Toyota GR Yaris News

Toyota has taken the covers off the next version of its critically-acclaimed GR Yaris hot hatch, dubbed the Type 26.This GR Yaris upgrade will hit dealers imminently in Japan and carries with it a host of tweaks, which Toyota says come directly from the car being used in motorsport applications. CarsGuide understands this suite of upgrades will be phased into the current model later in 2026 for export markets like Australia.The 2026 versions of the car include a completely new steering wheel, which Toyota says was developed by professional race drivers. It replaces the standard steering wheel that is simply a tweaked version of the mainstream Yaris steering wheel.The upgraded version makes a special point of moving the buttons closer to the centre of the wheel to make them easier to use with less chance of accidentally pressing a in motorsport scenarios. It also separates the functions out into separate buttons and adds illumination for easier usability in a variety of scenarios. It also has an overall reduced diameter.The power steering has also been tweaked alongside changes to torsion bar rigidity for better response with high-grip tyres, under braking, and when engaging in high-load cornering. The torque detection range has also increased to add assistance when cornering.Higher grade versions of the car have also had specially-developed Bridgestone Potenza Race tyres added to the car as standard which are said to improve control, stability, and performance. Toyota said it has also made optimisation tweaks to both the front and rear shock absorbers to maximise tyre performance.In addition, seat heating and steering wheel heating can now be optionally chosen on cars when selecting the vertical parking brake interior.The Type 26 maintains the same three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine (224kW/400Nm) with either a six-speed manual transmission or the GR-specific eight-speed automatic transmission. It features both front and rear limited slip differentials to go with its all-wheel drive system and BBS-developed forged aluminium wheels.The current car costs from $55,490 for the GT manual with a six-speed manual, and reaches to $62,990 for the GTS Auto.The four-seater hot hatch received its last update as recently as 2025 in Australia, where it scored an aero package and overhauled interior layout also based on driver feedback, which further diverged it from the mainline Yaris hatch.Expect more information about when the GR Yaris updates will hit Australia later in the year.

Toyota is looking to accelerate into the future at full speed, leaving its ‘whitegoods on wheels’ image trailing in the dust.And it all stems from the top down, with Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda allowing his love of performance cars and motorsport to trickle down across its entire global operation - including Australia.Toyota’s performance sub-brand, Gazoo Racing (GR), began life as Toyoda’s personal racing team. As he put his own mark on the company his grandfather founded during his time as Toyota President, GR became more and more prominent. Under his leadership Toyota revived its sports car program, launching the GR 86 and GR Supra, as well as launching the GR Yaris and GR Corolla hot hatches.Even after stepping down as president in 2023, Toyoda’s influence continues to be felt across the company. John Pappas, Toyota Australia’s Vice President National Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations, said that Toyoda’s focus on ensuring the brand changed its image has impacted many local decisions.“Akio’s philosophy actually is all about producing ever better cars,” Pappas said. “He actually talks about that. I'm pretty sure you can look him up talking about ever better cars some time ago when we went through this great phase.“I look at it and I think that just inspires all of us globally to continue to build, particularly the GR brand in this case. To see how the GR brand's evolved from 2015 globally to where it is today, and the various products now that form within GR, like the GR 86 and the GR Supra, the GR Yaris, the GR Corolla. We love to see that expansion and what we've seen today, the trajectory we're on, we continue to build on the GR brand. So, absolutely, we want to continue to build on that.”This includes the decision from Pappas’ predecessor in his role, Sean Hanley, greenlighting Toyota’s entry into the local Supercars racing series with a V8-powered GR Supra. Hanley admitted at the time that the company had been evaluating a racing entry for more than 20 years and the rise of GR made it the right time to finally commit.So much so that the highly-expensive racing program isn’t focused purely on increasing Toyota’s sales volume but rather to promote the GR brand both externally and internally to continue the path Toyoda set the brand on.“ Look for us, actually, this is not about selling more cars,” Pappas said. “It's actually more about building the GR brand, building on the GR brand. And it's really more about what I said before about just learning. Learning to build better cars, better people.“They're the two key things for us. Right? This is not about more sales and trying to sell more cars. It's about building better vehicles, better people, and building the GR brand.”

After having lived with the Toyota GR Yaris GTS for the past week and watched it eat its weight in petrol, strain my neighbours patience with its loud noises and grumble at me for trying to make it accelerate when it wasn’t ready, I’ve made up my mind — cars with combustion engines will always be more fun to drive than electric vehicles.For all their smooth driving, fast accelerating and zero tailpipe emissions, electric cars aren’t engaging to pilot and that’s because almost all the technology disconnects us so much from what’s actually happening.Don’t get me wrong, I think electric vehicles make great sedans that can ferry people around effortlessly and serenely. And EVs are superb small cars doing daily commutes in traffic, and for little delivery trucks and vans. Basically EVs are great for any kind of driving where those onboard would rather be anywhere else than driving.And so the GR Yaris is exactly the wrong car for these kinds of people, because it's the type of vehicle that’s constantly letting you know you’re driving, but it’s shouting it an inch away from you face, “YOU’RE DRIVING A CAR!”.The GR Yaris is basically a homologation car for Toyota to compete in the World Rally Championship and is vastly different from a regular Yaris with a 221kW/400Nm 1.6-litre three-cylinder engine and all-wheel drive.Made using forged carbon and aluminium the GR Yaris weighs only 1300kg and can launch itself from 0-100km.h in 5.1 seconds.And yes I know a Tesla Model 3 Performance has 343kW and can get from 0-100km/h in 3.1 seconds. But have you driven a Tesla?  Yes, it has strong acceleration but so does a tram. And so the experience feels nothing more than commuting, even if it's rapid.The GR Yaris is not as quick, but the experience of getting to 100km/h is filled with so much noise and feeling. The car breathes in air, mixes it with petrol in tiny rooms and sets fire to it causing an explosion powerful enough to eventually turn the wheels, all the while breathing out the used air and gases.So, combustion cars are alive, in a way. They have personality. And I think that’s part of our strong connection to them. Sports cars even more so, because these are designed to optimise handling and agility, often with manual gear boxes, which make the driver even more central to the driving.But EV’s acceleration is great, right? And it's exhilarating isn't it? Yes the acceleration is good and we’re seeing outrageous power outputs of up to 850kW in family cars. But the novelty of accelerating quickly wears off.Most EVs have impressive acceleration because motors produce high power and torque and send it directly to the wheels, and it’s done instantly from zero revs. It’s brilliantly simple, with hardly any parts and it makes sense that cars should be electric.But it’s not very fun and that’s the point of this. And I find hybrids much the same in their mundanity, but to a lesser degree.Combustion engines are complicated, dirty, noisy, inefficient and have lots of parts. They made sense a hundred years ago, but if somebody only invented the combustion engine in 2026 there’s no way it would be approved for use.Still this past week I’ve had two test cars in my driveway — the GR Yaris and a Chery Tiggo 8 plug-in hybrid. Which do you think I picked every time I needed to go anywhere, even somewhere five minutes away like the supermarket and to do the school run? The GR Yaris of course.It’s harder to drive than the petrol-electric Tiggo 8, but every journey in it is fun and engaging.I’ve even felt sorry for the Tiggo 8. When it detects its key coming within range in my handbag it unlocks its doors and switches its headlights on, but I walk right past it to the GR Yaris and leave in that.Sometimes I look back at the Tiggo 8 as I pull out of the driveway and see it shutting back down again, switching off its lights and locking its doors when it realises it's not needed this time.Today I needed to return the GR Yaris — the test was over. And I’ll be in the Tiggo 8 again.I can see a need to switch the cars that most of us drive to electric, and I used to worry that combustion cars would disappear quickly. But I don't think that’s going to happen. Sports cars will I think be offered in combustion form for decades more because the makers and buyers know the fun to be had. If anything EVs will make us appreciate combustion cars even more.

A hot hatch has just been given a serious boost to its performance kit.

Toyota Australia has released an ‘Aero Performance Package’ option for the flagship GTS grade of its rally-inspired GR Yaris hot hatch.Scheduled to arrive towards the end of this year, the new treatment includes a large duct and grille on the hood to enhance engine cooling, a manually adjustable rear spoiler, a lip spoiler on the nose, fender ducts located between the front wheels and doors as well as ducts on each side of the rear bumper and a new floor undercover to smooth airflow under the car. According to Toyota, design of the new elements has been directly influenced by the brand’s current involvement in the Japanese Rally Championship and Super Taikyu endurance racing, with input from professional driver Kazuya Oshima (who also competes in Super Formula and Super GT categories in Japan).Toyota Australia Vice President Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations Sean Hanley said the new Aero Performance Package showed how learnings in motorsport fed into the development of Toyota sports cars.“We’ve always said that Toyota Gazoo Racing expertise is used to make ever-better production cars and the GR Yaris GTS Aero Performance Package is clear evidence of just that.“These upgrades make the dynamic GR Yaris even more potent, helping to increase grip, braking and overall performance, while also adding some serious visual flair,” he said.The GR Yaris is powered by a 1.6-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine sending 221kW/400Nm to all four wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox or eight-speed automatic transmission and Toyota’s ‘GR-Four’ AWD system. Claimed combined cycle (urban/extra-urban) fuel economy is 8.2L/100km for the manual and 9.1L/100km for the auto. The 50-litre fuel tank should be filled with 98 RON premium fuel.Leather and suede accented heated sports front seatsEight-speaker JBL audio (with digital radio)Climate control air conditioningLeather-trimmed heated steering wheelLED headlights, DRLs & tail-lights12.3-inch digital instrument display8.0-inch multimedia touchscreenSatellite navigationAlloy pedal covers18-inch BBS forged alloy wheelsMichelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres (225/40)High-performance suspensionFront and rear Torsen LSDGlacier WhiteLiquid MercuryTarmac BlackFeverish RedWhile the Toyota Yaris has a maximum five-star ANCAP rating from assessment in 2020, the GR Yaris (which launched in Australia in 2021) is unrated. But standard active and passive safety is comprehensive.Active cruise controlLane Departure AlertPre-Collision Safety SystemRoad Sign AssistLane Trace AssistAuto high beamBlind Spot Monitor & Safe Exit AssistReversing camera (with guidelines)Front & rear parking sensorsRear cross-traffic alertSix airbagsThe Yaris GR is covered by Toyota Australia’s five-year/unlimited km warranty. If your car is serviced on schedule at an authorised Toyota dealer, powertrain cover is extended to seven years. Emergency assistance is included for seven years. Service interval is six months/10,000km with each service costing $310 over the first five years.The GR Yaris is 3995mm long, 1805mm wide and 1455mm tall with a 2560mm wheelbase.

The recent news that Toyota Australia is discontinuing the GR Supra was sad for lovers of performance cars. But if you think that means Toyota is reverting back to its boring days of making ‘whitegoods on wheels’ then you are deeply mistaken.In fact, this is arguably the start of a golden age for not only Toyota as a brand, but the entire performance car market. Not only will the GR Supra be replaced by an all-new generation model, it is expected to be joined by a new Celica and possibly a revived MR2, if the rumours are true.And when I say ‘rumours’ I really mean teasers that Toyota itself has deliberately sent out into the world. In late 2024 it released an episode of its animated YouTube series, Grip, which featured a list consisting of: ‘Supra Mk6’, ‘Celica Mk8’, ‘MR2 Mk4’, ‘GR86 Mk3’ and ‘GR GT3’. Given Grip is an animated show and thought must be put into every element of the frame, those names didn’t appear by accident, but rather by design.Bringing back all of the brand’s iconic performance cars, which would join the existing GR Yaris and GR Corolla hot hatches in an expansive line-up of hero models would be something truly remarkable for petrolheads around the world.On top of this, Lexus just showed off a new sports car concept at the Monterey Car Week. This new rear-wheel drive coupe is expected to replace both the RC and LC coupes, form the basis of a new GT3 racing car and could even be V8 powered. If that all turns out to be true, it will be yet another major boost for the wider Toyota group’s coolness factor.It’s all part of a wider, all-encompassing strategy that Toyota began over a decade ago, with the launch of the revived 86 in 2012. This was a massive statement vehicle from the company, offering a rear-wheel drive coupe for under $30k, and a good one too, made a major impact on the perception of Toyota as a brand.The next most important model after the 86 to the brand’s current state of cool is the 2015 Toyota Prius. That was the first model to utilise the so-called Toyota New Generation Architecture or TNGA as it is more commonly known. Unlike the famous Volkswagen ‘MQB’ architecture, which was a modular platform able to be scaled up and down for a multitude of models, TNGA was broader than that. Yes, it was a scalable platform, but it spawned multiple platforms (TNGA-B, TNGA-F, etc) and it also represented a philosophical shift for the company.Under the leadership of Akio Toyoda, grandson of the company’s founder, this automotive behemoth made a conscious decision it was not going to be boring anymore. It decided that, even though it was incredibly successful, it should make a major change and not just make dependable, good value cars, but rather dependable, good value cars that are enjoyable to drive.This spurred the expansion of Gazoo Racing from Toyoda’s personal motorsport team to a global performance sub-brand that now offers multiple models with more clearly on the way. If all the speculation is right and Toyota rolls out a new Celica and MR2, alongside the new Supra, it will position the Japanese giant as arguably the most performance car heavy brand in the world.Which would be a remarkable turn around for a car maker that was once the subject of mockery from driving enthusiasts. Instead your future Toyota showroom has the potential to become a one-stop shop for car lovers looking for performance in any size and shape.

Is Toyota about to spring a reborn Celica on us? A mid-engined 300kW GR Celica that’s just 1.2m tall with a weird windscreen? The rumour mill is working around the clock right now, but our friends at Japanese auto publication Best Car Web, who are often on the money, say they are receiving inside information about an almost ready new-gen Celica that’s very exciting.

Thanks to five World Rally Championship (WRC) titles and a devout following among performance car enthusiasts, in less than five years Toyota’s pint-sized GR Yaris has achieved hot hatch icon status.And not content to rest on its laurels, the Japanese giant has continuously evolved the compact turbocharged all-wheel drive package since it emerged in late 2020.In fact, its latest upgrade arrived here just last month, with more power, a refreshed interior and the option of an eight-speed automatic transmission alongside the existing six-speed manual gearbox.Now Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) has confirmed another GR Yaris evolution, developed with what it says are “insights gained from motorsports”.Specifically, the WRC, domestic Super Taikyu Series and Japanese Rally Championship where TGR operates under the slogan "Thanks for breaking it", directed at drivers pushing these competition cars to their limits and beyond. And prepare yourself for some hardcore nerdy content because some of the updates are closer to a suspension engineer’s fever dream than a conventional running change.For example, “Special bolts with a high level of fastening rigidity” have been deployed to help fasten chassis components with the aim of improving steering response, straight-line stability and an “evolved sense of oneness with the car”.The shock absorbers have been re-calibrated and the EPS (Electronic Power Steering) re-tuned “to accommodate changes to the bolts that fasten chassis parts” and  “accommodate increased torque used to tighten a portion of the conventional bolts”.In one instance the bolts partially securing the front lower arms and lower ball joints change from a 22mm to 24mm head size, and the fasteners locating the top of the rear dampers now feature a stronger faceted flange rather than a flat one. TGR Super GT and Super Formula driver Kazuya Oshima was recruited to help refine shock absorber damping force for better control and ride comfort and also improve the steering’s linearity.A drift and rally-style ‘vertical parking brake’ will be offered as an option on all trim levels, the full suite of ‘Toyota Safety Sense’ features will now be standard across the range and the footrest on automatic models has been enlarged.Speaking of which, the auto transmission has been “further honed” by expanding the speed range for downshifting (second to first gear) via the paddle shifter when in Drive, “improving the sense of directness” near the redline when selecting ‘Sport’ in manual mode and optimising up-shift timing during full-throttle acceleration.Three trim levels will be offered in the Japanese domestic market with the flagship RZ "High performance" GR Yaris “tuned to provide speed and controllability at the limit of performance with a view to aggressive circuit driving”.At the same time, an ‘Aero Performance Package’ will become available in Japan later this year, featuring elements designed to “address every single issue encountered during racing and circuit evaluations”.The package includes a ducted aluminium hood, front lip spoiler, fender ducts, a fuel tank undercover, variable rear wing and rear bumper ducts.TGR says orders for the updated GR Yaris are open in Japan now with domestic sales to commence on May 6. Prices range from the equivalent of $39,600 for the entry-level RC manual, to $59,300 for the top-spec RZ High Performance auto.For reference, the current two-model Australian line-up starts at $55,490, before on-road costs for the GT manual and tops out at $62,990 (BOC) for the GTS auto.When asked if the latest evolution of the GR Yaris would be offered locally a Toyota spokesperson told CarsGuide, “GR is an increasingly important part of our line-up, bringing added fun and excitement to our customers and our brand with innovations such as the evolved GR Yaris and the optional aero performance package. In Australia, we are keen to evaluate any new GR products should they become available for our market,” they said.

Toyota is on a roll for car enthusiasts.It has recently updated the GR Yaris and GR Corolla, with the former expected to get an even more hardcore version in March. According to Japanese outlet BestCar, known for its insider sources, there is a fire-breathing GRMN version of the GR Yaris hot hatch on the way.Japanese GR Yaris fans will be more familiar with the GRMN recipe, Toyota having released a limited 500-unit batch of the pre-facelift version in January 2022. This time around, it could be a more global proposition. BestCar’s renders show a more hardcore take on the facelifted GR Yaris. It features a carbon fibre roof and bonnet, lower ride height and aerodynamic features such as canards, a front lip spoiler and rear wing.Enlarged intakes in the front bumper would feed the air intake and brake cooling ducts. Inside, a pair of Recaro bucket seats are shown, lowering the seating position. The original Yaris GRMN featured similar racing seats with side airbags for safety. According to BestCar, there are internal murmurings at Toyota that the GRMN brand, which stands for Gazoo Racing Meisters of the Nurburgring, is currently underutilised. Hence, a new version of Yaris GRMN. The previous iteration had greater body rigidity thanks to 545 more spot welds, 10mm wider stance, and sat 10mm lower. Weight was reduced by 20kg, a different mechanical limited-slip differential added and gear ratios shortened.Power was unchanged at 200kW, however Toyota has now boosted the little Yaris rally rocket’s power to 224kW and torque 400Nm. An eight-speed automatic transmission is also available and may feature in a GRMN version. Personalised packs were available in Japan, including a Circuit Pack with bigger brakes, lighter wheels, adjustable Bilstein dampers and carbon fibre aerodynamic pieces. The Rally Pack changed the dampers, sway bars, added underbody protection and internal roll bar. The original Yaris GRMN from 2018 was a 156kW, front-wheel-drive supercharged oddity based on the third-gen hatch.It is too early to say whether Australia will get the more hardcore GRMN version of the GR Yaris. While Toyota Oz did bring in the GR Corolla Morizo, the 320kW GR Supra Final Edition with its track-oriented KW suspension, oil baffles, sticky tyres, underbody bracing racing seats and more is not coming here.If Toyota chooses to import a GRMN version of the GR Yaris, expect pricing beyond $80,000 putting it well above the Hyundai i30 N and Honda Civic Type R, and into the territory of the Volkswagen Golf R, BMW M135 and Audi S3.

Toyota has shown off a new concept sports car at the 2025 Tokyo Auto Salon, but it’s the vehicle's powertrain that could signal a new era for the brand.