Cars of the Year: Toyota GR Yaris

It’s a grim, grey and damp day when I finally get thrown the keys to the Toyota GR Yaris – a car I’ve been waiting four long years to get behind the wheel of.

I must be the only motoring journalist not to have had a go in Toyota’s rally-inspired four-wheel drive hot hatch, but now the day has finally come and… it’s pouring down.

Usually that would be somewhat of a disappointment, but Toyota’s sprightly hot hatch is made for days like these. Its raucous 1.6-litre turbocharged engine has a huge spread of power and the competent four wheel drive system inspires confidence.

My first drive is on slippery Welsh roads, peppered with suicidal sheep and greasy mountain runoffs that would unsettle most performance cars. Not this Yaris.

It picks up its tail and scarpers up the twisting and tight mountain passes. For this test, it’s up against positive supercar rivals and electric cars with more than double its power.

Not that any of that phases this wonderfully competent performance car. While you might be used to seeing a Yaris troubling trollies in the local supermarket car park, this version is more at home nipping at the heels of some of the most competent cars on sale today.

The GR now comes with an automatic gearbox option and some minor tweaks, including a near-20bhp upgrade to the engine. It’s now producing 276bhp and is capable of hitting 60mph in five seconds. There’s 30Nm more torque too over the previous model. This is a rapid machine and feels far faster than these figures suggest.

What I really love about the GR is its linear power delivery. Yes, the auto gearbox is a little agricultural in operation, but I actually really rather liked it. I’d go as far as to say it is endearing. Colleagues who’ve driven the manual version say they preferred that cog swapper, but with the UK’s roads as congested as they are, for me, an auto really is a far better option.

The gearbox in no way dulls the enjoyment of the car and with one less thing to worry about you can concentrate on enjoying the incredibly direct, feelsome steering and the superb handling. The four wheel drive system on this car is astonishing too. It finds grip where few others would in bends and the way the nose dips and the car tucks into bends is down right addictive.

Toyota took inspiration from its World Rally Championship experience to hone the Yaris GR and it ripples through the veins of this car. The manufacturer called upon its Gazoo Racing arm to fine tune the Yaris – if you hadn’t guessed it, that’s where the ‘GR’ name comes from. In turn, the tuning arm called on their WRC drivers, Jari Matti Latvala and Kris Meeke, to provide feedback during development.

The pair were so pleased with the results they described it as being ‘pretty close’ to the car they’d been campaigning around the world’s rally stages, especially in terms of handling and throttle response.

That similarity also comes down to simple things like the control panel and displays that are titled 15 degrees toward the driver for improved visibility, which add perfectly to the rally theme. All it’s missing is a dash-mounted sequential gear lever and a stick for the handbrake – but maybe that would be a bit much…

Back on the road, that rally inspiration is obvious from every turn of the wheel. It’s so involving to drive, so easy to push hard, and has a turn of speed that means very little would keep up with it on damp roads like these.

As the sun sets on our photoshoot I find myself back behind the wheel of the Yaris for the long drive back to our hotel. I follow my colleague in a Porsche ST, the GT3 RS-engined monster, and I’m snapping at his bumper the entire way home. Jack Russell-like in its tenacity, it manages to put its power down without a hint of a scrabble, bothering the £245,000 Porsche at the entry and exit to every corner.

It’s sometimes hard to believe the hype when you read road tests of cars like these – I certainly doubted it could be quite as good as my peers had proclaimed. But, honestly, it shocked me quite how impressive this little car is.

The term future classic is also bandied around all too often, but it’s a richly deserved moniker for the GR Yaris. Whether you choose a manual or auto gearbox is really down to personal preference, but after a series of incredible drives on some of the finest roads Wales has to offer, I could find little to fault this car, or the auto box.

The £45,750 price tag might be a little rich to swallow, but don’t look at this as a pepped-up city car. This is really a modern day Ford Escort Cosworth – a car undeniably as special as that iconic classic.