You can now shout very loudly that we are a childish couple together, but, eh, then you are right. You know, we could also have said something about the manual transmission lever being cold. You have to admit that the vertically placed handbrake in the new Toyota GR Yaris looks a bit strange. It is not a sketch from the Friday afternoon drinks that accidentally got between the design drawings; there is a clear function.
The Toyota GR Yaris was built for two reasons. The brand still has a strong urge to prove that they are not a boring brand and they want to rally. The GR Yaris is the expression of that urge; it is a rally car with a complete interior. Everyone knows the images of rally cars sliding through tight corners, and this handbrake should help with that. It is placed extra ergonomically so that the driver can easily pull the handbrake forcefully while driving.
More vehicle control through the handbrake in the Toyota GR Yaris
The official statement from Toyota is that the handbrake provides 'vehicle control during rally driving and gymkhana'. In rally and drift cars you often see the handbrake standing upright. This is often on the hydraulic system so that you can brake more powerfully and lock the rear wheels. A regular handbrake works via a cable. By the way, the vertical handbrake of the GR Yaris is an option, because as you can see below, Toyota also supplies the car with a horizontal parking brake.
Toyota tells TopGear Netherlands that they do not yet know whether the vertical handbrake will also come to the Netherlands. All details and specifications have yet to be announced. Another nice detail from racing by the way: if you put the automatic (because you can order it now) in manual mode, pulling it towards you means going up a gear, just like in racing. With normal Toyotas you have to push the lever away from you to shift up.
It can always be worse
How to remove the towbar from a Mazda 6. In graphic detail. pic.twitter.com/ucZVvvQFHw
— Tom Wiltshire 🎄 (@mctreckmeister) October 3, 2018
There is an even worse case of 'form follows function'. The above image comes from the manual of the Mazda 6. Here you see the instructions on how to remove the detachable tow bar. And if we use this article as the ultimate outlet for everything childish: in America there is a chain of gas station stores called 'Kum & Go'. This chain is going to change its name because the new owner has reservations about the double meaning of the name.
#handbrake #Toyota #Yaris #39happy #you39
