Toyota Reveals How Its Bonkers Yaris Hybrid-R Will Work

Last week we brought you the news that Toyota would pull the covers off its mental Yaris Hybrid-R at the Frankfurt Motor Show. A wild 400bhp all-wheel drive hot hatch, the front wheels are driven by a 1.6-litre petrol engine, while a couple of electric motors power the rears. Now Toyota has given us more information on how this motorsport-inspired hatchback will work.

The turbocharged 4-cylinder engine has been developed by Toyota Motorsport according to international sporting regulations, which means the powertrain on your driveway could be the same one in a number of racing series around the globe. Each rear wheel is driven by its own 60bhp electric motor, as used in the standard Yaris Hybrid. As well as assisting the engine under acceleration to produce that insane 414bhp figure, under braking they act as electric generators.

The energy recovered under braking is stored in a supercapacitor, just like the Toyota Racing TS030 Hybrid race car. The supercapacitor has a higher power density than a standard battery, which makes it ideal for track use, as it is suited to delivering short, immediate bursts of power. In 'road' mode the motors are reduced to 40bhp, and provide power for up to 10 seconds, however in 'track' mode this is upped to a combined 119bhp over 5 seconds, to make the most of that overtaking opportunity.

An advanced traction control system is in place, using a third 60bhp motor between the engine and 6-speed sequential transmission. This works as a generator, feeding power to the supercapacitor under deceleration, but things get interesting under acceleration. If the front wheels begin to lose grip, power is directed to the rear wheels through the electric motors to push the car through the corner, rather than simply limiting engine power as in traditional traction control systems. Each motor can also be used independently, altering torque distribution left and right between the rear wheels to act like an intelligent torque vectoring differential, aiding cornering speeds and stability.

So there you have it. Not only will the Yaris Hybrid-R be crazy fast, it'll also put the power done intelligently, making back road blasts less terrifying than the power figures might suggest. With Peugout bringing its chunky 308R Concept to Frankfurt too, will Toyota overshadow the French hot hatch? We think so.