Fans of the GR Corolla in Japan, rejoice! The evolved GR Corolla, announced for the US mid-2024 has finally been slated for release in the Japanese market, with the launch date as March 3^rd, 2025. While not quite a major facelift, this brings the JDM model in line with its global counterparts, catering to all the enthusiasts who may have felt left out these past few months.

For one, a new SPORT package is being offered, with some upgraded goodies on the inside. These range from exclusive semi-bucket seats, suede steering wheel, shift knob, parking brake, red seat belts and black trim across interior panels to further the race-y vibe of the GR Corolla. The package is available for both the 6MT and 8AT models, for 253,000 JPY.

Along with this update comes ‘Circuit Mode’, existing solely to push the limits of the car when you’re on a track. What it includes is anti-lag control, to improve engine response, an increased upper limit for speed, maximization of fan output to optimize cooling of the engine and a shift timing indicator to ensure you never shift too late or too early.

Now, another surprise from Toyota GR is the introduction of upgrade sets that can be fitted onto earlier GR Corollas, to get a taste of what the evolution has brought along. Disclaimer, not every part on the new one can be retrofitted, which is why Toyota offers kits mimicking stages of upgrades.

The first kit focuses more on steering column and instrument panel reinforcement, allowing for better stability along straights, as well as better steering feel and response during turning. The second kit is a suspension set, featuring new control arm components, ball joints, new shock absorbers at both ends, new rear stabilizer and rear coil springs, all to make it handle that much sharper.

In all other aspects, the GR Corolla, has stayed the same – exact same dimensions and power figures as before, which isn’t a bad thing. It’s a real hot hatch, with just the right sized footprint, and ample power at 300 hp and 400 Nm of torque, so I doubt Toyota will get any complaints.

While the prices for the upgrade kits have yet to be released to the public, we do have the retail prices for both the manual and auto variants of the evolved Toyota GR Corolla ‘RZ’ grade (specific to Japan), which is 5,680,000 JPY ($37,700) and 5,980,000 JPY ($39,700) respectively.