Your Toyota GR Yaris Can Now Have A Manufacturer-Approved Torque Boost

Have you been driving around in your original Toyota GR Yaris, yearning for a bit of extra oomph now that the updated ‘Gen 2’ car is out in the wild? We have some exceptional news for you.

Toyota UK has introduced a manufacturer-approved upgrade that’ll unlock some extra torque from the 1.6-litre three-cylinder engine, as well as some extra software tweaks.

As spotted by PistonHeads, the £995 upgrade will give an extra 14lb ft of torque for a new peak of 280lb ft. Peak power remains at 257bhp, however. That leaves it 8lb ft shy of the updated car, and still 19bhp down.

“Can’t I just get more from an aftermarket tuner?”, we hear you say. Yeah, of course, go crazy with that if you want. That said, this dealer-fit upgrade retains the original manufacturer's warranty, so there’s peace of mind that the extra performance isn’t going to make the engine go bang.

Oh, and it’s worth noting that emissions remain the same, so no extra tax implications to worry about.

On top of the lift in torque, you’ll also benefit from a reworked GR-Four system with more settings. You’ll now be able to split power front/rear at 55:45 and 45:55 – following on from a factory-standard default of 60:40, 50:50 in Track and 30:70 in Sport.

New ‘Light’ and ‘Heavy’ modes for the electronic power steering have been introduced too, along with customisable throttle settings – namely ‘Original’, ‘Quick’ and ‘Control’.

It’s described as a ‘While you wait’ update, suggesting that all it’ll take is a quick trip to your dealer and all done by the time you’ve managed to down a slightly grim cup of instant coffee. All while hoping there’s no Gen 2 demo car to tempt you into spending a shedload more than you expected on that visit…