There was no Toyota like the new GR Yaris since the old Celica GT-Four ST205 of the mid 90s. It was only a matter of time before someone staged a facebetween the company’s two most recent special approval rally monsters, and Fifth Gear is up to the occasion.
In this short video, British touring car legend and Fifth Gear host Jason Plato takes the two Toyotas around Castle Combe to find out how much faster Yaris really is.
I say “how much faster” and not “what is faster” because, with 18 more horsepower, an extra gear, a curb about 240 kilos lighter and 25 years of technological progress in general, it was never really a question of whether Yaris could won the foundation for what former FIA President Max Mosely called “Most Ingenious” Cheat he had already seen. Victory was inevitable – the question was how bad the shouting would be.
This does not mean that Celica is not fast. “You know what? This is about 20 years old and it’s very good. You need to put a lot of steering, but as soon as the car starts … that, wow” Plato stops, as I imagine he would do behind the wheel of Sega Rally cover star on an open banner.
After flogging Celica around Combe Castle, Plato ties himself up to Yaris, whom he observes as brilliantly “sharp and pointed” before taking a full seven seconds faster than in the old car.
Yaris looks much faster on the right track. Of course It’s faster, but there is also a visual illusion of seeing modern rally cars, with their short wheelbases and squat proportions, crushing a lap compared to much larger coupes we had in the 90s. The fast pace still surprises.
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We already knew that GR Yaris was fast – damn, defeat the Civic Type R, a car with about 40 more horses, in a drag. And yet, every time this hot incubation is released, it somehow destroys your already high expectations. Meanwhile, those of us on the wrong side of the Atlantic are engulfed more and more deeply by the depression of knowing that we cannot have one.
No, this video is not going to make you feel any better about it, but watching these brothers reach the asphalt together will put a smile on your face. And maybe, just maybe, we can have a little comfort in the fantasy that Toyota will soon fulfill its promise to bring a Corolla with GR flavor to our backs.