For a long time, the TOYOTA brand has been welcomed by consumers due to its good quality and stability, considerate service, and affordable prices. However, in the eyes of the current president Akio Toyota, there are endless possibilities for TOYOTA that have not yet been explored. He loves cars, he is also a skilled and well-known amateur driver, and he has a deep experience of what it means to drive pleasure. Under his leadership, the GAZOO Racing racing department was formally established, and the performance product lines GR and GR Sport were derived, bringing a new atmosphere to TOYOTA.
The charm of GAZOO Racing can be learned from GR YARIS, which makes global performance fans crazy. Immediately after listing, it achieved great success in markets all over the world. Not only did a large number of buyers emerge in Japan and Europe, Australia opened ordering from November last year to April this year. In just six months or so, more than 2,200 orders have been accumulated. Consumers who ordered late will even have to wait until 2022 to have the opportunity to deliver the car. As a result, Australia’s TOYOTA has to reluctantly suspend ordering on July 1.
Some people may think that the support of performance cars in the Taiwan market may not be as good as that in foreign countries, but in fact, since the general agent Hetai Motors launched the GR YARIS pre-order activity on April 8 this year, the first 30 vehicles not only sold out in a short period of time, but even sold out. Accumulated more than 400 orders in 3 days. Such a enthusiastic response made the Japanese original factory also attach great importance to it. With the active fight of Hotai Motors, the first quota was increased to 80 vehicles, but it is still far from meeting the needs of performance fans…
What is so special about the GAZOO Racing created by Akio Toyoda? In such a short period of time, TOYOTA has been turned into an existence that makes performance fans cheer loudly?
Toyota’s third generation creates GAZOO Racing racing brand
One-handedly leading brand image and then evolve
From a young age, President Akio Toyoda has shown a crazy fascination with cars, but after joining the TOYOTA Group, he discovered that enthusiasm alone is not enough, and he must also understand vehicles. Toyoda graduated from Keio University Law School. If he is not a technical background, if he wants to have a common language with engineers and learn more about auto mechanics and related technologies, the fastest and most effective way is to become a racer. Because people who can’t drive, there is no way to make a good car.
The original starting point was to allow the brand to evolve, but he did not expect this idea, which made him fall in love with racing. When Team GAZOO was founded in 2007, it even took part in the New Berlin 24-hour endurance race under the pseudonym of MORIZO, despite the opposition from the society. Although this secret has not been hidden for long, it is enough to prove that Akio Toyoda really loves racing, not just to improve his image.
After Akio Toyoda took office as the president, one of the major decisions was to integrate all the work related to motor racing under the signboard of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, and to establish a subsidiary of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Company in 2017. It gave birth to a performance brand-“GAZOO Racing” that integrates years of experience, expertise and enthusiasm in participating in various events around the world.
Satisfy the desire to pursue passion
The ultimate performance GR and the mass sales upgrade GR Sport dual-line parallel
GAZOO Racing integrates the TOYOTA motor sports, has rich experience and solid technology, and introduces it into commercial production cars, launching two series of GR and GR Sport. GR is an exclusive development and extreme performance car. The first GR series of the brand is the GR SUPRA, which has returned to the world in 17 years. GR YARIS is the second performance car of the GR series. GR Sport is approved by the original GR team. Tuning and refitting mass-market models can enhance the driving pleasure of general mass-market vehicles. Altis GR Sport is more suitable for consumers who like personalized and sporty styles.
As a top performance series, GR has a strong blood factor of racing DNA. Taking GR YARIS as an example, it not only adopts the track design derived from the GR team in the WRC, but can be said to be a car developed on the track; power output, gear shifting The logic is completely adjusted for performance requirements; in this era of declining manual transmission, TOYOTA still insists on providing GR YARIS manual transmission, with GR-FOUR four-wheel drive system, bringing the ultimate control experience.
Pure performance steel gun without impurities
GR YARIS was born with the goal of winning the WRC championship with the highest rally
The WRC World Off-Road Rally is the highest palace of its kind. The participating vehicles must have corresponding commercially available models. In order to participate in the competition and win, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing has worked hard to create the GR YARIS performance hatchback. Different from the “equipment upgrade” of the same car series on the market, GR YARIS uses tailor-made equipment and exclusive specifications. Therefore, even if it shares the same car name with YARIS, GR YARIS can almost be regarded as completely different in its bones. The products show TOYOTA’s ambition to deepen the performance market.
The 1.6-liter 3-cylinder turbocharged engine of GR YARIS is specially developed for WRC events, which can output a maximum horsepower of 261 horsepower and a maximum torque of 36.7 kgm. Exclusively tuned chassis and independent suspension, plus GR-FOUR four-wheel drive system can provide multiple driving modes; in addition to the general road mode, for advanced players, you can turn off VSC (Vehicle Stability Control) in Sport and Track modes. System) Activate the expert mode to unleash the charm of driving the vehicle, so that ordinary people can also have the opportunity to experience what is meant by WRC racing tuning.
In order to provide the most abundant driving pleasure, TOYOTA abandoned the common automatic configuration nowadays and installed an iMT6-speed manual transmission for GR YARIS. In addition to its lightweight advantages, the iMT control device can automatically adjust the engine during up and down shifts. Speed, you can shift gears smoothly without replenishing oil with your toes. Even if you don’t have a lot of experience in manual control, you can fully liberate the performance strength of GR YARIS after a little familiarity.
When you first see GR YARIS, you can fully feel its passionate charm. The wide-body shape and lightweight body has a beautiful aerodynamic design full of muscle power. It is also equipped with forged wheels of the well-known brand BBS and MICHELIN Pilot Sport 4S high-performance tires. , From the outside, the dynamic running style is revealed. After entering the car, the track-level cockpit has the dual advantages of both visual impact and driving experience. The warm-blooded atmosphere is not insignificant. When you sit in the driver’s seat, you will find that no matter the gear or pedal position, it is for driving better. Designed for easy control of the vehicle, TOYOTA’s desire for victory can be seen everywhere!
Derived from Akio Toyoda’s passion for cars, extracting the sports genes contained within the brand, and using the technical essence of years of racing experience as the backbone, although TOYOTA GAZOO Racing was only established in 2017, it actually possesses extremely profound skills. The performance foundation. It is no wonder that GR YARIS can have the charm of bursting more than 400 orders in 3 days. In the future, GR will definitely occupy an important position in the market of performance sports cars.
Go tolearn more
.