Toyota Yaris GRMN review: the best hot hatch you've never heard of earns a five-star rating

The MN initials denote “Meisters of the Nürburgring”, which is where the car was set up although, truth be told, it's the testing public roads around what Jackie Stewart dubbed “the green hell” that provided the most significant test arena.

The three-door Yaris bodyshell is strengthened and braced across the suspension turrets and beneath the floor. It also gains a shiny black plastic grille, trims and spoiler, as well as a central exhaust outlet and a set of 17-inch alloys shod with Bridgestone Potenza tyres. It weighs just 1.13 tonnes.

All the colours come in Gazoo Racing livery, which is basically white with a black roof and jazzy red and black triangles.

The engine is very similar to that used in the Lotus Elise; a 1.8-litre four-cylinder, four-valve unit with an Eaton Roots-type supercharger with its own separate cooling system - it only just fits under the bonnet. The gearbox is a strengthened six-speed manual driving the front wheels via a Torsen-type limited-slip differential to help prevent runaway.

Atsushi Watanabe, the its chief engineer, says: "Major issues with this car were heat management, the exhaust system and mass control."

He adds that while engine-driven superchargers introduce mechanical losses (unlike exhaust gas-driven turbochargers, which provide “free” power increases), the distinctive low-down pulling power of a supercharger suits what they wanted from this car. The WRC Yaris and this car are very different beasts, but Watanabe says that some of the cooling solutions used by the rally team are copied on his high-performance Yaris.

The suspension follows the MacPherson-strut front, twist-beam rear standard practice in the supermini industry, but what struts these are, with spring rates increased by 60 per cent and very special (and expensive) Sachs dampers all round. Mindful of the detrimental effect of increasing the unsprung weight with huge wheels and massive brakes, Watanabe's team have limited their size to 17 inches and 275mm respectively, although there are four-piston brake calipers at the front.

Step inside and despite the special front seats and steering wheel from the GT86 sports car, it's staggering just how standard this car is. It's visibly a Yaris; nicely made and of good quality materials, but hardly exciting, especially for this amount of money.

The racing seats are amazingly good, though, hugging, cosseting and supporting every inch of you, though they leave you rather a long way from the small steering wheel, which doesn't have much adjustment. There's a simple two-dial instrument binnacle and a centre screen with good graphics for the satnav.

Start her up and the engine booms with a fruity exhaust note as if the rear silencer has a hole in it. Slot first on the rubbery but precise gearlever and lift the light clutch and from the off this feels like a little thoroughbred, a bit like those old Eighties homologation specials; tight, light and pawing-the-ground willing.

The engine is extraordinary, the supercharger pulling from very low down and keeping the charge going right to the red line - you're almost always in a higher gear than you need be. And while W O Bentley was right, there isn't much character in a supercharged engine, my goodness they're effective; if anything this little car feels faster than its published figures.

Similarly with the steering, where you dial in the amount of cornering and the front charges round, blisteringly quick, but without some of the finesse of, say, the old Fiesta ST200. Out on the Parcmotor Circuit in Martorell, Barcelona, with track tyres fitted, the Yaris GRMN feels fast and responsive, almost too responsive as the limited-slip differential tugged the wheel further into the turns.

The steering is light, precise but lacking in progression. You turn in the lock required like an aperture adjustment on a camera, the car gives nothing away. It's more the chassis that is providing the necessary feedback through those amazing seats.

After six laps of this hilly circuit, the brakes, which felt so grippy and progressive at the start, felt overheated and soggy, but this was a huge test and on the road you'd never stress them that much.

And back out there in the real world of speed limits and other road users, the Yaris is a joy; nippy, genuinely quick, responsive and a complete hoot. You barely need the close-ratio 'box as the engine pulls so hard, and the ride is good, too. It crashes a bit over the more intrusive sleeping policemen, but handles bumps and potholes well.

All the same, it is a bit of a buzz-bomb; the tyres are quite noisy and at 70mph in sixth the engine is spinning at about 2,800rpm, though you can hold a conversation and it doesn't feel too strained.

With Ford holding the current World Rally Championship title and its previously giant-killing Fiesta ST due for replacement, taking them on at this game might seem as naive as a non-league football club lining up against Manchester City in the FA Cup. That doesn’t seem to be deterring Toyota over much, though, and while only time will tell in this year's rally championship, the Yaris GRMN is a genuinely different, if expensive and rare, contender to the crown.

It's just a pity they've all been sold; this might just be the best hot hatch you've never driven.

THE FACTS

Toyota Yaris GRMN

TESTED 1,978cc, supercharged four-cylinder petrol, six-speed manual gearbox, front-wheel drive

PRICE/ON SALE from £25,750. All 50 examples have been sold.

POWER/TORQUE 206bhp @ 6,800rpm/184lb ft @ 4,800rpm

TOP SPEED 143mph

ACCELERATION 0-62mph in 6.4sec

FUEL ECONOMY 37.7mpg/26.7mpg (EU Combined/Urban). On test 33.2mpg

CO2 EMISSIONS 170g/km

VED £500 first year, then £140

VERDICT What an amazing little car, a pocket rocket with a difference, in part to do with its light weight but mostly to do with its supercharged engine. Great fun, fast and nippy with Toyota's build quality and reliability, it's just a shame they're all sold.

TELEGRAPH RATING Five stars out of five

THE RIVALS

Ford Fiesta ST, no prices yet

A much anticipated replacement for this toast of flying superminis is due this year. The ST200 version mustered 197bhp from its turbo 1.6, more than enough to deliver electrifying thrills, but it was the handling that really marked this car out. Can its replacement go straight to the top?

Renault Clio 220 Trophy, from £22,995

Aimed at a less demanding audience than its predecessor with loads of kit and plenty of go from a 1.6-litre turbo and semi-automatic six-speed gearbox, but the steering doesn’t communicate, the handling is slightly stodgy and the gear ratios are spread strangely.

Peugeot 208 GTi, from £23,550

A well balanced mix of ride and handling energised with one of the best four-cylinder, 1.6-litre turbos. It's good to drive, reasonably comfortable, wit a great cabin (apart from the weirdly small steering wheel without much adjustment).

Vauxhall Corsa VXR, from £20,155

Quick and quite stylish, with a high-quality cabin. The turbo 1.6 engine has loads of torque, the gearbox is precise and there’s loads of grip. The steering isn’t the sharpest tool, however, and while this high-speed Corsa is exciting, it doesn’t have the Fiesta's precision.

For tips and advice, visit our Advice section, or sign up to our newsletter here

A-Z Car Finder