THE TOYOTA GR YARIS RALLY2 CONCEPT LOOKS READY FOR A FIGHT IN 2024
The Toyota GR Yaris became an instant hit with motorsport fanatics. The compact hatchback with its big output, small capacity motor and all-wheel drive system quickly started showing up the big dogs in various racing disciplines. In the aftermarket tuning scene tuning houses around the world squeezed ridiculous amounts of power out of the turbocharged 1.6-litre 3-cylinder, so much that there are loads of them than can run a 10-second quarter mile, which is amazing for a car that was made for circuit and time attack and the likes. While many thought the car was at its limit of performance, it clearly has way more in it that the clever types can extract. Of course in the aftermarket world, there are no rules, so engines can be stripped and rebuilt with bigger parts or better-flowing parts that go against a bunch of legit motorsport rules. When we see the actual automaker doing more development on their own car to get it up to motorsport competition spec is great, and with the size, weight and dynamics of the GR Yaris, it’s the perfect WRC or Rally X car. This is why the GR Yaris Rally2 Concept has been created.
As you can see, this GR Yaris Rally2 Concept is race-ready from the factory, buyers only need to cover the car in their own livery, pay an entry fee to a race series and proceed to drive to win. The completed car was revealed at this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, but it was already seen in real-world testing at Forum8 Rally in Japan last year. The car looks and sounds great, and does indeed look like it’s ready to compete. The GR Yaris Rally2 Concept is lighter than the production car and is equipped with rally-specific parts such as a roll cage, a specially-tuned engine, a 5-speed sequential transmission, suspension, brakes, rear wing, etc, that all comply with FIA regulations. The rest is as per the road car, which is no doubt down to the way homologation of racecars works. There’s still a turbocharged 3-cylinder in play that in factory trim can produce 200 kW and 390 Nm of torque on tap, which when the car weighs the FIA regulation 1 230 kg (including 1 spare tyre) makes for great performance. That said, power figures and engine improvements are yet to be confirmed.
Take a look at the YouTube video that shows off the development testing of the new Rally2-spec Toyota GR Yaris. Mad to thing this is a small capacity 3-cylinder powerplant with performance like that, check it: New GR Yaris Rally2 Concept, Demonstration Run in FORUM8 Rally Japan 2022 | DawinTV
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