The race car next door? We try to understand why the fastest drivers love proving their skills in a slow Toyota Vios
CY Foong · Oct 9, 2024 10:00 AM
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If there’s one word to describe the Toyota Vios, it would be pedestrian. I must admit the current fourth-generation AC100 is the boldest-looking Vios but it is a car that will not stir up hearts and serves as a faultless transport.
However, being a popular car does not mean that it has zero performance potential with Toyota Gazoo Racing Malaysia organizing a one-make race series featuring the Vios since 2017. Now in its seventh season, the Toyota Vios Challenge just completed its second round with thrills and spills; the latter quite literally.
Before the lights turned green at the Sepang International Circuit, we were invited to check out the machinery used by the 27 teams competing in the Sporting and Super Sporting classes. Needless to say, the Vios race car used is vastly different from the ones on showroom floors.
Level playing field
Close contact is the norm in these kind of races
Before scaling to the top of the glitzy and glamorous world of Formula One, many drivers began their career in go-karts or one-make race series. While karting is essentially the closest to the feel of an open racing F1 car, competition relies on the performance of the machine and not just a driver’s prowess.
Similar to F1, teams that have a higher budget would have the bigger advantage to win the title, making it quite unfair for the smaller teams. It gets tiring and predictable for fans to see lucrative teams win every race. Sometimes, the underdogs get a chance to step up but this is rarely seen.
Which makes the one-make race series rather exciting than the standard fare. Here, teams are only allowed to use one type of car with the same performance, tyre suppliers, and aerodynamics. Compared to karting, a one-make race series is more affordable and thus, lowering the barrier of entry.
Plus, this is a race that depends on the driver’s skills than the machinery’s power so everyone is on a level playing field. Here, rookies can outshine experienced professionals such as in the example of a young Ayrton Senna who took first place in the 1984 Nurburgring Race of Champions against the likes of Stirling Moss and Niki Lauda in a W201 Mercedes-Benz 190E.
Besides, racing slow cars fast require a lot more mental strength and precision driving skills. Without the benefit of having a lot of power, drivers need to work very hard to close the gap every time they make a mistake in a corner.
It is both challenging and fun for the drivers to test their mettle against others in the same metal.
The Toyota Vios Challenge isn’t the only one-make race series in Malaysia but unlike the Saga Cup and the newly announced Myvi Cup, the Vios Challenge is the only one that has full official support from a carmaker.
As such, it received plenty of coverage with online livestreams of its races as well as attracting big names in local motorsports like Tengku Djan Ley, William Ho, Tom Goh, and Freddy Ang.
This season removed the Promotional Class which featured celebrity drivers but it still acts as a springboard for many aspiring drivers. This year’s six Rookie Class drivers, however, will be competing in the previous-generation Vios rather than the current AC100.
Race-prepped
Toyota Vios race cars in the Philippines (top) and Thailand (bottom)
Besides Malaysia, the Toyota Vios one-make race is also organized in the Philippines though the teams use the last-gen Vios instead as the AC100 isn’t available there yet.
In Thailand, where the Vios is sold as the Yaris Ativ, the one-make series is only open to female drivers but the Kingdom also host the Yaris hatchback one-make race and the Hilux one-make race competitions.
Though the AC100 race car makes its full-season debut this year, it first made an appearance in the final race of last season. During the last race of Season 6, the celebrity drivers in the Promotional Class were piloting the then-newly launched fourth-gen Vios.
On this season’s second-round race weekend, we get to experience driving the same race-prepped Vios as last season’s celebrity drivers. These AC100 race cars were hooked to the same D-CVT automatic gearbox found in the regular Vios with carbon fibre paddle shifters.
The MT Vios race car is used by all the teams competing in the Sporting and Super Sporting classes - The A/C works but most drivers prefer turning it off during the race
The teams competing this season use a Vios that is hooked to a 5-speed manual transmission sourced from the Indo-spec Vios. There was only one unit available to be sampled during the media event but we did not have a chance to try it around the track.
Though the Vios MT has an E badge on the rear, there are some noticeable differences between the race-prepped car compared to the base Vios which starts from RM 89,600. Besides the manual transmission, the Vios doesn’t have a push start system but being a race car, it is easy to ignore most of the details.
Under the hood, the Vios AC100 race car (both MT and CVT) has the same naturally aspirated 1.5-litre 2NR-VE four-cylinder Dual VVT-i engine as the ones that you see on the road. Power is rated at 106 PS and 138 Nm so it isn’t going to be fast even on the straights.
But it has gone through an extensive diet to turn into a race car. Out went the entire rear seat and some miscellaneous items. The front seats are replaced by full OMP First-R race bucket seats with a 6-point safety harness, a 350 mm steering wheel, and an electrical circuit breaker.
With the entire rear seat removed...
...some sacrifices are needed
Essential race car additions to the AC100 Vios include the front and rear tow hooks, a limited-slip differential, Ohlins suspension set, and a 6-point roll cage. It is estimated that the NC100 Vios race car cost RM 170,000. That might sound like a lot for a Vios but this is one prepped for more action on the track.
Deaf defying
While the powertrain is largely unchanged from the standard Vios, the race car has been given a new exhaust manifold, exhaust mid-section, and exhaust muffler. It is said that power is boosted by up to 12 PS from the standard engine but Toyota has not revealed any official figures.
One thing that doesn’t need any official readings though is the noise as with the removal of the sound-deadening materials and a new straight pipe exhaust running below the car, things get really loud.
I was accompanied by one of the young TGR talents, sitting shotgun on the passenger seat. He would act as my instructor for the day as I came to terms with the race car and the circuit itself.
This was my first time driving a proper race car around Sepang. Even if the car wasn’t that fast, the experience behind the wheel was raw excitement. As I gunned down the throttle the engine started to scream and I couldn’t hear my co-pilot's guidance, resorting to hand gestures or trying to understand his muffled commands.
But being in a “slow” race car does have some merits as it is easy to handle. The disc brakes used are standard with a set of calipers designed for racing and here, it stops with immediate precision.
Amidst all the warnings that popped up on the screen as the standard airbag-equipped steering wheel is swapped out for an OMP dished steering wheel, I find the steering to be razor sharp. That’s the magic of a race car – it can turn something mundane into something really extraordinary though its use is only limited to the circuits.
This black Vios was the only one hooked to a manual transmission during the media session which we unfortunately did not get to sample
Then again, the standard AC100 Vios already has superb handling prowess even without the modifications. In our review, we commended the current Vios being sprightly around the bends.
In the more demanding corners of Sepang, that nimbleness is turned up to eleven combined with the lightness of having barely anything in the rear. You can get the tail out just a bit but even with the slight understeer of an amateur behind the wheel, it is easy to recompose its position.
Vios = Fun?
When Shaun drove the last-gen Vios race car a couple of years ago, he concluded that driving a slow car fast is the most fun experience. Both the old and new generation of Vios race cars are still not going to light anyone’s hearts ablaze.
But it will spark those who wish to be more involved in grassroots motorsports and it is very commendable for Toyota Gazoo Racing Malaysia to promote new talents in local motorsports. That weekend saw the Prince of Drift crash out on the early laps of the first race of the second round and young rookies blazing against established racers.
Who knows if one day we might find Malaysia’s answer to Ayrton Senna with their career starting from behind the wheel of the humble Toyota Vios.
With a total of RM 630,000 in prize money up for grabs this season, who will be crowned the champion for the 7th Toyota Vios Challenge? Stay tuned for the conclusion on 3 to 5 January 2025 at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit which will be opened to the public with additional entertainment and family attractions.
Traded advertising for a career that fits his passion for cars. Enjoys spotting cars during his free time and has a soft spot for Japanese Kei cars but drives a thirsty manual sedan.
