2022 Toyota Philippines GR Festival: Driving the Vios Cup car

Toyota Motor Philippines invited Philkotse to the 2022 Gazoo Racing Week, which was held at the Clark International Speedway (CIS). Specifically, we were able to attend the fifth and last day (July 21, 2022) of the aforementioned week-long event, along with other representatives from automotive publications, and influencers.

We had the chance to drive these on the track

The Vios OMR cars: Awesome in their own right  

As per the event's name, we have been given the opportunity to try to dip our toes into motorsport racing. This was done with the clear and succinct supervision of Tuason Racing.   

Of note, the cars that we got to use at CIS were the Toyota Vios One Make Race (OMR) units. These were the very same cars that are the stars of TMP's Gazoo Racing Vios Cup.  

In particular, we got to drive the Vios OMR cars in a timed slalom activity, a follow-the-leader type run on the CIS track, as well as several quarter-mile drag runs.  

The Vios OMR cars about to take on a slalom course

From those activities alone, it was proven to us that even the simple and practical Toyota Vios has the props to become a potent track weapon.  

Mind you though, the Vios OMR cars were 1.5-liter 5-speed manual and continuously variable transmission (CVT) units that still made 106 horsepower and 140 Nm of torque. That's exactly the same output as the stock Vios 1.5 G.  

Those output numbers don't sound impressive, but then again, the amount of stability, controllability, and responsiveness provided by the Vios OMR cars was certainly above your normal sedan. This is thanks to a sports clutch, a set of beefier brakes, a performance intake system, and a performance suspension set.  

Lining up for the quarter mile drag race

And even while some of us (like the author), squeezed every drop of driving ability he had just to keep up, we totally felt safe as these Vios OMR cars were equipped with a roll cage, a fire suppression system, a six-point racing harness, and plenty of other racing-oriented safety bits.  

And as we've mentioned earlier, the folks from Tuason Racing were also there to oversee the said activities and thus ensuring a safe, fun, and more importantly educational experience at CIS.

The Vios OMR together with the GR Supra

So what does the Vios OMR car feel like to drive, really? Well from the perspective of the author who sat in a true-blue race car for the first time, it wasn’t as comfortable as the regular Vios.  

Then again, we understand that sacrifices had to be made in order to keep you safe whilst racing. For instance, getting in and out of the Vios OMR isn’t easy, especially for wide and tall folks. This, of course, is due to the beefy roll cage. It also lacked a rear seat, and the interior was barer compared to the stock car. 

Getting strapped was also a fairly complicated ordeal especially for the first time. Though after a few times of getting in and out of the car, we got the hang of it eventually. Also, we’ve had assistance from the Tuason racing dudes, so it wasn’t that difficult.

The Vios OMR is definitely an agile track beast

There were, however, a few comforts on the said race car that we kept. They still had their power windows, their push-to-start buttons, their air-conditioning systems, etc. As for the last feature though, we found out that it was necessary to turn off the air-conditioning as it actually robbed the car of power.  

Power was something we really needed to squeeze out of the vehicle. It made enough mind you, though note that the media personalities were actually competing to get the best times in the Gazoo Racing Festival activities.     

GR models take center stage  

Besides the white-knuckle racing activities though, TMP also displayed a number of their GR models. Included in this are the GR Supra, the GR Rush, GR Fortuner, GR Vios, and the GR Hilux.  

Several GR models were displayed at the event

The next-generation 2023 Toyota GR86 was also unveiled at the said event, and so, it was the first time that we've seen it in the metal. TMP says that it will be launched by August, so no details were given in terms of pricing, specs, and variants as of yet.  

True pros show us how it's done 

And finally, in the afternoon part of the event, the true pro drivers from Tuason Racing, as well as Marlon Stockinger showed us how it's done. This proceeded through ride-along sessions on the CIS course. 

Apart from seeing them in action though, we also got to see how the Toyota GR Supra and the Toyota GR Yaris performed on the track as they were driven by a full-fledged racing driver. 

The GR Yaris also went on several track runs during the event

For the GR Supra, while we know it can be pretty quick, Stockinger managed to bring out the car’s fun factor by making it perform slides on some of the track's corners. 

The GR Yaris in turn showed us that it shows great potential as a track car, despite being a rally-bred beast.  

All-in-all, the 2022 Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival was a fun and educational activity that showed us that the brand is truly committed to providing consumers with sporty options. This of course is in keeping with Akio Toyoda’s statement a couple of years ago: “No more boring cars.” 

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