You might remember the Yaris GRMN from a while back, the ultra-expensive limited edition pocket rocket based on the Yaris,
which Gazoo Racing used to launch the GRMN-label. This is some kind of Light-version of it. The Yaris GR Sport.
And it's more than just some bumpers and stickers. They've actually tweaked the chassis, but they haven't done anything about the drivetrain.
This is still just a hybrid. Not a 1.5 and there won't be any, because the Hybrid is the only option available for the GR Sport.
A weird choice. And there's another identity crisis going on over here. This is a Suzuki Swift with a carbon fibre look-body pack,
17-inch wheels with Michelin PilotSport 4-tires and an automatic gearbox.
An automatic gearbox can be incredibly sporty nowadays, but this one most certainly isn't. It's a 6-speed with torque converter...
and it's nice and smooth, but it will take its time. Comfortable, but not sporty in any way.
So when you're just driving about, it's all good. Very comfortable. But whenever you speed up or go into manual and change gear yourself,
it takes a little too long. The gear changes itself are very slow as well. In manual, when you put your foot down, it just changes down.
Not even kickdown. You throttle up and it'll take control. It's good, but it's just not sporty. And that's too bad, because the...
drivetrain and engine want to go fast. It's powered by a turbocharged 1.0-litre 3-cylinder which is supposed to produce 112 horsepower and...
160 Nm of torque. That's 10 Nm less than the manual version, but we've seen quite a lot of these on the rolling road,
and they tend to produce more than you bargain for. Also, even with an automatic gearbox it still weighs less than 1.000 kg.
112 horsepower won't be enough to burn the place down, but it's quite a quick car. It sounds good as well.
It's very easy to go fast, and because it doesn't weigh a lot that's very nice to do. You'll feel it in the chassis as well.
It's a car which you can throw around without too much consequences, because the weight is so low. You'll always catch the car.
That makes it incredibly fun to drive. It's fitted with the optional 17-inch wheels with sticky PilotSport 4-tires, and it means that...
you can drive this incredibly quick. However, it doesn't have the sturdiest of suspensions. It leans a lot, but it'll remain grippy. That makes it playful...
and agile, and it's just very communicative. I do have to say, the suspension isn't really meant for 17-inch wheels with sticky tires.
So the refinement can be a little gone sometimes. As if the wheel is bouncing around uncontrollably in the wheel arch.
Again, the refinement could be improved, but the driving pleasure in this Swift is really good.
Right, the Yaris GR Sport. There's lots of refinement in here. Why? They were much more thorough when developing this chassis.
Not only does it have sticky tires around its 17-inch wheels, it also has bigger shocks, a bigger anti-roll bars, so there's more work done to it.
You'll notice that. I wouldn't call this more comfortable, because it's still pretty sturdy, but the wheel movements feel more stable.
The wheels aren't bouncing around and you aren't thrown through the car. That means that when you steer, it doesn't roll as much...
and thus feels more precise. It's easier for you to detect the limits of this car. Also, it's incredibly grippy. You can really throw it around...
corners at incredible speeds. I mean, it's still a Yaris. That's very good. However, when you get to the drivetrain,
and it all falls apart. You hand in some comfort for more sharpness, but if you want to use that sharpness, you need speed.
And because it's a hybrid, you have to keep your foot hard down, which means the engine will make a lot of noise.
But it won't go a lot quicker at all. So you actually don't have the power to go utilize the chassis capacity.
It sounds very stressed, it's slow... Also, the pedals feel very spongy, so you don't really know how far you have to press it.
There's nothing wrong with the hybrid drivetrain because it's very economical and it feels very smooth, but combined with a sporty chassis?
It really doesn't help. It's actively working against the chassis, which means it's just not fun to drive. At all.
So, a clear victory for the Suzuki Swift? Not immediately. It certainly is the most fun to drive. The chassis and drivetrain have a better...
balance than the Yaris, but the way it stands there with automatic gearbox, body-pack and 17-inch wheels, it's €26.000.
About as much as this Yaris, but this feels more like a car costing €26.000. Both in the interior as underneath the skin. Also, the Yaris is more spacious.
Despite all of that, the Swift wins. But not this one, the manual one. Because that'll save you €2.500.
However, if you take away only €1.000, you can buy yourself a Swift Sport with a manual gearbox. Now that's a fun car to drive.