Hopefully nobody has forgotten the Toyota GR Yaris M Concept; shown at a surprisingly well-stocked Tokyo show in January, it suggested the mid-engined hot hatch - a la Clio V6 - somehow wasn’t done yet. And that was very exciting news. Particularly given Toyota had designs on some kind of production reality for it as well. Some insisted that it was just a glorified mule for the development of its 2.0-litre turbocharged engine - or a prelude to a long-mooted return of the MR2 - though clearly the concept was interesting enough for its own merits and not without precedent. After all, Toyota has signed off in recent times on a GRMN Yaris, a Morizo Corolla and a pretty spicy Final Edition Supra; a mid-engined Yaris is undoubtedly a jump from there, though not entirely beyond the realms of possibility.
There’s good news and bad news on that front. The good news is that Toyota still believes in the validity of the concept, in pursuing its goal of ‘making ever-better motorsports-bred cars’. It’s evolving from that original concept, and issues ‘unique to midship-mounted vehicles in terms of braking, steering, and driving’ are being worked out. Hardly like there’s a tonne of recent Toyota mid-engined experience to draw upon, after all.
The bad news, however, is that those difficulties are significant enough for Toyota to put the brakes on the GR Yaris M concept’s motorsport career. It was intended to be at the Autopolis event over the weekend; instead, the car was held back ‘to refine it further’. The ultimate ambition remains for the M to compete in Japanese Super Taikyu, the series Toyota has used for previous test beds like the hydrogen-powered Corolla, and it would be a brave person to bet against them achieving that eventually.
But even the might of Gazoo Racing has had to concede that a project of this magnitude might take just a minute. It would have been great for the momentum and excitement created by that motor show debut, and subsequent public appearances at places like the Nurburgring 24 Hours, to continue on the track in short order - not this time, however. Knowing GR, we won’t be hanging around long to see the mid-engined Yaris being driven in anger. It’s surely going to be more than worth the wait.
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