• GR Corolla will sit above GR Yaris
• Body shell is based on regular Corolla. In theory, prices can be same / lower than GR Yaris
• Posers can look elsewhere, GR Corolla is exclusively 3-pedal, 6 MT

The next new model launch for UMW Toyota Motor will be the Toyota Veloz, which will succeed the now-discontinued Avanza but if you’ve click on this post, we are pretty sure that’s not the model that interests you. Such is Toyota's wide breadth of product range.

Following this morning’s global debut of the Toyota GR Corolla in the US, we can now confirm that Malaysian fans can expect UMW Toyota Motor to launch the 304 PS all-wheel drive, 6-speed manual rival to the Volkswagen Golf R next year in 2023.

The eventual launch of the GR Corolla in Malaysia is to be expected, considering that all other GR models have already been launched / going to be launched (GR86) in Malaysia.

Not only that, Malaysia is Toyota’s most important market in the region for GR models, as we have the highest allocation of GR Yaris - officially said to be less than 250 units - in South East Asia.

Prices have yet to be announced (not even in USA), as the model will only go on sale in Japan in the second half of 2022, but the Mk8 2022 Volkswagen Golf R’s starting price of RM 356,412 will give you some indication.

But unlike the Golf R, the 304 PS all-wheel drive GR Corolla will attract a different, purer crowd of enthusiast drivers, as it’s exclusively only available with a 6-speed manual transmission. If you can’t handle three pedals with two feet, this car is not for you.

Where the Golf R is just a Golf who has been pulling weights in gym clothes to impress girls, the GR Corolla is a genuine Olympian athlete of a car, the sort who only makes one Instagram post a year.

The Volkswagen Golf R is made by a company whose CEO Herbert Diess is very active on Twitter, tries a bit too hard to be best friends with Tesla’s Elon Musk, but doesn’t know how to put on a racing suit.

The GR Corolla’s development however, is supervised directly by the racing suit-doning, Nurburgring 24 Hours and Super Taikyo endurance race-participating President Akio Toyoda, who is also known by his 'car guy' alter ego Morizo.

No GR product can be signed off for production until President Akio Toyoda is confident enough to stick his Morizo alias sticker on it to go racing. For genuine enthusiast drivers, pedigree matters more than the badge in front.

However, since the GR Corolla is based on the Corolla hatchback (not sold in our region), it should in theory, be less expensive to build than the unique body GR Yaris – a bonus for Malaysian fans who have to pay hefty import and excise taxes.

Of course, this is not to say that the GR Corolla’s body is identical to a regular Corolla. Far from it. Although its MacPherson Strut front suspension and double wishbone rear may seem similar to the regular Corolla hatchback (still pretty impressive for a regular car), the one used by the GR Corolla is a completely different rally specs unit that is 60 mm wider in front and 85 mm wider behind.

The flared front and rear fenders are also unique to the GR Corolla. The secondary structures within the body are also different.

For better rigidity, the GR Corolla’s body gets additional bracing on its rear wheel wells, under-floor tunnel, and floor pan in front of the fuel tank – to ensure than suspension and steering mounts remain firmly in place when subjected to cornering forces that would’ve caused a regular car’s body to flex.

Like the GR Yaris, the GR Corolla will also get a lightweight carbon fibre roof.

Where the regular Corolla hatchback is built at the high volume Tsutsumi plant, the GR Corolla will be built at the Motomachi plant, the same plant that is building the world rally championship homologated GR Yaris and the heart achingly beautiful Lexus LC.

Before building these cars, the Motomachi plant also built the Lexus LFA.

Power comes from the same G16E-GTS 1.6-litre 3-cylinder turbocharged engine as the GR Yaris, but fettled to make 304 PS and 370 Nm – 32 PS more than GR Yaris. Torque is identical for North American specs GR Yaris, but it's 10 Nm more than European (and Malaysia) specs GR Yaris' 360 Nm.

The GR Corolla’s longer wheelbase is probably one reason why it can handle more power.

Drive is transferred to all four wheels via the same GR-Four 3-mode all-wheel drive system as the GR Yaris, with cornering exit speed aided by Torsen limited slip differentials on both axles.

The next GR model launch for UMW Toyota Motor will be the 2023 Toyota GR86. The GR Corolla should follow shortly after that.

Also read: Hachi-roku set for Malaysian return, UMWT confirmed to launch all-new 2022 Toyota GR86 soon

With this, UMW Toyota will have nearly 4 cars for enthusiast drivers – the GR Supra is a low slung grand tourer-style (sort of) automatic transmission sports car, the GR86 is a cheapest 2-door rear-wheel drive 6-speed manual transmission sports car you can buy, the limited production 25,000 units globally-only all-wheel drive GR Yaris, and now this, a four-door mega hatch GR Corolla that is comfortable enough for family duties.

And since it’s a Toyota, you can be certain that the car will be put together very well. Since it also wears the Corolla badge, if you take care of it, the GR Corolla can be passed down to your children, a future when every car is the same boring self-driving electric pod.

This is one for the connoisseur collecter. Get your cheque books ready. As with many of such cars, allocation for Malaysia will be very limited.