A few days ago, there was a bit of buzz surrounding a battle between the BMW M2 CS and the Toyota GR Yaris. While those cars are not competitors, the GR Yaris is so much fun and so exciting that it can genuinely rival more powerful and more expensive cars, in terms of fun-factor. In this new video from Top Gear, the GR Yaris takes on another BMW product… sort of. It takes on the BMW-powered Toyota Supra.
This race is labeled as battle of Japanese cars but the new Supra speaks more fluent German than it does Japanese, as the majority of its components come from BMW. Most importantly, its 3.0 liter turbocharged inline-six comes from the BMW Z4 M40i and makes far more power than the other two cars in this drag race; the aforementioned GR Yaris and Honda Civic Type R.
In the UK, where this race took place, the Toyota Supra makes 335 bhp and weighs 1,541 kg (3,397 lbs), while the Toyota GR Yaris makes 257 bhp and weighs 1,280 kg (2,821 lbs), and the Civic Type R makes 316 bhp and tips the scales at 1,414 kg (3,117 lbs). Both the Yaris and Civic Type R have manual transmissions, while the Toyota (*cough* BMW) has an eight-speed automatic. The Type R is front-wheel drive, while the Supra is rear-wheel drive, and the Yaris is all-wheel drive. So which car is fastest?
Off the line, the Toyota GR Yaris fires ahead of the other two with ease, thanks to its all-wheel drive traction. It also keeps that lead until at least 30 mph, which is enough to win it a lot of stop-light drag races in the real world. Obviously, the Supra’s more muscular engine allows it to take the lead and win by a large margin. But still, the Yaris is a shockingly quick little car off the line. Also, with that traction, tiny footprint, and surprising punch, I’d reckon that, on a twisty road, the Supra — and by extension the BMW Z4 — wouldn’t be able to see where the Yaris went. What an impressive little car.
