Life has a funny way of turning dreams on their head.  

If you’d have asked me at the age of 18 what my fantasy life would one day be, it would have been me playing Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet or Nina in Chekhov’s The Seagull on the West End. It would most definitely not have included mastering a handbrake turn in a Toyota GR Yaris.

Being a motoring scribe was never on the cards. While most of my male colleagues have been driving since the age of 10, I was a late starter and only got my licence (after failing my learner’s twice) at the age of 33. I got into motoring by fluke, serendipitously picking up an invite to the Tokyo Motoring Show back in 2009. I was literally thrown into an arena that was both foreign and totally out of my comfort zone. But that’s where I got zapped. 

Last week I found myself on the Red Star Raceway outside Delmas, drifting while dodging cones in a slalom, in what’s been touted as Toyota’s answer to every boy racer’s wet dream, the astounding rally-to-road new Toyota GR Yaris. It was one of those days, where for a few seconds, I left my body, looked down, big grin on my face and asked myself: how the hell did you land up here? 

Unveiled last year at the Tokyo Auto Salon, the GR Yaris is a performance car co-developed by Toyota Gazoo Racing and Tommi Mäkinen Racing, the company that partners with Toyota in the World Rally Championship (WRC).

The GR Yaris has picked up a bunch of international awards. (Photo: Toyota SA)

There’s been massive global excitement since it went on sale, with an outpouring of praise for this hot hatch with its combo of analogue driving dynamics, “retro” H-pattern manual transmission, driver-selectable AWD and throaty turbocharged “three-pot” engine. UK magazine CAR waxed lyrical: 

“The Toyota’s punchy, characterful engine and fabulously exploitable all-wheel-drive system just add further weight to the argument that this is one of Japan’s truly great performance cars and the pre-eminent modern hot hatch.”

The editor of Top Gear, Jack Rix referred to the GR Yaris as … “real rally-tech for the road … built by a team at Gazoo Racing who were prepared to sweat the finer details to get it right”. 

Autocar called it: “The first truly great car of the decade.” 

Beyond the praise, awards have been piling up. Earlier this year, in March, the unique Japanese rally racer was awarded the “Best Performance” as well as overall “Car of the Year” top prize in the annual UK Car of the Year comp.  Announcing the result, UK-COTY director John Challen said: “The GR Yaris exudes the same sort of emotions found in the original breed of hot hatches, with a modern-day twist thanks to advances in automotive technology. The most fun I’ve had behind the wheel of a car for many, many years.”

And just to show the middle finger to the big guns like the Ferrari Roma and Porsche 911 who received accolades of “commended”, the Yaris recently went on to win Auto Express’s 2021 Performance Car of the Year.

The GR Yaris with its broad rear stance. (Photo: Toyota SA)

So what’s all the fuss about? 

For anyone unfamiliar with Toyota’s new GR pocket rocket, this is the homologated model for the upcoming WRC. And don’t for a moment think this is a boring old Yaris. The only bits that are borrowed are the 2,560mm wheelbase, the light clusters, door mirrors and roof fin. But that’s where it ends. 

The GR is 55mm longer, 60mm wider and 45mm lower in most places, dipping 100mm lower at the rear. The grille is flanked by large vertical inlets for the brake duct and intercooler, with circular LED fog lights. With the roof slanting downwards towards the rear, coupled with bulging wheel arches and a boot spoiler, the GR Yaris commands a mean, broad stance. 

According to Toyota SA, achieving a strong power-to-weight ratio was a key objective to help meet the GR’s performance targets. Weighing just over 1,200kgs – it’s a rally car after all – its three-door body shell is an ode to lightweight materials including carbon fibre polymer and aluminium. 

Frameless doors give it a sleek coupé-look, which also improves aerodynamic performance while reducing weight. As a result, this hottie has the power of a C-segment performance hatch, (like a Honda Civic Type R or Golf 8 GTI), but the weight of a B-segment machine, with a 0-100km/h acceleration time of just 5.5 seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 230km/h.

Power comes via a three-cylinder (yes, you read that right) 1.6l petrol turbo that fires 198kW and 360Nm to both axles, courtesy of a six-speed manual transmission. Aimed at shift-up, shift-down racing purists, there is most definitely no auto gearbox. 

The cabin, with GR branding in key places, is ergonomic, without any undue fuss. There’s a racy-looking three-poke leather steering wheel, a 4.2-inch TFT colour multi-information display which communicates info relating to things like its all-wheel drive system and turbo pressure. There’s also a special WRC commemorative plaque on the centre console.

The new GR Yaris comes in two derivatives. While both share the same 1.6l petrol turbo engine, the standard GR opts for textured fabric upholstery, while the Rally version is more premium with its Alcantara/synthetic leather sport seats and Alcantara door inserts. Both have a six-speaker touchscreen audio set up, with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto functionality as well as Bluetooth and USB inputs. 

The GR Yaris at home on the track. (Photo: Toyota SA)

The gear shift lever has been raised by 50mm and set close to the steering wheel, to make shifts that much easier. There’s also a GR-FOUR selector control, to change between Normal, Sport and Track modes. And to make sure it can be thrashed around race circuits and rally tracks, there are high-performance brakes with large, grooved front discs and four-pot callipers.

The biggest difference between the two, is that the Rally GR has the “Circuit Pack” with a Torsen limited-slip differential on both the front and rear axle. There’s also performance-tuned suspension, a revised power-steering set-up and an upgrade to 18-inch BBS forged alloys, shod with Michelin Pilot Sport 4s tyres.

So… how is the drive? 

On Joburg roads and highways, the GR was solid and comfy, and with its punchy power, it was lighting quick on the overtake, a car one could easily find joy driving every day on “normal” roads. But of course it’s on the track that the Yaris GR really excels and reminds us why its sweeping performance awards ahead of Ferraris and Porsches.

After taking my Rally version drifting, slaloming and managing my very first ever handbrake turn – the rear driveshafts decouple if you pull it on the move – I got to take the little beast for a few hot laps on the Red Star Raceway. If, like me, you’ve previously associated Toyotas with “dull” or “boring”, this Yaris will detonate all those notions. 

This is a car that’s so well planted on the straights, so brilliantly agile on corners – without a hint of understeer, so exhilarating as it revs, splutters and growls, changing direction with heady bipolar speed, it’s hard not to have a permanent smile on your face from the moment you put foot. The critics may moan about the tight head and legroom in the rear and a less than generous boot of 174 litres, but who bloody well cares! Go buy a normal granny Yaris with an electric brake switch.

Unlike that version, Toyota has only produced 25,000 global units and in SA, 190 GRs were shipped in, of which almost all have been snapped up. There are waiting lists worldwide.  

It’s been rapturously hailed by many as “the most exciting car that Toyota’s ever produced”. Me? I’m still replaying those handbrake squealing turns with a big grin plastered all over my happy dial. 

Pricing:

GR 4 – R606,000

GR 4 Rally – R715,600