Turbo Toyota Corolla hot hatch is go
Senior Japanese exec officially confirms Corolla GRMN – and it won't be a hybridBack in April 2018 during the international launch of the new-generation Toyota Corolla, a senior executive at Toyota Australia indicated that by 2020 the brand would have its own Corolla hot hatch to rival the Volkswagen Golf GTI.
It turns out his words weren't just wishful thinking.
Toyota Motor Corporation deputy chief designer, Toshio Kanei, recently confirmed to Dutch website AutoRAI.nl that the new Toyota Corolla GRMN hot hatch is in development.
"We are currently investigating what would be most effective for the European market, but a Corolla GRMN is certainly realistic," Kanei explained.
"We are already working on that. The development takes place under the supervision of Toyota GAZOO Racing. This department has included the Corolla GRMN in the future plan, but for now the project is still in the planning stage."
The designer went on to say that the new Toyota Corolla hot hatch "…does not get a hybrid powertrain" and that the Japanese automotive giant is investigating a turbocharged 1.6-litre engine.
Rivals such as the Honda Civic Type R, Hyundai i30 and Volkswagen Golf GTI make use of 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engines, pumping out 228kW, 202kW and 180kW respectively, but a hot 1.6-litre four-pot screamer could easily pump out similar power.
Take the Peugeot 308 GTI for example, whose 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine generates a hearty 200kW and 330Nm.
Australia could be one of the key markets for the new hot hatch - which could look like the Toyota Corolla by Super Street (pictured) - with vehicles such as the Renault Megane RS and Golf GTI enjoying strong buyer support here.
Kanei explained that the new Toyota Corolla GR would be a global model and that tuning the uprated chassis – think sportier suspension and bigger brakes – was the easy part, but the engine would take time.
The new Corolla GR could be the second car after the new Toyota Supra coupe to join the Japanese brand’s new GR sports sub-brand, and is likely to be followed by a spicy Toyota HiLux GR too.
The Toyota GR (for GAZOO Racing) high-performance brand will launch in Australia from October 2019 when the Supra touches down and is part of Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda's grand plan to make the brand cool again.
The Toyota boss has his own one-off 317kW V8-powered Toyota Century GRMN limousine.
Even Toyota's sports car virtuoso Tetsuya Tada, the chief engineer behind the Supra and 86 coupes, recently told carsales.com.au that the company is serious about taking on the Hyundai i30 and its ilk.
Sean Hanley, Toyota Australia's vice-president of sales and marketing, previously told carsales.com.au that "…it's not impossible we could get a really nice Corolla or other type of car, and if that opportunity arose through our GAZOO Racing development we would put our hand up for it".
The Aussie exec stated that he wants it "as soon as possible," but conceded the Corolla hot hatch is likely to lob around 2020.
"We're excited about GR and the possibility it brings in terms of product offerings in the future," noted Hanley.
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