Toyota continues to focus on accessible sportiness and the new GRMN Corolla is proof of this. It is a compact sports car with more than 300 HP destined for Japan, North America and Australia, but the performance character of the Corolla is not something new. Its beginnings date back several decades.
The Toyota Corolla has been one of the most popular cars on the planet for decades. It is one of the quintessential compacts on the market, characterized by its economical, rational and reliable approach. However, on numerous occasions it has also had a certain sporty air for the masses that has made it not just another model in its segment.
If we talk about performance-focused variants of the Corolla, It is inevitable to go back to the 1980s and the emblematic AE86with which Toyota wanted to offer an affordable sports car based on a basic approach: rear propulsion, manual transmission, naturally aspirated engine and reduced weight.
Under the hood was the well-known 4A-GE engine, a 1.6-liter inline four-cylinder engine that delivered just 130 HP of powerbut which served to move the whole with a certain ease. Furthermore, thanks to the good distribution of weights offered by the ‘Hachiroku’ (a popular nickname formed by the words ‘Hachi’ -eight- and ‘Roku’ -six- in Japanese), it was a very fun model that gained great fame among motor lovers and drift fans.
Obviously, The sports Toyota Corolla did not stop there. In the 1990s, performance compacts were on the rise and that is why the Corolla GTi was created. It again had a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine with about 130 HP, but it was a more advanced engine and was responsible for moving just 1,075 kg of weight.
With these figures, could sign a step from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 9 seconds and reaching a maximum speed of almost 200 km/h, which was quite respectable for the early years of the last decade of the 20th century. Furthermore, these capabilities came accompanied by a much more attractive aesthetic that helped identify this model.
Specifically, The Toyota Corolla Gti was characterized by a more aggressive front bumpernew side skirts, Gti emblems and a new rear spoiler. In addition, inside, sports seats and a three-spoke steering wheel were included, while technical innovations included brakes with ventilated discs on all wheels and a suspension retuned to offer greater stability.
Come the 2000s, the Japanese firm prepared a new sports Corolla for the ninth generation of the model. Although the 192 HP T-Sport variant was already offered, it was thought to create a more radical car using this variant as a base. Thus, in the middle of the decade work began on a car that looked to giants like the Golf GTI, once again.
It was the Toyota Corolla TTE Compressor, a variant that increased its power to 225 HP and torque to 230 Nm, although later it had to reduce its figures to comply with the Euro 4 pollution standard. Even so, with its 1,390 kg weight, It could go from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.9 seconds and reach a top speed of 235 km/h..
Of course, The power improvement was accompanied by a firmer suspension and a height lowered by 15 mmas well as an aesthetic differentiated from the rest of the range. Some key details were the specific bumpers and side skirts, the 17-inch multi-spoke wheels, the two exhaust outlets (although one of them was fake), the red details on the interior and the aluminum pedals.
More recently, the Japanese brand has refined the sports Corolla formula with its GR Corolla, which has reached markets such as Japan and the United States. Again, it has a more aggressive appearance, but the key is in its mechanics, with a 1.6-liter three-cylinder turbo engine that delivers 300 HP to both axles, six-speed manual transmission or an optional automatic transmission, and a sensational set-up.
Now the GRMN Corolla is added to this modelwith 306 HP, new chassis adjustments and a weight reduced by 30 kg. It is a limited production version, but another one that shows that the Corolla is more than a conventional compact. And no, it won’t be the last.
