Yesterday, Toyota announced the 2023 GR Corolla hot hatch with a 300 hp version of the already bonkers GR Yaris’ turbocharged 1.6-liter three-cylinder. Unlike its little brother, the fresh arrival is also coming to the U.S. In fact, Americans will get the chance to meet a 1,000 horsepower racing version of the GR Corolla later today, when the beast is set to make its Formula Drift debut.
Given that Toyota also designed the 1.6L turbo-three for the World Rally Championship, the motor can take quite a lot of abuse. And aftermarket developers across the world have already taken advantage of this, pushing the mill past 500 horsepower.
Then again, this 1,000 hp GR Corolla skips the factory engine, albeit in favor of another Toyota unit. That would be the 2AR four-cylinder mill (you can find the stock 2.5L engine on RAV4s and Camrys, among others). And, as you’ll be able to see in the final image of the gallery below, the motor now works with a monstrous turbo.
The media comes from American pro drifter Ryan Tuerck, who will be putting the GR Corolla racer to sideways use for the 2022 Formula Drift season, which kicks off in Long Beach, California just hours from now.
The four-digit GR Corolla has already put on a show on the track
And, if you head over to Tuerck’s Instagram page, you’ll find a bunch of videos showing the RWD motorsport tool—the street car is AWD—doing its slip angle thing. However, with the shenanigans having taken place earlier this week during a media day event, the front and rear fascias of the compact are covered in camo.
The hooning sort of went under the radar, since Tuerck has been drifting Corollas for a few years now and nobody expected Toyota to launch the insane GR iteration for the street.
And, if you browse the comments section of the athlete’s posts, you’ll notice how more than a few fans are surprised to see he’s not using the Judd V10-powered Mk V Toyota “Formula Supra” in competition. This wasn’t built to Formula Drift spec, though, but that doesn’t mean we’ll see less of it throughout the year, as it had previously been the case with the enthusiast’s Ferrari V8-animated Toyota 86, the GT4586).
Built by Papadakis Racing
Tuerck competes for Papadakis Racing. And if the name is familiar, that’s probably because team owner Stephan Papadakis has earned a stellar reputation as an engine builder—his recent efforts include taking the BMW-sourced 3.0-liter straight-six of the Toyota Supra past the 1,000 hp mark and he’s already fitted such an engine under the hood of the Toyota GR86 race car hooned by another Formula Drift athlete, namely Jhonnattan Castro.
And there are other beasts we’re eager to see today. For one, rival Chris Forsberg and his team have been working around the clock to fit an R35 GT-R V6 into his not-yet-on-the-market 2023 Nissan Z.
