GR Yaris with hydrogen combustion engine makes European rally debut

Hydrogen

At Toyota, they love hydrogen. The Mirai is the brand’s flagship model, and in the Super Taikyu racing series in Japan, Toyota even competes with a hydrogen-powered Corolla Sport. Toyota has now put the sustainable powertrain from this race car into the GR Yaris. The result is the GR Yaris H2.

Ypres Rally Belgium

The unusual Yaris was in action for the first time outside of Japan during the Rally of Belgium. During the ninth round of the World Rally Championship, the GR Yaris with hydrogen combustion engine drove a stage each day. On Friday, August 19 and Sunday, August 21, it was driven by Juha Kankkunen and on August 20, Toyota President Akio Toyoda himself got behind the wheel.

Great

According to rally legend Juha Kankkunen, the Toyota chief has quite a bit of steering ability: “Akio drove great. The hydrogen engine delivered solid torque, so it didn’t feel any different than a gasoline engine. Because they hardly emit any CO2, I think hydrogen engines will become one of the options to achieve carbon neutrality. Not only in the world of motorsports, but also in the world of everyday cars.”

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Toyota Mirai

The hydrogen powertrain in the experimental GR Yaris works slightly differently from that of the Toyota Mirai. Inside the stately sedan, hydrogen is converted to electricity via fuel cell technology. The power released in the fuel cell goes through a small battery to an electric motor that drives the wheels.

Combustion engine

The GR Yaris Hydrogen contains the same fuel tanks as the Mirai, but under the hood is simply the 1.6-liter three-cylinder turbo engine, which is also in the “regular” Toyota GR Yaris. Although it is no longer very common, as the engine has been fitted with a different fuel supply and injection system so that it can run on hydrogen.

Nice sound

Hydrogen is a volatile commodity that burns faster than gasoline, but the end product is water. So the GR Yaris H2’s hydrogen engine has a fine throttle response, but is nice and durable. In addition, the hydrogen combustion engine provides a nice sound, which of course is something you miss with all-electric sports cars. In the video below, you can hear very well how Toyota’s hydrogen combustion engine sounds: