The automotive world offers endless paths for drivers, teams, and companies to take. Like many, there is never one set destination but several. That's the case for Lamspeed Racing, which switched its focus to a record-breaking Toyota Yaris. If you're new to racing, the basis is to take the car and yourself beyond the limits. Of course, development, strategy, and trial and error play a crucial role, but it can all go out the door when it hits the last step: putting it to the test. Over the years, racing teams and shops have had successes and failures, but this team marks several milestones that are marked as successful.
Lamspeed Racing was established in 2012 after the success of their Mitsubishi EVO 8, which placed well in high-profile events. After their accomplishments on the grid, the Australian-based team branched out and have explored several platforms for previous builds. The team specializes in Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions, but that didn't stop them from venturing out of their comfort zone to another platform. Nearly fourteen years later, Charles, the owner of Lamspeed Racing, drove a Toyota GR Yaris for the first time, and it hit home. Having similar characteristics with rawness and potential, the team set out to build the fastest Yaris on the planet.
Revamping the already-extreme hot hatchback, find out exactly how the '24 Toyota GR Yaris improves upon its predecessor.
If you're new to the automotive world, you might need help understanding all the hype surrounding a hot hatch. Infamous cars such as the Ford Focus, Ford Fiesta, and Volkswagen Golf have formed a massive cult around compact vehicles with unique rear ends. Many automotive manufacturers have stuffed these cars with small engines like three-cylinders and four-cylinders.
People soon discovered that many of these powertrains could be easily boosted, creating lightweight cars that could go incredibly fast. While hot hatches have been slowly dwindling away, Toyota has looked past that and released a performance-bred vehicle from their existing Yaris platform.
— Charles Lam Said:
I came from over 14 years of experience with the Mitsubishi Evo platform. The Evos have been done to death, and I was getting bored. Once I drove the GR Yaris for the first time, it reminded me of how a stock Evo was, just more modernized.
Like many other hot hatches, Toyota threw in a powerful three-cylinder engine that quickly gained people's attention. The turbocharged three-cylinder engine produces 268 horsepower and can make the car reach 60 mph in 5.5 seconds. This category of cars is known for its rally lineage, and the newly designed Yaris was successful off the rip in the World Rally Championship (WRC).
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In 2018, the Gazoo Racing Team (GR) took home the manufacturers' championship and several titles in 2019 and 2020 in the Toyota GR Yaris. While all of this is impressive, this is just a reminder of how well the GR Yaris performed and how it could be capitalized on. But the Gazoo rally Yaris wasn't the only one on the block destined for records.
Toyota continues its reemergence as a leading sports car brand. Let's see how its GR journey fared so far.
After Charles saw its modernized platform and similarities to the Mitsubishi Evo 8, the team set out to build a racecar that would be crowned the fastest of its kind. Don't take this with a grain of salt because building a car with 1,000-horsepower is no walk in the park. There are thousands of examples out there, but the most challenging part is keeping the engine from hitting its unrepairable stage.
Quarter Mile | 9.696 @ 155.11 MPH |
60FT | 1.69 Seconds |
0-100 KPH | 3.0 Seconds |
100-200 KPH | 3.7 Seconds |
The automotive world has always been competitive, and originality can easily be dismissed. Some might say there's already a 1,000-horsepower Yaris out on track, and they aren't wrong. Professional Formula Drift driver Daigo Saito has a 1,000+ horsepower turbocharged Yaris, but it has its own twist.
Many enthusiasts could guess what engine Saito's team built, and if your guess was a 2JZ, then you can pat yourself on the back. What sets Lamspeed's Yaris apart from the others is that they did it with the original 1.6-liter turbocharged engine. This doesn't discredit either party, but it should be noted that it's impressive that Lamspeed was the first shop to take the original powerhouse and continuously upgrade parts around it to handle horsepower in the quadruple digits.
Word supposedly comes from Gazoo Racing's President, Tomoya Takahashi.
It's apparent that Lamspeed Racing has some goals for the Yaris, but they seem to let this monster go down its own path, wreaking havoc. This is shown through its various race setups and analysis on optimizing the Yaris. The key ingredient to their build is test and play. This form of behavior helps with the Sydney Motorsport Speedway sitting in the shops' backyard.
— Charles Lam:
With modern technology and advancements in parts, the GR Yaris drives extremely well. It idles and cruises if not better than stock. It's just a bit noisy, but this can easily be resolved.
Over the years, the Lamspeed Yaris has cut its quarter-mile time from tenth to tenth. The time slips started pouring in when unidentified companies claimed Lamspeed had absurd dyno numbers. This stemmed from the numbers on the dyno not matching the times on the drag strip. Throughout the first night, the times kept decreasing, and the final result was 10.5 seconds at 131 miles per hour. This quarter-mile marked the new world record for the fastest and quickest Toyota GR Yaris in the world, and the first 10-second GR Yaris in Australia.
The Yaris wasn't done seeing action, lowering it even more in 2023, dropping the quarter mile from 9.8 to 9.7 seconds. It seemed unstoppable, and the team was on a roll. After a long hiatus, the team analyzed and improved some undisclosed areas at the start of 2024. After some preparations, the team returned to the drag strip and accomplished what they set out to do. The new quarter-mile record dropped to 9.696 seconds at 155 miles per hour, but the night didn't last long. The team was kicked out due to failing tech inspection, but the journey didn't stop there.
350 horsepower seems like a lot for this tiny hatch
You might've heard throughout your life that having a stopping point is always good. As many of you know, automotive enthusiasts tend to ignore this, knowing that a build is never finished. While teams like Lamspeed focus on the finish line on the track, they're like the rest where they know it can always go faster.
Lamspeed has kept a good amount of the information about the Yaris to themselves, and it makes sense. If someone wants to go after your record, you might as well make them sweat as much as you did. This also helps keep that record in your hands for a longer duration.
— Charles Lam:
We will keep pushing. It's a problem we have. People like us in the automotive industry are never happy.
As stated earlier, the automotive field is immensely competitive. That's what teams, companies, and drivers thrive on. It wouldn't be considered racing if it weren't for people pushing you even further. That's precisely what the team over at Lamspeed plans on doing. While it's not on paper, the journey for this GR Yaris is outlined to show how far its limits are. Minor hiccups have spawned along the way, but Charles says they haven't encountered an issue where they can't find the solution.
Why stop when you know it can be optimized more and beaten harder? So, what's next? The GR Yaris is set to head back to the strip and then back to the circuit. The team plans on passing tech this time through and going even faster. This won't be the last time you hear about Lamspeed's 1,000-horsepower hot hatch.
2024-07-31T08:39:50Z