The vehicle
This garage is home to the GR Yaris from Japanese car manufacturer Toyota. With its all-wheel drive and 261 hp, it was designed for the World Rally Championship. But even sporty drivers without a racing license can breathe a sigh of relief: the GR Yaris is also available as a road-legal version.
The project was personally initiated by racing enthusiast Toyota boss Akio Toyoda, who had previously promised: "We won't build any more boring cars."
The GR Yaris impressively demonstrates how seriously it takes this promise. It is an uncompromising sports machine that clearly sets itself apart from the typical understatement of many other new developments - while still achieving a high technical level.
The technology
To be a competitive rally car, the GR has little in common with the original Yaris. It only has 3 doors and is longer, wider and flatter than the 5-door Yaris.
The most powerful three-cylinder engine available, with a displacement of just 1.6 liters, delivers 261 hp. This enables the GR Yaris to accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in just 5.5 seconds.
To perfect the driving experience acoustically, Toyota has taken an unconventional approach: a microphone in the engine compartment picks up the noise of the engine and transmits it to the sound system in the interior. Instead of Active Noise Canceling, there is "Active Noise Control".
In addition to this gimmick, the GR has all the virtues that a classic rally car needs. A short-ratio, manual six-speed gearbox, a firm chassis, powerful brakes and, of course, a mechanical handbrake with brake lever ensure driving fun every second of the way.
The lightweight aspect
Several lightweight construction measures were implemented in order to get the liveliness of the vehicle, which was only built 25,000 times, onto the road. The roof is made of CFRP and is therefore 3.5 kg lighter than a steel roof. The doors, hood and tailgate are made of aluminum and the body is also twelve percent lighter than the original version. Stiffness has nevertheless been increased thanks to more spot welds. Thanks to these measures, the GR Yaris weighs less than 1300 kg despite its all-wheel drive.
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