An F1 fan tried his hand at a Red Bull pattern

Off-line meetings of the GR Yaris, where well-meaning friends get together, are held all over Japan, and the “GR Yaris owner’s meeting in Tenryukyo” was held on 13 April in Nagano Prefecture. Around 100 GR Yaris were gathered from all over Japan. This time, one of the cars is colored to Red Bull GR Corolla specifications, driven by Rovanperä.

Switching over from the Lancer Evo IV

Mr. “Dekachiri” has no motorsport experience, but switched from a Hilux to a Lancer Evolution IV to drive around the forest roads. A full-time 4WD with power is advantageous for driving fast on unpainted, low-muelled forest roads. When he was looking for his next car as the Lancer Evo IV was getting quite old, he considered switching to a Subaru car, but the horizontally opposed engine was not good enough. It was at this time that the GR Yaris was launched. The full-time 4WD with a high-power turbo engine in a compact body was exactly what Mr. Dekachiri wanted, and he bought the RZ High-Performance First Edition without hesitation.

His first impression when driving the GR Yaris was that it was an “honors sports car”. Compared to the Lancer Evo IV, it’s quite mild and speeds up without him knowing it. It’s a bit quiet, so he boosted its potential with an HKS air cleaner and TRD muffler, and tightened up the suspension with G-Force shocks.

Planning to tune the brake system

Mr. Dekachiri is a big fan of Formula One. Among them, the Red Bull Racing Team has been dominant in recent years with its Honda V6 turbo engine. So he decided to customize the body of the GR Yaris to Red Bull specifications by wrapping it, but he couldn’t get good feedback from the F1 formula body.

The reference was the Red Bull GR Corolla driven by WRC champion Kalle Rovanperä in Formula Drift Japan.

The silhouettes of the GR Yaris and the GR Corolla differ slightly between the three-door and five-door versions, but the color scheme and Red Bull illustration are almost identical in the wrapping. The colors and the Red Bull illustration are decorated in almost the same way. The sponsor maker on the rear of the body is also the same as on the GR Corolla, although no parts are used. The driver’s name on the door is “DEKACHIRI72”. This sporty and flashy body is sure to stand out on the street. I’m mostly happy with the car as it is, but I’m planning to change the brake calipers and rotors to increase the stopping power even more.

translated by DeepL