GR Yaris: Is AT Version GRYarisRZ Good For Left Foot Brake?

（The initial publication of this page’s article was in March 2023. In January 2024, Toyota officially announced the start of sales for the post-facelift GR Yaris in spring. For more details, click “here.” This page has been slightly revised and brushed up following the announcement of the GR Yaris’ post-facelift.）

The content discussed herein should be regarded as mere desires akin to the baseless wishes of Rikutsu-Kone-Taro, so please read with that in mind.

It is well known that development is underway for the AT version of the GR Yaris. I can’t help but wonder, could it possibly feature a left-foot brake and paddle shifters?

By “left-foot brake” here, I don’t mean the type where you use your left foot to prevent accidents due to pedal misapplication, which is common with the current method of operating only with the right foot for both accelerator and brake.

What I mean by “left-foot brake” is using your left foot to lightly tap on the brake while still using your right foot for the accelerator, for weight transfer and posture control purposes. It’s a technique that imposes a significant load on the transmission. Would the GR-DAT be able to withstand such high demands?

Rikutsu-Kone-Taro is aware that the GR Yaris was planned and produced with aspirations for WRC activity. Therefore, whether there are competitions available for participation with an automatic transmission might be a key point. However, I’m not well-informed about whether such categories exist, although Toyota’s PR suggests that competitions are held with automatic transmissions.

Therefore, I won’t touch upon competitions or regulations here.

However, in terms of the proper division of roles for both hands and feet, or rather, in terms of intuitive simplicity, I believe that a left-foot brake specification with paddle shifters for automatic transmission is more suitable than the 3-pedal H-pattern manual transmission.

The 3-pedal H-pattern manual transmission is complex. Unless you’re a particularly avid car enthusiast, everyone would think, “Why bother with such a hassle?”

It’s the same with motorcycle control systems; there probably wasn’t necessarily a rational reason for the current control system to converge, although I don’t have data on that.

Returning to motorcycles, though it’s embarrassing to mention, it’s bizarre that the front brake is operated by the right hand grip lever, while the rear brake is operated by the right foot lever. Rikutsu-Kone-Taro thinks it’s odd.

And because that’s the de facto standard, both manufacturers and insurance companies just follow suit.

The same could be said for all sorts of things, including motorcycles.

Actually, automatic transmission motorcycles don’t have a clutch lever or a shift lever, so the left hand and foot are idle, and the control system leans heavily to the right. It’s quite odd.

It would be better if they allocated the rear brake to the left lever, but it seems manufacturers haven’t made such arrangements (although there are aftermarket kits).

If it’s a scooter rather than a motorcycle, it’s sold with a left brake lever specification.

There might be differences in tariffs, taxes, or insurance premiums between motorcycles and scooters, but I don’t have data on that.

Let’s get back on track.

Setting aside the uniqueness of the 3-pedal H-pattern manual transmission, let’s imagine the driving sensation if the GR Yaris RZ or RC were commercially available with a left-foot brake specification and paddle shift automatic transmission.

With the GR-DAT, it is said to select the appropriate gear based on even more variables than previous automatic transmissions, with shift speeds even surpassing those of DCT. Therefore, according to previous official announcements, it seems that it can run faster than ordinary drivers even when in the D range.

In other words, the GR-DAT selects gears accurately according to the situation and shifts gears quickly, possibly faster than a human. Furthermore, the GR-DAT has been honed in rally competition scenes.

In that case, it may be a slight leap in logic, but there are probably instances where a left-foot brake is more appropriate than a right-foot brake. Why? Because in competitions, it’s often inefficient to release the right foot from the accelerator pedal.

That is, the technique of maintaining engine speed by continuously pressing the accelerator with the right foot while using the left foot to brake for deceleration and posture control purposes. Rikutsu-Kone-Taro imagines that the GR-DAT, honed in competition scenes, would be capable of such usage.

Sounds good, doesn’t it?

You wouldn’t need to take one hand off the steering wheel while driving, and there would be minimal interruption in driving force during gear changes.

For trips to winding roads or circuits, you could leisurely use the AT mode, and at the track, you could use the MT mode with paddle shifters to make instantaneous gear changes while controlling vehicle posture and weight with the left-foot brake, enjoying the corners, and navigating through them with precision.

So, isn’t it possible that Toyota might create such a car?

I can’t help but fantasize about how great it would be if the AT version of the GR Yaris were like this.

As Rikutsu-Kone-Taro, I hope that the GR-DAT, to be implemented in the post-facelift GR Yaris to be released in spring 2024, would be an AT capable of such usage.

With that in mind, I plan to somehow finance the purchase of a GR Yaris RZHP8AT. According to the current information available, including manufacturer options, it would cost around 6.2 million yen (including tax).

It’s cheaper than expected, but now the question is how to manage the funds.

However, as Rikutsu-Kone-Taro, I’m good at managing finances, so I believe I’ll figure something out.

That’s all for now.