This video is tough for the Motor1.com crew to watch. There’s nothing bad about it, other than the delectable GR Yaris hot hatch won’t be coming to US shores anytime soon. It’s one of just a few cars our entire staff fawns over, and after seeing this video, we’re even more desperate to get our hands on this rally racer.
The clip comes from NM2255 Car HD Videos on YouTube, and the location is Biesse Racing in Italy where the amped-up Yaris is offered. The tuning company got its hands on a new model and strapped it to a four-wheel chassis dyno for some baseline runs. The video claims this Yaris is completely stock, and judging by the surprising lack of engine sound as it runs through the rev range, we totally believe it.
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We want to totally believe the numbers it posted, too. We’re used to seeing chassis dyno readouts listed in horsepower at the wheels, but this one appears to be configured for conversions to horsepower at the crankshaft. And what do we see? The little 1.6-liter turbocharged three-pot belts out a maximum of 278.1 metric horsepower. That’s approximately 274 hp in SAE-speak or, 202 kilowatts for everyone else. No matter how you measure it, that’s a very healthy increase from Toyota’s stock rating of 257 hp.
Of course, we’ve traveled this dyno-readout road before. Yes, it’s possible some data was entered incorrectly. It’s also possible some tweaks were done to the car before going onto the dyno. On the other hand, we recently reported on the GR Yaris hitting 60 mph in 5.3 seconds, so the rally-themed hatchback isn’t lacking for power by any means. Sending that power to all four wheels certainly doesn’t hurt, either.
Early this year, Toyota teased a hot hatchback entrance for North America. Company representatives said the Yaris wasn’t it, but rumors of a GR’d Corolla for the States soon followed. Sadly, by then coronavirus was sweeping the globe, and we haven’t heard anything since.
For now, at least, we’ll just have to weep silently while the rest of the world revels in the thrill of this three-cylinder pocket rocket.