Toyota has an onslaught of cool new cars coming. We’re still waiting for the new TNGA-F platform-based 4Runner and Tacoma and some awesome-looking electric vehicles. But one long-awaited Toyota product will arrive this week. Toyota confirmed a March 31st at 9:30 PM launch for the long-teased GR Corolla hot hatchback.
ToyotaGR stands for Gazoo Racing. And the new GR Corolla will be anything but a boring economy car. It will be a bigger version of the delightful GR Yaris that Toyota launched in other markets but kept out of America. Reports expect the GR Corolla to pack the potent turbocharged 1.3-liter inline-three as the GR Yaris. The “GR Four” in the teaser photo refers to the all-wheel-drive system that should also be ported over from the GR Yaris.
The hot hatch will pack a six-speed manual transmission — necessary equipment for any engaging combustion hot hatchback — though a Japanese report suggested Toyota may follow the Subaru WRX’s lead with a CVT option.
Last year, a Toyota dealer leak suggested the GR Corolla could get a power bump to close to 300 horsepower; the GR Yaris tops out at 268 horsepower in a high-po GRMN version. That leak also said the GR Corolla would get a manual-only rally edition with a rear-seat delete.
The Drive reported that the GR Corolla will get a factory widebody and could get a starting price in the $30,000s, slotting between the new GR 86 and the base model Supra 2.0. That price point would position the GR Corolla perfectly to rival the all-new 2022 Volkswagen Golf R and the upcoming Honda Civic Type R.
