The Toyota GR Yaris gets yet another host of upgrades. Yes, the pocket rocket just got a facelift fairly recently, but it’s not stopping Toyota from continuously improving it. There are minor mechanical tweaks that have been applied, but there’s bigger news than that.
In Japan at least, the GR Yaris is now available with the Aero Performance Package. It was first shown as a concept earlier this year, but it’s now available to home market customers. With that, we do wish this kit will be offered to markets outside Japan, the Philippines included.
The aero kit isn’t just for cosmetics and/or something to brag about in local car meets. These upgrades are actually function with the aim of making the hot hatch cling on to the road at higher speeds…not that it was lacking grip in the first place.
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A new rear wing allows for manual adjustment and lets owners tweak it depending on what track they’re on. One can set it for more downforce or for more straight line speed. The hood has been reshaped to accommodate an air outlet to improve cooling and, yes, the aerodynamics as well. More of these can be seen on the fenders and rear bumper.
We can’t tell how much faster this version of the Toyota GR Yaris will go around the race track, but Gazoo Racing is obsessed in shaving off as many tenths off in lap times. Of course, the reason for this package is to allow the World Rally team to apply aero tweaks to the competition version. Homologation rules, er, rule.
There are other details that further highlights Toyota’s OCD-levels of finding things to improve on its hatchback. We’re talking wider bold heads for the rear suspension by 2mm and 0.1mm thicker bolt flanges for the rear shock absorbers. The company is also quite keen to point out the larger footrest for the automatic-equipped GR Yaris.
Japanese (and European) market GR Yaris models get a power under the hood compared to the ones sold in most of Southeast Asia. That means 300hp and 400Nm, 24hp and 10Nm more than what we get here.
Yes, we’re jealous.
