Reviews vs reality: GR Yaris 2021

[Lincsls1]

320d is all you need said:

I don't think Chris Harris was being literal - Hence why I suspect round any track outside of a Go-kart circuit the M3 would be significantly faster

Some hyperbole is common in motoring journalism

Yes, I'm aware it wasn't literally, but it was massive praise indeed.
This little pocket rocket rally road car is amazing and a true rarity, M3 M2 etc. etc. good as they are, 10 a penny on the road.

[isleofthorns]

I've had one on order, due to arrive shortly, so I went for a test drive before fully going ahead with it.

tbh, was a little underwhelmed. I found,

1 - not that fast really
2 - quite a lot of bodyroll in the corners
3 - steering a bit vague

good bits
1 - surprisingly comfortable
2 - nicer sound than expected (albeit fake)
3 - feels light on its toes

think some springs and roll bars to tighten it up would transform it.

really not sure if I'll go ahead now.

[chevronb37]

isleofthorns said:

I've had one on order, due to arrive shortly, so I went for a test drive before fully going ahead with it.

tbh, was a little underwhelmed. I found,

1 - not that fast really
2 - quite a lot of bodyroll in the corners
3 - steering a bit vague

good bits
1 - surprisingly comfortable
2 - nicer sound than expected (albeit fake)
3 - feels light on its toes

think some springs and roll bars to tighten it up would transform it.

really not sure if I'll go ahead now.

Interesting. The guys I know who have driven them have all commented on how fast it feels, suggesting it’s quicker than the stats suggest. One of them agreed re the comfort factor though - he said it would make an easy daily.

[isleofthorns]

chevronb37 said:

Interesting. The guys I know who have driven them have all commented on how fast it feels, suggesting it’s quicker than the stats suggest. One of them agreed re the comfort factor though - he said it would make an easy daily.

I guess speed is relative ... I drove there in an exige, and that probably didn't help with matters.

It felt fast in the way that it can carry higher relative speeds over mixed roads with the light weight and grip helping maintain the pace - outright pace, is a different animal.

also, it was dry today. Performance in the wet may have felt more impressive.

[Trevor555]

isleofthorns said:

chevronb37 said:

Interesting. The guys I know who have driven them have all commented on how fast it feels, suggesting it’s quicker than the stats suggest. One of them agreed re the comfort factor though - he said it would make an easy daily.

It'll never replace your Exige.

But as an interesting daily, with a good turn of speed, it's a very good car.

[IO390]

Trevor555 said:

isleofthorns said:

chevronb37 said:

Interesting. The guys I know who have driven them have all commented on how fast it feels, suggesting it’s quicker than the stats suggest. One of them agreed re the comfort factor though - he said it would make an easy daily.

It'll never replace your Exige.

But as an interesting daily, with a good turn of speed, it's a very good car.

Yeah, this was my thinking. I have an S1 Elise which is fantastic on a dry sunny day. Yes you can daily it if you want, but to be honest I found myself hating the thing when I did daily it. Much more enjoyable when used for pleasure only. As an aside I found a while ago that you shouldn't drive the Lotus to test drive anything other than another Lotus or a Caterham, as anything else will feel bus like on first impression.

The Yaris I see as something that's fun whilst also being capable and usable whatever the weather. That will always result in compromise.

For longer trips and general bimbling about I have a 5 series touring. The Yaris should fit nicely in between the other two.

To address the OP, whilst I like the car, a lot of the hype has been unnecessary and has been detrimental if anything as it seems a lot of people have been a bit disappointed after seeing only glowing reviews. For what it is, I think it's fantastic but at its root it's still a 3 cylinder econobox no matter how you try and slice it.

[isleofthorns]

IO390 said:

To address the OP, whilst I like the car, a lot of the hype has been unnecessary and has been detrimental if anything as it seems a lot of people have been a bit disappointed after seeing only glowing reviews. For what it is, I think it's fantastic but at its root it's still a 3 cylinder econobox no matter how you try and slice it.

I think that was my main takeaway - it's not a hardcore car - but given the hype, maybe I thought it would be a bit more edgy that it was. Not to say it wasn't fun.

[chevronb37]

isleofthorns said:

IO390 said:

To address the OP, whilst I like the car, a lot of the hype has been unnecessary and has been detrimental if anything as it seems a lot of people have been a bit disappointed after seeing only glowing reviews. For what it is, I think it's fantastic but at its root it's still a 3 cylinder econobox no matter how you try and slice it.

I think that was my main takeaway - it's not a hardcore car - but given the hype, maybe I thought it would be a bit more edgy that it was. Not to say it wasn't fun.

Sounds like it’s reflective of your points of reference then. Any Exige will probably make a GR feel pretty ordinary in many ways. Mine will be significantly slower than both of my weekend cars but expect it will prove to be a very satisfying daily. I’m looking forward to seeing how it travels down a challenging road.

[anonymous-user]

Got mine today and it's flipping amazing and I'm not even allowed to go over 4k rpm yet!

[waremark]

Trevor555 said:

I think it's the way it is nowadays.

Social media hype, Manufacturers giving cars to these online reviewers because it sells the product, and it does...

Edited by Trevor555 on Saturday 17th April 17:24

Any evidence of the 'giving cars' bit?

I'm fairly sure at least some of them have said they have bought them.

[Holgate86]

isleofthorns said:

IO390 said:

To address the OP, whilst I like the car, a lot of the hype has been unnecessary and has been detrimental if anything as it seems a lot of people have been a bit disappointed after seeing only glowing reviews. For what it is, I think it's fantastic but at its root it's still a 3 cylinder econobox no matter how you try and slice it.

I think that was my main takeaway - it's not a hardcore car - but given the hype, maybe I thought it would be a bit more edgy that it was. Not to say it wasn't fun.

I think if you’re going into the car thinking it’s a 3 cylinder econobox you’re missing the point, the GRY is all about the story, the fact it’s an homologation special and it bares no real resemblance to a hybrid Yaris. The hype is what it is.....I loved my Elise S3, but wife can’t understand why someone pays £90k for a “plastic” Evora.

I’m going to enjoy GRY, it’ll fit in as my manual pleasure, alongside my 5 series daily and R172 SLK55AMG.....if you don’t fancy it then cancel it, there’s plenty of desperate punters who’d love the opportunity to have the car before May ‘22

[IO390]

Holgate86 said:

I think if you’re going into the car thinking it’s a 3 cylinder econobox you’re missing the point, the GRY is all about the story, the fact it’s an homologation special and it bares no real resemblance to a hybrid Yaris. The hype is what it is.....I loved my Elise S3, but wife can’t understand why someone pays £90k for a “plastic” Evora.

I’m going to enjoy GRY, it’ll fit in as my manual pleasure, alongside my 5 series daily and R172 SLK55AMG.....if you don’t fancy it then cancel it, there’s plenty of desperate punters who’d love the opportunity to have the car before May ‘22

I ordered one because I like the car and I'm immensely excited for it eventually arriving.

My point is that not everyone will like it and some people have been disappointed because of how heavily hyped the car is. And then you get the GRY fanboys who get offended if someone says something negative about it.

[MannyLon]

I don’t think the car is hyped. Most of the reviews are by passionate car enthusiasts.
Sure there are other hatches that are more engaging in the dry. When the weather turns, then the GR shines.

[Baldchap]

I drove mine back from a Lotus open day yesterday, having test driven a 410 Evora and it didn't feel lacking at all. Same is true after driving my RS4.

I think it's a ballistic little terrier to drive. I love it.

[cerb4.5lee]

IO390 said:

My point is that not everyone will like it and some people have been disappointed because of how heavily hyped the car is. And then you get the GRY fanboys who get offended if someone says something negative about it.

Agree and the hype around any car is always a really difficult one I reckon. Once a car gets all the hype(like this one) the expectation from everyone is that it will be absolutely amazing in every area. Whereas the reality is that all cars have flaws for me(this included).

This car has fell into a similar trap as the Alpine A110 did I think. The owners of those starting crying if you say anything negative about them as well.

I really like these a lot and I like the looks/size/performance/capability. The only things I'm personally not keen on is the engine(I prefer more cylinders/capacity) and the exhaust noise is none existent from the videos I've watched as well(they do sound good from inside though).

[320d is all you need]

waremark said:

Trevor555 said:

I think it's the way it is nowadays.

Social media hype, Manufacturers giving cars to these online reviewers because it sells the product, and it does...

Edited by Trevor555 on Saturday 17th April 17:24

Any evidence of the 'giving cars' bit?

I'm fairly sure at least some of them have said they have bought them.

Not aware regarding the GR Yaris but I know Audi have given Mat Watson an RS6 for 6 months or a year.
Prior to that he had a G63 AMG.

Sure they'll not be HIS but if you said to me you have to make a 15 minute video saying how good the car is and feature it in a few drag races you'll get a top spec model for free for however many months no doubt fully maintained I'd say yes and say whatever I needed to!

[Varelco]

I have been on the fence since it was released, should I sell my GT86 for one? I love the concept and execution, It has glowing reviews but that's when journos are hammering the thing on a track or perfect driving roads, giving it '10/10ths'. What about everyday? Whats it like? Because lets face it, in reality 90% of your driving is done in a mundane manner, does it feel special then, when you are driving at '2/10ths'? Or do you feel like you are in a regular 3 cylinder Yaris.

Can you be reliant on the driving dynamics under normal circumstances to have a sense of occasion. Or does 30k worth of Yaris only become apparent when you give it some welly. At least in my current car I can pop to the shops with it still feeling special and different.

Edited by Varelco on Sunday 18th April 13:07

[CraigV6]

Terminator X said:

Yes.

TX.

Were you not previously all about the noise (I remember the RS3 chat on original v face lift)?
How do you feel about the noise of a 3 cylinder?

[IO390]

Varelco said:

I have been on the fence since it was released, should I sell my GT86 for one? I love the concept and execution, It has glowing reviews but that's when journos are hammering the thing on a track or perfect driving roads, giving it '10/10ths'. What about everyday? Whats it like? Because lets face it, in reality 90% of your driving is done in a mundane manner, does it feel special then, when you are driving at '2/10ths'? Or do you feel like you are in a regular 3 cylinder Yaris.

Can you be reliant on the driving dynamics under normal circumstances to have a sense of occasion. Or does 30k worth of Yaris only become apparent when you give it some welly. At least in my current car I can pop to the shops with it still feeling special and different.

Edited by Varelco on Sunday 18th April 13:07

Good question, obviously this is objective but what swung it for me is that the car felt like it was built for driving pleasure from the off. It didn't feel numb like a new BMW so whilst it doesn't carry the same sense of occasion as driving my Elise does for me, it's vastly more fun than my current daily (5 series) and feels pretty special at all times. YMMV.

The best thing to do is test drive it! I only test drove one out of curiosity but ended up placing the order after the test drive, and I've never bought a new car before or had any intention to up until that point.

[cerb4.5lee]

IO390 said:

The best thing to do is test drive it! I only test drove one out of curiosity but ended up placing the order after the test drive, and I've never bought a new car before or had any intention to up until that point.

I wish you all the best with it for sure.