Three Years Later, is the Toyota GR Yaris Still Worth The Hype?

CarVertical: The History Checking Service
Use this link or code "JAYEMM" for a discount!

Today I am revisiting the mighty Toyota GR Yaris. I was one of the first journalists in Britain to get to drive one - and loved it, but didn't think that people would actually buy it! Happy to be proven wrong, and with the facelift incoming - how does the original stack up in 2024?

#Toyota #GRYaris #Rallycar

Not had enough? Check out JAYEMM & FRIENDS! My new channel

***********OUR CHANNEL PARTNERS***********

Dodo Juice - Award Winning Detailing Products
Get 10% off Dodo Juice's British Made Detailing Products with code: JAYEMM10

Car Profile Art - Automotive Artwork by a Genuine McLaren Formula One Engineer

Charles & Dean - The Funding Specialists

FIRE SAFETY STICK - GET A DISCOUNT WITH MY LINK
The World's Lightest and Most Compact Fire Extinguisher

***********************************************************************************

Equipment Used:
Panasonic S1H Camera
Panasonic S5
Sennheiser AVX-ME2 Audio Kit
Insta360 Action Cameras - GET A FREE ACCESSORY

[JayEmmOnCars]

CarVertical: The History Checking Service
Use this link or code "JAYEMM" for a discount!

[robertarthur]

59 cars owned including M cars Italian horse cars, my 2020 gr is the longest I’ve kept a car 44000 faultless miles so far, incredible car. Staggering grip, never a dull moment

[sveeny]

Fun fact about the GR Yaris: It has a longer wheelbase than a Porsche 911 🙂
Regarding the few drawbacks of the Circuit Pack: It does have Apple Car play and Android Auto so navigation etc. is no problem at all. Also, I upgraded my speakers for about 350 Euro so it's now better than the convenience pack's stereo. I simply don't understand how anybody would get this car with the convenience pack, this car is literally defined by the torsen differentials.

[smellyfish]

I love my GR yaris, still look at it every day and get that "coooor what a car" feeling - and its never let me down

[fritsified]

The map button does work if you connect an iPhone or Android, it will open your last used nav app in carplay or android auto. Who needs a built-in sat nav these days?

[quokkapirquish]

I’ve had mine 3 years now and I’m still in love with it. It’s the bends, it’s just such a giggle driving through them in a rally car.

[Daemonarchk]

My over 80 years old landlord (rip) bought one 2 years before he died, and had the fun of his lifetime with that thing. This was a man, who had at least 100 cars and classic motorbikes. This car is truely special, thank you - toyoda san.

[marklee]

For anyone still unsure about this genesis of the GR, Chris Harris did an excellent review for Top Gear. Harry Metcalfe ordered one after his review. It’ll run rings around other more exotic/expensive machinery on a British A or B road, most of which have to give up at the first roundabout … or crash! It’s way more capable than my previous M4 Comp even if it lacks that car’s outright speed. A simply phenomenal car with incredible engineering. I waited over a year for mine and drove one for the first time on delivery day. It’s every bit as good as James report, which is why mine is a permanent fixture in the collection.

[conwayhouse]

My car is just coming up to a year old and straight after I had run it in I did an alpine road trip with a number of like minded people. The car is comfortable on long motorway schleps and is an absolute riot on b roads and alpine passes. It’s punch out of corners along with the speed you can carry through them made other more expensive cars disappear in the rear view mirror. R8’s, DB9, M2 competitions, Ferrari 360’s didn’t stand a chance. It almost has too much grip as it just seems to taunt you with “is that all you’ve got” when you come out of a bend that you thought you were going fast into and it went round without a murmur. Bloody love it.

[Marcus-kwed]

As someone who's owned a Yaris gr for a year and a bit and done 15k miles in it, I absolutely love it. Its so usable, and its so much fun, especially in the winter. Haven't done any mods apart from a milltek resonated exhaust, some Stedi lights in the front and OZ Ultraleggeras with cup2s as summertires. And everything always works on it. Even in -25 celsius it connects to apple car play without hesitation (all my other cars struggle when the electrics are cold), never had any rattles or noises from the interior. It just works. And its so, so fun to drive on every road. No matter if its hot summer tarmac, gravel or a snowy field.

[chrisbaxter]

Oh wow 344k subs I remember when you had a few thousand absolutely amazing 👏

[KN-jwts]

This review was the final nail in the coffin, you have turned me into a fan of yours. Idk why I found you off putting initially, but this was yet another brilliant review and now a loyal follower.

[willoffer]

Had mine for almost a year & is my daily driver. Absolutely love it, makes every journey something to look forward to 😎

[Harry-cvue]

Cheers for featuring the Yaris James! And most importantly well done on driving it properly and bashing that limiter! Top man 👍

[dadcars]

When all the initial hype happened I was still sceptical 🤨… it’s a lil Yaris, I just can’t lust over a car that LOOKS like that. Then a subscriber reached out and offered me to drive one… yep I agree 💯 with your verdict on this one. Amazing review James, reminding me yet again why you’re the YouTube road testing GOAT 👏

[MrTaro]

Fantastic review once again! for anyone STILL unsure of getting one, I collected mine in May 2021 and was my second ever car, 18, 000 miles of somewhat daily use later and I feel like I have found the elusive "forever car". Your review is the only one I felt that nails what it feels to drive and own one.

[GTFour]

The most amazing thing is if you service it through Toyota every year you get 10years/100k miles of warranty AND they don’t care if you track it! Just incredible 🤯

[jworpington]

I drove one when I briefly worked at a dealership. I fell in love with it instantly. I still can’t afford one but it’s on my list should I ever win the lottery. The smile never leaves your face when you’re driving one of these.

[luisrpa]

I'm totally buying a Mk2 GR Yaris when the order books open in my country.

[mugenmark]

Coming up to 3 years ownership. Preordered mine during the pandemic when the order books opened without seeing it as knew it would be a very special thing. No regrets at all except I need to drive it more as always puts a smile on my face every journey. I have a HKS Legamax, Eventuri, and a cheeky DTUK box on mine to give it a small bump in performance over standard and lots of nice noises. Love watching reviews like this and seeing testers genuinely smile and glow about a special car :)