Remember the 200kW Toyota Yaris? It’s set for local shores

Toyota already has the Supra and Hilux in its GR Sport range and now looks set to welcome the Yaris to the local family.

The WRC-inspired hot hatch churns out a whopping 200kW and 360Nm via its turbocharged 3-cylinder, 1.6-litre engine. All that power is sent to all four wheels via a GR-FOUR permanent 4WD system. Making the package even sweeter is the presence of a 6-speed manual transmission.

The body has also been lightened and this translates into a low kerb weight of just 1 280kg. This near perfect power-to-weight ratio allows the hatch to accelerate to 100km/h in under 5.5-seconds with a top speed of 230km/h. It very much creeps into VW Golf R territory.

South Africa’s Toyota Gazoo Racing website shows the Yaris marked for launch alongside the existing Supra and Hilux models. They also wet the appetite of many by giving petrolheads a short glimpse on social media of the latest performance offering to come out of Japan.

Any sort of local introduction will most likely take place as of next year.