After a long wait and many teasers, Toyota’s road-legal rally car has touched down in South Africa. Here’s what’s on offer, performance details and how much you can expect to pay.

This Toyota GR Yaris is so far removed from being the compact city hatchback we’ve come to know, we’re actually surprised it even retains the name.

What you see here is a homologation special that has been designed from the ground up to be a performance car. This is not a normal Yaris with a more powerful engine. Nearly every component from the normal Yaris has been replaced in the GR Yaris.

There’s a clever 4-wheel drive system with 3 driving modes that will distribute power and torque between axles. If you’re after a fast time around a track, there’s a mode for that. If you want to hang the tail out and do some drifting, there’s another mode for that too.

Our initials impressions have shown the GR Yaris to be one very impressive offering that rewrites the rulebook when it comes to hot hatch dynamics.

Toyota GR Yaris Engine

Under the bonnet you’ll find a 1.6-litre 3-cylinder turbopetrol which delivers 198 kW and 360 Nm. Power goes to all 4 wheels via a 6-speed manual gearbox. The vehicle is said to sprint to 100 kph in just 5.5 seconds and it will run to a top speed of 230 kph. While it is a performance vehicle and fuel economy is not that much of a priority, Toyota claims its new GR Yaris will consume 7.6 L/100 km.

What’s On Offer?

Toyota South Africa is offering the new GR Yaris in two flavours: GR Yaris and GR Yaris Rally.

The standard features for the Toyota GR Yaris include auto lights, auto wipers, climate control, touchscreen infotainment with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, a 6-speaker audio system, steering wheel controls, and Toyota Connect.

As far as safety systems go, the new Toyota GR Yaris features tyre pressure monitor, Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS), Brake Assist (BA), Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD), Hill Assist Control (HAC), Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), Curtain/Driver/Passenger/Front Side airbags.

The GR Yaris Rally gets additional content on top of the standard car, like a limited-slip differential, active noise control, synthetic leather trim, a special UV cut windscreen, LED headlights with auto high beam and a heads-up display. The Toyota Safety Sense is fitted with lane-keeping assist and adaptive cruise control. There are also forged alloy wheels wrapped in performance tyres.

How much does the new Toyota GR Yaris cost in South Africa?

The new GR Yaris is sold with a 9 Services / 90 000 km plan, 12 months / 10 000 km service intervals, and a 3 years / 100 000 km warranty.

Toyota GR Yaris R606 600

Toyota GR Yaris Rally R715 000

Further Reading

Toyota Yaris GR Review

Toyota Yaris GR International Launch Review

UK tuner beefs up Yaris performance