While the BMW M2 Competition doesn’t really lack fans these days, there’s a new kid on the block that punches way above its weight limit: the Toyota Yaris GR. This little hot-hatch was designed by the Japanese company to be a road-legal version of the car used in the World Rally Championship and it has been a true revelation over the past few months, with journalists around the world raving about its brilliance.
To put things into perspective, you should know that the guys from Evo magazine, one of the most respected in the business, placed it on the second place in their annual Car of the Year rankings, the supermini beating cars from Lamborghini and Ferrari in the process. Another interesting detail you should remember is that the car that beat the new GT Yaris in that very COTY test was the BMW M2 CS. But what happens when the new Yaris takes on the lesser M2 Competition?
So how would these two compare on the drag strip? Well, I’m not sure how many people would be interested in this exact scenario, but any drag race tickles our fancy. The reason why the Yaris GR is not exactly a drag strip queen can be found in the engine bay. For a dragster you usually need ‘many horsepowers’ as Clarkson would put it but the little Toyota has just a 1.6 liter engine under the hood making a whopping 272 horsepower. On top of that, the Yaris is also offered only with a manual gearbox, yet another downside on the strip.
At the same time, the BMW M2 Competition is not exactly perfect for this scenario either. Even though you can get it with an automatic seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, you’re still stuck with a rear-wheel drive setup and putting down the 410 horsepower the engine makes is a bit tricky. So, who do you think will win?
