Could today’s young people ever enjoy a full-fledged hot hatchback without racking up even more debt? Perhaps Toyota is brewing something for this. The brand is Japanese Best Car working on something cool: the return of the affordable Starlet. Never heard of it? Then tap your father.
‘Why would I just believe a random Japanese news website?’, we hear you think. Well, Best Car also predicted that the GR Corolla and GR Yaris would come. Back to the car, because according to the Japanese medium, the plans are already well advanced. The Starlet is completely new, but was not initially going to be a Starlet.
The new Startlet should not have been called Starlet
The original plan was apparently to release the new car this year. That car should have been on the DNGA platform. That abbreviation stands for Daihatsu New Global Architecture. If you’ve been following the news at all, you know that Daihatsu had a major setback. Now releasing a car with a link to Daihatsu; Toyota doesn’t like that. The new model was ready, but has now been completely revised and should not be sold until 2026.
The Japanese website already has a lot of specific information about the car, such as its dimensions (3.68 meters long, 1.665 meters wide and 1.525 meters high) and weight (less than 1,000 kilos). Under the hood will be a 1.0-liter combustion engine that will be assisted by an electric motor. The Japanese price for the entry-level model should be between 1.5 million and 1.8 million yen. This amounts to between 8,900 euros and 10,700 euros.
The Toyota Starlet GR with GR Yaris engine
Best Car says the Starlet’s return isn’t even the biggest shock. In addition to the standard model, a sportier version will also be released: the GR Starlet. Development of this has already started. The more powerful Starlet would be a bit larger than the standard version and would also have a different drivetrain.
We asked for a GR Starlet, but this seems to be the rally version | Photo: © OpenAI/DALL–E
Toyota would not want a hybrid powertrain for this, but only a combustion engine. The brand would take that engine out of the GR Yaris and reduce the cylinder capacity from 1.6 liters to 1.3 liters. That should be enough for the three-cylinder to produce about 150 hp. More than enough for a cake weighing less than 1,000 kilos, we think. The car should cost around 15,000 euros there, but feel free to take triple that into account.
The new Toyota Starlet will go rallying
Just like the Yaris, Toyota wants to use the new Starlet in rally driving. According to the source, the goal is to use the small rally car in the Rally 4 category. Rally teams will soon be able to purchase the special version of the GR Starlet to use in rallies. In this category, the Starlet can compete with rally versions of the Peugeot 208, Renault Clio and Kia Rio. Hopefully there will be confirmation from Toyota of all this great news soon.
Tags: Toyota brings affordable Starlet including fast version
