Toyota Yaris gets (GR)unt

While we were minding our own business, Toyota South Africa quietly sneaked in the new Yaris GR Sport pricing to its local website. 

Only two derivatives are on sale in Mzansi, the range-opening model being the Yaris GR Sport and the top of the range model getting the rally nameplate. 

Set to compete in the interesting local hot hatch stable, the Yaris GR Sport has been built from the ground up as a performance hatch. The base Toyota Yaris GR Sport comes standard with a six-speaker audio system, steering wheel controls, automatic wipers, automatic headlights, a touchscreen infotainment system that allows Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connection. 

The Rally model adds a limited-slip differential, active noise cancellation, LED headlights with automatic high beam, synthetic leather treatment, heads-up display plus a special UV-cut windscreen. 

Both variants are powered by a 1.6-litre three-pot turbocharged petrol engine that delivers 198 kW of oomph and 360 Nm of torque. All that grunt is sent to all four wheels via a 6-speed manual transmission that enables the Yaris GR Sport to catapult from a standstill to 100 km/h in just 5.5 seconds. Its top speed is capped at 230 km/h. 

Safety comes courtesy of ABS, Brake Assist, EBD, Hill Assist Control, Vehicle Stability Control and Airbags. The Toyota Safety Sense adds lane-departure assist as well as adaptive cruise control. 

The new Toyota Yaris GR is slapped with a R606,600 price tag while the Japanese marque charges R715,000 for the range-topping Rally-inspired variant.