Toyota GR Corolla Chief Engineer Reveals More Details About The Hottest Hatch Of The Year

The new GR Corolla hot hatch is causing such a buzz that one dealer offered our Editor in Chief a guaranteed allotment for $10,000 over sticker. And with that kind of hype, it better be one heck of a driver’s car. Thankfully, from everything its chief designer is saying, it sounds like it really will be.

Speaking to Car & Driver, Naoyuki Sakamoto was adamant that this new Corolla has very little in common with the rest of the lineup. That includes a giant grille that he says is “huge compared to a stock Corolla” and an AWD system that “is totally unique to this vehicle here in the states.”

He also says that it was “developed through racing, from our rally series,” and that it’ll “offer a lot of acceleration control in different conditions.” That sounds like a recipe for success considering that he also revealed a total weight for the Circuit Edition of just 3,200-pounds (1,451 Kg).

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Toyota increased boost and fuel to get the additional power, 300-horsepower (223 kW) vs 268 (199 kW) in the GR Yaris, out of this small three-cylinder engine. They also beefed up the structure of the Corolla so that it can handle the additional power.

“The chassis is reinforced, 349 more welds and 2.7 meters more sealant, more glue. The floor is different in the back from stock, to make room for the differential. We also moved the battery from front to back for better weight distribution.” says Sakamoto.

Of course, the Circuit Edition also gets a forged carbon-fiber roof panel which the designer says came down to lower cost and the cool look that it provides. According to him, development actually started all the way back in 2018 which is before the GR Yaris.

That’s the same general time when they announced the GR Super Sport Concept which was also in varying forms of development before reportedly being shelved last year.

While another monster hypercar would’ve been cool, we’re a bit more excited at the idea of a seriously excellent driver’s car at an affordable price point. Hopefully, Toyota has little trouble selling through the 6,600 units it has planned for the country.