Toyota GR Yaris Performance Pack no-go for Australia

The good news is that the Toyota GR Yaris will be hitting Australian showrooms in the fourth quarter of 2020, adding another hot hatch choice to the already bulging landscape.

The bad news is that it won’t be offered in its ultimate guise, with Toyota Australia deciding against offering the Performance Pack version, instead sticking with just the standard car.

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“When we considered the GR Yaris offering, we looked at it very carefully,” explains Toyota Australia’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Sean Hanley. “The car’s got to be attainable; we believed, looking at the market size, that the [standard] GR Yaris was absolutely suitable and ticks every box we needed to tick to bring this car to market in Australia.”

The standard GR Yaris is still impressively equipped, all cars scoring a 1.6-litre turbo three-cylinder developing around 185kW/350Nm (final figures TBC), a six-speed manual and unique all-wheel drive system with three modes.

Remarkably, a carbon fibre roof is also standard, along with weight-shaving aluminium doors, bonnet and hatch. There are big brakes and 18-inch wheels wrapped in 225/40 Dunlop SP Sport Maxx tyres.

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The Performance Pack adds Torsen limited-slip differentials front and rear, introducing the ability to split drive torque left and right as well as fore and aft, along with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tyres and revised damper settings to take advantage of the extra grip.

However, while it currently has no plans to offer the Performance Pack option of Aussie GR Yaris, Toyota says customer demand will ultimately be the deciding factor: “Of course, in the event that we get overwhelming market demand,” says Hanley, “we can always look at the option pack going forward, but right now we believe that the [standard] GR Yaris is a very capable car that will meet the requirements of the target audience in the Australian market.”

There you have it: if you want your GR Yaris with all the goodies available overseas, you’d best get on the phone to your Toyota dealer now.