2021 Toyota GR Yaris Rallye long

Can we call this an exercise in redemption? The Toyota GR Yaris had won so many accolades around the world that it was a hot tip for outright victory at this year's PCOTY. In the end, it got a bit of a working over, largely due to the fact that it was the base GR and not the Rallye. Virtually all of the things we disliked about the dynamics of the standard GR are rectified by the Rallye version which was launched too late to feature at Winton.

The Aussie-market Rallye is the same car that scooped all the plaudits worldwide, so we were more than curious to see how it would stack up as a long term proposition, giving us the chance to really see how it worked in Australian conditions. The difference between the two models is largely down to three key factors.

First and most importantly, the Rallye gets a Torsen diff located centrally on each axle, distributing torque front to rear and left to right. The suspension is also different with this version getting meatier springs, anti-roll bars and bushings up front, with stiffer bearings, bushings and pillow joints at the back. Then there's the rubber, which sees the GR's unexceptional Dunlop hoops ditched in favour of some far preferable Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres.

When we tested the two versions back to back in our May edition, the Rallye was a massive 5.5 per cent (or 3.4 seconds) quicker around Haunted Hills, recording a 1:01.80 lap time versus the GR's 1:05.20. And remember, that's with no more power under the bonnet.

Right now 200kW feels more than ample in the Yaris. I’m still enjoying using the auto blip feature for the manual gearbox sometimes, and then seeing if I can be just as slick with my own footwork on downchanges.

What I haven't yet accustomed myself to is how long the doors are. Really. They measure 1330mm from leading to trailing edge, so it's fairly easy to nudge into a parking spot and then find it's almost impossible to get out. The door constitutes 33.3% of the GR's 3995mm length, making me wonder whether there's another car on sale where the doors make up a greater proportion of its overall length.

Other revelations? I’ve discovered that the steering wheel heating goes from zero to approximately the temperature of a nuke's hypocentre in next to no time, that the GR really could do with a rear wiper and that wired Android Auto and a manual shift lever can make unhappy bedfellows.

Above all, I’ve discovered more dirt roads within my lockdown perimeter than I ever expected and these in turn open up a whole new realm of fun driving opportunities.

Suddenly you have challenging 30km/h corners, different hazards to factor into your risk evaluations and, with the car moving more easily beneath you, the chance to more readily assess what each of the different drive modes is doing to the Yaris’ dynamics. That's the rational justification. It's also about as much fun as you can have in a road car and that's why we’re all here, isn't it? I’ll report back with the findings next month. Oh, and we’re taking it to the strip and the track too. – AE

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I’ve never been pulled over by the police on a race track before, but I guess there's a first time for everything.

There I was, at the side of the empty Bryant Park circuit, idly fiddling with a setting on a lap timing app, when I look to my right and there's a police Kia Sorento that has crept up beside with a pair of coppers peering in.

"We won't nick you," they laugh, catching a glimpse of my momentarily horror-stricken mug.

We had a window of about twenty minutes free on track while the video crew rigged a pair of Mustangs and it seemed a great opportunity to give the Yaris GR Rallye a brief workout to see for myself quite how the Rallye's superior tyres and diffs improved it over the understeering disappointment that was the standard GR. Of course, we’ve covered that ground before with our GR Yaris v GR Yaris Rallye track test in the May issue, but having driven the Rallye extensively on road – and dirt – I was curious to see how it worked as a circuit weapon.

Twenty minutes later I had an answer, but there was a measure of equivocation there. The short story is that it is truly excellent if what you want is a car that's quick, safe, rewards good driving and which feels as if it could take a battering all day long. Which, for most track day enthusiasts, would seem to tick virtually every box. So why was I left a little ambivalent? Because I then got into Trent Giunco's Mazda MX-5 GT RS.

The Mazda instantly highlighted the Toyota's shortcomings. The high seating position, the relative clumsiness of the control weights and the comparatively inert chassis balance suddenly made the Yaris feel a little wooden as a true enthusiast's car. The Rallye was certainly rapid, with lap times verfiying Scott Newman's figures earlier this year despite wearing tyres that now had an extra few thousand kilometres on them. Heck, it was a couple of seconds quicker than race driver Renato Loberto pedalled a Civic Type R round back in 2018 when we ran the Wheels hot hatch megatest here. Ren's a far, far better driver than I am, which is testament to just how punchy and composed the all-wheel drive Yaris truly is.

There are still a few quirks that I haven't ever quite come to terms with. Sit your mobile phone in the tray on the dash and a spirited right jink will launch it out of the ramped holder like a ski jumper and, if you’re sufficiently skilled/lucky, straight into the passenger door pocket. The rev-matching system is a bit dim witted, but heel/toeing yourself isn't too difficult as long as you remember to properly clog the pedals. There are a few harmonic vibrations in the cabin plastics that manifest at highway speeds in sixth but otherwise I love the Rallye's sheer feeling of indestructibility.

It's exactly that measure of reassuring overengineering that makes you really want to exploit the Yaris on a daily basis. Despite the fact that low mileage examples are selling for a chunky $65k at the moment, it's a car that begs you to pick it up by the scruff of the neck. While it may not be the last word in delicacy and feel, it's huge fun and any car that just makes you want to get in and drive is a winner in my book. Even if you ignore its fascinating backstory, the GR Rallye just works as a product. Tie the two together and it's something very special indeed. It seems even the police approve. -AE

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Performance testing a manual, all-wheel drive car is not an exercise for those with any semblance of mechanical sympathy. It is, not to put too fine a point on it, utterly brutal.

Watching ‘my’ GR Yaris Rallye being figured at Heathcote was especially nerve-shredding as if something fundamental goes bang while you’re driving the car, then that awkward call to the press office is somehow that little bit easier.

Revs rise, the car squirts off the line with a skerrick of wheelspin and is then flat-shifted into second, all four Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres again briefly chirping in protest. As the Yaris disappears into the heat haze, there's another blatted upshift and, unbelievably, it momentarily breaks traction shifting into third at 98km/h. That's a bit of an issue for a really quick 0-100km/h time, and means that the Yaris is a car that, in real terms, is a good deal quicker than its published 5.2sec sprint to 100km/h might suggest.

After some experimentation, it seems that Sport mode, with its 30:70 front-to-rear torque distribution nets the best results, with ESC switched all the way off. Interestingly, for the best 0-100 time, it's advantageous to just run the Yaris to the top of second and not dip the clutch to snick third, letting its momentum and the limiter carry you through 100km/h.

The best run of the day sees the Yaris snag a 5.14sec 0-100km/h time, a vanishing 0.06sec better than the factory claim, with 400m taking 13.19sec at 169.76km/h. Just out of interest, that translates to a 4.89sec 0-60mph time, with no rollout. With a US-spec one foot rollout, that time would be 4.69sec. That's about BMW E46 M3 pace. Not bad for a car with half the swept capacity and half the cylinder count.

I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by the fuel economy figure of 8.4L/100km too. Yes, the Yaris does do a fair bit of low-demand schlepping to and from work, but that's been interspersed with a number of track-based features, not to mention early-morning dirt-road blats that have the local farmers thinking that Didier Auriol might have taken a liking to Cardinia Shire and moved in down the road.

I’d still like the seating position to be lower though. It's pretty hard to rectify this issue, as much of the assembly beneath the seat is welded and there are bulky hardpoints on the floor of the body-in-white, so the most obvious option is to ditch the slider assemblies.

A seat lowering kit from Suspension Secrets allows the standard seat to be dropped by 35mm, which means the centre of gravity is lowered, you’ll feel more connected to the road and, importantly, taller drivers won't have so much of their view up the road obscured by the rear view mirror.

It does mean that the seat is bolted in place fore/aft but, with a bit of spannering, adjustment is possible and all of the seat's other electrical functions are unaffected. It’d be one of the first things I’d do if I were buying a Rallye.

During its sojourn at the testing strip, the Yaris picked up a seemingly inexplicable bit of damage to one its forged BBS alloys, a shiny thunk into the rim of the nearside front. These wheels are exotic and light, made by compressing a billet of aluminium alloy into shape under 8000 tonnes of pressure at a temperature of 400 degrees, but keep an eye out for any potholes as it seems that even innocuous impacts can put a ding in a rim. Sorry, Toyota.

We’re certainly going to miss the GR Yaris Rallye. It's one of those hatches that punches way above its weight. This long term test also realises a big measure of redemption for the Yaris. After the ‘standard’ GR's 8th place showing at last year's Performance Car of the Year event, we expected more from the Rallye version and it's fair to say we got exactly what we wanted.

Yes, it is expensive for such a small car, but there's something exotic and unique about the Rallye that justifies the outlay in a way that escapes many more expensive rivals.

If ever a car had modern classic status pre-ordained, it's this. In a digital world, it's a refreshingly analogue experience that delivers on many levels.

It's not perfect, but it's tough, it's quick, it's full of character and it's relentlessly endearing. For once, the hype is entirely justified. -AE

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Wheels' editor brings 25 years of experience to the hot seat. Originally based in Europe, Enright has driven virtually everything and loves telling the stories behind both new and old metal. Now in his second stint at Wheels, Enright loves cars that retain a sense of fun and deliver functional ingenuity. Strangely hates convertibles and is befuddled by fine dining options.