Features / 23 February 2025 / Michael Taylor

The high-performance Toyota coming to South Africa very soon

Motoring enthusiasts have a lot to be excited about, as Toyota is preparing to launch the thoroughly updated GR Yaris in South Africa.

The revised hot hatch was one of several vehicles that made an appearance at this year’s State of the Motoring Industry event, where Toyota confirmed that petrolheads will be able to get their hands on the latest GR model as early as March.

What to expect

While most car updates usually just entail a few extra features and subtle visual tweaks, this is not the case for the new Yaris.

Most importantly, the sports car’s 1.6-litre turbocharged engine has been uprated to produce an additional 12kW and 40Nm, giving it a new total of 210kW and 400Nm.

This means the Yaris now has an even greater torque figure than its big brother – the GR Corolla – which currently produces 370Nm.

The automaker has not yet revealed how this will affect the updated model’s performance stats but, as a reference, the current units can sprint from 0 to 100km/h in 5.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 230km/h.

The other big change to the hot hatchback’s driving experience is the gearbox, which is finally swapping out the six-speed manual for an eight-speed auto shifter in response to customer feedback.

Toyota has also made several smaller improvements to the GR’s mechanics, adding a new vehicle stability control programme and a limited-slip differential.

The chassis has been reinforced, too, and the number of bolts securing the shock absorbers was increased from one to three to better suppress alignment changes during driving and improve the steering response.

The company has also added a new Circuit Mode on top of the standard Sport, Normal, and Eco settings, which reduces turbo lag, raises the cooling fan output, and sharpens the gearshift window on the instrument cluster to encourage better shift timings while out on the track.

Beyond the mechanical tweaks, the Yaris has received a few small changes to its look with a new separable front bumper for cheaper repairs, and larger side grilles for improved airflow and cooling.

It also has a new set of forged alloy rims with 225/40ZR18 Michelin Pilot Sport tyres, complemented by ventilated brakes that are larger at the front than they are at the back.

Inside, there’s a new 12.3-inch full-colour digital driver display with customizable visuals, and the infotainment screen is now angled towards the driver as part of a single dashboard unit rather than the previous floating design.

The air vents are now circular instead of rectangular, and the centre console has been reworked with the new automatic gearshift.