BMW 1 series VS Toyota GR Yaris

The launch drive for the 1 Series included some outer-suburban Melbourne traffic, a stint of highway driving down towards the Mornington Peninsula, and a semi-rural road loop for each variant before the return journey.

So, noting that we didn’t quite get the chance to really work out what it might be like to live with the 1 Series day-to-day, first impressions showed good signs.

Both variants still drive much like you’d expect from even a front-drive BMW, let alone the AWD M135, but the chassis and suspension seem like they’d be good counterparts on a daily drive.

In the M135, communication and compliance seemed well-balanced with each other for even some particularly rough surfaces, and after torrential rain there were some potholes that would properly upset most cars that didn’t faze the 1 Series too much.

The 118 seemed to let a little more road noise into the cabin, but that might have been a symptom of different road surfaces.

The steering is accurate, but the feel in both is a little heavier than needed, especially with the thick-rimmed BMW steering wheel that you’ll know about if you’ve driven anything from Munich in recent years.

It’s a very easy car to drive fast, especially with the combination of 233kW, 400Nm, and all-wheel drive at the M135’s disposal.

The chassis and tyres work quite well together to not only hold a corner at impressive speed, but also keep the car stable so that traction isn’t an issue when launching out.

There’s also the joy of hearing a turbo spool and flutter under load, which is hard to deny as a draw for petrolheads.

This is unlike any Yaris you've ever known. Tommi Mäkinen Racing partners with Toyota in the WRC, and had big input into this car's development, as did a bunch of pro racing drivers. And it definitely feels like a road-ified competition car.

Claimed 0-100km/h acceleration is 5.2sec, although four-time Australian rally champion and long-time Toyota collaborator, Neil Bates, showed us data he'd been sent by an early-adopting Aussie customer, lowering that number to 4.7sec.

Similar times have been recorded independently overseas, and the car feels every bit that quick, surging forward with pure, linear, thrust.

Peak torque of 370Nm is a gigantic number for a 1280kg hatch, and it's available across a broad plateau from 3000-4600rpm.

The high-performance exhaust incorporates dual mufflers and circular sound baffles wrapped around its twin tailpipes. The result is typically guttural three-cylinder engine noise combined with a raucous, growly, exhaust note.

But beware, Toyota has played around with "engine sound enhancement" through the audio system, "integrated with throttle action and vehicle speed." Boo.

Aside from its rapid acceleration one of the strongest initial impressions behind the wheel of the GR Yaris is how well it rides. 

he reason the Corolla's rear end was grafted onto the front of the Yaris to make this car's platform is that while the strut front suspension remains (albeit re-tuned with newly developed knuckles, stiffer bushes, and beefier struts), the rear swaps out the standard car's puny torsion bar set-up, for a wider track, trailing-arm, multi-link arrangement.

I was expecting harshness in line with the GR's performance focus, but not so. Aside from some rumble on coarse roads from the 225/40 Dunlop SP Sport Maxx tyres, this powerhouse Yaris is surprisingly civilised. For mine, a great balance between ride quality and dynamic response is the hallmark of a thoroughly well-tuned suspension.

The sports front seat is a fantastic combination of location and comfort, the short-throw shift for the  six-speed manual gearbox is sublime, while clutch weight and action are spot-on. Save the manuals!

There's a little button on the console to fire up a 'iMT' rev-matching function, but I preferred the old-school 'heel and toe' for braking and down-changing into corners, and the relationship of the pedals is made for it. Huge fun, and very satisfying.

Then there's the steering. The absolutely superb steering. It's electrically-assisted, yet road feel is brilliant, thanks in part to the column's tricky (mainly aluminium) construction, there's next to no shock feeding back through the wheel. A direct connection with the front treads, with no NVH penalty is mega-impressive.

And the brakes are professional grade, with 356mm x 28mm two-piece ventilated and grooved front discs clamped by four-piston alloy calipers, 297mm x 18mm vented rotors at the rear with two-piston calipers, and high friction pads all around.

Put it all together and you have a 'please don't let it end' hot-hatch experience. Set to Sport on the open road, the GR-Four AWD system quietly does its thing.

Irrespective of the selected mode, torque balance shifts in response to driver inputs (steering angle, throttle and brake) and vehicle behaviour (acceleration, yaw rate, etc), as well as surface conditions. It's amazing, and turns go-fast wannabes into neat and tidy heroes.

The GR Yaris puts its power down firmly, and grips hard, but at the limit, the system also co-operates with the stability and traction controls, and ABS to keep things on an even keel.

The car is balanced, communicative, and super responsive. You somehow sense, rather than consciously feel, the smart AWD system buttoning things down behind the scenes.

The brakes, complete with short-stroke pedal, are flawless, washing off speed powerfully but progressively, with zero fade, even after a solid hammering on closed road exercises during the launch program.

Scratching my head for something to pick on, the best I can come up with is the size of the interior rear-view mirror. It's big, and the windscreen's short, so sighting the apex in left-hand corners can be tricky. That's it.