Find the Toyota Yaris a bit ho-hum? Thanks to FIA’s homologation rules for the World Rally Championship series, it soon won’t be.
Motoring.au reports that Toyota’s return to WRC in 2017 after a near-two-decade absence will be pinned upon the second-gen Yaris/Vitz, set to hit showrooms for the 2016 model year. That beast will be driven by a 1.6-liter turbo-four pushing above 300 horsepower to all corners, and is undergoing testing in Europe as of this writing.
Speaking of Europe, that is where the 2,500 homologated versions of the Yaris WRC will likely turn up in order for the automaker to be able to compete two years from now. However, power for the homologated model will come from the Lexus NX 200t’s 2-liter turbo-four, capable of 235 horses and 258 lb-ft torque. The power would be directed by a six-speed manual.
Whether the Yaris WRC will be seen elsewhere is not for certain. Those in Europe who are lucky to get their hands on one will pay around €33,900 ($36,650 USD) for the honor, the same price for Volkswagen’s own WRC entrant, the Polo R.
The worst thing about buying one of these is confessing to everyone that you drive a Yaris (almost as bad as admitting you have a painful rectal itch).
“It’s a rally car!”
Isn’t the new Yaris a rebadged Mazda2? So is Mazda building these?
Small, lightweight, powerful, all wheel drive little rocket. And most likely reliable.
What’s not to like?
I wonder if it’s using premium.
Guess what we won’t likely be able to buy here in the old, ol’ U.S. of A.?
Still looks more luxurious (and better screwed together!) than the appallingly bad Cadillac ATS.
An ATS is so much better than this.
Talk about TROLLING.
Even I’d take an ATS over this POS.
You two are really subtle, too.’Good work.
Two things strike me. They’ll have to seam-weld every panel just as they still do for Group N Subie, when it comes to the actual rally car, add a roll cage, and literally half a million bucks of engine/transmission for WRC events, with not a whiff of production technology in sight.
Toyota was caught cheating last time out 20 years ago in the Celica All-Trac. Their first deception this time will be using the Mazda2 in disguise.
And just to piss off the Toyota crowd, the VW Polo will eat it alive just as it has done to the rest of the entries. I can’t wait for US Toyota ads to pretend the Yaris is a happening machine. Yawn.