At the recent Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival, the leading carmaker put on display hatchback rally cars that are both world-class in performance.
Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation Japan, also known as “Master Driver Morizo” was on-site to give everyone a peek at the driving capabilities of the Toyota Yaris in their rally competition forms.
And the 2018 WRC Rally 1 Yaris and the GR Yaris prototypes didn’t disappoint.
They are not just vehicles, they are statements of intent from Toyota, a brand that has long been synonymous with reliability but is also known for churning out the wildest rally cars in recent decades.
While both cars share the Yaris nameplate, they serve different purposes, yet both are rooted in Toyota’s rich racing heritage.
THIS particular Toyota GR Yaris served as a prototype and development mule for Gazoo Racing to help fine-tune the amazing capabilities of the production model.
The 2018 WRC Rally 1 Yaris is a competition-ready beast, designed to conquer the most challenging stages at the upper echelons of the World Rally Championship.
Although this particular model has now been superseded by the current WRC Rally 1 model, the 2018 iteration helped solidify Toyota’s claim on the international rally circuit once more, decades after the reign of the Celica GT-Four and the WRC Corolla hatchback of the late 1990s.
On the other hand, the GR Yaris prototype is a testament to Toyota’s ability to translate its racing expertise into a vehicle that can be used as a daily driver, without compromising on performance.
These two vehicles encapsulate the essence of Toyota Gazoo Racing, blending engineering excellence with a passion for speed.
The Japanese automaker has always been a formidable force in various racing disciplines, and its commitment to transferring racing technology to road cars is nothing short of impressive.
The 2018 WRC Rally 1 Yaris and the Toyota GR Yaris are just two of the many cars that epitomize this philosophy.
While the former is a rally beast designed to conquer the World Rally Championship, the latter is a high-performance road car that has its roots deeply embedded in racing.
The 2018 WRC Rally 1 Yaris is a technical marvel, developed by Toyota Gazoo Racing to meet the stringent FIA’s World Rally Car (Rally 1) regulations.
Under the hood, it houses a 1.6-liter turbocharged inline-4 engine that pumps out a staggering 380 horsepower and 450 Nm of torque. This power is channeled through a six-speed sequential gearbox, ensuring rapid shifts that are crucial in the split-second world of rally racing.
DECADES after the reign of the Celica GT-Four and the WRC Corolla of the late 90s, the WRC Rally 1 Yaris helped put Toyota back on top of the World Rally Championship.
The car employs a four-wheel-drive system, providing optimal traction across varying terrains, from gravel to tarmac. The suspension system is equally noteworthy, featuring MacPherson struts on both the front and rear, designed to absorb the harshest of impacts.
Driven by the likes of Jari-Matti Latvala, Esapekka Lappi, and Ott Tänak during the 2018 season, the car has proven its mettle in one of the most grueling motorsports events globally.
Although the Yaris WRC Rally 1 is a purpose-built machine for professional racers, the Toyota GR Yaris also brings a slice of that racing pedigree to the average consumer.
Developed by Toyota Gazoo Racing, the GR Yaris is more than just a souped-up version of the standard Yaris. It’s a car that has undergone a rigorous development process, heavily influenced by Toyoda himself.
Naohiko Saito, who is in charge of development in the GR Project Operation Division at Gazoo Racing Company, played a pivotal role in shaping the GR Yaris. Initially, when the prototype was tested by Morizo, the feedback was less than flattering.
Morizo’s candid remarks served as a wake-up call for Saito and his team, leading to a complete overhaul in their approach.
The car was then developed under the philosophy of “roads training cars,” “making ever-better cars,” and “driving until it breaks.” These principles were not just buzzwords but guided Saito and his engineering team in every decision they made.
Under the hood, the GR Yaris is powered by a 1.6-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine that produces 257 horsepower and 360 Nm of torque. While these numbers may not seem astronomical, they are more than sufficient for a car that weighs just a little over 1,280 kilograms.
The car features a six-speed manual transmission and a four-wheel-drive system, providing an engaging driving experience that is increasingly rare in today’s world of automated vehicles.
What sets the GR Yaris apart is the involvement of the production team in its development. Every member of the assembly line had the opportunity to test drive the car, ensuring that they understood Morizo’s vision for the vehicle.
This level of involvement is unprecedented and speaks volumes about the company’s commitment to quality and performance.
Both the 2018 WRC Rally 1 Yaris and the Toyota GR Yaris serve as hard proof of Toyota’s engineering and technical prowess, along with its commitment to cross-pollinate technology between its racing and road cars.
Yes, the WRC Rally 1 Yaris is a rally car that set the tone for Toyota’s exploration of the rally racing’s technical boundarie, but GR Yaris is also a road car that offers a slice of that racing DNA to the average consumer.
Both cars are shining examples of what can be achieved when the lines between motorsports and road cars are not just blurred but erased.
