{"id":2004196,"date":"2026-06-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2004196"},"modified":"2026-06-22T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T21:00:00","slug":"toyota-prototype-review-this-mid-engined-yaris-is-a-test-bed-for-the-new-celica-and-mr2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2004196","title":{"rendered":"Toyota prototype review: this mid-engined Yaris is a test bed for the new Celica and MR2"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What are we looking at here?<\/h3>\n

It looks like a\u00a0Yaris<\/a>. A Yaris with a bodykit, yes. A Yaris with a suspiciously extended wheelbase, certainly. A Yaris covered in some sort of digital camouflage, for sure. It isn\u2019t a Yaris. Not in any way that matters, anyway.<\/p>\n

From the first time it starts up and flings itself out onto the test circuit, you know that this is something else entirely. Mainly because it\u2019s making a noise like a wasp trapped in an amplifier, moving at a scarcely believable rate, and the noise is coming from the back. And not just the exhaust.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This does not explain \u2026 anything?<\/h3>\n

We\u2019re here at Toyota\u2019s semi-secret test facility in Shimoyama in Japan to test the future. And in Toyota terms, that appears to be accessible, real-world sports cars. Or at least the foetuses of them. So we\u2019ve got several different iterations of a Yaris, all with a mid-mounted engine.<\/p>\n

Some have the GR\u2019s three-cylinder stuffed in the back with the drivetrain one-eightied (rear subframe and diff appears in the front), others sporting a fetching mess of pipework that shrouds a new \u2018G20E\u2019 four cylinder turbo petrol. Most look like power is being delivered by a sexy air conditioning unit, but in there somewhere the G20E is nestled offset to the right, with the six-speed manual (in this case, you can also fit the Gazoo Racing eight-speed auto) lurking on the left.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So we\u2019re getting a mid-engined Yaris? Weird.\u00a0<\/h3>\n

Nope. The Yaris is just a test chassis. In some cases extended by 100mm. And the\u00a0GR Yaris<\/a> was already longer in the wheelbase than a 992 Porsche 911. So this isn\u2019t about Yaris-shaped things. Intellectually, an\u00a0MR2<\/a> would fit the bill, but\u00a0the new Celica has been announced<\/a>, and that\u2019s likely first.<\/p>\n

The engine itself is the key; it can be front or mid-mounted, longitudinally in the front if necessary. Toyota has both rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive formats, so this could conceivably be front-wheel drive too. And it\u2019s small enough to also fit hybrid bits. So there\u2019s a lot of potential here \u2013 Toyota keeping tight-lipped as to exactly what we\u2019re dealing with.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So what\u2019s it like to drive?<\/h3>\n

Well, we were only allowed a go on a loose surface in a rally-style prototype with the GR Yaris\u2019 engine and about 250bhp. Though it\u2019s worth noting that it felt like a lot less than that. A 50:50 torque split and six-speed manual were in attendance, and with everyone trying very hard to control the situation, it was up to TG to\u2026 uncontrol it. Cue some misinterpretation of the route, a longer accidental session from TG and some gently irate PR people, but we got a good idea of what the not-a-Yaris felt like.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s not a Yaris. It doesn\u2019t feel anything like a Yaris. In fact, it feels more like a\u00a0GT86<\/a>, such is the keenness to rotate. The steering is light and nicely accurate \u2013 even as a donkey of a prototype \u2013 the 43:57-ish weight distribution front to rear feeling more tippy and rear-wheel drive than you expect. Turn, lift, oversteer. It\u2019s hilarious, with just enough front axle help to prevent spinning. The very basics here are eminently solid; Toyota making a car that\u2019s not just fast, but fun and engaging. Not the fastest, but definitely lightly furious.<\/p>\n

But what about the one with the new engine?<\/h3>\n

That\u2019s the even better bit. Ok, so we weren\u2019t allowed to drive it, but Toyota sent us out on Shimoyama\u2019s test track in the tarmac-rally-looking later stage buck with the new motor. A proving ground to prove all proving grounds, the test route is modelled on the N\u00fcrburgring Norschleife, about 25 per cent of it, and it\u2019s all blind corners and crests and elevation changes that make you airsick. In the hot seat was Toyota\u2019s \u2018master driver\u2019 and boss of development, and suffice to say, with his knowledge of both the circuit and the car, what was probably 7\/10ths felt like\u2026 quite a lot.<\/p>\n

So that engine is good then?<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s still early for this sort of thing, but the tarmac car was reportedly running around 400bhp. And it was super-rapid. Not the sick-making speed of a high-powered EV, but plenty if you wanted to get yourself into serious trouble in no time at all. It sounded raspy and happy to rev, quick to die from the upper reaches and torquey \u2013 there was no scrabbling about for a powerband.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What\u2019s more interesting is how the car felt from the passenger seat. Because again, this categorically did not feel like a GR Yaris, in any way, shape or form. Small inputs delivered larger-then-expected results, the balance super rear-wheel drive. But where a GR Yaris in all its AWD glory feels like it rotates from the bottom of the windscreen \u2013 they always feel a bit understeery \u2013 the concept-slash-mule moves from just behind the front seats. It\u2019s very obvious when you say it out loud, but the difference is stark; you approach with the visual prejudice of \u2018Yaris\u2019, but get back out of it thinking \u2018Cayman\u2019. And yes, it really is that good.<\/p>\n

Any bad points?<\/h3>\n

Not many. And the obvious things are so far away from finished, they really don\u2019t matter. The sound is currently industrial rather than soulful \u2013 the typical four-pot turbo gravel against a tin sheet. But the cooling, induction and exhaust are all what\u2019s being tested.<\/p>\n

The dynamics are also \u2013 how to put this? \u2014 \u2018lively\u2019. Our host pilot might have been cool as a cucumber, but the slides he was neatly curtailing with a jab of the steering wheel were definitely on the loose side. Without those neat, professional corrections, the car was wanting to do a quick two-step directly into the lack of runoff. Again, something that will come later in the form of stabilising electronics. But perhaps it\u2019s a good thing they didn\u2019t let us have a go\u2026<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the verdict?<\/h3>\n

All of the good things, essentially. We spent a little time being indoctrinated, sorry, introduced<\/em>, into the Tao of Toyota, and the good stuff really is good. We\u2019ve had the GR Yaris and\u00a0Corolla<\/a> \u2013 and the\u00a0GRMN versions of both<\/a> \u2013 the V8\u00a0GR GT<\/a> is on the way to worry at the hind legs of the\u00a0Porsche 911<\/a>, there\u2019s going to be a new Celica, MR2 (Toyota trademarked \u2018GR MR2\u2019 last year) and possibly a new\u00a0Supra<\/a>. All the kind of sports cars that might well be accessible to people without Elon Musk\u2019s bank account.<\/p>\n

The Yaris prototypes might be a fair way from finished, and we\u2019re not entirely sure what car they\u2019re for yet, but they\u2019re engaging, exciting and pointing very much in the right direction. Fun ICE cars aren\u2019t dead yet, and Toyota\u2019s extending the lifespan.<\/p>\n

Photography: <\/strong>Toby Thyer<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What are we looking at here? It looks like a\u00a0Yaris. A Yaris with a bodykit, yes. A Yaris with a suspiciously extended wheelbase, certainly. A Yaris covered in some sort of digital camouflage, for sure. It isn\u2019t a Yaris. Not in any way that matters, anyway. From the first time it starts up and flings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,237],"class_list":["post-2004196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-topgear-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2004196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2004196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2004196\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2004196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2004196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2004196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}