By Jeff Glucker
Every time I learn more about the GR Yaris, I get that much sadder that we don’t have the chance to buy it here. Toyota has created a homologated rally hatch. Word is that the automaker has done a damn fine job of creating an extremely funny machine. We know it’s great at going around corners, but now we know it also pulls harder than you might think. Toyota tuners EKanoo bought a GR Yaris to start testing and tuning. Before doing so, they put one on a drag strip to see what it can do. The baseline best run they saw? A 12.76 quarter-mile with a 108 mph trap speed. There was a time when a 12-second run was good for a Corvette, nevermind a Toyota hatchback.
This. Car. Rips.
And I want one…
The idea of a halo car works on me, I recently realized, when we went skiing in a Yaris that also had these “hips”:
Impractical for a small car to waste that much designed space, but it undoubtedly helps to keep the car balanced. The new Yaris is also very nice inside, in contrast to earlier ones. But the AC was overwhelmed by 3 dudes returning from a mountain ski trip. The windows were like that after a 40 minute drive on max settings, with regularly opened windows.
Ok, now I did everything correctly with img src html, photo still didn’t show. Other html works…hm.
https://i.ibb.co/D8cZK6M/IMG-20210224-213120.png
ok, that’s awesome.
Rad!
For perspective for the older ones here and a sign of how quick cars have become:
Lamborghini Countach LP500QV 1/4 mile 14.3 sec @ 113mph.
Tesla Model S fastest version 1/4 10.6 sec @ 126mph
It’s bonkers. You can run down to your local Ford dealer and for $35k, you could have a car that would outrun Lamborghini Diablos and 550 Maranellos all day long.
But my personal favorite, if you towed your 1971 big block Corvette to the track behind your Tahoe, it would depend on the trim level as to who would be quickest down the strip.
I believe there was one day where Car & Driver published both a review of the Kia Stinger, and a period review of the original Viper. The two were pretty much identical through the 1/4 mile. I’m not sure if it was a bigger statement on the progress we’ve made in performance, or the progress that Kia has made as an OEM.
That is just plain dumb. A Toyota Yaris is a second and a half quicker in the quarter mile than a Countach. What amazing times we live in. Forget all the nonsense going on out there, that’s proof that the world is still awesome.
Bring it here, and I’ll buy it.
That’s damned impressive.
As a side note, I realize it’s conventional to accept that as a 12-second run, but as a scientist (hell, even as a layman who understands elementary mathematics), I can’t agree with the truncation. You can call it a 12.76-second run or a 12.8-second run, but if you’re only reporting two sig figs, that’s a 13-second run.