The Toyota GR Yaris Aero Performance coming to the UK after all
The GR Yaris Aero Performance will be coming to the UK it turns out, but it’ll cost you a pretty penny
New upgrades are coming for the Toyota GR Yaris. The new Aero Performance was first announced as going on sale in Japan but availability was quickly extended to the UK. First deliveries will begin in March 2026 with prices starting from £48,995 on the road.
The pack was previewed earlier this year with an Aero Package prototype at the Tokyo Auto Salon, with the announcement that an ‘evolved GR Yaris’ with an aero pack would be coming at a later date. Now we have full details of it and as is often the Japanese way, there’s a bit more than aero and vents going on.
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The obvious stuff first – that wing, the arch vents, the bonnet scoop and the lip spoiler which make up the visible aero changes. The bonnet is aluminium rather than carbon as seen on the GRMN but takes the same shape and is designed to improve the dissipation of engine bay heat. The lip spoilers are subtle at the front but do counteract lift, while the arch vents release turbulent air in the wheelarches.
Underneath the car there are new covers for the fuel tank to smooth underfloor air flow. These take inspiration from the Super Taikyu racing version of the GR Yaris, the series in which the Yaris M, a mid-engined prototype with Toyota’s new G16E engine, is also competing. At the rear a new adjustable rear wing improves handling stability particularly under braking. There is a low and high downforce position that can be manually set. Reducing drag further are vents in the rear bumper designed to reduce the parachute effect – a development that came about after bumpers flew off during Super Taikyu racing.
Launching at £48,995 the Toyota GR Yaris Aero Performance is decidedly expensive for what it is, even if it’ll be available in what Toyota describes as ‘strictly limited numbers’. That said, it’s one of the last of its kind with the equally expensive Honda Civic Type R now all but off-sale in the UK, along with numerous other small and medium-sized hot hatches. Even the Audi RS3 with which we compared the GR Yaris earlier this year faces discontinuation next year, albeit after a range-topping RS3 GT arrives for a warbling five-cylinder sendoff.
The GR Yaris Aero Performance joins the range as Toyota makes other changes, including dropping the automatic option less than a year after it was introduced. That was no great loss, the GR Yaris is best as a manual.
That price will be a sticking point for all but the most dedicated hardcore GR Yaris fans, as it has been since the gen 2 launched with a price of over £40k in the UK last year. By contrast, in Japan, in higher-spec RZ trim with the package and an automatic transmission, taxes included, it’s the equivalent of £29,055. The same spec with the cheaper manual is £27,309. For the RC + it’s even less – £21,972 for the auto and £20,226 for the manual. Sigh.
