New Toyota GR Yaris officially goes on sale in South Africa – Pricing

Toyota has officially launched the updated GR Yaris in South Africa.

The revised hot hatch is available in two flavours mainly separated by their transmissions, one being manual and the other automatic.

The manual GR Yaris retails from R897,400 while the automatic comes in at a slightly higher R925,300.

These prices include a 3-year/100,000km warranty and a 9-services/90,000km service plan.

What’s new

The most notable addition to the sporty Yaris is the new eight-speed direct automatic transmission.

For the past few years, the all-wheel-drive hatch has been built exclusively in manual as it was tailored for enthusiasts.

However, Toyota picked up that demand for an automatic was significant, and thus opted to design an all-new self-shifting gearbox for the Yaris.

“This advanced gearbox has been engineered for rapid, responsive shifting and allows the driver to focus more on steering and throttle input – particularly in dynamic driving scenarios,” said Toyota.

Unlike conventional automatics, the Yaris’ box employs predictive software that anticipates gear changes based on driver behaviour, ensuring shifts that are both intuitive and performance-oriented.

It has undergone extensive real-world and competition testing, including in events such as the Japan Rally Championship, in order to meet professional driving standards while maintaining reliability and heat resistance.

For those who yearn the control and engagement of chaning gears themself, the GR Yaris can still be had with the familiar six-speed manual.

In addition to the new transmission, the 1.6-litre, three-cylinder, turbo-petrol powerplant of the Toyota has been uprated to produce a heady 210W and 400Nm.

This reflects an improvement of 12kW and 40Nm over its predecessor, and gives the little Yaris almost as much power and even more torque than its larger sibling, the GR Corolla.

The Yaris now sprints to 100km/h in 5.2 seconds – down from 5.5 – and reaches a top speed of 230km/h, regardless of the chosen gearshift.

Meanwhile, average fuel usage comes in at 8.2l/100km for the manual and 9.1l/100km for the auto.

Both offer selectable drive modes namely Sport, Normal, and Eco, which adapt steering, throttle, and transmission response to the situation at hand.

Shifting focus away from the powertrain, the chassis of the new Yaris has been reinforced, and the number of bolts securing the shock absorbers increased from one to three.

This was done to better suppress alignment changes during driving and improve the steering response.

Outside, the grille now features a lightweight steel mesh, and the sides for the lower front bumper now have a separable structure that helps to lower the cost of repair.

The lower side grilles have grown for improved cooling, and a new opening at the edge of the rear lower garnish allows for air to escape more efficiently.

It also rides on redesigned 18-inch forged alloy wheels.

Opening the door reveals a thoroughly redesigned passenger cell.

The revised interior places a greater emphasis on driver ergonomics through repositioned seating and controls, complemented by a newly designed 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster.

Other revisions include a new centre console angled more towards the driver, which itself houses an updated infotainment screen, climate controls, and air vents.

Buyers of the new GR Yaris can further expect a wide variety of nice-to-haves.

The potent hatch is delivered with automatic LED headlights with high-beam assist, rain-sensing wipers, keyless entry and start, dual-zone climate control, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support.

This is on top of a reverse camera, lane-departure alert, tyre-pressure monitoring, and six airbags.

It’s worth noting that there are minor differences between the manual and automatic on the equipment front.

The manual features LED fog lamps, slightly different headrests, synthetic leather/suede upholstery, high-speed adaptive cruise control, door-ajar warning, a heads-up display, a manual tilt and telescopic steering column, and rear window demister.

The automatic doesn’t have fog lamps, nor the door ajar warning, heads-up display, adjustable steering column, or demister.

However, it does offer a mist function for the front wipers, synthetic leather/Brin Naub upholstery, all-speed adaptive cruise control, and a USB-C port.

Toyota GR Yaris