2019 Toyota Yaris GRMN | PH Review
Can the GRMN bid TTFN to its supermini hot hatch rivals?
It's easy to smirk at £26k. It is, after all, a lot of money for a hot supermini with similar power to its rivals and a very pricey Yaris. It's more even than a GT86. Crikey, even a Golf R isn't massively far off £26k, and what more motor vehicle do you need than a Golf R?
However, spend a little time with the GRMN and the case for its defence becomes a lot stronger. There will be just 600 of these little cars made, with only 100 coming to the UK. It's chock full of expensive components too, like Sachs Performance dampers, a Magnuson Eaton supercharger, forged wheels and a Torsen limited-slip differential. Combine all that with the effort involved in bringing to production a car which was never intended to have a performance variant (on the regular Yaris line), plus the impact required to launch a new brand, and it's easy to see why the Yaris costs what it costs. Finally, if none of that can convince you of the Yaris's RRP, bear in mind that every single UK car has an allocated buyer and half a dozen Belgian buyers have been forced to pay €44k because of taxes. So there you are. Bruges would probably seem less of a fairytale city if you'd been made to stump up that.
The GRMN feels like the very definition of a skunkworks project. A group of dedicated enthusiasts have pleaded with management to have this car made, with parts purloined from wherever they could be sourced, to create their vision of the best fast Yaris. So it has the steering wheel from a GT86, the stronger subframe from the Yaris Hybrid, a catalytic converter from a Lexus and the regular six-speed gearbox, albeit strengthened for this installation. More than that there's an apparent attention to detail that you only seem to get when the very committed few are involved. For example the wheels could have been bigger for the sake of style, but they were kept at 17-inches for the sake of unsprung mass; same for the brake discs. The steering wheel has been modified to improve the driver's grip and thus their connection with the car. In the press conference we're told that, although 62mph comes up in 6.4 seconds, that's with a change into third and so - this being the UK rotation and all - it was deemed necessary to tell us that 60mph takes "about 6.1 seconds". They're an enthusiastic bunch, exactly the kind you would want building your hot hatch.
A competitive bunch too, it would seem, because the GRMNs used on track are running a very aggressive Bridgestone Potenza RE11S (as opposed to the standard RE050). They won't be offered to customers and aren't actually legal in Europe, the logic being that the rubber shows off the car to its best ability and that a dedicated customer would need only change their tyres to have a proper track tearaway on their hands. Personally it feels a little disingenuous, rather like Justin Gatlin and the assistance he employed to show off to his best ability. A track tyre option is not unheard of nowadays, but to fit something not even offered for sale is slightly cynical. And will buyers of a car so rare really invest in another set of wheels and tyres for track days?
Fortunately the Yaris proves anything but undriveable and uninteresting on the road using the standard tyre. In fact it's raw, raucous, and engaging; the antithesis of so much offered today and all the better for it. Toyota would have struggled to make a Polo GTI style hot hatch and so has trodden its own path, creating something so tremendously exciting that it's hard to level such a result with the same progenitor as the Auris. It's as much of a shock to the system as the GT86 was in 2012, perhaps more so.
To say the Yaris GRMN feels old-fashioned would be to sell it short, because it's a car of far greater ability and talent than a lot from the past decade. Traditional feels a better fit, because it delivers everything we've always wanted from a hot hatch: it's a proper giggle to drive fast, begging you to push harder and entirely capable of accommodating that. It makes a bit too much noise, the stickers are brash (though they can be removed) and people who value image in their fast car will hate it; as a result, therefore, the Yaris GRMN is quite brilliant. Different, yes, but still brilliant.
As an introduction to the Gazoo Racing brand in the UK there's much to be encouraged by with this car; a series production version is being investigated, but we wouldn't hold out too much hope given how difficult the GRMN's gestation has been. What it has proved is that Toyota is more than capable of producing a feisty and focused hot hatch. One that, on this experience, feels about as good as supermini pocket rockets get. Of course it will take a full test in the UK to fully establish that - plus the arrival of some key rivals - but be in no doubt: those 100 British buyers are in for an absolute treat, and the Yaris will feel like money well spent.
SPECIFICATION - TOYOTA YARIS GRMN
Engine: 1,798cc, supercharged 4-cyl
Transmission: 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 212@6,800rpm
Torque (lb ft): 184@5,000rpm
0-62mph: 6.4 secs
Top speed: 143mph (limited)
Weight: 1,135kg
MPG: 37.6 (NEDC combined)
CO2: 170g/km
Price: £26,295
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[Source: Bridgestone]
The most disappointing thing about the car is the fuel economy - not because it matters to me, but because Toyota can't afford to make lots of these and meet their average fleet CO2 requirements - so, with such bad fuel economy they will only make in small numbers and then it will always be expensive - to get the fuel economy better (Fiesta ST & Polo GTi are close to 50mpg rather than 40mpg) would need a lot more time and effort which can't be justified with a low production volume with a unique engine. Viscous circle sadly
Ford, VW, PSA, Renault etc get round this by using standard turbo engines from bigger cars in their small cars to make hot hatches eg Fiesta ST 1.6 is/was used in Focus and Mondeo in big (global) volumes. New Polo GTi engine is in the Passat, A3, A4, again huge global volumes. This supercharged engine (lovely thing) is unique and so will always make the car really expensive (if lovely) So for Toyota to make a car like this in big volumes they really need a suitable big volume engine with good fuel economy which they do not have at the moment
Hopefully this paves the way for a cheaper one that's 200hp.
And I doubt this is much of a parts-bin exercise...
There were certainly plenty of buyers for Cooper S Works when it was supercharged at roughly the same price back over a decade ago - offered the same formula, rorty exhaust, supercharger whine, LSD, great handling.
Spec. list is attractive and the footwork seems well sorted. Good job Toyota.
I presume the Lexus catalytic converter will be more free flowing or?
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