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Toyota plans to release a 210 horsepower Yaris to compete with the Fiesta ST

MKVIIST

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#1


http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/2018-toyota-yaris-wrc-news-specs-performance-pictures/

Toyota is one of the first automakers to announce its plans for the upcoming Geneva Auto Show. The Japanese brand will travel to the event to introduce a Yaris on steroids, developed with input from its rally team.

The yet-unnamed model is powered by a turbocharged four-cylinder engine that delivers over 210 horsepower. Additional technical specifications haven't been released yet, but Toyota promises it has comprehensively upgraded the suspension components and the brakes to keep the extra power in check.

Visually, the high-performance Yaris receives a more muscular-looking front bumper with a large air dam and a strip of red trim, black mirror caps, a roof-mounted spoiler, and a new rear bumper that incorporates an air diffuser as well as a central exhaust outlet. Seventeen-inch alloy wheels wrapped by Bridgestone Potenza tires adds a finishing touch to the look.

The rally-bred model previews a face-lift for Toyota's popular city car. It includes a revised front end with new headlights, and redesigned tail lamps that stretch into the hatch. Every member of the Yaris lineup will adopt the new look in the coming months.

The updates also include a modernized interior - likely with a new infotainment system - and "many technical modifications." Notably, the hybrid model sold on the other side of the pond has received major upgrades. However, we'll have to wait until the Geneva show opens its doors to find out precisely what Toyota has in store.

Toyota will show the Euro-spec version of the Yaris in Switzerland. The U.S.-spec model will likely receive the same updates in time for the 2018 model year, and it's not too far-fetched to assume it will make its debut in April at the New York Auto Show. However, at this point it's not clear whether the 210-horsepower model will battle against the Ford Fiesta ST on our shores.
 


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#3
Very cool, taking advantage of the WRC effort no doubt.

This is what the Scion brand needed, not the collection of uninteresting Yaris variants that killed the brand.
 


ron@whoosh

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#5
I like little odd cars
this isn't something I'd buy but hey whatever

neato!
 


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#6
At least the FiST will have some real competition in its class now. Hopefully this pushes Ford to look at ways to improve the FiST while not betraying it's nature.
 


OffTheWall503

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#7
I think for companies like Toyota and Honda they seem to be coming into the game a little too late. Ford, Mazda and Subaru set the bar really high in the mid-2000s without response from Toyota and Honda. Now that they are finally releasing things, customers in that segment have already purchased other options.

Options are always nice but it seems a little too late for those manufacturers to jump into the segment.
 


BoostBumps

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#8
Its great to see more competition entering the hot hatch market...Hopefully it will encourage Ford to up its game with the next gen Fiesta ST!
 


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#9
I want to know it's weight - whether it will be as light as our FiSTs. I know hacking it's ECU won't be as inexpensive and easy as it is with the FiST. I'm sure upgraded parts will have the foreign car markup, as well. For anyone that thinks I'm a foreign car hater, I own four of them. My FiST is the first domestic I've owned in ... 18 years. LOL
 


Zormecteon

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#10
I've always like the look of the Yaris. I would never buy one, but I do like the looks.
 


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#12
Competition is always a good thing. Hopefully it'll be light and tossable like the Fist, and come with three pedals. Toyota makes great vehicles and it will be interesting to see what they do with the Yaris.


But damn is that front end ugly.
 


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#13
Toyota USED to make great cars. I've been awaiting the rebirth since soon after the 7th generation Celica was introduced for the 2000 model year.
 


M-Sport fan

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#14
Its great to see more competition entering the hot hatch market...Hopefully it will encourage Ford to up its game with the next gen Fiesta ST!
^^^THIS!

But about the only thing that appeals to me about this super Yaris is that it will be available here in a 3 door version (IF at all). ;)
 


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#16
Its great to see more competition entering the hot hatch market...Hopefully it will encourage Ford to up its game with the next gen Fiesta ST!
Of course there's loads of competition in the hot hatch market, we just don't get them here. The Fiesta still does well though. The volume in the subcompact tuner hatch market in the states is like.. tiny though. There are.. dozens of hot hatches I wish we got here, but I don't see it happening until fuel costs skyrocket again.

I just don't see Toyota doing a great job with this. They just.. don't have it in them to make a truly great car lately, which is unfortunate. The only ones that comes to mind are one built by Subaru, and another built by Mazda strangely enough (but Toyota bashed it with an ugly stick).
 


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#17
That looks like a bloated fiat that got its nose smooshed in by a frying pan. I am interested to see how ford responds and also how toyota is going to get that 210 hp. Id be willing to bet theyll bump up displacement along with the turbo. Maybe ford will bump the st up to 1.8?

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 


neeqness

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#19
Competition can sometimes be bad though. Not to say I'm not hopeful, just let's say I'm not as hopeful because sometimes competition backfires.

This is a capitalist society and usually sales drive development. Hot hatches have always been a niche market. But if Toyota jumps in and makes it appeal to a broader group, I think it could affect future FiSTs and may change it for the worst just to try to compete. One thing that I am hopeful though is that Ford will stick to it's niche. While I like Honda (my motorcycles have been nearly exclusively Honda), they tend to drop or significantly change niche models that are doing well with a strong following just to keep them in line with their competition or to fit their own idea of what mold that model should be in and what might help it sell the most even when it is proven unsuccessful. They dont seem to listen to their fan base much. Ford on the otherhand seems to listen more to the fans of it's niche models...after all I think this is kind of how we got the ST in the first place. I liked the base Fiesta as a fairly decent economy car but it wasn't all that special really. The ST however has really knocked the brand up a few notches in my book. But niches like this don't usually appeal to the masses. Most people I know don't drive stick and/or don't want to. Honda might be smart business wise to take manual trannys out of certain models but they lost me as a solid customer for it. But really I should thank them because if they hadn't I wouldnt be enjoying my FiST right now.

Oh crap, sorry for the rant...
 


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#20
Should be a hit with Star Wars fans with it's Storm Tropper look alike front end. It may have the power to compete, but I wonder if it will close to the handling of our FiST's?
Certainly Nissan's hopped up Sentra falls way short in this regard.
 




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