Toyota GR Corolla Hot Hatch Steers toward the Raceway

• There will indeed be a race series for the Toyota Corolla GR, and a roar announced the arrival of an actual prototype of the new racing model (one of three).

• The GR Corolla is an all-wheel-drive, 300-hp pocket rocket that’s (mostly) shifted by a manual transmission at a time when fewer and fewer Americans know how to stir the stick.

• In three laps around the Charlotte track, the author got progressively faster as it became clear the car had plenty of grip and wasn’t going to get tail happy. We were told, “Don’t hit the cones”—because apparently some others did—and not to exceed 85 mph.

Toyota estimates it will sell fewer than 6,000 2025 Toyota GR Corolla performance cars in the US, but its prospects would likely be brighter if it had—like the sporty two-door 86 coupe—a dedicated series for “race on Sunday, win on Monday” cred.

And lo it has come to pass.

Last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina, the Japanese automaker gave journalists the keys to a fleet of GR Corollas for hot laps, and then took them to the nearby GR Garage, where the 86s (built in Japan on a platform shared with the Subaru BRZ) are prepared for the GR Cup.

Surrounded by 86s in various build stages, Paul Doleshal, Toyota North America’s group manager for motorsports, announced there will indeed be a series for the Corolla GR, and then a roar announced the arrival of an actual prototype of the new racing model (one of three).

“We look forward to taking orders for it,” Doleshal said. The single-seater looked the business with a full cage, fuel cell with filler through the window, rear-mounted battery, Lexan windows (except for the windshield), and Pirelli P Zero tires.

Toyota Racing will be consolidated globally as Toyota Gazoo Racing by the end of the year. “Gazoo” is the Japanese word for garage, and it denotes the company’s competitive origins in skunkwork cars that maverick employees put together from scavenged parts.

Racing is considerably more formalized now, and the garage in Charlotte includes a whole floor dedicated to turning drivers into better athletes, with a workout room, sauna-level spaces to build heat endurance, media training (“remember you’re representing a brand and be careful about what you put on social media”), access to mental health professionals, a sports medicine suite, and a kitchen staffed by a nutritionist.

“When we took over this space it was windowless and abandoned, with bird poop everywhere,” said Nathan Cosgrove, executive engineering director at Toyota Racing Development (TRD). “You needed imagination to see what it could be.”

And Toyota needed imagination to see a continuing US market for the GR Corolla, now with minor improvements (including an automatic transmission variant) from the 2022 debut.

The GR Corolla is an all-wheel-drive, 300-hp pocket rocket that’s (mostly) shifted by a manual transmission at a time when fewer and fewer Americans know how to stir the stick. It’s a bit pricey—for a Corolla—starting at $38,860 for the Core model and topping off at $47,515 for the Premium Plus with the eight-speed paddle-shifted automatic that carries a $2,000 premium.

There’s more! It’s powered by a 1.6-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine innovative enough to win a 2024 Wards 10 Best Engines and Propulsion Systems trophy. Yes, 300 hp from three cylinders, with 295 lb-ft of torque. Zero to 60 mph in 4.99 seconds.

And the car doesn’t shake itself to bits, which Chief Engineer Naoyuki Sakamoto attributed to careful placement of balance shafts. He also told Autoweek the three-cylinder format allows improved management of exhaust gases and reduced turbo lag.

In Japan, the GR Corolla competes in the Super Taikyu Series, which includes the environmentally friendly touch of cars that burn hydrogen fuel. That series is using the earlier edition of the GR Corolla, because the improved car we drove in Charlotte hasn’t yet won regulatory approval, Sakamoto said.

Toyota spokesman Samuel Wells Mahoney said the GR Corolla TC race car will compete in the SRO TC America Series, which will take place at seven raceways in 2025: Sonoma, Circuit of the Americas, Sebring, Virginia International Raceway, Road America, Barber Motorsports Park, and Indianapolis.

The GR Garage gets fully built 86s from Japan (no bodies in white are available) and then strips them down to a shell, adding roll cages, Borla exhaust, bigger brakes, a sequential gearbox that allows “no-lift” shifting, a racing seat, and other add-ons mostly aimed at safety and improving the car’s handling on the track.

The engine is not much modified, and the changes aren’t really aimed at adding power. Now the GR Corolla will go through a similar process.

The GR Cup is open to drivers without age restrictions—a pair of 13-year-old brothers compete, achieving mid-pack status. “They were in karts,” Cosgrove said.

Competitors pay $132,000 for the turnkey race cars in a series that runs 14 races over seven weekends. Toyota said it tries to keep down the running costs of the GRs, which some buyers use just for track days.

The three-cylinder engine (in 268-hp form) was originally slotted into the GR Yaris, a car Americans regrettably don’t get.

For 2025, Carlos Trevino, the GR Corolla’s vehicle marketing and communications manager, said the Corolla’s horsepower stays the same but torque goes from 273 to 295 lb-ft. There are also rear-suspension modifications that aid in cornering.

Toyota is selling more GR Toyotas in the Southern states—Texas to Florida—than in other parts of the country. The average buyer is “in their mid-30s to 40s,” Trevino said, “and many of them are married with young families. They’re people looking for a car with the performance attributes of a sports car that can also be a daily driver” with room for four.

In three laps around the Charlotte track, I got progressively faster as it became clear the car had plenty of grip and wasn’t going to get tail happy on me. We were told, “Don’t hit the cones”—because apparently some others did—and not to exceed 85 mph.

The track has straights that allow a heavy pedal, but cones come up quickly, suggesting that drivers need to slow down for the next curve. The massive four-piston brakes were reassuring.

The six-speed Intelligent Manual Transmission (iMT) was the performance option, including on a run from the Charlotte hotel to the track, and Trevino estimates that 77% of the 2025 models will be so equipped.

The eight-speed automatic was responsive through the paddle shifters, but the manual offered more driver control.

The GR has a fairly stiff ride but not one you couldn’t live with in daily commuting duty. The car just felt taut and alive, cornering with aplomb and totally fun to drive.

It’s expensive for a Corolla, but cheap when compared to many other performance sedans that offer no more fun per mile.

Is the Toyota GR Corolla on your shopping list for both daily duty and a little track fun mixed in? Please comment below.