Toyota GR Yaris Rovanperä Edition Has A ‘Donut’ Mode

It’s far from unusual for a car manufacturer to slap the name of one of its associated racing drivers onto a car to cook up a special edition. Often, it’s nothing more than a cynical marketing ploy topped off with a set of decals (looking at you, Citroen C4 by Loeb), but every so often, it’ll lead to something with a bit more substance.

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Tommi Mäkinen Edition. The Acura NSX Alex Zanardi Edition. The Subaru Impreza RB320, named after late WRC champion Richard Burns. Now, there are two versions of the sensational Toyota GR Yaris to add to that list.

Debuting on the opening day of this year’s Monte Carlo Rally, the Ogier and Rovanperä Edition GR Yarises (Yarii?) have each been developed with input from their namesake drivers from the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team - Sébastien Ogier, who won two of his eight World Rally Championships with Toyota, and 2022 and 2023 title-winner Kalle Rovanperä, the youngest world champion the sport has ever seen.

These are much more than some fancy paint and spoilers. Both cars have had the standard GR Yaris’ Gravel and Track modes replaced with unique setups for their all-wheel drive systems. They’re developed with Ogier and Rovanperä’s input, and Toyota says they “reflect each driver’s personal preference for handling and performance.”

First, the Ogier Edition. In place of Track and Gravel are ‘Morizo’ and ‘Seb’ modes. The first is developed by Toyota’s incredibly cool chairman Akio Toyoda who, in his spare time, races under the pseudonym ‘Morizo’. According to Toyota, Morizo mode is set up with on-track consistency in mind, “calibrated to help deliver consistent race times”.

Seb mode, naturally, is set up by Ogier himself and rejigs the four-wheel drive system’s torque distribution to be far more rear-biased. Toyota says this will help the driver “achieve quicker times with high-speed body control”, but it sounds to us like it’ll just help them do far more impressive skids.

Visually, the Ogier Edition comes in Matt Stealth Grey paint and has a unique carbon fibre rear spoiler and blue brake calipers. There are also multiple French flag motifs as a nod to Ogier’s home country.

If the Ogier Edition is all about shaving lap times, then the Rovanperä Edition is the showboater’s choice. The first of the two new settings is Donut mode. Guess what that’s for. Toyota says it sends “a constant, strong torque flow to the rear wheels” to enable easy rotations.

The other is Kalle mode. Toyota is refreshingly upfront about the fact that it’s for doing big drifts, pulling off all sorts of trickery with the GR’s front and rear limited-slip differentials that allow the rear to swing out on corner entry and the front to pull the car round on corner exit. On a closed course with a professional driver, obviously.

You can’t miss that the exterior’s not exactly for shrinking violets, either. The Ogier Edition is all about stealth. The Rovanperä Edition… isn’t. It features a set of decals covering the entire body in Gazoo Racing’s signature red, black and white colours, as well as Rovanperä’s race number, 69. Stop giggling at the back. It also adopts the adjustable carbon fibre rear wing from the hardcore GRMN Yaris.

Both versions are based on the recently-revealed updated version of the GR Yaris, so produce 276bhp from their 1.6-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engines. Neither will have the base car’s option of an automatic gearbox, though - they’re strictly three-pedal only.

Want one? This is where things get a bit confusing. Toyota Japan says that each will be limited to 100 units, with a purchasing lottery opening up in the spring for Japanese buyers (who’ll all also get to be guests of Toyota at this year’s Rally Japan. Nice touch). It’s not clear if that’s 100 units for Japan, or worldwide.

Toyota Europe, meanwhile, simply says that they’ll be built in “strictly limited numbers”, and that “details of ordering and sales in European markets will be announced at a later date”. Sounds like we might be able to get our hands on this duo then, unlike 2022’s Japan-exclusive GRMN Yaris. More when we have it.