Thursday 12th January 2017

Hot hatch Yaris on the way

Toyota is back in WRC for 2017 and there's a 210hp Yaris on the way off the back of it

---

Remember how Citroen dominated WRC for the best part of a decade but somehow never got round to giving us a suitably heroic road car to celebrate the fact? Still seems bonkers now, especially given how everything from old Escorts to Integrales maintain passionate fanbases off the back of rally heritage. See also the 90s craze for Japanese rally reps and Audi's continued use of 80s Quattro rallying success to support its performance product to this day.

A proper Toyota hot hatch again? Excellent!

Toyota can't be accused of missing the same trick though. The mad looking Yaris WRC is among the most eagerly awaited new cars from the pending 2017 championship and has grabbed much of the attention in pre-season testing. Before the car has even made its competitive debut though Toyota has confirmed it'll be bringing a new hot hatch Yaris to the Geneva show in March "forging a link between the Yaris WRC and the standard road-going model range" that'll nicely shake up the hot hatch market.

The timing is good too. The Fiesta ST is arguably the benchmark B-segment hot hatch but there's a new Fiesta coming and the hot version is yet to be confirmed. Details from Toyota about the Yaris are thin but it has confirmed "more than" 210hp, meaning this will most definitely be a 'proper' hot hatch contender and ready to pick up where the Fiesta leaves off. It's also a decisive move to the sporty for Yaris which, warm T-Sport version aside, has never really shrugged its white goods image.

There's more than a bit of anticipation about the new WRC era with its faster, wilder looking cars and promise of a return to Group B excitement. If Toyota's move prompts a similar showroom battle between manufacturers and inspires a new generation of feisty hot hatches off the back of it then we're all winners. See, we told you WRC 2017 was a reason to be cheerful didn't we...

[Onehp]

The more the merrier

Not sure if it's the particular colour choice in combination with the styling, but on the press images it looks really narrow and about to tip over in the first bend...

[daveco]

Looks almost like the Fiat 500 Abarth, except with more power

[TameRacingDriver]

3 door as well, a dying breed.

[MustardCutter]

That front end isn't exactly easy on the eye...
I'm going to assume that only the front wheels will be driven and that and any future hot hatches marketed off WRC participation from the other competing manufacturers will also be the same. Though I'd love to see a brace of small hatchbacks given big turbos, massive arches, big rear wing and 4wd for the road.

Edited by MustardCutter on Thursday 12th January 11:42

[Onehp]

MustardCutter said:

Though I'd love to see a brace of small hatchbacks given big turbos, massive arches, big rear wing and 4wd for the road.

Isn't Audi releasing a RS1 soon? Probably needs the badge to warrent the cost for most people and that's without the massive arches...

[Krikkit]

MustardCutter said:

That front end isn't exactly easy on the eye...
I'm going to assume that only the front wheels will be driven and that and any future hot hatches marketed off WRC participation from the other competing manufacturers will also be the same. Though I'd love to see a brace of small hatchbacks given big turbos, massive arches, big rear wing and 4wd for the road.

Edited by MustardCutter on Thursday 12th January 11:42

And then moan when they cost £40k?

There's no way you'd get them built at sane prices with such extensive changes.

[ukaskew]

Krikkit said:

And then moan when they cost £40k?

There's no way you'd get them built at sane prices with such extensive changes.

A bit heavy too, I'd imagine.

[FN2TypeR]

TameRacingDriver said:

3 door as well, a dying breed.

Plenty of hatches available as three doors - the Focus and Civic have bit the dust but there's still a good deal of choice.

[Kenny Powers]

MustardCutter said:

That front end isn't exactly easy on the eye...
I'm going to assume that only the front wheels will be driven and that and any future hot hatches marketed off WRC participation from the other competing manufacturers will also be the same. Though I'd love to see a brace of small hatchbacks given big turbos, massive arches, big rear wing and 4wd for the road.

Ha. Yeah ok, I can see it now. "£40k for a Yaris??? I'd get an E92 M3 with change left over for 600hp. New cars are a mug's game" blah blah blah.

[ecsrobin]

FN2TypeR said:

TameRacingDriver said:

3 door as well, a dying breed.

Plenty of hatches available as three doors - the Focus and Civic have bit the dust but there's still a good deal of choice.

Even the Clio has gone now.

What do we have:

Abarth 595
Suzuki swift sport
208 GTi
Fiesta ST
Mini JCW

I must have missed some?

[MustardCutter]

Krikkit said:

And then moan when they cost £40k?

There's no way you'd get them built at sane prices with such extensive changes.

"Would love to see" does not mean I that I'm demanding that they make it and sell it for cheap, it just means I'd like to see it exist It could cost less than the focus RS if the platform can take it though, so sub 30k.

I would argue though that unless it has four wheel drive, it's not a true spin off of a rally car. This statement does not mean I'm writing them off as bad, they may be very good! I'm just a celica, impreza, evo, cossie etc. etc. traditionalist.

Kenny Powers said:

Ha. Yeah ok, I can see it now. "£40k for a Yaris??? I'd get an E92 M3 with change left over for 600hp. New cars are a mug's game" blah blah blah.

Haha, sounds about right!

Krikkit said:

And then moan when they cost £40k?

There's no way you'd get them built at sane prices with such extensive changes.

Could be made as loss leaders / halo cars etc. but I suspect you're right.

Incidentally, I wonder if it'll out drag a GT86. "Slower than a yaris" could be added to the repertoire of the GT86 naysayers.

Edited by MustardCutter on Thursday 12th January 14:09

[sparehead3]

A delta integrale evo 2 in 1993 was 25k which in today's money would be around 47k

In 1984 the Delta S4 was 55k which would be 167k in today's money

[culpz]

Be nice to see what Toyota do with it. I'm not a huge fan of the brand but i always love new and different hot hatches from different manufacturers. 210 bhp + is a good number to start with aswell. Hopefully they match it with some nice styling and a decent price.

I wish KIA would do a smaller hot hatch from the Cee'd GT and hopefully Hyundai provides an offering soon too. Some times these underdogs and left-field choices can be the best ones.

[cib24]

This sounds cool. I think the Yaris is a good looking and striking car. Should look nice with a few visual upgrades and hopefully be decent to drive with the extra power. The WRC car looks great.

[Kolbenkopp]

Not a big fan of their current styling (especially that 'Diablo' grille), but that's not really relevant. Sounds like this has potential!

Wondering what engine they'll use. Pretty certain that it will be turbo charged, which could mean it is going to get the '200t' from Lexus. But the 8AR-FTS [1] sounds like an expensive bit of kit? Hm. Time will tell .


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_AR_engine#8AR...

[GregK2]

I would expect it to use something smaller than a 2l engine.

[WilkoIW]

I like it, 210hp is a good figure.

The decals remind me a lot of the Starlet SR.

[Roger Irrelevant]

Ooh now that is interesting. The family Irrelevant has an older bog-standard 1.3 Yaris as a runaround and (whisper it), I really like driving it. I have been wondering what to replace it with should it die on me in the next few years and this could be just the ticket. Though having said that it does seem that the Mk2 Yaris has taken on the mantle of the k11 Micra as the car that will just keep on going no matter how much you neglect it.

[daydotz]

Love the idea of a hot yaris let's hope it delivers & isn't watered down

[Alucidnation]

Granny car.


Albeit a faster one.