The Motorsport division of Japanese carmaker Toyota has developed a rally version of the Yaris, which is known as the R1A. This vehicle is scheduled to make its public debut during the ADAC Rallye Deutschland, which is scheduled between August 24 and 26, representing the ninth round of the WRC. Created by Toyota Motorsports GmbH (TMG), this Yaris R1A is going to take part as a “Zero Car” in the WRC event which means that it will run as a course vehicle for confirming road conditions and also for announcing the start of each stages within the WRC event. In other words, it’s not actually going to participate in the rallying of the aforementioned ADAC Rallye Deutschland.
This would have to be an entry-level rally car that was created in order to meet the FIA R1A regulations which only allow minor performance changes for production cars that have power units up to a capacity of 1.4-liters. The modification program of this Toyota Yaris includes a motorsport suspension that has an adjustable ride height and also adapted springs. Other changes worth mentioning include a shorter final drive gear, racing exhaust and catalytic converter system.
As you would expect for a proper rally car like this Yaris R1A, the engineers working at Toyota’s motorsport division have fitted the vehicle with a lot of safety features. It comes with rally seats, fire extinguishers, safety harness, bolt-in roll cage, guard for sump, fuel tank & fuel lines, along with a power cut-off switch.
According to Toyota, they expect that this Yaris R1A is going to be the first car to receive the FIA R1A homologation, prior to the end of 2012. Once the vehicle obtains this homologation, it will be able to participate in regional, national and international competitions, including WRC events.
Toyota Motorsports GmbH announced that the Yaris R1A is already available on order, being priced at 17,700 pounds (22,500 Euros) with donor car and upgrade kit. This price tag does not include however the taxes and installation fee.
