A hot version of the high-riding new Toyota Aygo X is on the cards to rival the likes of the Suzuki Swift Sport and Volkswagen Up GTI as Toyota continues to expand its GR-badged performance line-up.
Asked by Autocar if the new SUV-style city car could be uprated to serve as an entry point into the expanding GR family, Toyota’s Europe vice president, Andrea Carlucci, refused to rule out the possibility.
While acknowledging that he could not be specific about Toyota’s future products, he said: “Whatever our plans, this car may deserve looking at the chassis, the body rigidity – the potential in making a more sporty version.
“Let’s be clear: it’s not in our plans, but you will discover yourself and maybe comment to help us understand how much potential you see in that.”
Carlucci also said of a GR version: “Never say never.”
Toyota CEO and keen motorsport enthusiast Akio Toyoda has a well-documented affinity for fast cars. His efforts to rebuild the Japanese brand’s reputation for accessible performance has quickly resulted in a family of dedicated sports cars, including the acclaimed GR Yaris, GR Supra and GR 86.
If there were deemed to be a viable business case for it, a GR Aygo X would serve as an entry point into this line-up, with pricing and performance specs that would slot the car between the standard Aygo X and GR Yaris. Given that it fundamentally shares a platform with the GR Yaris already, that car’s turbocharged 1.6-litre triple could find its way into a hot Aygo X, but its 257bhp output would likely be excessive in the A-segment.
Irrespective of powertrain, the priorities for any performance derivative, as Carlucci suggested, would be tightening the handling, so sportier suspension, bigger brakes, a motorsport-inspired aero package and various weight-saving measures would be among the upgrades.
While hinting at future derivatives, Toyota poured cold water on the short-term likelihood of a hybrid version. It said the inevitable extra weight and cost would change the Aygo X’s positioning. It also highlighted that the non-electrified 1.0-litre petrol triple already matches most similar-capacity mild-hybrid powertrains for fuel economy.
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Agree. Add a turbo or shoehorn the Yaris engine in there. Btw, swap the 18" wheels for 16" ones, so you get a bit more tire sidewall.
Why do car magazines always compare the VW Up GTi with the Suzuki Swift Sport? The Up is cheaper, smaller and less powerful - is this some kind of tactic to allow Toyota to charge £21k+ for this Aygo X GR (if it ever reaches showrooms)?
Aside from that, I would be really interested in an Aygo X GR if it has more power (a lot more power than the weedy 71bhp standard car) but pricing is crucial.
One of my main reasons for wanting a quick city car is the fact that the price should be affordable (and not the car magazine interpretation of the word 'affordable'). Hyundai screwed things up with the i10 N Line because once you realise you can buy a much more practical i20 brand new with the same engine plus mild hybrid gubbins that gives similar performance for less money (in Element trim which is still reasonably well equipt), what's the point of buying a tiny, not actually very sporty, i10 N Line?