Juniper
Road Test Review Toyota GR Yaris by Dr Long SP
In my twenty plus years of doing car reviews, there are only a handful of cars which you just want to keep on driving, never mind the destination. Some are very good touring cars while others are great for stitching up corners, after corners. This real deal GR Toyota is one of them, excelling in the latter while not any less at home for highway cruising.
The Yaris brand-name can be a confusing one. There is the plain-vanilla Yaris 1.5 G being a hatchback version of the last generation Vios, which was reviewed here a few months ago. Very recently launched by UMW Toyota, there is the Yaris Cross. This is a B-segment SUV being rebadged as the Perodua Traz. While in Europe, there is a totally different bodied and slightly smaller Yaris Cross SUV.
In Thailand, the Yaris Ativ is actually Malaysia’s Toyota Vios sedan. In Japan and also Europe, the Yaris hatchback is a B-segment vehicle in two flavours: 4-door regular hatchback and a rally homologation model for FIA World Rally Championship, honed by Gazoo Racing to become the Toyota GR Yaris with GR-Four permanent AWD. It was launched by UMW Toyota in Jan 2025 with prices of RM315,600 for the 6-speed manual while the 8-speed automatic goes for an eye-watering RM325,600.
If one were to judge this little Yaris from its exterior you would be hard pressed to justify the asking prices. The GR Yaris has a small frontal face with slanty headlamps, a small nose and a huge butt, both ends being flanked by massive, bulging sculpted wheel arches. Staring at the lower section of its front bumper, you will see a rather large intercooler peering through the lower air dam. A water jet spray helps keep it cool should you decide to keep on piling on the turbo boost on hot afternoons.
On the inside, two contrasting items were glaring at me once stepping inside. First, the dark grey and black hard plastics on the dashboard, centre console and door trims are reminiscent of the 2010s era JDMs. Heck! Even the smell gives a nascent nostalgia of a Toyota Wish or JDM Caldina of yesteryears. Also that of the Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart which I had sometime at the turn of the new millennium Y2K – in grey-import WALD trim. In absolutely lovely contrast are the superb GR sport bucket seats and the chunky rim real leather-stitched GR steering wheel.
Since this is a rally-bred GR Yaris, how does it drive?
In two words: enthralling and exhilarating. In this age of ever-advancing EVs with instantaneous torque, this ICE hot hatch still hold its fort with instantaneous power delivery (more so in SPORT mode) with the sweet spot of 3000 to 5000 rpm being kept on the boil by the Engine Control Unit and Transmission Control Unit to deliver immediate torque of 400Nm at the tap of your right foot. With a sporty exhaust note to match – something not usually associated with a 1.6L 3-pot with a big turbocharger which usually impedes sweet sounding exhaust symphony.
Initially I didn’t think much of this automatic version of the GR Yaris. Since in the last gen GT86 the auto version was not much of a joy to push hard. However in this GR Yaris, this is no lame 8-speed auto tranny. It isn’t as quick as a DCT but in isolation you wouldn’t find it hunting for gears or being wishy-washy matching correct ratios to the engine speed (RPM). I would reckon it to be as good as the famed ZF 8-speed automatic in another legacy continental make. As such, it makes overtaking a breeze afforded by those addictive blasts of rolling acceleration with superb steering agility to match. Ride quality is largely comfortable despite its short wheelbase of 2,560 mm and compact dimensions. Maximum power output is 304ps (300hp), enabling the GR Yaris to Vmax at a claimed 230 km/h. From standstill it completes the century sprint in 5.2 seconds.
Flicking this hot hatch into corners the rather skinny tyres of 225/40 R18 and relatively smaller tracks gives the GR Yaris a rather playful character. I found the GR Yaris to have a tendency to lean and slide to the outer edge of a cornering line, yet all is good with the sticky UHP Bridgestone Potenzas.
At higher speed, it gets a little bumpier for the rear occupants while at the front axle, the GR Yaris delivers excellent and firm body control over uneven and undulating roads. So what’s not so good about the GR Yaris?
Stopping at traffic lights, some engine vibrations were felt through the pressed brake pedal. I think this is an unavoidable law of physics for a 3-cylinder engine. Thankfully, taking off from standstill is rather vibration-free, unlike that of a certain 1000cc turbocharged engine in a popular local-make budget SUV There is also that nagging feedback of very slight tramlining upon hard braking from high speed, which I m not sure is due to this particular loan unit having done some 16k kms on the odometer. Improper wheels alignment, prematurely worn suspension parts, worn tyres or warped brake discs issues perhaps? The absence of a 360-deg camera is baffling for its asking price while the infotainment screen is really puny in size, with a thick frame to the display. Storage cubby holes are rather limited at the handbrake and centre console section. Also, this diminutive GR Yaris needs a stronger and louder horn to match its hot hatch performance credentials.
Two-door inconvenience makes limited appeal to its near A-segment size interior space especially at the rear bench. I reckon the GR Corolla may be Toyota’s answer for family use practicality plus the same GR hot hatch performance.
To sum it up, the Gazoo Racing Yaris GR-Four is really something to behold. This rally-bred compact hot hatch that will make you love driving again. It’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing but pumped up on steroids. Stealth and incognito it is not. You get quite a lot of validation or recognition in the form of unwarranted challenges to race on the road!
The human-machine interface of classic sporty driving is inspiring and endearing. A pocket rocket in sushi flavour, with a solid chassis and suspension tuning to match. One that makes a case for ICE cars to stay relevant well into decades to come.
Kuala Lumpur-based Dr. Long See Pin is a certified car enthusiast who has previously spent some two decades testing and writing about new cars. He is currently motoring correspondent at Junipers Journal and can be found online @drlongspcars on Insta, FB and TikTok.
He was also a former member of the Malaysia Car of the Year (COTY) judging panel. As a medical doctor, he specialises in skin & aesthetics @drlongskinclinic.com
