Toyota GR Yaris Aero Performance pack detailed – Japan has all the fun yet again
We’re not getting the option of an Aero Performance pack in the UK. We’re still poring over the details, though
New upgrades are coming for the Toyota GR Yaris. Well, some of them. A new Aero Performance pack is set for launch in Japan on October 1, with no mention as to whether it’ll be available in other regions just yet.
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.
What’s perhaps the most upsetting given a GR Yaris without the new pack costs over £40k in the UK now, is the Japanese pricing. In higher-spec RZ trim with the package and an automatic transmission, taxes included, it’s £29,055. The same spec with the cheaper manual, £27,309. For the RC + it’s even less – £21,972 for the auto and £20,226 for the manual. Sigh.
