RIP fiesta st, spiritual successor to the GT-Four
probably the most exciting non-Lexus Toyota built in the last 2 decades, hope it comes to North America
Quote:
Saito tells us the project began at the end of 2016, so it’s come together in a relatively short space of time. They’ve worked with the WRC team since the start though, and more recently drivers including 2019 champion Ott Tänak, Jari-Matti Latvala, and Kris Meeke have all taken turns behind the wheel.
Interestingly, Saito says the engineers all dived into Toyota’s archives at the start of the project, as none had experience working on all-wheel drive in this application, and the most obvious point of reference was to dig through old Celica GT-Four documents.
The team also pulled apart Focus RSs, Audi S1s and Lancer Evos, and drove examples of each too – though ultimately, Toyota went its own way with both the engineering and the driving feel. ‘It was fun, though!’ mentions Saito. The S1 was apparently of particular interest, not because of how it drives (though it’s a great car in its own right), but because Toyota was amazed at how Audi had managed to package its drivetrain into such a compact car – there’s clearly inspiration in that respect in the GR Yaris.
I ask him whether like those old rally cars, Toyota would develop the car over time, perhaps releasing ‘Evolutions’ as the rally team demanded changes to improve the competition car. It’s a possibility, he says, though there are no concrete plans. Gazoo Racing was apparently already able to meet 90 per cent of the requests made by the rally team
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3-banger turbo 275hp
awd 6MT
~2400lbs (carbon roof, aluminum panels)
rear double wishbone, wider track
no fake vents (fmic, brake ducts)
optional dual LSD, forged BBS
~5s to 60mph
late 2020, at least 25k will be built (affordable?)