2022 TOYOTA GR YARIS CIRCUIT 4WD

Toyota has a long history of building cultural icons. Depending on how long in the tooth you are, that might be the 2000 GT that ferried James Bond, or the Hilux that Marty McFly lusted after, or if you, too, are part of the Gran Turismo generation, maybe a black and white, Tofu delivering AE86 Corolla.

Whilst Toyota’s modern performance offerings are great, the GT86 and the Supra, none are more bonkers, more unique and more ludicrous than the GR Yaris. Much like Marty McFly on a sprout of the space-time continuum, the GR nearly didn’t exist.

A project led by seminal rally legend Tommi Mäkinen, the car features an almost entirely exclusive body shell, comprising forged carbon-fibre and aluminium panels. The rear suspension design is derived from the larger Corolla, and a unique turbocharged 3-cylinder engine is mated to an all-wheel-drive system, all with a simple goal in mind: to get Toyota back to the top step of the WRC podium.

This car is a 2022 Toyota Yaris GR, supplied new in March of the same year. It’s finished in Precious Black Metallic and benefits from the near essential Circuit Pack. The Circuit Pack was a £3,500 option that added stiffer suspension, forged BBS alloys, a carbon-fibre reinforced roof skin, and vitally, limited-slip differentials in the front and the rear, for a true rally-car experience.

That Yaris looks like something out of a comic book, with bulbous flared arches and twin-exit exhausts. It’s reminiscent of the homologation special cars of the 1990s. And, thanks to the 1.6-litre 260-odd BHP engine, it goes like one too. The three-cylinder unit is mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox, and thanks to this car’s aforementioned Circuit Pack limited-slip differentials, it is fast approaching 60 in around 5 seconds. Pretty wild for a car based on your Nan’s shopping car.

The interior features comfortable bucket seats and a thoughtful layout. With focus set on drivability, the pedals are spaced perfectly, and everything falls easily into your hand. Despite its motorsport roots, there are creature comforts, with automatic climate control, Apple CarPlay, and a variety of GR-branded touches.

In part due to the nature of the car, many GR Yaris are driven hard, but this one has lived a comparatively easy life. It has covered just 22,807 miles with its 2 owners, and maintains a full-service history.

09/2024 – Intermediate Service at 14,711 miles – Currie Motors Isleworth (Toyota)

02/2023 – Intermediate Service at 4,042 miles – RRG Huddersfield (Toyota)

The GR Yaris captures what we all love so much about rallying, the bravery of the drivers and the menace of the machines. A GR is a chance to experience just a snippet of that in your day-to-day life. If you’re in the market for a GR, a Circuit Pack car is a must, and what better example than this low-owner, low-mileage one.

As with all our vehicles, an entire digital folder is available upon request and contains more images, walk-around videos, and scans of the service history. The car can also be viewed by appointment at our West London showroom.