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The Toyota GR Yaris is an object of fascination to us American car enthusiasts, mainly because we can’t buy it. Though the GR Yaris is nearly two years old, Toyota still supports Japanese owners with new engine software that improves overall torque by 14 pound-ft.
We’ll probably never get the three-cylinder turbocharged homologation special hatchback on our shores, though we will get that same G16E-GTS engine in the upcoming GR Corolla. We don’t get access to exclusive Japan-only Kinto Factory, a service that restores, refurbishes, and adds modern safety upgrades to older models of Toyota cars.
Part of the Kinto Factory strategy is performance upgrades for GR vehicles, beginning with the GR Yaris. The service already includes the Toyota Aqua (Prius C to us), Prius, the Alphard and Vellfire vans, and the Lexus UX and NX. For those more pedestrian cars, the upgrades include adding blind spot monitoring and parking sensors to vehicles that weren’t optioned with it. For the GR Yaris, it becomes much more technical and exciting.
More interesting are the tuning adjustments and suggestions that Kinto Factory technicians can make changes to the all-wheel-drive system and steering based on customer input. Owners also get access to the GR Yaris Performance Software 2.0, adding the aforementioned torque boost and reprofiles the torque curve for more overall twist. In our change, it’s a boost from 272 lb-ft to 287 lb-ft, bringing torque in line with the Japan-only GR Yaris Morizo Edition.
Thus far, this is a Japan-only endeavor with no plans to expand into other countries. According to Drive, “no plans” exist to offer the tune in different locales.
The GR Corolla is arriving stateside in a heightened state of tune compared to the GR Yaris. Whether Toyota will bring a similar strategy to us is only speculation. But there is a GR Corolla Morizo Edition that boosts torque from 273 lb-ft to 295 lb-ft with revised software.
The chance is there. Do it, Toyota.
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