The Toyota GR Yaris is the road interpretation of a rally car. Well, Toyota Australia has been turned back into a rally car again. Meet the Toyota GR Yaris AP4, or the Toyota Gazoo Racing Yaris Asia-Pacific 4WD if you want the long arm.
It will not compete at the top of the World Rally Championship, but the Rally 2 series below. So it’s a bit more affordable both in terms of price and driving capacity.
This is the result of a project between Toyota and Neal Bates Motorsport, led by a four-time Australian rally champion with his two sons – Harry and Lewis – on driving duties.
And Neal highly recommends how ready for competition the little Yaris already feels. It seems like building a rally car from a special homologation program is even simpler than you would expect.
“Combined with the tight turbo engine and the entire wheel drive system, the GR Yaris is a good basic car compared to what we worked on before to create rally cars,” says Neal, before adding how helpful it is. the doors are lightweight aluminum and the carbon roof. son.
There have been a number of tweaks as well. A fiberglass cap and hat, new 3D printed mirrors and Perspex windows help cut weight and increase safety. A new 1.5-bar dedicated heating system and turbo will help the 3cyl stock engine meet AP4 regulations, with 257bhp and 266lb ft of road car rising, but still to unconfirmed levels.
It’s all attached to a Sadev six-speed gearbox, driving all four wheels naturally, though the torque splitter is now locked at 50:50 front and rear. Suspension revision allows for much more travel for these brands and tights.
“People often think of a rally car as just a modified road car, but in reality it is a Supercar for the gravel, the construction process is the same as the Supercar process,” says Neal.
Like what his team is doing with a hot hat right now?