The Toyota GR Yaris won six races during the 2023 World Rally Championship (WRC) season at the hands of drivers Sebastien Ogier and eventual driver’s champion Kalle Rovanpera. To celebrate their wins, and the fact that the team won the manufacturer’s championship, it has released a pair of specially tuned GR Yaris models.
Created by the two rally pilots, the models feature special driving modes, modifications, and design, and design cues inspired by Toyota’s hot shoes. They were commissioned by Chairman Akio Toyoda to “express my respect and gratitude to the drivers who hone and grow our cars in rallies, to all the teams that provide us with such opportunities, and to rally organizers and all others involved, as well as to fans.”
The first change you’re likely to notice is to the paint. The Ogier Edition features a new color dubbed “Matte Stealth Gray.” Meanwhile, the Rovanpera Edition has a three-tone paint job inspired the driver’s helmet. And it really is a “paint job,” as Toyota opted not to use any wraps or decals to achieve the look.
The 2024 Toyota GR Yaris Kalle Rovanpera Edition
The hot hatches also get special WRC victory commemorative decals on the left and right front fenders. While the Rovanpera Edition gets the variable CFRP wing from the GRMN Yaris, the Ogier Edition gets a newly designed lightweight rally spoiler.
Further improving the vehicles’ performance are new modes developed by the drivers they’re named after. In the Ogier Edition, the Gravel and Track modes are replaced by the MORIZO Mode (which the driver just happened to really like) and the ‘SEB. Mode’, which sends more torque to the rear wheels, and is said to improve turn-in response.
Meanwhile, the Rovanpera Edition model gets a DONUT Mode, which does what you’d expect, and a KALLE Mode that maximizes the use of the constant velocity rear differential to allow the car’s rear end to swing out on corner entry, and to encourage sliding through corners. Both models also come with a NORMAL mode, like other GR Yarises.
Read: Sebastian Ogier Has Taken An Incredible Ninth Monte Carlo Rally Win In A Gazoo 1-2
Inside, the new models get an exclusive plate commemorating Toyota’s World Rally Championship title on the passenger side of the dash. In addition, the steering wheel stitching the of the Ogier Edition uses red, white, and blue thread to honor his homeland, France, while the Rovenpera Edition gets blue and white thread as an ode to the Finnish flag.
Toyota plans to make just 100 of each example of the car, and buyers will be invited to the Japanese leg of the WRC in 2024. There, they will be hosted by Toyota, will be allowed to interact with the drivers after which their cars are named, and will receive a pit tour, and seating at the race’s special stages. They will also get special gifts, and their names will appear on the 2024 racecars, for selected rounds of the 2024 season.
