Car exteriors have to look good to lure in customers. That said, interiors have to look the part too as it’s the place where its owners spend the most time. Nobody wants a stylish car with a cheap and nasty-looking cabin.
The reason we bring this up is because of the recently updated Toyota GR Yaris. We’re glad that it has more aggressive looks, suspension updates, and 300hp. The addition of an automatic transmission should also make it a more daily-friendly car for those who spec it.
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However, the new interior wasn’t as warmly received. Just take a look around comment sections about the dash and you’ll know what we mean. One can say it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing dashboard, but others have called it downright ugly. If anything, it’s created quite the stir on the GR Yaris community.
So, why did Toyota turn the GR Yaris’ dashboard into, well, a giant slab. There is method to the madness, says Toyota, and it’s purely because of function.
Toyota says the new look came from what it learned in taking the GR Yaris to competition. Its dashboard was developed with both professional circuit racers and rally drivers. The result is a center stack that is angled towards the driver that’s easier to reach while wearing a racing harness. Given that vehicle settings can be changed via the touchscreen, it makes perfect sense. The removal of the instrument cluster shroud also means greater forward visibility, claims Toyota.
Okay, great, but why does it have to look like a boxy slab? One can argue that Toyota could have at least made it more pleasing to the eyes. Well, we have a theory about that. It’ll likely cost Toyota a whole lot more if it made the dash look fancier. That extra cost will be transferred to customers, making it even more expensive to buy. Mind you, the regular Yaris retains the old look.
With that, it seems that Toyota took the ‘if it works, it works’ approach to the new Toyota GR Yaris’ interior. Heck, even the parking brake was made to resemble one of those found in race cars with its near-vertical position. It’s made to resemble hydraulic handbrakes in competition cars, but it looks the way it does because, um, function.
Whether it looks good or not in your eyes is subject to debate, but perhaps some will see the appeal of its function over form philosophy. Besides, some folks see beauty in logic and functionality.
