Has the updated pint-sized weapon lost its sting? (Toyota GR Yaris GTS Auto 2026 Review)

Five years ago the Toyota GR Yaris blasted on the Aussie hot-mix with rally-bred DNA and feisty all-wheel-driven three-pot turbo engine and old-school manual gearbox, capturing enthusiast hearts with its fiery nature and a thrifty circa-$40K price tag. Now, half a decade later, it’s spawned a fancier GTS trim, an automatic option and, more recently, launched a facelift with retuned underpinnings and boosted 221kW/400Nm oomph, attached to a price that’s now nudging $70K on road. Chasing Cars founder Tom Baker revisits one of the most genuine and deserving cult car of the current era to see whether what appears to be the last of Toyota’s proper ICE-powered rally homologation breed still thrills, despite some questionable tweaks to its capabilities and the spiralling outlay it commands. And with Supra now on hiatus and GR Yaris and GR Corolla coming to the end of their lives, is this a fitting last-hurrah for ICE-powered hotties before Toyota makes the expected moves to hybrid in the future? Time codes: 0:00 - Intro 0:48 - Price 1:53 - Interior 2:40 - Tech 4:24 - GTS goodies 5:24 - On road 6:11 - Value for money 6:33 - Upgraded engine 8:00 - Retuned dynamics 9:32 - Suspension 10:20 - Safety tweaks 10:41 - Ownership 11:28 - Verdict As always, we don’t accept advertising from car manufacturers, and we’re powered by Budget Direct. Subscribe now! https://www.youtube.com/user/ChasingC... Chasing Cars on Facebook:   / chasingcarsaustralia   Follow Chasing Cars on Instagram:   / chasingcars.com.au   Chasing Cars is Australia's most independent source of new car reviews, car industry news, comparisons and car guides. We give you a critical look at every new car you should consider!