At the Tokyo Auto Salon in 2022, Toyota publicly unveiled the much anticipated 2022 Toyota GRMN Yaris.
To cut weight and include a partial roll cage, the back seats have been deleted, while racing-style Recaro sports seats are standard in the front.
The turbocharged 1.6-liter three-cylinder engine gets a small torque rise from 370Nm to 390Nm, in addition to its lightweight components and track-focused chassis tuning. The top output, though, remains at 268 horsepower.
The GRMN variant retains a six-speed manual transmission, all-wheel drive, and four-piston calipers for the front brake discs, the same as ordinary Toyota GR Yaris models. The gear ratios have been tweaked to give each gear a bit more oomph.
There will be two options available. A "Rally package" for the dirt and a "Circuit package" for the track.
The rally edition comes with an underbody protection kit, revised shock absorbers, and smaller wheels, whilst the circuit edition comes with 18-inch wheels, bigger brakes, a front spoiler, and a massive carbon-fiber wing at the back.
Price plus the cost of resubmitting the car for local homologation testing is said to be one of the impediments to bringing the Toyota GRMN Yaris to Australia.
There is some bad news for car lovers in Australia. Toyota Australia has said that it has no intentions to import the special-edition car, which is scheduled to be constructed in restricted quantities for the Japanese domestic market.
In Australia, the basic Toyota GR Yaris costs $49,500 plus on-road fees, while the Rallye version costs $54,500 plus on-road costs.
The Toyota GRMN Yaris is expected to cost between $7,317,000 and $8,467,000 in Japan, which translates to $AU88,000 to $AU101,000.