Toyota GR Yaris Aero Performance arrives with race and rally inspiration
Experience both on and off road has influenced the new £49k version of the brilliant GR Yaris
The Toyota GR Yaris is already a pumped-up little bulldog of a car, but the latest model in the range takes Toyota’s homologation-special hot hatch one step closer to the belligerent-looking rally car.
The new Toyota GR Yaris Aero Performance hits the road next year and will be priced at £48,995, around four grand more than the regular car. The normal GR Yaris has been unavailable to order in the UK for several months, however, so this near-£50k car is the only one you can buy right now.
As the name suggests, a new aero kit is the focus of the model, and Toyota says the extra parts have been “developed directly from Toyota Gazoo Racing’s experience in race and rally competition”, including the brand’s World Rally Championship campaign. It’s not a bad place to take inspiration, given Gazoo Racing is dominating this year’s WRC.
Each Aero Performance model will feature six aerodynamic parts not found on the standard car. This starts with a large cooling duct in the bonnet panel developed from the brand’s Japanese Rally Championship campaign, helping to alleviate underbonnet heat. There’s a new front lip spoiler too, and it’s balanced out by an enormous rear wing with an adjustable element (which most owners will surely run at maximum attack, like the adjustable spoiler on a Lancia Delta Integrale Evo II).
There’s also ducting at the rear of the front wings to reduce aerodynamic pressure in the wheel wells, more ducts in the rear bumper for reducing drag (developed following Gazoo’s experiences in Japan’s Super Taikyu endurance series), and an aerodynamic underbody panel, also aimed at reducing drag.
The Aero Performance has two more notable features for your £48,995: a vertical handbrake previously found on the options list for rally-style handbrake turns, and a manual transmission. The latter was standard, but it’s interesting that despite all these racing and rally-style features, the paddleshift automatic isn’t being offered on this latest special edition.
Toyota says that availability is “strictly limited”, and given the regular GR Yaris didn’t hang around on sale for long, you’d be wise to get your order in early if you’re taken by the Aero Performance version. Deliveries begin in March 2026.
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