Toyota used the 2024 Tokyo Auto Salon, which kicked off on Friday within the Japanese capital, to debut an up to date model of its GR Yaris scorching hatchback.

Impressed by the Yaris that competes within the World Rally Championship, the brand new 2024 GR Yaris represents the most recent evolution of Toyota’s high-performance Yaris subcompacts that return to the Yaris GRMN launched final decade.

Whereas the U.S. will get the GR Corolla, the smaller GR Yaris is unlikely to achieve these shores given the demise of the Yaris nameplate right here after 2020.

The most recent evolution to the pocket rocket brings extra energy, plus an automated transmission as a substitute for the usual 6-speed guide. The auto is not any strange slushbox however a what Toyota claims is a fast- and intuitive-shifting design developed in rally competitors by the corporate’s Gazoo Racing motorsports division.

Often called the Direct Automated Transmission, the 8-speed auto is designed to shift quicker by utilizing software program to foretell driving conduct. Whereas such know-how is not new, Toyota’s software program seems to be past the usual metrics comparable to deceleration g-forces and pace, and integrates acceleration and braking into its logic. By doing so, it is ready to anticipate when a shift is critical earlier than a change in driving conduct truly takes place.

In line with Toyota, the GR Yaris with the brand new automated is ready to ship quicker observe instances than the automotive with the guide.

Different modifications had been required to ship a good stage of drivability in addition to counter automated transmissions’ vulnerability to warmth harm. Key measures included the usage of new supplies, nearer ratios (therefore the choice to go along with eight gears), and a brand new torque management system.

2024 Toyota GR Yaris

The motive force can management the efficiency of the transmission utilizing the car’s drive mode selector, and there is a guide mode that lets the motive force select when to alter gears. In line with Toyota, conserving the engine within the 4,900-7,200 rpm vary is good for efficiency.

The engine is a turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-3 rated at 276 hp, up from the 268 of the present GR Yaris launched in 2020. Drive goes to all 4 wheels as normal, through a GR-4 all-wheel-drive system that is capable of alter the stability of drive torque between the entrance and rear wheels primarily based on the mode the car is in. Torsen limited-slip differentials are additionally normal entrance and rear.

Additional enhancements to the GR Yaris formulation had been made through extra reinforcements to the automotive’s light-weight physique, specifically via extra spot welds and structural adhesive. The chassis is a bespoke design that mixes the GA-B platform of the usual Yaris up entrance with the rear finish of the bigger GA-C platform of the Corolla and different Toyota compacts. The suspension, which consists of MacPherson struts and rear double wishbones with trailing arms, has additionally been barely revised with new springs and additional bolts for the entrance dampers.

2024 Toyota GR Yaris

The inside additionally obtained a serious revamp. Taking suggestions from Gazoo Racing drivers, Toyota designers made such adjustments as shifting key controls for efficiency driving nearer to the attain of the motive force when strapped in with a harness, together with the controls for the intercooler spray, stability management, and hazard warning lights. The motive force’s visual field has additionally been improved by dropping the peak of the instrument panel, altering the place of the rear-view mirror, and angling the middle stack 15 levels farther towards the motive force. The steering wheel and entrance seats have additionally been lowered.

Gross sales of the 2024 GR Yaris begin in choose markets this summer time. Toyota will even supply a pair of special-edition variations honoring its profitable WRC drivers, Sébastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanperä, which the automaker will reveal on the Monte Carlo Rally later this month.