Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa has revealed a new Glanza-based rally car. The model uses the pre-facelift Glanza as its base and gets a host of upgrades. The name of the rally car is Toyota GR Starlet. The car made its debut at the Cape Overberg Rally on 20th May. Former South African National Rally Champions Simon Vacy-Lyle and Guy Bottrill piloted the car through the area surrounding the town of Bredasdorp.
Toyota sells the Maruti Suzuki Baleno-based, Glanza in South Africa as the Starlet. The rally car is based on the previous generation Starlet hatchback. Toyota also builds the GR Starlet entirely in South Africa, and it also meets all of the FIA safety standard specifications.
Like a proper rally car, the GR Starlet gets a wide-body kit and rally-spec wheels. Additionally, the wheels feature a white finish, and the car has red and white two-tone graphics. The interiors are also typical rally-spec and are completely stripped out. Additionally, it also features rally equipment such as a fire extinguisher, spare wheel and a roll-cage.
The face of the Starlet may have a similar look, but underneath it, it is anything but similar. The GR Starlet uses a 3S-GTE 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine. The motor produces around 261 HP and 324 Nm of torque. Toyota has not revealed the exact figures. The GR Starlet sends its power to all four wheels via a sequential transmission. Controlling the electronics is a Motec engine control unit. As for the suspension, it gets Reiger dampers. The rally car also features brakes by Alcon.
Currently, Toyota sells the Starlet in its second generation, just like in India. However, the Indian and South African models have different powertrains. The Starlet uses a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine. It produces 105 HP and 138 Nm. In comparison, the Glanza uses a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated engine with 90 HP and 113 Nm of torque. The automatic transmission options differ as well. The automatic variant of the Starlet uses a 4-speed AT, while the Glanza comes with a 5-speed AMT. However, both cars’ manual variants use a 5-speed gearbox.
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