Toyota GR Yaris Circuit Pack vs. Ford Fiesta ST Edition | PistonHeads

The most exciting car of the year deserves our most extensive test of the year, so we have two versions of the Toyota Gi Yaris, some excellent roads and a bitter rival. You will already know the history of the Gi Yaris, originally conceived as a rally. special homologation has almost nothing in common with a standard

yaris

its body is custom made the roof line is very low and the extravagantly swollen arches it has lightweight panels to save weight plus a carbon fiber roof it has a double wishbone suspension In the rear a trick four-wheel drive system with a switchable center differential and under the hood a small three-piston turbo engine that's bursting with power and torque is rated at 261 horsepower and 266 torque. foot-pounds.

Toyota says the Gi Aeris will hit 62 miles per hour in 5.5 seconds and let's move on to 143. Let's start by taking a little look inside the gr

yaris

. It has a very distinctive cabin. Lots of these fluid shapes everywhere. Many of these oval shapes and sharp curves. It's quite a distinctive cabin, there are a few things that aren't brilliant, for example the rear view mirror is in front of you and is very low, it looks very close and leaves only a very thin gap between the bottom of the mirror and the base of the mirror. screen, so when you go around a sharp left turn you find yourself doing that to appear under the mirror.

It's a bit strange. This screen here is not bright. It's a little far to get to this corner. It looks like it can lean towards the driver. Some people have said the seating position isn't right for them, but the seat is too high. Normally I'm very sensitive to a seat that doesn't go down enough but actually this one for me is absolutely fine the seating position is good I like that the steering wheel comes out to greet me the pedals are where I want them I also think it's a good driving environment driving I like this cabin this is the less harsh version it is not -Auto full of

circuit

s, so it does not have LSD or firmer springs and shock absorbers.

It has the Convenience

pack

age which includes things like satellite navigation and a better stereo. It costs £32,175 and the higher specification

circuit

pack

car costs £33,495 in that version. it gets a more focused suspension michelin tires upgraded brakes and a torso and limited slip differential on each axle unfortunately there will no longer be a world rally championship version of this car, but 25,000 road examples will still be built, we will return to the circuit Packaging the car in a moment, let's start with the most basic model. I really like this little three cylinder engine. It's a proper ripper. I thought it might feel a little worn out, but it doesn't.

It pulls very hard from about 4000 rpm at all times. Around the redline it makes the car feel so strong it's actually not lacking in power or to speak of at all. I like the steering, it's very crisp, maybe not the most talkative but it doesn't matter because the whole car talks, you just get an inherent intuitive feeling of how much grip there is, great front axle, it really leans into it, but it doesn't have enough grip that you feel like it's never close to the limit, there's an artificial aspect to the soundtrack coming through the speakers but it's pretty convincing and then you get this kind of petrol sound coming out of the exhaust the suspension is almost flexible in fact in this compact car it is flexible it handles wonderfully on a bumpy road it doesn't try to hit it I wonder what it will be like this Gi Yaris or a stiffer suspension that will be interesting most of the time.

It just feels like a very well sorted front-wheel drive hot hatch. It's charming. It has great balance. The body control is lovely. It feels like a light car in that way. Really transparent and predictable grip feeling. I love that the compact dimensions really work on a typical small British beer road, but it's only when you get onto a smaller road with tighter bends that you start to appreciate that four-wheel drive system and feel it doing its thing. I feel like the car starts to slide on all four wheels coming out of corners and it gets better the harder and harder you go, but I just want a little more out of it.

I want to be more aware that this car has that wonderful thing. four-wheel drive system I want to feel it pull away from a corner with a little more eagerness I want it to feel even more different than a front-wheel drive hot hatch I think I want to test the track car I think I want to see it If a suspension The stiffer it is configured and those two limited-slip differentials make a difference, a very promising initial question is: should I pay a little more to have the circuit package? It doesn't have more power, but it has a much more useful chassis, this is the most serious thing. one in the circuit package and you feel it right away, in fact it has a tighter ride, a busier ride, especially at low speed, it feels much firmer or a little firmer than the convenience package car, no it's too stiff, it's not unbearable by any means, but it is considerably harder, however it adapts wonderfully with a little bit of speed, so on this road, once you start moving the car quickly, it drives very well , it handles the bumps, it starts to slide over them instead of crashing hard over them.

Feel those differentials when you step on the gas, especially coming out of a tight corner, and both axles seem to lock up, taking more grip off the road and sending you onto the next straight, so this track car has a more purposeful character, but it doesn't. It's more fun, that's an important point, just because it has those two torso differentials doesn't mean it's more fun, more slippery, more drifting than a normal car, in fact, on the road at least it's not tremendously fun, you are not. What you are going to do with your yaris gi on the road is drift it as if it were a ray of tulba sunshine.

It doesn't, it doesn't behave like a rear-wheel drive car, it just feels absolutely immobilized on the road, so much grip, endless traction. the balance is really nice it's a lovely car with neutral balance the chassis is very well sorted even without the four wheel drive system even without that feeling that sometimes you want to oversteer hard to get away from a corner this car is fun to drive it's very well honed good manual gear change as well as direct and tight pull, the automatic rev matching that you can turn on and off with the push of a button here it's not brilliant, it's not the smoothest, it's fantastic, this little yaris and the circuit package feels like a It's a more purposeful type of car, but I just wish you could play with its balance of power coming out of a corner a little more.

I just wish he was a little more willing to step out of line a little bit and slide a little bit. From time to time you feel that it starts to do it there, but it is not frequent enough and the road has to be wet, it has to be a wet road, otherwise you need a lot of space, you need a circuit to be dry dirt, But it's a lot of fun to drive this, really the question is: if you choose one of this car's rivals, could you save a lot of money and still have fun?

Meet the bitter rival of the Gi Aeris, the Ford Fiesta St. the best small hot hatch there is and this additional variant, the best of the lot, also has a three-cylinder turbo engine, but with less thrust, a nice 200 horsepower , it's front-wheel drive only with a limited-slip differential at each corner, you'll find a manually adjustable coilover on this is the most focused Fiesta St, but only 300 will be sold in the UK, each costing £27,000, That's three thousand dollars less than a basic Gi Eris and six and a half thousand pounds less than a first-time track car. I jumped out of that yaris and walked into this party today.

I actually laughed because compared to that Toyota, this little Ford feels a little lackluster. Its engine feels a little loose on paper. This ST engine only has 60 horsepower or so. It feels more. like a hundred, so Toyota makes this Ford feel a little bit like a little toy car, but just to start, I promise you it's just a false impression to begin with. This little Fiesta St is brilliant, its chassis feels even better resolved than the Yaris. It's so good that I thought that on these slightly bumpy roads, the coilover suspension might be a little unforgiving, might make the car feel a little harsh, a little uneasy, not a bit, the way this car flows at Along a road it is sensational, it really is the suspension.

It deals with bumps and uneven sections of road very intelligently and then the way it enters corners feels so neutral, so adjustable, so fun, it's incredible, it's so much more fun than the Yaris that just goes into corners. The curve, of course, does not exit, but it enters. things the yaris will never do, steers this car well, steering sharp and incisive, but compared to that

toyota

, it's a little numb, not much feedback right in the middle of the corner, the card spins around its own center point and it just feels magical in that moment when you lean it into a curve, it's all about the flow, this car, take it down the right path and this is exactly the right path and it flows along it beautifully, it feels wonderful, the balance, poise, body control.

There's an amount of body roll that lets you feel the grip on the side of the car and makes it feel alive rather than completely inert and distant. I love driving this, it doesn't feel like it has much grip. on this slightly wet surface, so it actually moves quite a bit. I love these things. The sensations you feel when you drive it on a truly wonderful road. They just make you fall in love with driving again. I suspect that's what it's all about. To justify the extra cost of that Toyota you have to be prepared to drive it very hard on the road or use it on a track because only when you do that, drive it like crazy on the road or take it to the track, do you start. to appreciate what that all-wheel-drive system really does for you, so this little Fiesta St, this front-wheel-drive, 200-horsepower Fiesta St, might be more fun most of the time, make no mistake, The Gi Aris is a very special car, it is the track package. the one you have, you would need to use it on the track regularly to get the most out of the road improvements, a basic yaris gi is just as fun, never mind the hot hatches, the gi arrows will scare sports cars and supercars by solving b i Only I wish it had a bit more of a playful personality, it's stuck in the road surface, that's where its speed comes from, but a more playful touch would be a big help, which brings me to the first

edition

of the Fiesta.

You saw how much fun I had driving. Without exaggeration this is one of the most entertaining cars on sale today regardless of price the giaris is brilliant but for me the

fiesta

st is even more fun. Thanks for watching this

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