TOYOTA'S GR YARIS M CONCEPT, SEEN AT TOKYO AUTO SALON, IS A MID-ENGINED TRACK BEAST FOR SUPER TAIKYU
The Super Taikyu Series - officially known as the Super Taikyu Endurance Series or Super Taikyu Series Powered by Hankook - is a hugely popular endurance racing championship in Japan. It combines the excitement of endurance racing with a diverse lineup of cars and teams, making it a favourite among fans of grassroots motorsport and professional racing alike. The series originated in the 1990s, evolving from the "N1 Endurance Series," which was primarily focused on showroom-stock cars, and it was created to provide a platform for amateur racers and privateer teams to compete in endurance racing, with a focus on relatively affordable and production-based cars. Over time, the series has grown in popularity, attracting factory-backed teams and more advanced machinery. Races in the Super Taikyu series typically range from 3 to 24 hours, and the teams consist of multiple drivers - usually 2-5 per car - who take turns at the wheel. As with all endurance racing, strategy plays a massive role, with pit stops for refuelling, tyre changes, and driver swaps being crucial to success. But as with all series, it’s the cars that attract fans. Super Taikyu features a wide range of vehicle classes, accommodating everything from compact cars to high-performance sports cars including GT3 and GT4 cars, Prototypes and the ST-class made up of production-based cars, categorised by displacement and modifications. The series is so popular that it’s become a proving ground for many manufacturers, particularly the Japanese brands like Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, and Subaru. It’s not uncommon to see sports models from these automakers being tested in the series, and in between race meetings you’ll see some special cars attend practice days, sometimes in full camouflage to keep competitors confused.
At the recent Tokyo Auto Salon, a few cars eligible for this series were displayed at various manufacturer stands, but one of the most standout cars seen was a Toyota GR Yaris. We’ve been seeing these cars at shows since they hit the market in 2020, some with massive turbo kits, some with time attack-style aero and some with only visual mods. Toyota and Gazoo Racing had a few GR Yaris models on display, but it was the highly modified GR Yaris that had people talking. To get people talking at a place like TAS, you know the car had to be something special. This GR Yaris was modified by Toyota and Gazoo Racing, so you know the quality is as good as it can possibly get. Proper details on the car have yet to be released, but there are enough things we know to make the car very interesting. The small capacity turbocharged 1.6-litre is well known for punching above its weight, able to push out a healthy 224 kW with 400 Nm of torque, but that hasn’t been used in this car. Instead, this car which has been dubbed the GR YARIS M Concept, has been fitted with a turbocharged 2.0-litre lump called the G20E. There’s no word on the power output, but if the Gazoo Racing techs are able to safely squeeze as much power as they can out of a 1.6-litre sub, we’re assuming that power could possibly be closer to 300 kW mark, but as mich as 440 KW. While we’ve seen that kind of power pushed out of the original motor, the power isn’t the interesting bit. The GR tech has instead managed to fit this bigger motor into the rear of the car to make it a mid-mount configuration. This should completely change the driving dynamics of the car and make it a monster on the track. We’ll be keeping tabs on future press releases and tests of the car, because it’s going to be bonkers!
Take a look at the YouTube video from the DPCcars folks as they take a quick look at the new mid-engined GR Yaris that's going to hopefully be seen ripping up the tarmac in an upcoming round of the hugely-popular Super Taikyu series: Mid-Engine Toyota GR Yaris M Concept at 2025 Tokyo Auto Salon | DPCcars
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