New Toyota GR Yaris Gains Two Rally Special Editions in Japan

The new Toyota GR Yaris hot-hatch has gained two rally-inspired special edition models in Japan.

Weeks after making its global debut at this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon (TAS) show, the newly-updated Toyota GR Yaris hot-hatch now gains two new special models. These new special models feature rally-inspired designs to celebrate its rally outfit’s recent triumph in the 2023 World Rally Championship (WRC) season.

2024 Toyota GR Yaris Rovanpera Edition

Starting off with the first one, this special GR Yaris is built to commemorate the WRC 2023’s drivers’ championship winner, Kalle Rovanpera. Dubbed the GR Yaris RZ Kalle Rovanpera Edition, this rally-inspired hatch gets draped in the same racing livery used on Rovanpera’s GR Yaris Rally1 car, featuring Gazoo Racing’s signature red, black, and white hues.

Aside from that, this special hatch also comes with a special commemorative badge to celebrate the team’s WRC triumph last year. Elsewhere, this special GR Yaris rides on 18-inch BBS wheels with red-hued GR brake callipers hiding beneath them, while its carbon fibre rear spoiler is borrowed from the GRMN Yaris hot-hatch.

2024 Toyota GR Yaris Ogier Edition

Moving on to the GR Yaris RZ Sebastien Ogier Edition, this special rally hatch is draped in a Matte Stealth Grey hue instead of the racing livery, with its rear part adorned with a carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) rear wing. Paying homage to Ogier’s French roots are the French flag decal on its front grille, blue-hued brake callipers hiding beneath the same BBS 18-inch wheels, plus a commemorative badge celebrating Ogier’s WRC success.

Moving inside, both cars come with their own special badges and trims, as well as features that are uniquely designed for each edition. Starting with the Rovanpera Edition, this rally hatch cabin is donned with a commemorative plaque celebrating Rovanpera’s second WRC drivers’ title, plus a slew of blue-hued stitchings that contrast with the all-black leather upholstery.

The Rovanpera Edition gets novel 'Donut' and 'KALLE' driving modes

More importantly, the GR Yaris Rovanpera Edition also comes with a unique ‘Donut’ driving mode, which allows drivers to drift and slide their cars easier. Furthermore, there’s also the ‘KALLE’ mode, which incorporates a different rear differential setup that essentially allows more extreme drifting and sideways manoeuvres compared to the former.

A similar case applies to the GR Yaris Ogier Edition’s cabin, as this special model gets French-inspired trims and contrasting stitching, alongside a commemorative badge at its front dash. Beyond the cosmetic bits, this special hot hatch gains the ‘Morizo’ mode, which is a fancier version of the standard GR Yaris’ track driving mode. On top of that, you’ll also get the ‘SEB’ mode, which allows the car to send more power to the rear for some tail-wagging fun.

On the powertrain front, both of these special models retain their standard twin’s 1.6-litre 3-cyl turbocharged petrol mill to deliver 300 HP and 400 NM. Said engine is then mated to a six-speed manual gearbox instead of the new 8AT unit, plus Toyota’s proprietary GR-Four all-wheel drive (AWD) system.

As expected, both of these rally-inspired special GR Yaris are exclusively available for the Japanese domestic market (JDM), with Toyota only planning to build 200 examples in total – 100 for each model. Further adding exclusivity to these rally hatches is the ballot system applied for their purchase.

On top of these two obstacles are the prices, which Toyota did not disclose as of writing. As per any special models, we can expect them to be slightly heftier than the standard GR Yaris’ price tag in Japan.