Toyota has unleashed a high-octane shocker at the Tokyo Auto Salon, a dazzling playground for gearheads and tuners alike. Enter the GR Yaris M Concept, a lean, mean, mid-engine machine that’s rewriting what you thought you knew about hatchbacks. This firecracker of a car takes cues from Toyota’s obsession with performance while channeling the unpredictable spirit of Akio Toyoda, a.k.a. “Morizo,” the brains and brawn behind this monstrous concept.
The GR Yaris M Concept strutted its stuff at Japan’s largest car custom show, wowing onlookers with swagger that screamed “I’m not your usual daily driver.” Gazoo Racing, Toyota’s motorsport division, grabbed the spotlight with a car that puts function over frills, and leaves you questioning physics. At its core (literally) sits a new 2.0-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder engine, the bigger, beefier cousin replacing the high-revving 1.6-litre 3-cylinder turbo. And if swapping front-engine design for a mid-engine setup wasn’t spicy enough, the news gets better: it’s now powering the back wheels (or so everyone thought at first glance).
This little beast isn’t just for the street racers looking to flex at stoplights. Oh no, Toyota had the racing circuit in its sights. While the showroom-ready version flexes over 400 horsepower, the race-spec trim raises the stakes: more than 600 ponies under the hood. Yes, you read that right, 600 hp screaming through what many assumed were just the rear wheels. That kind of power would fry tires for breakfast and laugh at traction control, so engineers cooked up a hidden twist: the M Concept isn’t rear-wheel-drive at all. A closer look reveals an AWD setup powered by a counter gear unit with a vertical shaft, cue the collective jaw drop from fans and skeptics alike.
The M Concept isn’t just a car; it’s a grenade tossed into the middle of a predictable marketplace. With its mid-engine layout, gutted interior packed with exposed engine parts, and a fiery combination of practicality mixed with lunacy, it’s the kind of car that makes enthusiasts weak in the knees. The sheer audacity of this design proves Toyota and Gazoo Racing aren’t merely chasing trends but setting them ablaze. Whether on the streets, the track, or in the hands of eager drivers, this Yaris is flipping an unapologetic finger at the humdrum hatchbacks of yesterday. The GR Yaris M Concept is here to challenge everything we know about what a car can be, and maybe a glance at what a potential new MR2 could be?
