Hatch sauce: We track the Toyota GR Yaris

The Yaris has long been a respected local nameplate. Spanning two generations (three if you count the Echo), it's been the small, city hatchback that's reliable and comforting as a cup of hot soup.

While the vanilla Toyota Yaris has never been called exciting and sporty, or even slightly heard in the same breath as other hot hatches, a lot of things have changed over the past year, and Toyota Gazoo racing decided to shine a light on the bleak global landscape. Enter the Toyota GR Yaris.

Toyota Motor Philippines was gracious enough to invite us over to a track day to unleash the Toyota GR Yaris and compare it to the Toyota GR Supra as well as a One-Make Toyota Vios for the Vios Cup, and I have to say, if you're looking for a happy medium between the savagery of the Supra and the workaday practicality of the Vios, the Toyota GR Yaris, just might be what the doctor ordered.

That, however doesn't mean the GR Yaris is anything less of a beast.

Built for homologation purposes for the FIA World Rally Championship, the Toyota GR Yaris is based on the XP-210 Yaris model which has not been made available to the local market. Acting as a high-performance version, the hot hatch is powered by the G16E-GTS engine. This has never been used by Toyota in any other model. The 1.6-liter three-cylinder, turbocharged engine makes 259hp at 6,500rpm and 360Nm of torque at 3,000 to 4,600rpm. At only 1,310 kg, and with all-wheel drive, you can only imagine the impact of those figures on this tiny hot hatch.

The Clark International Speedway, seems to be the fitting location to showcase the capabilities of the Toyota GR Yaris. The track is fairly technical with multiple corners and one long straightaway, and the six-speed manual transmission pairs insanely well with the engine. You heard that right, the Philippine-spec Toyota GR Yaris is only available with the six-speed MT. For those who lobby for #SaveTheManuals, rejoice! Your savior is here, and that manual transmission is just divine.

Some drivers bogged down off the line, but that has a lot to do with just how surgical and precise the transmission is, as well as how it is tuned with the AWD GR-Four drive train. Other cars would allow some clearance on the shifter as well as space to make mistakes while shifting; the Toyota GR Yaris wants none of that. Once you do learn how to meld with your car, you'll find that shifting is easy and on-point. 

The event featured activities such as a braking test and slalom test. These are necessary get your feet wet and experience the GR Yaris, as well as the Supra and Vios, and to give you an idea what the cars are capable of. The main event was, of course, the hot lap where we had a pace car leading and guiding us through two-way to make sure we could push our cars to the limit but, of course not have a little bit "too much fun."

It was an exhilarating experience like no other. While lesser cars would not be able to stand the grueling torture that is Clark International Speedway, the Toyota GR Yaris just soldiered on, despite being driven by lead-footed car journalists such as myself. There was also a chance to drive shotgun with Toyota Gazoo Racing's newest ambassador, Marlon Stockinger at the helm of the Toyota GR Yaris. Let's just say I was glad to have been wearing my brown pants.

It was an experience like any other. The event was Toyota Motor Philippines' show of force and confidence that despite the gloom that the pandemic has brought upon the local economy and the car scene in general, the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight. The Year of Gazoo is upon us, and it's looking just GR8_!

Photos by Roy Robles