Australian YouTuber Motive Video has published a detailed and engrossing guide into raising the output of Toyota’s performance hatches, such as the GR Yaris and GR Corolla. Apparently, one mod is enough to push the engine beyond the 500-horsepower point.
The mill called G16E-GTS has three cylinders at its disposal, 1.6 liters of displacement and makes 272 PS (268 hp / 200 kW) along with 370 Nm (273 lb-ft) of torque in its Yaris version. The Corolla variant is boosted further to 305 PS (300 hp / 224 kW) and 400 Nm (295 lb-ft). You would think this is about as high as any three-cylinder will ever get, but reality has taught us otherwise.
At first, the tuner responsible for the build did an investigation into the uneven dyno stand measurements produced by the car. It was concluded that the ECU on board curbed its power expectations when the AWD system started to overheat and also redlined earlier than usual when it felt the transmission needed to be protected. These shortcomings can be eliminated by reinforcing the drivetrain to withstand higher loads.
The tuning began with upgraded intake and exhaust systems that failed to add much hp, but at least endowed the hatchback with a more solid soundtrack. Replacing the valve springs to prevent valves from floating helped much more, and upgrading the camshafts yielded the definitive improvement, allowing the inline-3 engine to pump out north of 507 PS (500 hp / 373 kW).
