Toyota has yet to start customer deliveries of the GR Yaris and already, drifting star Daigo Saito has a pair of them in his garage and at least one them has a 2JZ engine.
There are currently two GR Yaris models in Saito’s collection, the first of which looks to be finished and features a widebody Pandem kit and a racing livery. It is unclear what mechanical modifications have been made to this particular car but it certainly looks the part. Then we come to the second and most interesting of the two that the drifter owns.
Images shared on Instagram detail the process of creating the 2JZ-powered GR Yaris and as you probably could have guessed, creating it looks to have been an extremely laborious process.
Read Also: First Toyota GR Yaris Launched Down Under With A$9,550 Discount At A$39,950 (US$29k)
For starters, the hot hatch was stripped back to its shell and the engine bay and firewall have been cut to make way for the 2JZ. Don’t forget, the GR Yaris has a tiny 1.6-liter three-cylinder from the factory so shoehorning a 2JZ in there, and one that has been stroked to 3.4-liters, is no easy feat. What’s more, the six-cylinder engine has also been joined by a monstrous Garrett GTX4294R turbocharger and the hatch is being converted to rear wheel drive.
Work on the car appears to be ongoing but when it is complete, it will be an absolute weapon. It will also be interesting to see how the phenomenally short wheelbase of the GR Yaris will translate into a rear-wheel drive drift car.
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