This independent illustration was made by Thanos Pappas for Carscoops and is neither related to nor endorsed by Toyota.
The Toyota Aygo X debuted yesterday as an urban crossover and, unsurprisingly for a city car, it comes fitted with a tiny naturally aspirated 1.0-liter engine. However, being based on the GA-B platform the car has plenty of potential in terms of performance, feeding rumors for a spiced-up version developed by Gazoo Racing.
Speaking for the Aygo X, Andrea Carlucci, vice president of Toyota Europe, said to Autocar: “This car may deserve looking at the chassis, the body rigidity – the potential in making a more sporty version”.
Possible But Not In The Cards
However, hot hatch fans shouldn’t get too excited as the high-ranked official clarified such a version is not currently in the cards: “Let’s be clear: it’s not in our plans, but you will discover yourself and maybe comment to help us understand how much potential you see in that”, concluding on a promising “Never say never”.
See Also: Toyota Explains The Differences Between 2022 GR 86 And Subaru BRZ, Announces Gazoo Racing Parts
In other words, a GR-branded Toyota Aygo X could happen, but only if there is enough demand for a sporty variant to make the investment worth it. Gazoo Racing has a wide naming strategy including the GR Parts (accessories), GR Sport (entry-level sports models), GR (serious sports models), and GRMN (extreme sports models), so there are plenty of options for the Aygo X.
Given that the rally-bred GR Yaris is based on a custom platform merging elements from the GA-B and the GA-C, there’s zero chances that the Aygo X will inherit its big brother’s turbocharged 1.6-liter three-cylinder or the GR-Four all-wheel-drive system. After all, it is a city car with a curb weight of 940 kg (2,072 pounds) so it doesn’t really need that much power. The possibility of a hybrid powertrain has also been ruled out for cost- and weight-saving reasons.
See Also: Track-Focused Toyota GR Yaris Variant Spied Undisguised
For this speculative render, we added a new set of wheels, huge brakes with red-painted calipers, plus a few sporty touches like an aggressive front bumper and the GR badge on the front fenders. We also lowered the suspension for a more planted look. Image Credit: Thanos Pappas
Our guess is that Toyota could introduce an Aygo X GR-Sport fitted with the 1.5-liter VVT-i gasoline engine that is already found under the bonnet of the Yaris and Yaris Cross, which are based on a version of the same GA-B architecture as the Aygo X. In the aforementioned models, the mill produces a respectable 123 hp (92 kW / 125 PS) and 145 Nm (106 lb-ft) of torque, mated with a six-speed manual gearbox. This power would be more than enough for a lightweight A-Segment vehicle, offering significantly improved performance over the standard 1.0-liter three-cylinder which only makes 71 hp (53 kW / 72 PS) and 93 Nm (68.6 lb-ft) of torque.
What is more important than power is the driving dynamics, so a Gazoo Racing tune for the suspension, chassis, and steering alongside beefier brakes and wider tires would transform the Aygo X into a tiny hot hatch. As you can see from the speculative rendering we created, a possible GR Aygo or a lesser Aygo X GR-Sport could get a series of styling updates communicating the added performance.
Of course, nothing is certain at this point but if a GR-branded Aygo X gets green-lighted for production, it will be one of the few sporty cars in the segment next to the Hyundai i10 N-Line and the VW Up! GTI.
