD on-demand systems that use twin-coupling or permanent AWD systems with a centre differential.
The driver can adjust the system's performance to suit their preference or the driving situation using a AWD mode dial switch. In normal mode, the base front/rear torque distribution is 60:40; in Sport mode the balance shifts to the rear, with 30:70 distribution to achieve a fun-to-drive quality on winding roads and circuits; and in Track mode the base setting is 50:50 for fast, competitive driving on circuits or special stages. In each mode, the torque balance will automatically adjust in response to the driver's inputs, vehicle behaviour and road or track conditions.
The GR was unveiled at the 2020 Tokyo Auto Salon, where Toyota also introduced the 2020 WRC team and car.
The model's unveiling culminates a week of intriguing Gazoo news, which also spanned theorising that the replacement for the current GT86 sports coupe, coming out next year, will be called the GR86 (and be based on a Toyota platform, though retaining a Subaru-supplied and Toyota worked flat four engine). Also, Australian media are reporting Toyota as having trademarked 'GR' to the Hilux, a sign perhaps that they are at least readying a performance equivalent of Ford's Ranger Raptor.
Meantime, TNZ's chief operating officer, Neeraj Lala, reckons the GR alone will do much to live up to Toyota big boss Akio Toyoda's promise to build fun-to-drive cars.
'We can't wait to get it here. With Toyota Gazoo Racing's input into the development and testing… it is an exciting addition to our small car line-up.'