In the gallery above the new digital dashboard: gone are the two analog dials, now the scene is dominated by a display that in addition to changing depending on the driving mode selected (in Sport the rev counter becomes linear), provides you with a disproportionate amount of information, perhaps too much. In one of the three images I photographed the detail of the gearbox temperature indicator in the case of the version with automatic transmission.
Let’s be clear, I don’t want to be misunderstood or tickle the ire of Toyota which, I repeat, has created an extraordinary object: in addition to being more beautiful thanks to the new bumper and the new rear light cluster that seems to have come out of Blade Runner, the new GR Yaris it’s a bullet. On the track it goes very fast and goes for longer thanks to the cooling system and the revised brakes and, thanks to the new chassis and the new suspensions, the car is nailed to the ground in a surreal way. Of course it moves less on the suspension but now at high speed you can take liberties that previously required a certain amount of hair in your stomach. I spoke to Toyota engineers and they confirmed that on their test circuit in Japan the new Yaris laps faster than the old one by about a second for every kilometer of the circuit, a noteworthy result if you consider the “marginality” of the changes. On the road, however, the new GR Yaris – especially with the automatic gearbox – is much more usable: visibility is better, on-board quality has increased and, in general, looking around from the driving seat it is easier to feel like you are on board. something special. Now you can put the gearbox in Drive by setting the car in ECO mode to find a simple, agile and quiet small car in which to go shopping without necessarily feeling Ogier except then, as soon as you take your favorite road, switch to “Sport” mode to make the little beast wake up and, thanks to a more responsive gas pedal, a more direct and immediate steering wheel and a gearbox with EXCEPTIONAL behavior even in D – in manual mode there is no override like on VW or Audi while in automatic mode the “brain” of this gearbox thinks like you would, I had never felt an automatic gearbox react in such a tough and “human” way, especially when downshifting – the entire car transforms into a true thoroughbred torn from the Special Stages and thrown onto the asphalt. The same goes for the manual, also equipped with driving modes – which however here act only and exclusively on the response of the accelerator pedal and the steering – but decidedly more tiring in city use, both for the temperament of the engine that tends to “explode” above 3000 rpm, and for a particularly “male” clutch pedal that disengages very high.
So, to answer a question that several of you wrote to me on Instagram, “how does the new one compare to the old one?” The answer is simple: better BUT. Better but on the other hand there is no doubt that the new GR Yaris has matured, has stocked up on technology and has become a more mature car, capable of pulling out excellent performance but leaving a bit of the naivety that had characterized the previous version by the wayside. To be clear: the old GR Yaris only had the knob with which to adjust the torque distribution between the two axles and was satisfied with the full numbers: 30A/70P in sport mode, 60A/40P in normal and 50A/50P in track. The new one is more complex, with a 60A/40P distribution in normal mode, 53A/47P in gravel mode and finally, in track mode, the torque distribution between the front and rear axles varies automatically from 60/40 to 30/70: the car enters a curve with a 60:40 distribution and then switches to 30/70. on the way out to get more traction on the rear wheels and ensure better acceleration. I told you, this GR Yaris has grown. Before you climbed, knife between your teeth and off you go, now you climb and, before putting the knife between your teeth you will have to fiddle a bit with the knobs and screens before having the perfect car for what you want to do.
Not that this is a bad thing, on the contrary, perhaps the problem is that I am a deep romantic and love simple and immediate things, nothing more.
