More Toyota GR Yaris variants in the pipeline

The Toyota GR Yaris remains so far oversubscribed in Australia that the order book remains shut, but that hasn’t stopped the Japanese car-maker planning another track-hardened version of the giant-killing hot hatch for next year, according to a Japanese report.

Details are predictably thin on the ground for now, but Japanese media outlet Mag-X is claiming to have knowledge of another “significantly” lighter “two-seater” GR Yaris variant in the pipeline besides the stripped-out GRMN that won’t be sold here.

Whether or not this mystery spin-off will be positioned above or below the range-topping GRMN remains to be seen, but our money is on it filling the gap between the flagship and the Toyota GR Yaris Rallye that currently tops the Aussie range.

Therefore it could still feature the hardened suspension, extra carbon body bits and close-ratio transmission, and may reinstate the sound system, but could go without the extra 20Nm of torque.

It’s impossible to say for now, just as it’s impossible to predict if this new variant will be sold outside of Japan… unlike the GRMN.

Aussie sales of the standard GR Yaris and even sportier Rallye were sensationally stopped in mid-2021 as Toyota Australia struggled to fill the more than 2200 orders for the all-paw hot hatch.

The brand promised at the time that sales would resume soon, but that commitment was now made more than 13 months ago and there’s still be no word yet on when order books will reopen.

The possibility of more GR Yaris variants will no doubt give hope to local performance fans, regardless of whether they’re stripped-out go-karts or self-shifting daily-drivers.

As we’ve reported previously, an automatic version of the base GR Yaris with an eight-speed torque converter transmission is understood to be in development, with engineers reportedly promising better performance and lower consumption and emissions than the existing manual.

The original GR Yaris and the subsequent Rallye version were not cheap cars once their initial drive-away pricing offers expired, retailing for $49,500 and $54,500 plus on-road costs respectively.

So it would be foolish to assume an even more capable version or the automatic variant will come cheap if they are offered Down Under.

To this end we’d expect a circa-$60K asking price for the two-seater if our spec predictions ring true, and a low/mid-$50K price tag for the automatic GR Yaris – provided it’s not based on the Rallye, in which case that figure could be in the high 50,000s.

If those sorts of asking prices sound a bit too daunting for a Japanese light-car, there are also rumours of a cut-price front-drive GR Yaris being developed specifically to cater to those on a stricter budget.

According to a separate Mag-X report, Toyota executives are considering the idea of a GR Yaris designed to take on the Hyundai i20 N and Volkswagen Polo GTI.

Again, this is all speculation for the time being at least, but the theory goes that the front-drive Yaris hot hatch will be powered by a detuned version of the Toyota GR portfolio’s intense turbocharged 1.6-litre three-cylinder petrol engine and priced around 25 per cent lower (in Japan) than the equivalent AWD version.

Toyota technically already has the basis for such a model in the form of the JDM-only Toyota GR Yaris RS; a front-drive clone of the full-fat GR Yaris, albeit with the same 1.5-litre triple as the rest of the standard Yaris line-up.

None of these models besides the RS have been confirmed by Toyota at any level, but scores of fans will no doubt be wishing for the rumours to be true and for the resulting cars to make it Down Under soon.

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