If you’ve been waiting for the GR Yaris, then you’ll be glad to know that Toyota Motor Philippines will be making the aforementioned hot hatch available from all 16 Toyota GR Performance dealers nationwide starting August 14, 2021.
The 2021 Toyota GR Yaris in its natural habitat
As for the price, the GR Yaris will have a standard retail price of Php 2.65 million. That’s for the 1.6-liter Turbo MT Variant. In turn, the said variant can come in three colors: Super White II, Emotional Red, and Precious Black. So, what does the GR Yaris offer you?
Exterior
As a performance-oriented hot hatch, the GR Yaris certainly looks the part. Up top, it sports a carbon-fiber roof, and the front end is dominated by a large black-colored grille flanked by 3-tier LED headlamps.
Quite compact, but nonetheless sporty
The said grille is completely functional as it allows for lots of air to be fed into the car’s cooling systems and engine. Moreover, the aforementioned roof ensures that the GR Yaris has a lower center of gravity.
From the sides, the Toyota-made hot hatch rides on a set of 18-inch BBS forged alloy wheels. The rear also features LED taillights, as well as a black trim piece bisecting the width of the car, which complements the large grille that we’ve discussed earlier.
The new Toyota-made hatchback's rear end
Interior
Inside, the GR Yaris can actually seat up to five, and all of its seats are wrapped in synthetic leather and suede. The rear seats however can be tight so larger adults might have trouble with shoulder room. The highlight of the interior has got to be the race-ready front seats. They offer a lot of bolstering, and we’re certain that they’ll keep you planted when carving up a curvy road.
The transmission tunnel bulge might also affect legroom
Speaking of the driver, the new model also comes standard with multiple drive modes (Normal, Sport, and Track), a push to start button, smart entry, a 4.2-inch information display, among others. All occupants are then kept cool by a dual-zone automatic climate control system.
Tech & Safety
Sitting on the dashboard of the GR Yaris is a touchscreen headunit that comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. And while the GR Yaris is a track-ready car, its safety kit is also comprehensive. This is because it comes standard with the Toyota Safety Sense driver assist kit, which includes automatic high beams, lane trace assist, a pre-collision system, among others.
It isn't that premium, but it's definitely far from spartan
On the passive side of safety, the model in question also comes standard with six airbags, stability and traction control, hill-start assist, as well as an anti-lock braking system.
Engine
Before talking about engine specs, do note that the Yaris is technically a homologation car. To be specific, it is the production version of a true-blue rally car that Toyota Gazoo Racing was going to field for the World Rally Championship. As such, it's not like other performance models that we’re built up from a regular model but is instead a direct fruit of the manufacturer’s involvement in motorsports.
Now for engine specs, the GR Yaris uses the 1.6-liter G16E-GTS inline-3 DOHC gasoline engine. At most, this engine can make up to 257 horsepower and 360 Nm of torque. The said engine is paired with a six-speed manual transmission which sends power to all of the car’s wheels via the GR-Four 4WD system.
The GR Yaris' 1.6-liter inline-3 turbocharged G16E-GTS gasoline engine
Note also that the Philippine-spec model also comes with the High Performance/Circuit Package. This means that it comes standard with a set of 225/40R18 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires, as well as a 4WD Torsen limited-slip differential.
Prior to the GR Yaris’ arrival in August, Toyota Motor Philippines allowed for folks to reserve for a unit from these aforementioned dealerships:
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However, a report published by Autoindustriya.com stated that these dealerships are reportedly no longer accepting reservations for the Toyota GR Yaris. Why? Well, it appears that the Philippine market was only allocated around 130 units of the aforementioned model. And it seems that there were a lot of people who have made their reservations for the 2021 Toyota GR Yaris.
For the latest car releases in the Philippines, keep it here on Philkotse.com.