Revealed by Toyota Gazoo Racing North America (TGRNA) this week is the new Toyota GR Corolla ‘Touring Car’ (TC) racecar pictured. This racing offshoot of the refreshed hot hatch will compete in the combined 2025 TC America championship series organised by SRO Motorsports Group America.
The build was borne out of a special agreement between said championship series organisers and TGRNA, which sees this racing version of the GR Corolla given some special allowances, key amongst which being greater flexibility in car design.
Now, what’s interesting here is the fact that the new GR Corolla TC not only retained the road car’s 1.5-litre 3-cyl turbo heart, it also kept both the road car’s GR Four all-wheel-drive (AWD) setup and, more notably, its new 8-speed automatic transmission as well.
As a refresher, the GR-Four AWD suite stands rather unique through its use of a clutch pack instead of a centre differential to send power to the rear wheels. However, to comply with TC America’s new 2025 regulations, said AWD suite will be homologated with a fixed front-to-rear torque split.
Part of the that homologation effort includes the adoption of unique new controls, key amongst which being Bosch-sourced engine management and ABS systems to allow more precise, racing-oriented traction control and ABS.
Moreover, GR Corolla engineers from Japan were also roped in and collaborated with their TGRNA colleagues to get the engine, automatic transmission, and AWD system – plus the front and rear Torsen LSDs – to work with said new Bosch management systems.
As for its suspension, the GR Corolla TC rides on the same basic geometry as the standard road car, but it does gain adjustable dampers from JRi and beefed up Alcon braking hardware.
Other additions includes an FIA-approved roll cage, a stripped interior housing an OMP full race bucket seat plus six-point harness, Bosch digital dash, a TGRNA-developed control panel for various other functions, as well as a steering wheel lifted from the Toyota GR Supra GT4.
Of course, the most radical of changes here are visible with the exterior’s new aerodynamic components that includes a massive rear wing that required new brackets before being mounted onto the composite rear hatch’s window.
Once it hits the track in TC America 2025, the GR Corolla TC will face off against front-wheel-drive (FWD) and rear-wheel-drive (RWD) rivals like the Honda Civic Type R and BMW M2 respectively. How race organisers will apply their usual Balance of Performance (BoP) here will be interesting as well.
