GR Yaris: Discomfort Due to Electronic Device Intervention like E-Throttle?

To start with the conclusion, insensitive Rikutsu-Kone-Taro feels no discomfort from the electronic control intervention while driving the GR Yaris.

I, Rikutsu-Kone-Taro,  would go so far as to call it the car with the least discomfort in my car history.

For example, there’s no hesitation, such as the engine not responding even when the accelerator is floored during low-speed driving (wasn’t this natural for carbureted bikes with cable throttle? I remember it was recommended to throttle just a bit ahead of engine rpm increase to avoid carburetor problems… Sorry if I’m wrong), or the engine revving higher than the accelerator input during low revs, etc. There’s no such discomfort.

I’ve always thought that Rikutsu-Kone-Taro (an archetype) believed that manufacturers, as organizations, don’t trust users, so they tweak things. They put ads that appeal to car enthusiasts by implementing seemingly relevant mechanisms to sell more units.

In both good and bad ways, I thought manufacturers aimed to make cars for all types of users to increase revenue and maintain employment.

Manufacturers aiming for significant profits can’t cater to each individual’s preferences. The practical pricing of a product is because many people buy the same product.

Reflecting on the transition of motorcycles and cars from when Rikutsu-Kone-Taro began to have views on internal combustion engines until now, commercially available internal combustion engines have been subject to various regulations and economic conditions, sometimes being neutered and sometimes polished.

To be honest, in Rikutsu-Kone-Taros’ motorcycle and car history, there were always glaring discomforts in the mechanisms of old cars that didn’t work properly (even some new foreign cars were terrible), domestically produced cars making annoying noises beyond a certain speed, front-wheel-drive cars feeling odd when steering, engines hitting some limiter immediately, motorcycles with brake systems with strange responses front and rear; there was intense discomfort with any car or motorcycle experienced.

There were also feelings of discomfort derived from the perception that manufacturers were pandering to authorities and the police.

Recently, there have been many videos and information about the electronic control intervention of the GR Yaris.

Mostly, they simply express the differences between the personal preferences and car views of the creators and the reality of the GR Yaris, and I think that’s a fact. There’s a lot of useful information.

But the fact remains that the GR Yaris is a special model created by Toyota in today’s complex social situation.

So, if you want a GR Yaris, I want you to have confidence that your desire is not wrong (of course, buying and driving are at your own risk).

Although there are people who harshly criticize the GR Yaris, which has just started running compared to tuned cars of the past, they are also people who are polishing the GR Yaris.

There’s probably no commercially available modern car without manufacturer intervention control for their convenience, and manufacturers find it difficult to create sharp cars, even if it means antagonizing many authorities and stakeholders.

The government and police are representatives of this, as most people would think. Another thing Rikutsu-Kone-Taro thinks of is insurance companies.

Insurance companies have detailed data on car models, driver age groups (maybe even gender), accident causes, and others. This data should influence the development of automotive manufacturers.

Returning to the discomfort, moving at over 100 kilometers per hour would be a lump of discomfort for someone from the Edo period.

In short, it’s about what criteria to evaluate, accept discomfort, get used to it, and enjoy it.

Of course, there are discomforts that cannot be accepted. In that case, you have to give up. It’s just stressful to ride a car for enjoyment that you can’t accept.

However, from the perspective of a professional living through competition and tuning, I can understand their frustration with the difficulty of electronic control modification in this car.

If you didn’t have a special attachment to this car, it would be more rational to tweak and compete with other models.

In that sense, for those people, the GR Yaris is a disappointing (actually, not really) car.

I’m sorry to repeat, but if you feel something for the GR Yaris, I think your intuition is correct (please take responsibility for your purchase and driving).

Because that intuition is already a special attachment to the GR Yaris. I’m looking forward to how Toyota will update the GR Yaris. (And when I thought about it, the minor change and specifications of the GR Yaris were announced in January 2024. Looking at the content, it’s clear that it’s an evolution focused on driving. The GR Yaris is indeed genuine!)

That’s all.