Toyota introduces motorsport-bred improvements for GR Yaris

MANILA: Toyota Gazoo Racing (GR), the high-performance and motorsport division of Toyota Motor Corporation Limited, has launched the updated version of the GR Yaris in Japan.

Known as the “Type 26” GR Yaris, it received several new components which were entirely dictated by motorsport. In fact, the vehicle, Toyota says, was built from the ground up with extreme racing environments in mind. This includes circuit racing and rallying. 

Toyota Type 26 GR Yaris: race-bred steering wheel

One of the main highlight of the Toyota Type 26 GR Yaris is its new steering wheel, which was engineered by Toyota GR with the help of experienced professional race car drivers. As such, the special wheel design incorporates many buttons and is shaped so that drivers won’t need to re-adjust their grip even when turning the wheel by 180 degrees. 

On that note, the said wheel comes in the traditional circular shape but with specially designed grip shapes and button arrangements. Each switch also get backlights for enhanced visibility when driving at night. 

Toyota Type 26 GR Yaris: improved power steering system

Toyota and Toyota GR also provided updates for the Type 26 GR Yaris’ electronic power steering system. Specifically, it has now improved settings to provide reliable performance in both high-grip motorsport events, such as circuit racing, and on loose surfaces, such as rallying. 

The aforementioned was accomplished by changing the torque sensor and the control software’s steering torque detection range, which Toyota says enables more assistance in tight turns. 

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Other notable improvements

On previous Toyota GR Yaris packages fitted with the vertical parking brake, features such as heated functions for its steering wheel and seats were unavailable. This was addressed by Toyota on the Type 26 GR Yaris via its “Comfort Package” and “Navigation Package.” 

Also, the Toyota Type 26 GR Yaris comes from the factory with a revised tread pattern for its Bridgestone Potenza tires. These are touted to improve control and traction when taking the car to its limits. 

Toyota didn’t mention any changes to its engine, so we can assume it retained the familiar 1.6-liter turbocharged inline-three mill found on the Philippine-spec GR Yaris. 

Availability

For now, Toyota Motor Philippines has yet to say if it is bringing in the Type 26 lineup of updates for the local version of the GR Yaris. 

The pre-updated versions of the Toyota GR Yaris, however, are currently sold in the Philippine market at P3.391 million for the manual version and P3.55 million for the automatic transmission version. 

Toyota GR Yaris PH specs

Under the hood of the Philippine-spec Toyota GR Yaris is a 1.6-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine paired with a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmission. At maximum, the said powertrain can generate up to 276 horsepower and 390 Newton-meters of torque. 

For improved traction, the GR Yaris comes with an all-wheel-drive (GR-Four) system paired with a limited-slip differential. It also has ventilated front and rear disc brakes and a drive mode selector. 

Other notable amenities available to the Philippine-spec Toyota GR Yaris include, but are not limited to:

• Tilt and telescopic steering column
• Push-to-start button
• Lever-type parking brake
• Dual-zone automatic air-conditioning
• 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster
• Seven-inch infotainment system
• Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Toyota Safety Sense 
• Paddle shifters (automatic variant)

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