Yahoo Autos Toyota's New Rally Car Could Spawn a Yaris Hot Hatch
It's been a while since we reviewed the Toyota Yaris, but our pals at Car and Driver recently tested a 2016 version, and they were not impressed. The Yaris may be reliable, but it also feels dated and slow. But if the latest rumor is true, then Toyota may change that with an upcoming Yaris hot hatch.
Speaking with AutoExpress, Toyota's European boss, Johan van Zyl, said the new Yaris-based rally car would be a great excuse to spice up the sleepy subcompact. According to van Zyl, "it's no use doing motorsport if you can't reflect it in your product. From the European side we would like to do something , to bring something to market that will reflect our participation in WRC."
That certainly sounds like a ringing endorsement of a Yaris hot hatch to us. Especially since he followed that up by saying "lots of people like to wear the same Nikes as the athletes, even though they can't run as fast."
But as AutoExpress points out, if a spicier Yaris really is in the works, it'll probably be based on the next-generation car. That means we won't see it until at least 2018. And since van Zyl was only speaking for Europe, there's no guarantee such a car would even come to the States.
That said, we'd love to see a rally-inspired Yaris happen. Tiny hot hatches are awesome, and it would be great to see more of them available. Especially in the U.S.
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