Volkswagen Golf VS Toyota GR Yaris

This was an urban test first and foremost, and the Golf GTI still is one of the most liveable sporty hatchbacks on the market.

There are things you will need to contend with - the amount of coarse-chip road road that intrudes into the cabin is downright nasty at times, and even in the most comfortable drive mode it’s quite firm over Sydney’s pockmarked city roads - but otherwise, this thing is great.

The steering has heaps of weight to it, and is super direct. The heftiness of it might take some getting used to, especially when negotiating tight parking spaces, but there’s always the auto-parking function if you’re nervous. 

Now, the adaptive chassis control dampers will be stiffer or softer depending on the drive mode you choose. There are Eco, Comfort, Sport and the configurable Individual setting, and when my family was on board I had the car in Comfort mode. Again, no complaints about ride comfort.

In Sport mode, it is sharper and lumpier, but never lacking in control or refinement. Yes, you do feel sharp edges, and it might be too edgy for full-time use, but it really does help the car feel more confident and planted.

The engine is terrific. It has more than enough grunt to make easy work of daily duties, and you needn’t fear about whether you’ll have enough squirt to make it for overtaking moves. It has an abundance of torque and the linear way in which it builds power from low in the rev range is superb.

I also had no complaints about the dual-clutch auto transmission. The action of it can take some getting used to at lower speeds, where it can feel like it’s slurring a bit, but it really is a super gearbox, with snappy shifts at speed and smooth changes when you want them.

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.