Toyota GR Yaris automatic, more power due with facelift next year – report

The Toyota GR Yaris hot hatch is set to gain the option of an automatic transmission early next year, according to a new report – alongside a power boost and a revised look.

The long-awaited option of an automatic transmission for the Toyota GR Yaris hot hatch may be less than six months away, according to a new report out of Japan.

Respected Japanese magazine Best Car reports a facelift for the GR Yaris is due to be announced by Toyota imminently ahead of a start to production in January 2024, and first deliveries in Japan early next year.

The update – which may be named ‘Evolution II’ – is reportedly set to bring a power boost from 200kW/370Nm today, to 221kW/370Nm to match the larger GR Corolla hot hatch introduced last year.

And for the first time it is tipped to be available with the option of an eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters, in place of the standard six-speed manual offered since launch three years ago.

Toyota has been developing the gearbox for 18 months in a GR Yaris entered into a rally series in Japan to prove its durability, with a desire to add it to showroom models.

It is a conventional torque-converter transmission – rather than a typically quick-shifting dual-clutch automatic – but it is being developed with a focus on speed, rather than just convenience.

According to Best Car, the facelift is planned to introduce mild exterior changes – including a revised front fascia, and a larger rear spoiler on some models – as well as a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster from the GR Corolla, replacing the current analogue dials.

MORE: Automatic Toyota GR Yaris and GR Corolla in development

The magazine says the “suspension and brakes have also been further improved”, and that body rigidity has been improved.

It predicts a price rise from the 3.96 to 4.56 million yen ($AU41,000 to $AU48,000) of the current model – which is not available to order in Japan – to a price “likely to approach” 5 million yen ($AU52,000).

Stock of the Toyota GR Yaris is limited in the markets in which it is sold. Orders are currently paused in Japan, and Toyota Australia re-opened orders late last year after a one-year pause with a small allocation of 160 cars.

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