The New Toyota GR Yaris Automatic Is Faster Than The Old Manual

Toyota revealed the updated GR Yaris a few days ago. The automaker increased its power, revamped its styling, and added the option of an automatic transmission for the first time. That sounds like a wonderful recipe for fun, and there’s already a new video highlighting how much quicker the new one is to its predecessor.

The GR Yaris still packs Toyota’s 1.6-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine, except now it makes 300 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. That’s up from 268 hp and 272 lb-ft, and the power upgrade is obvious.

Gallery: 2024 Toyota GR Yaris

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The quickest GR Yaris in this test was the new one with the eight-speed automatic. It completed the quarter-mile run in 13.61 seconds. The new Yaris with the manual did it in 13.67 seconds; however, it reached 60 miles per hour first in 5.06 seconds. The automatic wasn’t that far behind, reaching 60 in 5.1 clicks.

While this wasn’t a perfect comparison between old and new, the 2020 hatchback was slower. It needed six full seconds to reach 60 and completed the quarter-mile in 14.12 seconds. That’s still impressive but certainly worse than the updated version.

Toyota made several improvements to the Yaris beyond adding the new eight-speed torque-converter automatic that the company calls the Direct Automatic Transmission. The Circuit spec includes a cooling package, and auto-equipped models feature a dedicated gearbox cooler.

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Under the hood, Toyota redesigned the lightweight pistons, increased direct injection pressure, and made other tweaks. Engineers strengthened the body and massaged the suspension to handle the increased power. 

Toyota didn’t offer the old GR Yaris here, and it won’t sell us the new one either. However, we might see the car’s new gearbox show up in the GR Corolla for the 2025 model year.