Limited-edition Toyota GRMN Yaris has two seats, optional rally pack
The GRMN Yaris is lighter, stiffer, sportier and limited to just 500 units.
The Toyota GR Yaris is one of the hottest hatchbacks ever made. Created as a homologation requirement for the WRC rally car, it's got a bespoke two-door body, a raucous 268-horsepower, turbo three-cylinder engine, a drift-happy all-wheel-drive system and a motorsport-derived chassis. But that obviously wasn't enough, as on Friday Toyota unveiled a new limited-run version called the GRMN Yaris at the Tokyo Auto Salon, and it's freakin' awesome.
Toyota says the GRMN Yaris was developed with the help of actual race car drivers and motorsport engineers. The rear seat has been ditched and the front seats are replaced with Recaro buckets that have integrated side airbags. Carbon-fiber reinforced plastic is used on the hood, roof and rear spoiler for a total weight reduction of 44 pounds compared to a regular GR Yaris. The GRMN Yaris also gets more spot welds for stronger body rigidity, a mechanical limited-slip differential, and a close-ratio transmission with a lower final gear and stronger components. Toyota says the GRMN is 0.4 inches wider and 0.4 inches lower than a normal GR Yaris for a better center of gravity, and it has slightly more torque as well.
The Rally pack car gets a roll cage.
A Circuit package will be available from the factory and has modifications derived from the Yaris that races in the Super Taikyu series. It adds 18-inch BBS wheels, bigger brakes, Bilstein shocks with adjustable dampers, and a new front splitter, side skirts and large rear wing that's also made from carbon-fiber reinforced plastic. Each Circuit package car will be finished in special Matte Steel paint, and it's limited to just 50 units.
But even more exciting is the Rally package, which consists of dealer-installed accessories. The Rally pack includes a roll cage, different shocks, new stabilizers and skid plates. One of Toyota's photos also shows a Rally pack car that has the Circuit pack's wing, smaller wheels with off-road tires and mud flaps, though no info is given about those parts.
Only 500 units of the GRMN Yaris will be sold, with all allocations to be assigned through an online lottery that opens today. Customers will be able to take advantage of new Upgrade and Personalization programs, with the former offering new parts and software updates at GR dealerships and the latter providing unique tuning and optimization based on driver-specific data at race tracks. And for those that already own a regular GR Yaris, Toyota will sell some of the GRMN's parts starting this fall.
