The difficult second album is a common occurrence in the music world. A hugely successful first album makes itself a hard act to follow. Do you try and repeat what made the first so popular, add something new, or even head in a new direction? It was undoubtedly a challenge for the Gazoo Racing (GR) department at Toyota. The first-generation Toyota GR Yaris was received to universal acclaim. A small, fiery hatchback, the likes of which we never thought we’d see again was always going to be enthusiastically received, but this was something special. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t an easy act to follow.
The second generation simplifies things a little, without circuit and comfort packs to choose from. Instead, buyers are left to agonise over a manual or automatic gearbox. The model tested here arrived in manual, which is another tick in the box for the enthusiastic motoring journalist. Manual boxes are headed the way of the Dodo, so there was a certain childish thrill in being reacquainted with three pedals and a stick. Whilst auto boxes are undoubtedly excellent these days, there’s no denying the added layer of engagement brought to the occasion by a manual.
The other thing you immediately note is that Toyota has clearly listened to the comments on the first gen GR Yaris. It looks a little lither, sitting with more purpose and intent at a standstill. Then, the interior is a marked improvement. The first gen suffered from a seating position that was way too high and a rearview mirror which made forwards visibility a challenge. Such issues have been erased. It’s a strong start.
Living with the Toyota GR Yaris
This instantly makes the second gen GR Yaris a little easier to live with. Being able to see out the front of the car is a good thing. Especially when said car shifts like this one shifts. The infotainment is instantly recognisable from across the Toyota/Lexus spectrum, with wireless CarPlay/Android Auto and a simple to use touchscreen. It’s not death by a thousand options, which lends a simplicity to the entire process. Connect your phone once, then you’re away.
Finding a comfortable driving position is straightforward, with firm yet supportive seats and enough adjustment in the steering column. Whereas in the first gen you instinctively found yourself fiddling around to lower the driver’s seat before and during drives, the position is a leap forward here. I even found that I’d been driving around for the first couple of days without the seat in its lowest position. At 6ft 2” it’s usually the first thing I do, but there’s ample room to slot in here with a crash helmet atop your cranium for the track days you’ll absolutely want to do.
Whilst you wouldn’t buy a GR Yaris on the strength of its safety and self-drive systems, they’re very good. Parking sensors and a rear camera make parking easy and the driver assistance programmes are impressive. Turning off the mandatory bongs and beeps is easy, then the adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist work well. For motorway journeys, this is useful to have.
The only drawback on longer journeys is the road noise. The GR Yaris isn’t a quiet car and you certainly notice it at motorway speeds. Best, then, to play it at its A game and find those stretches of tarmac that make your heart sing.
What’s the Toyota GR Yaris like to drive?
This is where the GR Yaris is designed to purr, and it doesn’t disappoint. Equipped with a turbo-charged 1.6ltr three-cylinder engine which produces 276bhp and 390Nm of torque, the GR Yaris will tick off 0-62mph in 5.2secs. In the mental world of modern motoring, none of that leaps off the page. Yet it only weighs 1300Kg (that’s featherweight these days), which renders this a seriously quick car. Apparently, it’ll go on to 143mph and, given the way it keeps on pulling at motorway speeds, I believe that.
In a time of tightening speed restrictions, it’s nice to have something you can exploit a little. The engine races towards the redline and constantly goads you into attack mode. The drive modes themselves are easily accessible beneath the infotainment screen, but in road driving I don’t think you’ll notice too much difference; it’s never slow.
Out on a decent B-road it’s impossible not to fall for the Toyota GR Yaris’s charms. It’s wonderfully direct and compliant, with a fascination to the way it transfers weight and balance through turns. You can feel it balancing beneath you, the tyres under load digging into the tarmac in a way in which you’d swear you’d need a new set after every spirited drive. Thankfully, however, that’s not the case.
The steering is direct and the wheel stays alive in your hands, adding another layer of engagement. You can switch the rev matching on or off, depending on your desire for a bit of heel and toe. I’d been out of the manual game too long to come close to competing with its precision.
Then there’s the hint of turbo whistle on lift off, the thrum of the engine striving to deliver all it can and the GR Yaris just comes together superbly.
Conclusion
A difficult second album? Not so much as a hint of it for the Toyota GR Yaris. It plays with a familiar tempo to the first, with added refinement and sophistication. Whilst the price has also risen commensurate with that, at £44,250 it still represents something of a bargain. It sounds like a lot for a Yaris, but the engineering, precision and performance of the second-generation GR Yaris are well worth it.
It’s also a car that straddles the boundary between performance and practicality. Aside from being a pocket rocket, it will also do the family stuff supremely well, with Isofix, a well organised interior and an easy-to-use infotainment system. My only complaint was not having anywhere to rest my left elbow whilst driving, something I quickly made peace with.
In an age of increasing size, power and convenience, it was refreshing to drive something small and something that you had to work at a bit to enjoy. There’s even an old school handbrake to accompany the gear stick for the full throwback effect.
As you can probably tell by now, I was rather taken with the second-generation Toyota GR Yaris. It retains its impressive traits from the first generation, improves upon them then deletes the irritations of its predecessor.
It can probably be best compared with the Honda Civic Type R, another to retain a manual box and old school charm. That, whilst remaining a car I adore, has ballooned in size. Of the previous generations of both, I’d have just about opted for the FK8 Civic Type R over the first gen GR Yaris. Now, I genuinely couldn’t separate them. This is the pinnacle of the hot hatch game right now.
