The new 4th gen Toyota GR Yaris has been in news ever since it made its debut. Known as a little monster of this era, the GR Yaris comes equipped with an extremely powerful turbocharged 1.6L three-cylinder engine which churns out staggering 257 hp and a massive peak torque of 360 Nm transferred to both axles (AWD) through a 6-speed manual gearbox. The 0-100km/h figures are rated at just 5.3 seconds while its top speed is electronically capped at 230 km/h.
Recently however, Bahrain’s Ebrahim Kanoo of EKanoo Racing has tuned this blue GR Yaris to produce 519 hp (600hp at flywheel) and 587 Nm of torque. The extra oomph has helped the little hatchback to set a world record at Bahrain International Circuit’s adjacent drag strip. The tuned Yaris clocked a 10.98sec quarter-mile run at nearly 200km/h. EKanoo claims it’s the first three-cylinder turbo car of any kind to perform a 10-second quarter-mile run.
World’s First 10 Second GR Yaris By EKanooRacing
EKanoo Racing explains that these runs were all completed within 10 minutes of one another with no cooling sequence for the car. Also the GR Yaris was running on street-spec tires. EKanoo hasn’t gone into the of detail about the modifications necessary to unlock this pace, although we do know it has some sort of turbocharger upgrade, a Motec M150 ECU, a custom exhaust system and a custom intercooler.
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However during these events, it’s also noted that the GR Yaris’s clutch started to slip which means that softer shifting movements were required. EKanoo Racing says that it plans to improve on these times even more next month after it fits a set of slick tires.
A computer animation professional with over 23 years of industry experience having served in leading organizations, TV channels & production facilities in Pakistan. An avid car enthusiast and petrolhead with an affection to deliver quality content to help shape opinions. Formerly written for PakWheels as well as major publications including Dawn. Founder of CarSpiritPK.com