Used Toyota GR Yaris 2020-present review

This isn't your run-of-the-mill hot hatch. No, the Toyota GR Yaris is a homologation special – two words that'll widen the eyes of any petrolhead.

It all comes down to rallying. You see, in the sport's rules, your rally car needs to be based on an existing road car and, back in the '90s, this gave birth to some road-going rally rockets, cars like the Subaru Impreza WRX STI and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo.

Nowadays, though, the rules are more lenient than they were back then, meaning homologation specials are pretty much a thing of the past. However, Toyota decided to build one anyway. It gave its Toyota Yaris a complete overhaul, which means there are very few parts shared between this GR version and the regular, hybrid-only small car. Even hot hatches such as the Ford Fiesta ST and Volkswagen Golf GTI aren't subjected to such extensive, performance-oriented treatment.

As such, the GR Yaris can easily outpace those cars. Under the bonnet, you'll find a 1.6-litre three-cylinder petrol engine aided by a hefty turbocharger. There's an impressive 257bhp and 266lb ft of torque on tap, with this grunt being sent to all four wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. When we timed the GR Yaris from 0-60mph, it managed the sprint in just 4.6sec, meaning it'll scare a fair few sports cars in a straight line.

It'll do the same in the corners, too. As we mentioned, the GR Yaris is four-wheel drive and the system it uses is very clever. Via the driving modes, you can shift the power between the front and rear wheels: Normal mode delivers a 60:40 (front/rear) split, Sport 30:70 and Track 50:50.

This, along with its relatively low weight, helps grant the GR Yaris truly remarkable grip, composure and agility in the bends. We recommend seeking out a Circuit Pack model over the standard GR and Convenience Pack. With its stiffer springs, dampers and anti-roll bars, as well as lightweight forged 18in alloy wheels, Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres and Torsen limited-slip differentials front and rear, the Circuit Pack is the creme of the crop, being even keener to change direction than those other versions are. Those diffs boost traction and agility even further, too. It hangs onto tarmac so well, in fact, that you best take it to a racetrack to fully exploit its capabilities.

It's no fun on the road, then? Well, while the Fiesta ST is more playful at lower speeds, it can still excite and engage to a great degree. The GR Yaris's steering is well-weighted and precise, while the manual gearshift is very satisfying, partly thanks to its short throw. Noise is the only thing we wouldn't write home about. The GR Yaris plays a fairly quiet and artificial tune upon a plant of your right foot.

And after all of this, the GR Yaris (even in Circuit Pack form) doesn't wholly lose sight of, well, being a useable Yaris. The ride is firm, but far from punishingly so, while its sports seats are decently comfortable – they possess a good amount of bolstering yet they remain accommodating for the majority of body types.

The GR Yaris, especially on the motorway, whips up a little more road and wind noise than some rivals do, but you shouldn't find long journeys particularly arduous if you're the driver or a front-seat passenger. Things are different for those sitting in the back. For starters, you'll only find two seats back there, as opposed to the typical three. What's more, even average-sized adults will have their heads hitting the roof and their knees wedged up against a front seat.

The boot is tiny as well. It'll deal with a small weekly shop or three carry-on suitcases (one fewer than the regular Yaris will take), but that’s your lot.

As for the rest of the interior, the build quality is good and sporty 'GR' badges are plentiful. Nonetheless, you'll find plenty of bland, scratchy plastics all over the place, just like you would inside the regular Yaris.

Sitting atop the dashboard is an 8.0in touchscreen infotainment system. The graphics look a little old hat and the system isn’t particularly snappy, but it’s fairly simple to use thanks in part to the physical shortcut buttons surrounding it. All models get Apple CarPlay/Android Auto smartphone mirroring and this is handy seeing as sat-nav is only available with the Convenience Pack – you can’t have it in conjunction with the Circuit Pack.

If you're interested in finding a used Toyota GR Yaris or any of the other cars mentioned here, head over to our Used Cars For Sale pages to find lots of cars listed at a great price.

Used car prices for the Toyota GR Yaris begin at around £29,000. The vast majority of examples are Circuit Pack cars and this variant began at £35,705 when new, so £29,000 represents a good saving off new. It'll likely be a 2021 model with around 30,000 miles on its clock.

Examples from 2022 start at around £33,000, while 2023 cars aren't worth paying much attention to – as of writing, they exceed £40,000 (yes, that's used).

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MPG

Its official fuel economy figure of 34.3mpg is on par for the hot hatch class.

Road tax

You'll pay the current flat-rate fee of £180 per year in road tax.

Insurance and servicing

The GR Yaris belongs to insurance group 36, putting costs at around £924 on average. Toyota will sell you a full service of the GR Yaris for £470. Other services are available.

It's a no-brainer. Go for the Circuit Pack, because it's the best to drive, plus it vastly outnumbers standard GR and Convenience Pack cars on the used market.

Our favourite GR Yaris: 1.6T GR Circuit AWD

As we've touched upon, there isn't much that directly compares with the Toyota GR Yaris. It's faster than pretty much any hot hatch of its size. You'll need to look towards the Honda Civic Type R and Volkswagen Golf R if you want similar performance and those models are much larger – they're based on family cars.

If you want a hot hatch that, like the GR Yaris, is the size of a small car, take a good look at the Ford Fiesta ST. It isn't as fast or as exciting as the GR Yaris, but it's incredibly fun to drive, not to mention it's cheaper to buy. The Hyundai i20N is another car worth considering.

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If you're interested in finding a used Toyota GR Yaris or any of the other cars mentioned here, head over to our Used Cars For Sale pages to find lots of cars listed at a great price.