New 2024 Toyota GR Yaris touts snappier shifts and boosted BHP

Toyota’s road-legal rally hatch has received a comprehensive overhaul offering polished styling, revised internals, and a new eight-speed automatic gearbox for the first time ever. Is this a Yaris worth waiting for? 

The GR Yaris is Toyota’s Mr. Brightside. Just as The Killers could never have predicted the instant and enduring success of their hit ballad, Toyota must have been equally stunned by the clamorous response its spiced-up Yaris received straight from the get-go.  

Such popularity can be both a blessing and a curse, though. Now four years out from that celebrated first launch and Yaris fans are craving a few new riffs. But rather than rewrite the song and risk missing the mark, Toyota has opted to remaster the classic and enhance all the bits we already know and love.  

To start, the styling has been modernised with a subtly different front and rear end design. But short of seeing old and new back-to-back, it’s hard to put your finger on what’s specifically changed. It’s on the inside where the improvements are more immediately apparent. Most noteworthy are the fully digital instrument cluster, altered ergonomics, and sequential shifter.  

Understandably, most of Toyota’s efforts have been lavished on refining the GR’s raison d'etre: lighting up backroads with a blistering turn of pace. That characterful three-pot engine now develops a beefy 280 hp and 288 lb-ft (an increase of 19 hp and 23 lb-ft respectively) with credit going to a ‘strengthened valvetrain, a new exhaust valve material and an increase in the D-4ST fuel injection pressure.’  

That heightened grunt will now also be delivered with less interruption thanks to the introduction of an optional, (don’t panic manual die-hards) eight-speed automatic ‘box developed specifically for the hot Yaris. With more ratios to play with and quicker changes, the auto will be the fastest option — without compromising driver involvement.

Extra performance allows the GR to rocket into corners with more enthusiasm than ever, so you’ll be glad to hear Toyota has chosen Michelin’s fiercely grippy Pilot Sport 4 S tyres as standard. Combined with improved body rigidity and added bolts to keep the suspension geometry in check under hard cornering, the revised GR should be a formidable force in the bends. Importantly for a driver’s car, the GR also promises to feel even racier thanks to a 25 mm lower seat and steering wheel combo.

Itching to get your hands on Toyota’s rally-inspired legend? Pricing for the facelifted model will drop in March, while deliveries are set to commence in June 2024. And given the extent of the upgrades it’s likely the new car will command a loftier price tag, although the GR should still represent strong value for money.  

Has the performance Yaris reclaimed its spot at the top of the hot hatch tree? Let us know what you think. 

Hero image credit: Toyota