I had a test drive in a GR Yaris today, ABSOLUTELY BONKERS, this car has two physical states parked and WARP DRIVE what a machine.
Roll on the 6th of January
What's the range on battery ?
Anyone seen the Citroen Ami? Seems a cool little thing.
I saw this when they were first announced and thought it looked amazing (and still does). But like a lot of these super mini type things I just couldn’t get past the price!
I would imagine the range of the battery would be about 100,000 miles.
That's the one they built specifically to exploit the new rally rules which were then cancelled, right?
Insane machine. I want its engine and drive train in a 7 just to kill myself giggling
Want one! Not a big rally fan - but there is something about homologation specials.... 🙂
260hp and 4 wheel drive in a Yaris with a carbon roof and frameless doors. I’d love one.
They are pulling 277bhp on the Dyno and I can believe it. Toyota also say track days won't affect the warranty.
I'd like one. Engine performance seems about right by numbers, quick but not unnecessarily so. More importantly what did it feel like to drive? Am all about the chassis feels, cornering/ bumpy road performance...did it give that certain fizz to the undercarriage through the undercarriage?
Fast isn’t everything though is it. Was it fun in the corners? Did it allow slip even being 4wd or is it a bush finder ie mega grip beyond sage road speeds ?
It's like a modern one of these.
Braap
Cornering is other Worldly, hard to explain its like a push pull effect sort of feels like it's rotating on an imaginary axis. It makes you think you can take any corner at any speed you please.
They do look good, if I had some spare cash I'd give one a try for a while, but I fear it'll be like a lot of other 4wd cars, very fast in most conditions, but not much fun.
I've tried a load of different 'types' of carover the last 30 years of driving, 4wd, fwd, mid engine rwd, front engine rwd, and the type I keep coming back to is front engine rwd. There's something about the ability to slide at will that makes them more fun than the rest, for me anyway, I appreciate others may get their fun in different ways.
But of the 4wd cars, this yaris does look like it would be the most fun, and I appreciate that Toyota have made it.
I want one. I really hope that - unlike the Megane R26.R and Trophy R models (for example) - they sell a ton of them, to encourage them to continue in this vein!
Will end up with a popping and farting remap and being ragged round northern mill towns in a few years time but as long as STWers can make progress till then that's great.
Fast isn’t everything though is it. Was it fun in the corners?
Indeed. My old Hillman Imp was great fun in the corners at anything above 30mph.
It makes you think you can take any corner at any speed you please.
Ah so completely dull and dangerous then.
Put a deposit down on when in March, test drive, cancelled order, deposit returned.
For me there was too much grip so it wasn't much fun at normal speeds.
How did you get a test drive? Had a look on Toyota's website and couldn't book one
had a deposit on one since March this year so was front of queue for a test drive
have a look on Pistonheads thread for dealer near you with a test driver
Also a short review in Motor Sport this month if that helps
Pretty ace these, I really like that they haven't just gone for mad power (in a straight line, it's about as fast as my sensible daily, but I bet it can take corners at a pace that would leave me upside down in a field...)
Looks like a great car! In another life I would love one. And no, you don’t need to drive like a loon on public roads to appreciate one.
Should the Set For Life lottery cough up, then I’m putting my name down for one! I’ve driven lots of Yarises, as well as Aygos, and they always seem to be begging for a bigger motor and better drive-train, just for the shits’n’giggles, like Fiat 500 Abarts with the boot lid propped open. As Castle Combe circuit is a short drive away, it would be the perfect little track day car, and fun on the local A- and B-roads, without being stupidly powerful, a bit like MX-5’s are.
And no, you don’t need to drive like a loon on public roads to appreciate one.
Well, no, but I'm sure all the mouthbreathing weapons that pop and bang up my road at 20mph over the speed limit will appreciate it very much.
I just found that it wasn't very interesting to drive at legal speeds, whereas Caterhams, origional Minis and aircooled, first gen watercooled 911's are in my opinion.
I don't get the 'too much grip' talk that goes on.
Unless you are a driving God and can flick the back end out at will and under complete control, then I'd rather have a car that grips the road.
But then I'm not surfmatt
The 'too much grip' talk is related to the reasons why a car like the GT86 shipped on the Eco tyre Michelin Primacy, intentionally lowering grip levels so the driver can interact with a lively chassis at sensible road speeds. The fact that the GT86 and GR Yaris exist at the same time from Toyota is quite unexpected and welcomed by enthusiasts, form the sounds of it the GR hits most points spot on for its intentions- Agree though that the fine points of handling and car control will be utterly lost on the majority of drivers by all observations, who will be better served by maximum grip and all systems on.
I just found that it wasn’t very interesting to drive at legal speeds, whereas Caterhams, origional Minis and aircooled, first gen watercooled 911’s are in my opinion.
Agree on the Caterham as used one as a daily driver for a few years but also had a Mini as a daily driver and was interesting in a "god this is uncomfortable" kind of way. Never had a 911 but had a Boxster for a while and I would say that was even too competent to be fun.
If I was still into cars I would probably now settle for a Caterham 160 as has enough power at legal speeds but has nice narrow tyres to provide some fun (in similar way to GT86 mentioned above)
I don’t get the ‘too much grip’ talk that goes on.
Unless you are a driving God and can flick the back end out at will and under complete control, then I’d rather have a car that grips the road.
Its not about needing to be a driving god, a nicely balanced car, with rwd, an lsd , a reasonable amount of power, and lowish grip is pretty easy to slide about at lowish speeds - driving godliness is necessary at high speeds and with high grip.
Its just different opinions of fun, maybe a bit like bikes, some people like poppy and playful bikes, others want to just plow through stuff at warp 9 .
Awesome car created at great expense by a company old enough to know better. There won't be many more cars like this. I hope the owners enjoy them as intended before everything goes fully electric.
It's a shame they went to all that trouble and won't get to race it as intended. I don't follow the WRC that closely but major rule changes will finally remove the need to start with a production chassis all together. In a couple of years they'll all be near identical off-road NASCAR type things.
Unless you are a driving God and can flick the back end out at will and under complete control, then I’d rather have a car that grips the road.
It's really not that hard or mortally dangerous to have fun in a car. There's a time and a place unfortunately lots of people are a poor judge of those conditions.
It sounds like a modern Mitsubishi Evo.
My brother had one, it was quick enough in a strightline but other worldly in the corners. It had plenty of grip but was also adjustable. You could pretty much go sideways when ever you fancied, it was like driving a big kart.
But, it was a bit of a pig at low speeds, the heavy clutch, drive train shunt and turbo lag made it pretty hard to drive it smoothly in normal traffic.
I imagine this Yaris is a lot more sorted though
I remember my first passenger ride in an Evo. It was properly fast in a straight line but nothing unusual compared to other fast stuff. The way it changed direction though, holy Jesus. It was mind blowing.
It had all the grip in the world, right up until you didn't want it to grip then it would slide forever. I've been in loads of other stuff since then but I still remember how violently quick it was around twisty stuff, (including a karting track!)
Build quality was shocking though. I never wanted to own one as I had a few mates who just endlessly poured money into them before retreating, defeated into a TDi.
Hopefully the Yaris has a little of that agility. I much prefer smaller cars these days.
Build quality was shocking though. I never wanted to own one as I had a few mates who just endlessly poured money into them before retreating, defeated into a TDi.
Yeah, sounds familiar. I think my brother's ran right less than half the time. One week it had a miss-fire, the next week it had a slipping clutch etc, then a sooty throttle body, then a faulty rear diff. They were quite easy to work on though. I remember helping him change the fuel pump during our lunch our in the office car park!
I'm pretty sure the new Yaris won't have the same issues
Matt Watson @ CarWow test drove one and gave it full marks.
Absolutely bonkers. I want one.
It sounds like a modern Mitsubishi Evo.
Pretty much, certainly the later ones that weren't based on a 'normal' base car.
It's a Yaris only in name really, different shell, hell pretty much a bespoke body that Yaris front and CRV rear, bespoke engine, bespoke drivetrain.
I'd love one, but I can't afford a weekend car and it's too small for a daily for me.
The funny thing is most experts reckoned there wouldn't be another car like it, a Sold at a loss, Halo car for a mainstream brand.
I don't think it will end up in the hands of the pop and bang lot, it's a bit too car nerdy for that.
Actually, it may be a bit more Escort Cosworth than Evo, only slightly.
The Escort Cosworth wasn't really an Escort, it was more like a modernised Sierra with an Escort looking body, they had little in common past the cosmetics.
It’s a Yaris only in name really, different shell, hell pretty much a bespoke body that Yaris front and CRV rear, bespoke engine, bespoke drivetrain.
What? You mean my base model Yaris isn't just like the ones the rally drivers use?
The Escort Cosworth wasn’t really an Escort, it was more like a modernised Sierra with an Escort looking body, they had little in common past the cosmetics.
People always trot out this little factoid. That an Escort Cosworth was really a Sierra.
It's because the first Escort prototypes were built on cut down Sierra floorplans because they had a prop tunnel and room for a rear diff, unlike the front wheel drive Escort.
After that they certainly weren't cutting and shutting Sierra's on the production line in Germany.
One of the car magazines has just got one to 60 in 4.6 seconds.
My wife has no interest in cars so I let her drive it first, she now wants to go to Rally school and said shall we get two and so we can race each other on a track.
People always trot out this little factoid. That an Escort Cosworth was really a Sierra.
It’s because the first Escort prototypes were built on cut down Sierra floorplans because they had a prop tunnel and room for a rear diff, unlike the front wheel drive Escort.
After that they certainly weren’t cutting and shutting Sierra’s on the production line in Germany.
No they weren't cutting up old un-sold Sapphire bodies, but the chassis or floor of the monocoque depending on how you feel about 'chassis' was based on a design used on the Sierra, only modernised so it used a longitudinally mounted engine, had a transmission tunnel and independent rear suspension, compared to the Escort which had a transversely mounted engine, FWD and a torsion beam rear. It's longer, wider and taller than an Escort, with a longer wheel base and wider track.
Yeah but by that point it was very much an Escort Cosworth and nothing else. Only the very first test donkeys ever started life as a collection of other bits.
Sorry, I don't disagree with you I just spent way too many years hanging around with car bores and I'd always here "but an Escort Cosworth isn't even an Escort it's a Sierra don't ya know" type comments which is just bollocks and ignores all that stuff you just typed.
Anyway, the new Yaris. Yeah looks mint. Mr Catchpole likes it but is a bit subdued where everyone else is gushing about it. I think he was expecting it to be a bit more mental.
I can't be bothered to watch all of the identical 'first drive' videos on YouTube where they recite all the marketing guff. Who really cares how many spot welds the body has? Or how many metres of adhesive they used? Nobody in the history of cars. But if Toyota write it, they'll read it out on camera.
my mate has one on order and oddly an A45S plus merc. He is trying to decide which one to go for before either turn up at the dealer.
I really like the Yaris, as mentioned, seems like a genuine modern Evo or Impreza (and I am an impreza lover, just not he running costs).
If I had a spare 34k, I would have an order in for one. But seeing as I don't, my old school EP3 JDM Civic type-r keeps a smile on my face... thankfully!
I've watched a few videos about the GR and whilst I can see the appeal, its:
a) £30k for the base model without nav etc
b) still very much a Yaris inside
