Toyota Yaris GRMN
Evo|October 2017

In a bid to create a link between its WRC car and road-going line-up, Toyota has developed a low-volume, slightly unhinged 210bhp version of the Yaris. We drive a near production-ready prototype

Adam Towker
Toyota Yaris GRMN

YOSHINORI SASAKI, THE CHIEF ENGINEER ON YARIS GRMN, tells a lovely story about the birth of Toyota’s first hot hatch for at least a generation. During the  GT86 project, for which he was assistant chief engineer to Tetsuya Tada, he and Tada were testing said coupe in Wales when a small hot hatch latched onto their tail. ‘I don’t know what car it was, a Clio, a Polomaybe, but I drove faster and faster and still couldn’t shake them off,’ says Sasaki. ‘Whenwe finally got to a village we realised it was old lady driving. I said right then [laughing], we must make just such a car!’

It’s an unintentional reminder that Toyota’s recent history isn’t exactly crammed with classic hot hatches. But now we have ‘new’ Toyota. It may have taken a while for bossman Akio Toyoda’s enthusiasm for performance cars to filter down through the ranks, but this Yaris – which will be the first GRMNmodel to go on sale in Europe, the sixth in Japan –won’t stand alone, as there’s the spiritual successors to the Supra and theMR2 to look forward to at the very least. GRMN, by the way, stands for ‘Gazoo Racing tuned by Meister of the Nürburgring’. We kid you not.

It’s at the Ring, specifically Toyota’s test garage there, where we meet a pre-production Yaris GRMN and the small team behind the project. Toyota sees this car as a bridge between the WRC Yaris and the current road-going models, a bit of good old fashioned leveraging, if you like, in a modern era where limited homologation requirements mean we’re starved of competition bred machinery for the road. Alas, being front-wheel drive the Yaris GRMN has little in common with the WRC entry. It’s also soon clear that this is not a car to make a profit on,

Denne historien er fra October 2017-utgaven av Evo.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra October 2017-utgaven av Evo.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA EVOSe alt
Cupra Formentor Abt
Evo UK

Cupra Formentor Abt

It's farewell to the original Cupra Formentor with an Abt-tuned run-out package. It's a quietly excellent car; just a shame about the price...

time-read
4 mins  |
October 2024
Renault Sport Clio 200 Turbo
Evo UK

Renault Sport Clio 200 Turbo

This misguided departure from the French brand's hot hatch heritage saw the Clio fall from grace

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2024
REBIRTH OF AN ICON
Evo UK

REBIRTH OF AN ICON

The Kalmar 9X9 is a modernday reinterpretation of Porsche's game-changing 959 supercar, with a carbon body and up to 917bhp. And evo is helping to develop it

time-read
4 mins  |
October 2024
Volkswagen Golf GTI
Evo UK

Volkswagen Golf GTI

The underachieving Mk8 GTI gets a shot at redemption with the new, revised Mk8.5 version. Is it the leap forward it needs to be?

time-read
7 mins  |
October 2024
BEST BUYS
Evo UK

BEST BUYS

FAST FORDS FROM THE CORTINA TO THE ESCORT AND THE FIESTA, Ford is responsible for some of the most popular cars in British history. But alongside these everyday machines it has also produced a stream of desirable driver's cars.

time-read
9 mins  |
October 2024
HY AND DRY
Evo UK

HY AND DRY

The switch to electric power means an early exit for Hyundai N's brilliant ICE hot hatch duo. We go for a farewell drive in the 120 N

time-read
10 mins  |
October 2024
SEXY BEAST
Evo UK

SEXY BEAST

The Vanquish name is back for Aston Martin's latest seriesproduction flagship, with a stunning new look and simply brutal performance from an 824bhp twin-turbo V12

time-read
10 mins  |
October 2024
THE JOY OF DRIVING
Evo UK

THE JOY OF DRIVING

From mastering the everyday commute to unlocking the full potential of your performance car, our new series will help you become safer, more confident and ultimately more skilled behind the wheel

time-read
10 mins  |
October 2024
TINY DANCER
Evo UK

TINY DANCER

You haven't seen a Mini dance like this before, but then you haven't seen a Mini with a 4-litre M Power V8 under the bonnet and rear-wheel drive. Introducing Vini...

time-read
8 mins  |
October 2024
LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO
Evo UK

LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO

Grandaddy to the Temerario and the car that transformed Lamborghini was the brilliant, V10-engined Gallardo. We get reacquainted with a Lambo legend

time-read
10 mins  |
October 2024