Toyota continues to develop its GR family of cars, named after the brand’s motorsport division called Gazoo Racing. The newest member of this family is the Toyota GR Corolla
The Toyota Corolla had a presence in motorsport years ago, where it was used in the WRC, among other things. This car was driven by a driver like Carlos Sainz sen. among others and managed to win several rallies that were part of the World Rally Championship. In recent years, however, the Corolla has been far from sporty.
New life can be given to the Corolla by the GR family, Toyota’s sports cars inspired by its motorsport division, which has enjoyed considerable success in the WRC and WEC (World Endurance Championship), among others.
The Toyota GR Corolla benefits greatly from the achievements of the smaller hot hatch in the Toyota sports car family. Fans of the brand from the Old Continent, however, to buy a hot hatch from Toyota will have to opt for the smaller Yaris, with which the Corolla shares, among other things, the 3-cylinder 1.6 G16E-GTS unit or four-wheel drive, which is controlled by an electronically controlled multidisc clutch.
The small engine under the hood, however, boasts considerable performance. This engine gives the Corolla 304 horsepower and 370 Newton meters of torque. In fact, its only drawback may be that it runs the risk of being quite unreliable, which has already been reported by owners of Toyota GR Yaris using it.
In order for the Toyota GR Corolla to handle so much power well, the car was slightly modified. Among other things, the wheelbase was enlarged, making the car wider by 60 millimeters on the front axle, and by 85 millimeters on the rear axle. In addition, the car is equipped with a special Gazoo Racing suspension. It consists of new control arms, springs and shock absorbers. In addition, this suspension means a revised geometry that is better suited to the purpose of this car.
More power and sportiness also mean that the car was slimmed down a bit when designing the Toyota GR Corolla. The whole thing is made in a separate factory and uses carbon fiber, which makes up the roof among other things, as well as more aluminum. Also noteworthy is the exhaust system. This one is really unique in an era where so-called dummy exhaust is very popular and even cars like the Mercedes C63 AMG use fake exhaust tips. The Corolla has a three-pipe exhaust that is fully functional, giving a sporty look to the rear of the car.
Toyota is also betting on sporty excitement with its choice of transmission. This one will be manual even in the United States, a place where a large part of drivers can’t operate the clutch and shift lever. So this is a really interesting tactic. The handbrake is also traditional.
Toyota Corolla has everything to become a really interesting hot hatch that will provide a lot of fun for its owners. Let’s hope this car makes its way to Europe.
main photo: unsplash.com/Christina Telep
