Fascinating counterpoint Yaris GR review

[jl4069]

Seems Catchpole is not quite as impressed with the GR as most of he others. Maybe the GR isn’t as perfect as most have led us to believe.
Few bits of his review:
He says...
It’s not that playful car in corners.
Steering doesn’t let you feel that much on turn in “it’s hard to judge the front end”
Says he’d like it if they could make it more like an mitsu Evo where you can use the tail to get around corners more efficiently.

Video is definitely worth a look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNx1Dxc4hhc

Edited by jl4069 on Saturday 5th December 21:55

[leviCV8]

I ordered one after watching this video! I wouldn't exactly call it negative.

Front end feel doesn't seem to be great (mentioned by a few other reviewers as well).

Apart from that the main complaint seems to be the interior and visibility out.

[Prestonese]

Catchpole is usually quite nuanced with his reviews even though almost all of them are seemingly positive. I'd tend to agree with the OP. He didn't seem that keen on the Yaris - his descriptions were similar to Frankel's.

But don't just rely on the journalists. Go test one and see for yourselves.

[jl4069]

I figured they would throw this one right to the basement. Wonder if Henry posted it, if it would be thrown into “jap chat”. Well played fellows, you always know how to make these things political.

Edited by jl4069 on Saturday 5th December 22:39

[ecsrobin]

We are all different. If he wants playful round corners just fit some ditchfinders. I’ve purchased it as I don’t want playful round corners.

As mentioned Frankel wasn’t a fan either doesn’t mean its a bad car just means they prefer a Porsche.

[Holgate86]

ecsrobin said:

We are all different. If he wants playful round corners just fit some ditchfinders. I’ve purchased it as I don’t want playful round corners.

As mentioned Frankel wasn’t a fan either doesn’t mean its a bad car just means they prefer a Porsche.

Totally agree, I was a bit disappointed by HC's comments, but felt he was a bit dissed by the fact that Toyota seemed to let other YouTube jockeys get first dibs. I remember him being really glowing about the Up! GTi and after I had a test drive I must say I was really disappointed.

I've had my Porsche and wouldn't have another, even if they threw a GT car at me, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the GR (long wait to June) and getting out on the twisties in the North Pennines.

H86

[RacerMike]

I didn't take Catchpoles comments as negative. Just realistic and objective......problem is everyone is used to watching influencers like Shmee and even CarWow who have no car reviewing ability beyond 'wow it's fast' and give overwhelmingly positive reviews for everything as they a) wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the steering feel in a Kia C'eed and a Caterham and b) rely entirely on the generosity of PR departments to give them free stuff.

All the HC did was critically review the car and point out some aspects that weren't perfect. No car is. But he seemed to absolutely get the car from what I saw.

[jl4069]

RacerMike said:

I didn't take Catchpoles comments as negative. Just realistic and objective......problem is everyone is used to watching influencers like Shmee and even CarWow who have no car reviewing ability beyond 'wow it's fast' and give overwhelmingly positive reviews for everything as they a) wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the steering feel in a Kia C'eed and a Caterham and b) rely entirely on the generosity of PR departments to give them free stuff.

All the HC did was critically review the car and point out some aspects that weren't perfect. No car is. But he seemed to absolutely get the car from what I saw.

I tend to agree with you. However I think that HC appears to have driven the car in wales on wet roads, and with some speed. He comments reflect someone who wasn’t speaking in generalities, like “handles with a small amount of early under steer” or “steering is super sharp”, or “body control is nearly perfect”. All such statements are usually made because either the tester didn’t push the car hard enough to expose any issues, or because the tester doesn’t want to get too negative or political.

It looks like HC was one of the few to make us see that maybe the GR isn’t as adjustable through corners, as it could be: that maybe with a different set up, it might be able to improve the cars overall poise and allow for more control of the handling balance by use of the throttle. Unlike other testers he says that the handling leaves a decent amount of room for improvement. From what I have read of HC he appears to be a rather able/articulate tester, and keen driver, so I don’t think this is a case of him not having the skill to assess the car. Glad HC did not make his test political or held back comment to keep things positive. J

[leviCV8]

I think one of the issues when it comes to 'playfullness' and 'adjustability' seems to be the levels of grip. Watch the HKS videos they have bumped theirs up to 350hp and it looks really composed and the driver is pulling the handbrake every 2 seconds to get it to slide.

I agree with the other poster it does depend very much on what you want. My Monaro is beautifully adjustable on the throttle - you can feel the line tighten as the LSD hooks up and it will oversteer on tap with more right foot. Sadly in the winter it's nothing but a hindrance when you are trying to push on as I don't want to go down the public road with huge handfuls of opposite lock on all the time.

The GR Yaris just reminds me of my old Impreza STI. The difference between me being quite dissapointed with my Impreza and it being completely addictive was a set of new 4 wheel alignment settings - once I had the settings nailed the front end was epic! I am not massively into modifying cars but I do appreciate that a few tweaks when it comes to tyres, alignment and suspension can transform a car. I am hoping the GR reacts in very much the same way.

[ChrisW.]

I think it's much easier to make a car adjustable on the throttle when it's either front or rear wheel drive.

50:50 / 60:40 / 30:70 ... can't compare to 100:0 or 0:100 ...

Of course weight transfer can also be used ... but it takes time to get to know any car and I really wonder if any of the EVO drivers had enough miles under their belt to string it all together ... particularly when trying to assimilate so many different cars at once ?

I own a Yaris GRMN ...the Thorsen diff is fantastic making the car almost handle as a rear wheel driver when really pressing on ... but you have to feel confident to do it and you build to this.

For interest at Oulton I was managed to get down to 2:12 ... but the front pads only lasted the morning !

By comparison my modified GT4 will do :55's ... and the front pads last a season of trackdays (running with Surface Transform long fibre carbon discs and a little extra cooling).

[trickywoo]

ChrisW. said:

For interest at Oulton I was managed to get down to 2:12 ... but the front pads only lasted the morning !

By comparison my modified GT4 will do :55's ... and the front pads last a season of trackdays (running with Surface Transform long fibre carbon discs and a little extra cooling).

Sounds like the ESP may be using the brakes to keep the car stable. If not that is crazy pad usage.

[ChrisW.]

trickywoo said:

Sounds like the ESP may be using the brakes to keep the car stable. If not that is crazy pad usage.

ESP couldn't possibly use the pads that fast.

The pad material is quite soft and the grooves in the disc simply shredded them. I have photos of the pad material like metal fillings on the rims.

The car was in any event flat in most of the corners letting the diff work it's magic ...