► We drive the updated Gen2 GR Yaris
► More power, better interior and sportier tech
► It’s also our 2025 hot hatch of the year
Did you know this was crowned our 2025 hot hatch of the year? The GR Yaris fought off nine other competitors of all sizes, prices and performance bandwidths to come out on top.
Want to find out why? You better keep reading…
At a glance
Pros: Bombastic performance; great all-weather handling; playful and fun to drive; improved driving position
Cons: Tinny interior, laughable rear seats, lumpy clutch
What’s new?
This is the Gen2 GR Yaris – a heavy facelift that was all about correcting and fixing the niggles we had about the original car. Reasons to trade up include enhanced performance, tweaked suspension, a more rigid bodyshell and a new variable torque split for the all-wheel drive.
The popular Circuit Pack (Michelin Pilot 4S on BBS alloys, uprated suspension, Torsen diffs front and rear) is now standard, as is the previous Japanese-market cooling pack with its driver-controlled intercooler spray.
What are the specs?
The fundamentals of the powertrain and the GR’s overall vibe haven’t really changed from before; it’s still powered by a whopper of a three-cylinder turbo, now making 276bhp (up 19bhp from before) and that power is still sent to all wheels via an electronically-controlled ‘GR-Four’ four-wheel drive system. Torsen diffs for each axle shuffle the power around, with the GR-Four tech allowing certain ratios of power depending on mode; Normal defaults to 60/40 power delivery front/rear, Track can be anywhere from 60/40 to 30/70 depending on how you’re driving and Gravel is locked to 53/47.
You can choose to have the six-speed manual or the new auto. Toyota says it chose a torque converter auto rather than a dual-clutch unit for durability purposes, because it has expertise in the area and the all-new ’box has been proven in the heat of domestic race and rally competition.
If you also have money to throw around, you could fork out for one of the GR Yaris’ rally-inspired special editions named after its rally drivers: Ogier and Rovanperä – both are £60k, which is about £14k more than the standard car. Both have their own drive modes, more toys and some visual bonuses.
What’s it like to drive?
The GR’s three-cylinder engine always impressed with its low-down flexibility and – more unusually for a triple – enthusiasm for revs. For such a compact unit, the sheer feist and bandwidth to dig into here is remarkable. It’s a little boosty, with a big lump of the power coming into play at about 4k, but hard accelerating this little angry hatch is addictive and oh, so rewarding.
Tip the Yaris into a corner and more differences bubble to the surface – there’s extra roll support over the outside front wheel compared with the standard model (which feels highly connected on the road if a little soft for circuit use) and extra precision to steering that’s otherwise as responsive and meaningfully weighted as ever.
Combined with the more tightly stacked gear ratios and more sporting seating position, the new GR offers a more stable feeling platform under braking, inspires confidence to carry higher corner speeds and therefore keep the engine on the boil, and provides more urgent acceleration as you power past the apex.
How does that new auto feel? Left in Drive, it also manages to give me the right gear on cue, intelligently adapting to my driving style in the process. Switch to manual and you can either use paddles fixed to the wheel or a lever configured in the push-for-downshifts/pull-for-upshifts racecar style, but while the shifts again pop-in on demand, the shift quality is somewhat variable – when I hold it to the redline to see if it’ll auto shift (it does), the shift clicks in with real mechanical precision, but mostly the changes are a little soft and often characterised by a delayed, liquidy sort of impulse. Ultimately effective, then, but BMW and Jaguar make the trad torque convertor feel sharper.
Thankfully the shift action of the revised manual gearbox is significantly cleaner than the knuckly original, and while it’s still miles off the snickety precision of a Civic Type R and the pedal spacing could be sweeter for heel and toe, the threat of a mis-shift feels massively reduced. The inclusion of that iMT tech – Toyota’s code for rev-matching – will help the ham-fisted (or is it ham-footed?) among us feel like a hero, too.
What’s the interior like?
Overall, it’s an improvement over the first-generation model. The dashboard layout is neater and tidier, with much more up-to-date technology on board. That includes a new infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and new digital instruments that you can customise with graphics and info. The rev counter also changes depending normal and sport modes.
The driving position is much improved, with the GR’s thickly padded and well-bolstered seats now set much lower than before. The manual shifter is in a spot on position, too, and there’s good wheel adjustment.
It’s still as plasticky and hollow as a wheelie bin in here, with tinny and black scratchy plastics all over the place. But you don’t buy one of these for the luxury.
You also shouldn’t buy it for the practicality. Not only does the fact this is a three-door car impede access to the rear seats but, once you’re in, you’ll won’t want to be back there for long. Tall drivers effectively block any rear legroom for those behind them, and the slammed roofline (the GR Yaris is 250mm lower than a regular Yaris, mainly due to its mutant chassis layout) will only benefit those without a head.
That said, boot space is fine for a car this size, even if the underfloor area is taken up by the battery and a water tank for the in-built intercooler water spray system. Both of which are unnervingly close to each other.
Before you buy
Yes, £46k is rather a lot for a Yaris, but this is a damn good Yaris. And, in relative terms, this thing offers thrills little else can for the same cash. A VW Golf R or BMW M135 feel po-faced compared to the zippy and excitable Yaris.
The GR Yaris’ nemesis is the FL5-generation Honda Civic Type R, which will be the better car to live with than this, but the Yaris is more fun more of the time.
Verdict: Toyota GR Yaris
Is a Civic Type R more usable every day? Yes. But this is our hot hatch of 2025 for plenty of reasons: the fact that it’s great to drive in any weather, truly engaging to spend time with and offers the car enthusiast more thrills than anything else can for similar money.
The GR Yaris is feisty, quick with a capital F and oh, so fun – and feels like one of the greatest hot hatchbacks in a generation. Stick with the manual and get one of these joy machines in your life, pronto – it won’t be around forever.