Can an automatic transmission ever be as engaging as a manual? Toyota thinks so, and it will use the GR Yaris to prove it
The Toyota GR Yaris has been welcomed by enthusiasts, but Toyota may soon take steps to help it appeal to even more drivers. Early next year, at the Tokyo Auto Salon, the brand will reportedly unveil a version of the hot hatch equipped with an automatic transmission.
The GR Yaris is currently offered exclusively with a six-speed manual transmission. However, Toyota has been working on a new eight-speed transmission that it calls the GR-DAT, or “Direct Auto Transmission,” which it believes will offer drivers an engaging enough experience.
Already in use in a prototype GR Yaris racecar, no less a source than Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda called it a “game-changer.” Japan’s Mag X reports that it will soon be installed in a production model called the GR Yaris RZ-H, which will be revealed at the Tokyo Auto Salon, which runs from January 12-14.
advertisement scroll to continue
Read: Toyoda Calls GR Yaris’ Experimental Automatic ‘A Game Changer’
Currently, the GR Yaris is exclusively available with a manual box
Billed as a gearbox that bridges the gap between the engaging but hard-to-learn manual, and the easy-to-use but imprecise automatic, Toyoda said the transmission helped shave enough time off his laps that he was able to keep up with professional drivers like Hiroaki Ishiura, who was also given the opportunity to test the technology.
“On a racetrack, a regular AT feels slippery (due to the mechanics), giving you little sense of a direct connection (with the gears),” Ishiura told the Toyota Times magazine back in October. “That’s where the D in DAT comes in: Direct. It locks in from the moment you set off, responding linearly to gas pedal input and allowing you to shave time off your laps without any loss.”
In addition to the automatic version of the GR Yaris, Toyota is also reportedly working on two limited edition models to celebrate its recent success in the World Rally Championship: the Ogier Edition and the Rovenpara Edition, named after the rally drivers who helped develop the race car. They will be unveiled ahead of the 2024 Monte Carlo rally, which will run from January 24 to 28, and will be limited to 100 examples-a-piece.
