Kaizen in action: 2023 Toyota GR Corolla updated in Japan with tweaks so small you can't see, but can certainly feel
Sanjay · Aug 24, 2023 10:06 AM
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It takes a fanatical fastidiousness to notice how even the size of a bolt affects performance, but that's what the people of Toyota Gazoo Racing (GR) are accustomed to, resulting in the upgraded Toyota GR Corolla.
Two things were changed to the all-wheel drive monster: the bolts on the front and rear suspension members as well as the steering gearbox, and the shape of the front airduct.
Front suspension bolt upgrades
Rear suspension bolt updates
On the front suspension and steering gearbox, the bolts are now ribbed, while the fasteners at the back got a 2 mm wider bolt head size – from 22 mm to 24 mm now. Toyota says these have improved fastening rigidity, hence stability too.
The ducts by the corners of the front bumpers are now slightly wider, optimising airflow for better stability. More importantly, these changes show the car 'grows' along with the brand's motorsports programme – GR says these implementations were based from on-track forays, including the Super Taikyu series where the team fields a hydrogen-fuelled GR Corolla.
Along with these updates comes a new cyan metallic colour, paired to a black and blue interior. This combination is limited to just 50 units.
Meanwhile, supply for the 6-speed-manual-only GR Corolla is still tight in Japan, with all 550 units of this partially-improved model only available to customers via a lottery system.
In Malaysia, the GR Corolla is priced from RM 355,000, imported from (CBU) Japan.
With humble beginnings collecting diecast models and spending hours virtually tuning dream cars on the computer, his love of cars has delightfully transformed into a career. Sanjay enjoys how the same passion for cars transcends boundaries and brings people together.
