A new flagship version of Toyota's hottest Corolla has been caught on camera at a dealer preview in the US sporting carbon-fibre upgrades likely to command a much higher price.
The limited-edition GRMN version of the 2026 Toyota GR Corolla has been exposed online ahead of its expected reveal in the coming months as the flagship of the five-door hot-hatch range.
Images captured at a Toyota North America dealer preview, and posted to Instagram over the weekend reveal previously-spotted GR Corolla prototypes with aerodynamic upgrades will come to showrooms as the GRMN.
Short for Gazoo Racing Meisters of the Nurburgring, the GRMN name is used by Toyota for its most aggressive limited-edition performance cars, last applied to the GRMN Yaris sold in Japan in 2022.
The GRMN Corolla will be the badge's first use in North America, which is among the biggest sales regions for the GR Corolla – alongside Japan and Australia.
Toyota has previously teased plans for the vehicle with images of a camouflaged version, with the brand's Australian division saying at the time it would be "very keen to evaluate any production car based on this development vehicle, should it become available for our market."
Upgrades over the standard GR Corolla include a tall carbon-fibre rear spoiler, an exposed carbon-fibre bonnet, new front wheel arches with additional vents, and 18-inch forged wheels with a gold paint finish and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 track-day tyres.
Inside, the GRMN is a two-seater, as with the defunct Morizo edition, which sees the rear-seat bench deleted to save weight – despite the five-door body shell being retained.
There are new front bucket seats with red and black upholstery – believed to be Recaro-made items – plus red seatbelts, a suede-trimmed steering wheel, a red-accented suede-wrapped shifter, and GRMN badging.
It appears only 500 examples of the GRMN will be built, judging by the plaque on the centre console, though it remains to be seen if these are for global sale, or all for the US market.
Performance details are yet to be confirmed, but GR Corolla chief engineer Naoyuki Sakamoto has hinted to US website Motor1 the 1.6-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine could accept more power.
"Hopefully, we can come to a measure to increase power, and eventually, with that planning, it can come to the production Corolla and GR Yaris," he was quoted as saying.
The earlier camouflaged prototype teased by Toyota was confirmed to offer "a bump in torque". The standard GR Corolla develops 221kW and 400Nm in its latest iteration.
More details of the 2026 Toyota GRMN Corolla are due closer to its reveal which, given the vehicle is being shown to US dealers, may only be months away.
If it is sold in Australia, expect it to be expensive. The current manual GR Corolla is priced from $67,990 plus on-road costs; the Morizo was listed at $77,800 plus on-roads in 2023, when the regular GTS manual was $62,300.
Given the GRMN wears upgrades not seen on the Morizo – namely the rear wing and front wheel arches – it could be even dearer, possibly pushing close to or beyond $85,000 plus on-road costs.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
