Name: Toyota GR Yaris (2020 – present) | Expert Rating | The Car Expert
Item: Toyota GR Yaris
Rating: 61.0

Summary

The Toyota GR Yaris is a small, high-performance hatchback that is only very loosely based on the regular Toyota Yaris model. It started development as a rally homologation model, but a change in the sport’s regulations means it will never compete. Instead, it’s only role is as a high-performance hot hatch for the road.

The GR Yaris was launched in late 2020 and immediately started racking up award wins, including pretty much every ‘Hot Hatch of the Year’ award on offer. It’s probably more accurate to think of it as an entirely different car to the regular Yaris – it shares only four exterior body parts with its namesake, and is lower and wider. It also sports the world’s most powerful three-cylinder engine, a one-litre unit pushing out 260hp via all four wheels.

The UK motoring media has been in raptures about the way the GR Yaris drives, with universal praise for its performance and handling. Criticisms have been generally minor, with Car pointing out that it has “road noise like a death-metal gig”.

The GR Yaris is keenly priced, but actually buying one has proven difficult as Toyota sells every car it manages to get hold of. This has also helped keep used car values high.

As of December 2025, the Toyota GR Yaris holds a New Car Expert Rating of C with a score of 61%. It achieves top marks for its excellent media review scores, but ownership ratings drag the overall score down and the GR Yaris has not been assessed for safety by Euro NCAP.

More Toyota Expert Ratings, new car reviews, news and features

GR Yaris highlights

Incredibly fun driving experience
Attractive exterior styling
Very responsive four-wheel drive handling
Serious pace in a straight line
Toyota offer competitive finance deals

GR Yaris lowlights

Expensive compared to regular Yaris
Rather rigid ride comfort
Limited space in the rear
Poor rear visibility
Driving position a little too high

Key specifications

Body style: Small three-door hatch
Engines: petrol
Price: From £29,995 on-road

Launched: Winter 2020/21
Last updated: N/A
Replacement due: None expected

Image gallery

Media reviews

Highlighted reviews and road tests from across the UK automotive media. Click any of the boxes to view.

Featured reviews

“Toyota’s GR Yaris was always brilliant but has received a number of key and welcome updates. It’s even better but also, a lot more expensive.”

Model reviewed: 2025 update

Score: 10 / 10

Read full review

Evo

Sam Jenkins, James Taylor

“The Toyota GR Yaris is one of our favourite hot hatchbacks on sale. It’s immensely fun to drive and very fast, but it’s not as practical as the regular Yaris.”

Score: 10 / 10

Read full review

Carwow

Mario Christou

More reviews

Auto Express

Score: 9 / 10
“Developed as a ‘World Rally Car for the road’, the Toyota GR Yaris is no ordinary supermini.”
Read review

Score: 9 / 10
“Look beyond the price because the Toyota GR Yaris is no ordinary Yaris. Instead, it’s a car that will be written about and cherished by enthusiasts for many years to come. It’s one of the most exciting cars you can drive this side of £35,000, and as fast as a supercar on the right road.”
Read review

Car

Model reviewed: 2024 Gen2 facelift
Score: 10 / 10
“The Toyota GR Yaris is feisty, quick with a capital F and oh, so fun – and feels like one of the greatest hot hatchbacks in a generation. Stick with the manual and get one of these joy machines in your life, pronto – it won’t be around forever.”
Author: Jake Groves, Ben Barry
Read review

Car Keys

Model reviewed: Circuit Pack
Score: 10 / 10
“This is one of the best hot hatches we’ve sampled in a long time. Its interior quality and compromised practicality might disappoint, but they’re worthy compromises for a driving experience that makes the GR Yaris one of the best cars Toyota has ever made.”
Read review

Carbuyer

Model reviewed:
Score: 8.2 / 10
“The Toyota GR Yaris is a once-in-a-generation rally special, serving up a seriously impressive driving experience.”
Read review

Daily Mail

Model reviewed: Circuit Pack
“As red devils go, Toyota’s rally-inspired and derived GR Yaris can certainly burn tarmac with fiery intensity. This compact, fire-breathing road-going sports car was developed specifically by Toyota from a vehicle designed to win it more championships.”
Read review

Eurekar

“The GR Yaris is a purist’s delight.”
Read review

Parkers

Score: 8 / 10
“Fast, exciting and very different to a standard Yaris”
Read review

The Sun

“The Toyota GR Yaris is a blistering hot hatch built for racing and adapted for the road.”
Read review

The Telegraph

Score: 10 / 10
“Simply stunning; fast, grippy and great fun, it provides all the sensations of a rally car in a road-going package. Every drive in the GR Yaris is going to feel special and it all comes with Toyota’s legendary reliability. We are seriously going to miss cars like this when they are legislated out of existence.”
Read review

Top Gear

Score: 10 / 10
“The GR Yaris is superb – the best Toyota we’ve ever driven.”
Read review

Safety rating

Independent crash test and safety ratings from Euro NCAP

No safety rating

As of October 2025, the Toyota GR Yaris hasn’t been crash tested by Euro NCAP.

We don’t think it’s ever likely to happen because of the car’s tiny production volumes. The GR Yaris doesn’t automatically carry the regular Yaris model’s safety rating as it’s had so many structural modifications that it’s essentially a completely different car. If it does ever get put through a Euro NCAP test programme, we will update this section accordingly.

Eco rating

Independent economy and emissions ratings from Green NCAP

No eco rating

As of October 2025, the Toyota GR Yaris has not been lab tested by Green NCAP.

The GR Yaris is a high-performance homologation model, so it hasn’t been designed for maximum environmental performance, so it’s fairly safe to assume that it wouldn’t score too highly if it was ever tested.

Running cost rating

Monthly cost of ownership data provided exclusively for The Car Expert by Clear Vehicle Data

Fuel consumption	Average	Score
Petrol models	34 mpg	D

CO₂ output	Average	Score	Variation	Score
Petrol models	202 g/km	D

Insurance group	Average	Score	Variation	Score
All models	43	E

Service and maintenance	Cost	Score
Year 1	£1,197	E
Year 2	£592	C
Year 3	£1,078	D
Year 4	£1,342	D
Year 5	£1,834	D
Overall	£6,043	D

Unsurprisingly, the high-performance GR Yaris is a tad more expensive to own than your regular garden-variety Yaris. That’s according to whole-life cost information provided exclusively to The Car Expert by our data partner, Clear Vehicle Data.

Servicing and maintenance costs are actually pretty good compared to anything else with this level of performance, while insurance costs are reasonable. Fuel consumption isn’t great, though, especially if you drive the GR Yaris the way you’ll inevitably want to…

Reliability rating

Reliability data provided exclusively for The Car Expert by MotorEasy

No reliability rating

As of October 2025, we don’t have enough reliability data on the Toyota GR Yaris to generate a reliability rating.

The Car Expert’s reliability information is provided exclusively to us using extended warranty data from our partner, MotorEasy. As soon as MotorEasy has sufficient data on the GR Yaris, we’ll publish the score here.

Warranty rating

New car warranty information for the Toyota GR Yaris

Overall ratingE17%
New car warranty duration3 years
New car warranty mileage60,000 miles

Toyota’s new car warranty is pretty much the bare minimum offered in the UK, with a duration of three years and a limit of 60,000 miles. Other car manufacturers do better (and in some cases, much better).

Toyota does offer a conditional warranty extension each year on most of its models, whereby if you have your car serviced by an official Toyota dealer then you’ll get 12 months of extended warranty, up to a total of ten years.

Warranty on a used Toyota GR Yaris

If you are buying an ‘Approved Used’ Toyota GR Yaris from an official Toyota dealership, you will get a minimum 12-month warranty included.
If you are buying a used Toyota GR Yaris from an independent dealership, any warranty offered will vary and will probably be managed by a third-party warranty company.
If you are buying a used Toyota GR Yaris from a private seller, there are no warranty protections beyond any remaining portion of the original new car warranty.

If you’re looking to buy any used car that is approaching the end of its warranty period, a used car warranty is usually a worthwhile investment. Check out The Car Expert’s guide to the best used car warranty providers, which will probably be cheaper than a warranty sold by a dealer.

Recalls

Official DVSA safety recalls that have been issued for the Toyota GR Yaris

As of October 2025, we are not aware of any DVSA vehicle safety recalls affecting the Toyota GR Yaris. However, recall information is updated very regularly, so this may have changed.

You can check to see if your car has any outstanding recalls by visiting the DVLA website or contacting your local Toyota dealer.

Everything you need to know about UK vehicle recalls

Awards

Trophies, prizes and awards that the Toyota GR Yaris has received

2025

News UK Motoring Awards – – Best Hot Hatch

2021

UK Car of the Year Awards – Car of the Year + Best Performance
carwow Awards – Car of the Year + Best Hot Hatch
Auto Express Awards – Best Performance Car
Parkers New Car Awards – Best Car for Thrill-seekers
News UK Motoring Awards – Jeremy Clarkson’s Car of the Year + Best Hot Hatch