Yaris GRMN Destroys Hot Hatch Competition in Race
We don’t get the supercharged Toyota Yaris GRMN in the United States, and that’s a tragedy.
ScionLife has reported on the Toyota Yaris GRMN before. It’s the souped-up Yaris that the United States is never destined to have. That’s deeply saddening, because the current Yaris here in the States is long in the tooth, and desperately in need of a replacement.
GRMN stands for ‘Gazoo Racing tuned by the Meisters of the Nurburgring,’ and that title alone speaks volumes. This micro hot hatch competes against other sub-compact hot hatchbacks, like the Ford Fiesta ST, Volkswagen Polo GTI, Peugeot 208 GTI and the Mini Cooper John Cooper Works. Coincidentally, CARWOW managed to get all five hot hatches together and line them up for a drag race. How handy.
While the Yaris GRMN is made to smash around road courses, like the Nurburgring, and be fun in the corners, it’s also a rather adept street racer. That would be thanks to its 1.8-liter supercharged four-cylinder engine, which produces 205 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque. Power goes to the front wheels through a 6-speed manual transmission and helical- limited-slip differential.
Consdering that power only has to motivate around 2,500 pounds, it should come as no surprise that it’s pretty quick. In fact, the Yaris GRMN shows it’s angry-looking tail lights to all of the competitors in back-to-back drag races.
While that is obviously very cool, the video itself is even cooler. Shot with a 360-degree camera, you can rotate the camera around and watch each individual competitor try its best to oust the Toyota. The camera sits on the roof of the VW Polo GTI in the middle, so you can swivel it around and get a good look at each competitor.
So, Toyota, when are we getting the Yaris GRMN state-side?
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