SPY PICS: Toyota Yaris hyper hatch exposed

The first in-the-metal evidence of a substantially hotter version of the new Toyota GR Yaris hot hatch has been snapped lapping at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Clearly a step on from the standard Toyota GR Yaris that arrives in Australia in November and even the circuit-oriented Yaris GR Rallye special that will join the turbocharged all-wheel drive hot hatch in Aussie showrooms next year, this car could be the lighter, faster and harder Yaris GRMN Toyota engineers revealed to carsales late last year.

GRMN stands for Gazoo Racing Masters of Nürburgring and has traditionally been the top tier of Toyota’s GR vehicle line-up. If this is it, then it looks fantastic.

And needless to say, we want it in Australia!

Alternatively, it could be a competition vehicle as Gazoo Racing does have the task of migrating Toyota’s World Rally Championship efforts to the new-generation Yaris from 2021.

For instance, Toyota is expected to expand into the Rally2 and Rally3 (formerly known as R5) categories with the new Yaris, as well as continuing with the headline-grabbing WRC Rally1 cars.

By the way, a locally-developed rallying version of the new Yaris is also expected to be unveiled soon. Originally scheduled to break cover in October, carsales understands it has now been pushed back to mid-November.

Whatever the focus of the Nürburgring testing, this car definitely looks more potent than the Toyota GR Yaris that arrives in Australia in November.

While the core three-door bodywork looks familiar, the substantial rear wing and front dive planes are new and there are underbody aero aids as well.

The wheel and tyre combination looks larger than standard and the ducts cut into both front fenders behind the wheel-arches remove hot air generated by what should be a retuned 1.6-litre triple-cylinder engine and larger front brakes.

Just for reference, a WRC2 rally car is limited to 285hp (212kW) – up 12kW on the standard GR Yaris.

By the way, there’s some interesting testing bits and bobs hanging off this car. The rear wheel cover is designed to keep heat in, probably to match brake temperatures front to rear.

The device on the back is most likely a longitudinal and lateral speed detector, the latter measure critical for determining tyre slip angle.

The blocks under the car are possibly skid gauges to establish how low a side skirt can run. Along with the front air dam blocking this indicates the Gazoo engineers are trying to develop a low pressure area under the car to help generate downforce and grip. All up there is some significant aero here.

The level of modifications applied to the Nürburgring test car are significantly beyond the GR Yaris Rallye, which is already on-sale in other markets under other names.

It features track-tuned suspension, two Torsen limited-slip diffs, 18-inch forged BBS alloy wheels and Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres.

Pricing for the 250 examples of the Rallye coming to Australia in the first half of 2021 has yet to be announced.

The first 1000 examples of the Toyota GR Yaris offered in Australia were snapped up for the shock introductory price of $39,950 drive-away. A further 100 have since been secured and are now priced at $44,950 drive-away, which is still well below the original list price of $49,500 plus on-road costs.

The standard Toyota GR Yaris pumps out 200kW/370Nm and drives via a six-speed manual transmission and purposely-developed GR-FOUR all-wheel-drive system.

It boasts a power-to-weight ratio of 156kW per tonne, a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 5.2 seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 230km/h.

Key Toyota GR Yaris tech details include its bespoke underpinning architecture, a unique three-door body made from lightweight materials, multi-link rear suspension and substantial brakes – 356mm discs with four-pot callipers up front and 297mm rear discs clamped by two pistons.