Toyota has dropped
the first official teaser of the upcoming GR Yaris, the high-performance
version of the new small hatchback that will be adorned with the Gazoo Racing
badges. Toyota Europe has shared an image of a camouflaged prototype on its
social media, announcing the date and location of its official debut: November
17 at Rally Australia.
The hot Yaris will
be shown in near-production prototype form, wearing the same red-black-white
camouflage we’ve seen it using during its high-speed testing on the
Nurburgring. The teaser image was also accompanied by the ‘GR-4’ moniker,
implying that this hot hatch might actually feature all-wheel drive.
Compared to the
standard Toyota Yaris, the hot GR-4 variant is going to adopt a more aggressive
bodywork, complete with blistered wheel arches, model-specific bumpers, a
bigger front grille and a bigger wheel-tire package.
A few weeks ago
Toyota Europe’s Executive VP, Matt Harrison said that an upcoming hot Yaris
would be more related to Gazoo Racing’s success in motorsport, in this case
rallying.
This indicates that
the Gazoo Racing version could employ a bigger engine than the current flagship
1.5-liter four-cylinder unit, while the possibility of all-wheel drive gives us
hopes that this could become something truly special. The previous limited-production
Yaris GRMN was powered by a supercharged 1.8-liter four-cylinder with 209 HP.
All we have to do is wait until November 17 and see if Gazoo Racing will answer
our prayers.
