Toyota Teases Hotter GR Corolla With New Bodykit And More Torque

The Toyota GR Corolla is one of the most compelling performance vehicles currently on the market. It’s an all-wheel-drive, five-door hot hatch that is both practical and fun. The car can take the family to the grocery store just as easily as an owner could enter the machine in an autocross or track day.

Part of what makes the GR Corolla so exciting is that the company continues to evolve the model. For example, Toyota now offers an eight-speed automatic in addition to the existing six-speed manual. The new transmission has sophisticated control software that monitors acceleration and braking inputs to tailor the shifts to the conditions. The next step might be even more exciting.

What Is The Toyota GR Corolla Development Vehicle?

Toyota is now teasing what it calls the GR Corolla Development Vehicle, but the company isn’t yet telling us much about it. The public debut is during the Formula Drift Long Beach event on April 4 and 5. The vehicle previews future track-focused enhancements for the hot hatch.

The accompanying images show some of the new model’s unique elements. According to Toyota, the parts increase the car’s aerodynamic performance. The parts include:

• The splitter looks more prominent than on the existing GR Corolla
• Front fender vents,
• Revised openings on the hood,
• A more aggressive rear wing

Beyond the new bodykit, this vehicle also has increased torque over the current GR Corolla. Unfortunately, Toyota isn’t saying how much more twist this variant has. For comparison, the existing model has 295 pound-feet, so a figure of 300 lb-ft or more seems reasonable for this tune.

Toyota says more information is coming in fall 2025. However, TopSpeed is reaching out to the company for any morsel of additional info.

“The Gazoo Racing team is still working to fine-tune this vehicle to make it ready for Akio Toyoda’s final test drive,” Toyota wrote in this vehicle’s teaser.

The Latest GR Corolla As A Benchmark

It’s important to know what the current version offers to understand how the GR Corolla can improve. The table below shows the car’s primary specs:

TopSpeed’s Take

An even hotter GR Corolla is a tantalizing prospect. The car is already great. Therefore, better aerodynamics and more torque should make it even better. The info available so far suggests this model might be an even hotter take on the earlier Morizo Edition. Presumably, this model’s upgrades would make it more expensive than the standard version, but we don’t know how much this premium might be.