Faster Toyota GR Yaris Morizo on the cards

Toyota Gazoo Racing is hatching plans for an even quicker take on its Toyota GR Yaris that’s set to adopt the mightier powertrain from the latest hard-core Toyota GR Corolla Morizo.

With 221kW (+21kW) and 400Nm (+30Nm), the more powerful GR Yaris is tipped to carry the new ‘Morizo’ moniker that’s reserved for the fastest and most extreme GR models and is derived from Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda’s nickname.

With that level of power and extra torque, plus extreme weight-saving measures that could see the second-row bench seat deleted and equipment downgraded to a basic stereo and single-zone climate control, the quicker GR Yaris should sprint from 0-100km/h in less than 4.5 seconds and top out at more than 250km/h.

When asked directly if the GR Corolla’s development could inspire a faster GR Yaris, Gazoo Racing’s chief engineer Naoyuki Sakamoto confirmed the high-output turbocharged 1.6-litre three-cylinder G16E-GTS could one day see service in the GR Yaris.

“Yes, the engine and powertrain system could be applied to the GR Yaris,” he said.

Sakamoto-san went on to say that there was also enough space to package the Morizo’s special close-ratio six-speed manual transmission.

Originally, the six-speed was weak spot of the GR powertrain’s armoury, but thanks to beefier internals it can now cope with not only the 400Nm the GR Corolla Morizo produces, but even more torque than that.

But it’s not all plain sailing for the team of GR engineers.

Sakamoto also disclosed that the smaller Yaris doesn’t have enough space for the bigger Corolla hot hatch’s trick exhaust.

Interestingly, much of the work to create a faster GR Yaris running the punchier powertrain has already been done.

Sakamoto admitted that the majority of the GR Corolla powertrain development work was actually carried out by modified GR Yaris race cars competing in the Super Taikyo race series in Japan.

Running more than 300hp (221kW), the engines were tested during 24-hour endurance races. The data was then gathered and fed back to the road car engine’s development team.

To produce the extra power, Sakamoto said the actual turbocharger remains the same, but engineers wound up the fuel pressure, introduced a new precise exhaust camshaft, changed the exhaust valve’s spring rate and introduced a bigger 14-litre water-to-oil heat exchanger in place of the standard car’s 10-litre version.

Finally, the new exhaust became crucial to reduce back pressure and smoothly emit the higher volumes of exhaust gases.

No information was given on when the hotter GR Yaris might be introduced or whether it has even been given the green light internally.

What’s more, those hoping the next generation of GR models would come with launch control or even drift mode will be disappointed.

“We will continue to examine,” said Sakamoto, but added it wouldn’t be his preference to add either driver aid.

“We’re sticking to natural control of the vehicle. If the vehicle is good enough to control, we don’t have to prepare any special mode.”

Finally, the long-awaited two-pedal GR Yaris remains in development.

According to the GR chief engineer, it will shun a more advanced dual-clutch transmission for traditional torque-converter automatic with possibly eight speeds.

Again, no timeline for its introduction was given but Sakamoto stressed it would match the GR Yaris’ character with a bespoke calibration developed for the auto by Toyota’s high-performance division.