Although the Yaris is lighter when it has all-wheel drive, is it enough for the Bimmer to be beaten?
David versus Goliath. The story is familiar to you, but if not, you know that the underdog wins over an seemingly insurmountable opponent. We don’t think there is a better automobile equivalent to a Toyota GR Yaris taking on a BMW 4. And we’re not just talking about the fear factor that comes with that Big BMW nose.
The GR Yaris might be described as half the car of the M4. The GR Yaris has half the number of cylinders, half as many turbochargers and nearly half the engine displacement. It also has approximately half the power. That’s 257 horsepower (135kilowatts), for the 1.6-liter turbocharged triple-cylinder in the Toyota. The BMW produces 503 horsepower (375 kW) using a 3.0-liter six cylinder engine with two turbochargers. How can the GR Yaris be considered a contender in a race?
It doesn’t, if we follow the statistics. The BMW is faster than the GR Yaris at 60 mph and this gap extends to a veritable sun system over the quarter-mile. The GR Yaris does have two strengths: its weight and its grip. The GR Yaris is almost 900 pounds (408 kg) lighter than the BMW and can claw at the track with its all-wheel drive. The M4 may be faster on paper but the GR Yaris is more stable in real-world situations. Let’s face it, the heart of that boosted three-pot is not what you would expect.
It’s obvious as soon as the race begins, as the hot hatch jumps to a lead. It launches at a high rpm without wheelspin and squirts away from the start line in a flash. However, the driver did manage to get a slight advantage over the M4. The Yaris is now well ahead of the M4 by a mere car length, but it’s impossible to stop the M4’s power surge. Goliath does more than pass David. It blows past on its way to victory.
But it’s not as big as you might think. It’s a loss. David put up a great fight.