Toyota’s Gazoo Racing (GR) sub-brand reportedly has a glut of new product in the works.
Japanese outlet Car Sensor reports an even hotter version of the GR Yaris could be in the works, while the GR Supra is set to get both a three-pedal option and a hot GRMN variant.
That’s in addition to the long-rumoured GR Corolla, plus the already revealed and rechristened GR 86.
The GR Corolla and GR Supra manual are reportedly set for a 2022 launch.
The Supra’s new six-speed manual won’t be available with the turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder available elsewhere, but rather the more powerful turbocharged 3.0-litre inline-six.
GR Supra
It’ll be followed in 2023 with a more powerful GRMN variant with an uprated 3.0-litre inline-six, which Car Sensor says will be on sale for a limited time.
The six-cylinder Supra currently puts out 285kW of power and 500Nm of torque from its BMW-sourced engine, identical to its BMW Z4 M40i platform-mate, but the entry-level BMW M3 and M4 extract 353kW and 550Nm thanks to a second turbocharger.
The base M3 and M4 come standard with a six-speed manual, while the M3 and M4 Competition use an eight-speed automatic and have their outputs bumped up to 375kW and 650Nm.
In 2022, likely in the second half of the year, Toyota is expected to introduce its worst-kept secret: the GR Corolla.
Corolla ZR
It’ll reportedly use a more powerful (220kW) version of the 1.6-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine used in the GR Yaris, and will serve as Toyota’s rival for the likes of the redesigned Honda Civic Type R and Subaru WRX STI.
A trademark filing for the GR Corolla was already filed in Australia in 2020, alongside one for the C-HR GR Sport which ended up being introduced locally.
Toyota USA also posted on Twitter that, while the GR Yaris wouldn’t be sold in the US, “perhaps it’s time the US got a hot hatch to call its own”.
The GR Corolla’s more powerful engine will also be used in a hotter GRMN Yaris, which has already been spied testing.
The hot hatch could also drop its rear seats to shed some weight, while Car Sensor reports it could use an e-4WD system with an electric motor driving the rear wheels.
GR Yaris
In the ‘regular’ GR Yaris, the three-pot is tuned to deliver 200kW and 370Nm. All of this is put to the road through a six-speed manual transmission and a sophisticated four-wheel drive system that can send 70 per cent of torque to the rear axle.
The pint-sized pocket rocket shares very little with the namesake Yaris – the rear half of its platform, for example, is borrowed from the Corolla’s GA-C architecture, while externally only its headlights, tail lights and mirrors are shared with the regular Yaris.
While the GR Sport nameplate has been used for sportier-looking versions of Toyota’s cars and SUVs, the company has said the hot GR nameplate – and by extension the GRMN nameplate – isn’t set to be used on SUVs.
Toyota has been burnishing its performance credentials with the GR line, introducing the Gazoo Racing Club membership program locally and launching the GR Yaris with sharp initial pricing to boost awareness.
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