The Toyota GR Yaris is the epitome of waku-doki

MANILA: If you’ve never dreamt of a Yaris, you will now.

Toyota Motor Corporation has just announced the three trims of the GR (Gazoo Racing) Yaris and it is drool-worthy down to the last drop, but remember that these, for now, are JDM (Japanese domestic market) only.

The base trim is the RS, followed by the fine-tuned RZ, and then the top-of-the-line, competition-focused RC.

Taking cues from the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team, including input from non-Toyota professional drivers since its preliminary development, the Yaris is designed to handle various types of road surfaces with optimized front and rear suspension settings, and adapt to any driving style to deliver the Japanese automaker’s brand of fun, waku-doki.

To decrease weight, the three-door body of the GR Yaris uses an aluminum hood, hatch, and door panels. The upper body uses carbon fiber-reinforced plastic roof panel using the sheet molding compound method.

The RS is the first of two Japan-exclusive models. Using a front-wheel drive layout and powered by a 1.5L inline-three Dynamic Force engine with 118 HP and 145 Nm of torque, it is the lightest model at just 1,130 kilograms. Gearbox is a direct-shift CVT (continuously variable transmission).

If you seek a finer-tuned performance, the RZ is for you. It has a 1.6L inline three-cylinder direct-injection turbo engine that sends 268 HP and 370 Nm of torque to a six-speed manual transmission and uses a GR-FOUR four-wheel-drive platform with variable front and rear driving force system enabled by a multi-plate clutch.

Want a race-ready unit? The second JDM unit, the RC, has it all. It has the same engine, output, transmission, and drive system as the RZ but without the unnecessary equipment like display audio to make it lighter.

"The GR Yaris is a car developed for win. In the past, we tried to be successful in motorsports by taking a production car and adapting it for motorsports. GR Yaris is the very first model to reverse this process. There is no limit when it comes to the improvement of this car. The final touches to this car should be done by your own hands," said Toyota President Akio Toyoda.

Pre-orders are now at 6,000 units in Japan and Europe. No word yet if you can reserve your own here in the Philippines, but we’ll keep you posted.

Also read: Toyota debuts all-new Yaris Cross online