Why Toyota crashes GR cars on purpose
April 24, 2025 by Mat Watson
Car changing is a big deal
I’ve spent a couple of days at Toyota’s Gazoo Racing facility in Japan to get a behind-the-scenes look at how it develops and builds its performance models.
It’s no secret that I’m a massive fan of the Toyota GR Yaris – I liked it so much when it launched that I actually bought my long termer from Toyota back in 2020, and I’ve still got it to this day.
But what exactly makes these cars so special? Well I’ve been to Toyota’s GR facility in Japan to take a closer look at what goes into developing these cars, as well as how they’re built.
Toyota GR Yaris development – tested to destruction
Toyota likes to be very thorough when it comes to testing its performance models, and a lot of GR cars are sacrificed in the name of making them perfect.
I headed out onto a dirt track with Norihiko Katsuta, one of Toyota’s development drivers. He, with help from Toyota Chairman Akiyo Toyoda, rags these cars around as hard as possible until they break.
Mr Toyoda also goes by the name Morizo – his racing alter ego. When he first took to the track he wanted to keep his racing career a secret, so he stole the name of a mascot at an exhibition.
Morizo actually flipped a GR Yaris last year while testing because the four-wheel drive system had developed a fault – resulting in the car not cornering as it should. By doing that Toyota’s engineers figured out that some changes needed to be made to the software to stop this happening again.
While I was out with Norihiko the car we were in actually developed a fault – the engine and the four-wheel drive system was overheating resulting in a loss of power. Gazoo Racing’s chief engineer Naohiko Saito didn’t seem worried about this though, because he and his team would soon find the cause of the problem and fix it – making sure it never happens on a customer’s car.
Toyota GR Yaris development – built with precision
Morizo’s thorough approach to making performance cars doesn’t just apply to how cars are developed, it also extends to how they are constructed. He’s set the GR factory up so that cars can be built so precisely that there’s absolutely no difference between one GR Yaris and another because the tolerances are so tight.
In a normal factory, the car will make its way down a production line and bits will be added as it moves along, however this one is set up more like a motorsport operation. Different parts of the car are put together in cells, then the whole thing is assembled in one go.
That makes the whole operation much more flexible, allowing changes to be made very quickly and with minimal disruption.
When you’re building a standard hatchback, everything will be built to within a certain tolerance – so there will be an acceptable range of movement between each car. With the GR Yaris that tolerance is much, much smaller, and so every single car is precisely measured to make sure they are exactly the same, with particular attention being paid to the suspension mounting points.
Engineers then use these measurements when fitting the suspension so they can counteract any movement or deviation in the centrepoints so they can ensure every car is aligned exactly right.
Those same measurements are used to make sure the right subframe is picked up for the right car, and the jigs can adjust by fractions of a millimetre so they match up perfectly.
During this entire process, the steering wheel is kept dead straight – it’s not moved at all until the final wheel alignment is done. They don’t want to apply any force to the steering until this point because it can affect the precision, so the factory even has turntables to rotate the car when it needs to be turned around.
All this incredible attention to detail is then put to the test as a driver takes each and every GR Yaris off the production line on a brief test drive. They’ll apply sudden steering inputs and jab the brakes to make sure they all perform as they should, and all this means Morizo himself could jump into any two cars off the line, drive them back-to-back and, even with his decades of racing experience, he wouldn’t be able to tell any difference between them.
It was a truly amazing process to watch, and it certainly explains why I love my GR Yaris so much. However, the recently updated version is such an improvement thanks to the rigorous development that I just might have to buy a new one very soon.
Car change? Carwow!
Looking for a new set of wheels? With Carwow you can sell your car quickly and for a fair price – as well as find great offers on your next one. Whether you’re looking to buy a car brand new, are after something used or you want to explore car leasing options, Carwow is your one stop shop for new car deals.
Click here to follow us on WhatsApp, where you can keep up-to-date with all the latest news, reviews, advice guides and videos.