Toyota GR Yaris | PH Auction Block
The fascination with GRs shows no signs of abating - and this one's being auctioned at no reserve...
Just in case you haven’t heard, the Toyota GR Yaris was good for a whole host of reasons. It was great for hot hatch fans, great for rally fans, great for those who wanted to spend £300 a month on a sturdy, reliable Toyota back at the start of the decade. And if a rarer, more expensive prospect these days, there’s nothing quite like a 280hp Yaris for rekindling a misspent youth. Take a look at an Aero Performance and tell us you could resist driving the doors off it? Exactly.
Related to which, and quite unexpectedly for a new car, the GR Yaris was also great news for those who wanted to modify their car. Almost single-handedly it has resurrected the good old days of customising Japanese rally reps; as soon as the first cars arrived it seemed there were bits and bobs available, bringing more power to the turbocharged three-cylinder engine or more attitude to the pugnacious design. It ensured even more excitement around a modern-day hot hatch hero, and incredible variety in the Yarises you see for a car launched in three specs with four colours.
A few years down the line, such has been the popularity, search ‘Litchfield’ in the PH classifieds and you’re almost guaranteed to find a Yaris among the GT-Rs and M cars. They were among the first to offer powertrain and chassis bits for the GR, and now appear one of the go-to places for upgrades. This car has been a regular visitor and now, as well as being auctioned off later this week at no reserve, promises one of the most thrilling GR Yaris experiences around.
There’s almost 350hp now, for starters, thanks to Litchfield’s ECU work, a larger intercooler and better breathing from Eventuri intake to Akrapovic exhaust. Alongside 317lb ft (up from 266lb ft), it’s going to be usefully faster than an already pretty brisk standard car, as well as sound a whole lot sillier. There’s Nitron suspension underneath (with spacers to take full cosmetic advantage of the lower ride height), Goodridge brake lines and some genuine GR mudflaps. Mudflaps maketh the rally car, after all.
And the modifications haven’t all been entirely performance-focused either, with tweaks to the (annoyingly high) seat and (annoyingly low) mirror to improve visibility, undersealing, upgraded stereo speakers and paint protection applied since first registration in June 2022. Everything you’d want done to an OG GR can be found on this car; £14,000 has been spent at Litchfield alone. All that without even a hint of the questionable bodykits and spoilers that can limit resale appeal.
And the best bit? It’s been enjoyed very sparingly, with fewer than 11,000 miles recorded, so all the tweaks are going to be fresh enough for many more years of fun. This is the very opposite, surely, of one of those nicely modified cars that needs a host of parts renewed. It was serviced last month, flew through its first MOT and, well, look at it: this Yaris seems like new because it very nearly is. Albeit with a host of desirable modifications. And the red ones are fastest. Best get that bidding finger warmed up.
te.Designed to function not to look
One of my favourite things when bored on the motorway is seeing the rear arches in the side mirrors - you know you are driving something special/different when you've got "box arches"
.The white one did a sub 8min lap of the german track back in 2004.
Yaris did a 8:14 according to google.
The white one did a sub 8min lap of the german track back in 2004.
Yaris did a 8:14 according to google.
As standard they weigh roughly the same. Hp output roughly the same.
Importantly the ej in the impreza produce 20% more torque.
The one my friend owns modified to roughly mid 300s and a better driver than me certainly doesn t leave me down a b road.
Both cars similar power and weight.
It comes down to who s stupid enough on the day.
I m not bashing the little yaris as I ve contemplated getting one to run beside the blue impreza.
But a leap forward in ability it s not.
Red is the best colour on these, just need to change the rim colour and they look fantastic.
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