Romeo Ferraris GR Yaris | Test Drive

1 August 2023 Redazione News, Stories, Tested

Words Alessandro Marrone / Photos Alessio Becker

I often wonder how many times we actually feel alive. And I’m not simply talking about good times at the wheel. I mean, those moments in which everything seems to find the perfect fit can be count on the fingers of one hand. Not two, just one. Without blaming addiction, the passing of time or the inevitable unfulfilled expectations of our childhood’s heroes, it happens that I find myself standing on the side of the road wondering if something should have been better. Not today, because if Toyota has created a universally acclaimed car like the GR Yaris, the guys at Romeo Ferraris have moved the bar even further, creating an object with the sole purpose of mesmerizing your petrolhead soul. No practicality, forget that pinch of comfort that remained intact after the Gazoo Racing treatment: here things get serious and the rally car for every day also extends its clutches to the track. So how can two destinations so distant from each other coexist in the car body of what was at least originally a modest car for a (light) grocery run?

Some things are not easy to explain at all. Of course, we could get lost in technical data sheets, numbers and performance comparisons with the starting model, but there are no words or adjectives capable of giving voice to the dip in the heart you feel when you are face to face with one of the most lively driving moments of your life. The GR Yaris is an entity on its own, since the starting point offered by the small Yaris has been distorted by the Gazoo division, which has given life to a model that maintains very little, other than the name. Immediately identified as the hero we were all waiting for, the GR Yaris forgets the political correctness and brings a typically 80s/90s driving philosophy back to everyday roads, but here I dare to say only in part. Oh yes, because there is a superfine engineering to the point of making sure that the behavior of a hot hatch that makes a true enthusiast fall in love with it manages to transcend the limits imposed by the sports cars of a few decades ago, coexisting in a smaller container you could imagine and throwing into the emotional fray the possibility of going sideways without the aid of the handbrake and without even having to play too much with the imbalance of the weights.

Let’s end it here though, this isn’t a GR Yaris like Toyota made it. Romeo Ferraris, historic tuner based in Opera (near Milan) engaged in motorsport among many other things and author of the most performing Abarth 500 ever – the Cinquone, now renamed FatFive – immediately sensed that there was room to spice things up even more. Leaving aside the first two stages, the model we tested is the maximum expression of Romeo Ferraris know-how, translated into the most surprising hatchback that enthusiasts have ever seen, at least in the last 100 years. Stage 3 provides for a substantial revision of the aesthetics, with new bumpers that have to cope with a widening of the track by 44 millimeters at the front and 50 millimeters at the rear. The Ferraris GR is also 25mm and 27mm lower front and rear respectively, with carbon fiber louvres and a twin-tailpipe ready to unleash hell on the road once the valves are wirelessly opened.

Under the bonnet there are equally profound changes, starting with a new intake, a new intercooler and an optimization of the turbo pressure which allows the 1.6 with only 3 cylinders to increase – overall – the power by as much as 61 horsepower, thus going from 261 to 322. Torque increases by 70 Nm, so this means it now reaches 430 Nm at 4,200 rpm powering both axles, all via a 6-speed manual gearbox. These are the presentations, the classic references that act as briefing and let us imagine how fast, indeed very fast, the GR of Romeo Ferraris can go. Reality is even better. And what better place to test such an extreme car dedicated both for track and road that a strip of tarmac that smells of rally? I reach the Col de Turini in the early hours of the morning and as the sun settles high above our heads, the tires build up a grip that proves fatal between the fastest corners. The magic of the GR Yaris is offered by the two Torsen differentials, with a 60/40 setting in Normal mode, which becomes 50/50 in Sport and 30/70 in Track. In this third scenario, the weight that slightly exceeds 1,200 kg and a wheelbase of just two and a half meters come into play, qualities that allow you to come out of a curve the very instant after entering it.

I have to close the exhaust valves, the vibrations and the noise that is thrown into the valley are absolute pleasure, but excessive for road use. And then – let’s face it – I prefer not to warn the whole world of my arrival, especially the precise moment in which a completely deserted road gives me the possibility of hammering down the throttle and try in some way to get close to the limits of the car. Once warmed up and on dry asphalt, the Michelin Pilot Super Sports grip like instant glue, transmitting every slightest change in the road surface to the steering wheel. I realize that the gap is still huge and at that point you really understand the dual nature of an extreme object for any context. You can keep the gas down and move the steering wheel with the precision of someone chasing hundredths of a second (whether it’s on the lap or on the stage), or be abrupt, slide through corners with an almost clumsy violence that leads to an imbalance of the rear. It is in that instant, in that window of space/time that, by stepping hard on the throttle, the rear axle slips and gives life to a powerslide that follow the tortuous and incessant comings and goings of the Turini.

The presence of the IMT (Intelligent Manual Transmission) is much appreciated, a rev-matching that keeps high the revs per minute and even more appreciated the fact of being able to exclude it regardless of the driving mode you’re about to use. Some things are better if left to those who still want to feel in control of the car. Argument that is accentuated thanks to a precise manual gearbox that communicates perfectly with a clutch pedal that is neither too stiff nor too soft. I would have preferred the seat a few millimeters lower, but speaking of visibility, the defect remains that of the infotainment display positioned too high, close to a rear-view mirror that is too large and placed too low. To be clear, on the right three-quarters you go a bit blind. A Toyota defect that is immediately forgiven when entering a hairpin bend in first gear: the engine revs up and as soon as I step hard on the gas, the progressive thrust of the 1.6 finds its outlet starting at 2,200/2,500 rpm. A slight lag, you say. Time to prepare for how narrow and blurry the road will become beyond the GR’s bumpy nose.

I give the car but especially me and the photographer a moment of break and then I open the exhaust valves, letting that deafening roar typical of a racing car break the silence of a small town that was sure that the Rally of Montecarlo was finished months ago. The GR can be driven even without declaring war to the tyres, but with an XL body kit and a red livery celebrating the new Romeo Ferraris logo, you’d almost think you’ve taken the wrong track, exactly as I was told on my first day of test, when I was stopped by the Police. Hot hatches always arouse curiosity due to the fact that they appear to be a realizable dream, a possible and partially justifiable purchase. The Ferraris’ GR accomplishes to the starting GR what Gazoo Racing did to the standard Toyota Yaris; forgive the words game. It overturns it, but not so much for the aesthetic mutation or for the performance surplus, but for the fact that it is now also an excellent track-day weapon, a playground that has always been familiar to the Opera-based company.

I didn’t go on the track for a simple reason, which is always the same one that pushes me to prefer winding mountain roads to perfect strips of asphalt delimited by curbs, namely the need to test a sports car of this type in a context which can somehow represent the back road of the home-work commute, such as a weekend getaway or a Sunday with other enthusiasts. No stopwatch to prove me right or wrong, but that tool that more than any other allows you to understand if a car has been able to awaken the child in you: the heart. The desire to get on board is constant, making even the simplest of journeys special. And no one remains impassive, not even when you’re driving through the city center at 30 kph and people look at you, point their fingers, smile and maybe think you really are a rally driver who took the wrong turn at the previous stage.

The Col de Turini was once again the ideal book in which to write other exciting pages of this profession which sometimes seems too good to seem true. Because in the end I “have to drive” back and forth to understand how much fun a car like this is. I mean, are we serious? A task that shouldn’t be dismissed as simple, just because the starting point was almost perfect. Far from it! In fact, the very risk of ruining the driving experience offered by the original GR was a clearly possible scenario, but the experience of Romeo Ferraris instead ensured that everything was emphasized thanks to targeted interventions (performance and delivery) and that the real nerve of driving (handling and traction) was further developed in order to perfect oversteer and at the same time make driving even more precise with more balanced traction between the two axles.

No one would have foreseen such a success as to make the GR Yaris unobtainable when new and with the price almost doubled on the second hand market. The Stage 3 by Romeo Ferraris tuning requires an expense of at least €10,000, with infinite customization possibilities, both aesthetically and mechanically. In the end, the only issue with which you will have to compromise is that of on board space, given that the seats behind are really small. Otherwise, make sure you leave enough time to enjoy it on the road (or on track), because Romeo Ferraris’ GR Yaris is a fairytale of those who end up happily and dazed ever after.

PS. Doctor, I still hear that absurd roar bouncing off the rocks of the Turini. Am I insane?