Toyota is launching a new sports line, under the Gazoo Racing brand. The new GR Sports cars add suspension tuning, body kits, and more, to many of Toyota's line.
Gazoo Racing handles Toyota's racing cars. World Rally Championship, 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Nurburgring, even the Dakar Rally. Gazoo modifies and builds Toyotas for racing all over the globe.
Earlier this year, Toyota unveiled the Yaris GRMN. Gazoo took the new Yaris and added a supercharger. 210 hp was on tap, along with suspension changes, a body kit, and other hot hatch changes. That model will see very limited production in Japan and Europe.
The new line of GR and GR Sport cars and SUVs will be introduced via Toyota dealers across Japan. There will also be GR Garage shops that can sell the cars as well as offer the parts separately.
The first Gazoo-branded cars will include the Noah and Voxy MPVs, Harrier crossover, Mark X sedan, as well as the Vitz (Yaris). Of course there will also be a Gazoo 86, as leaving out Toyota's rear-drive sports coupe would be a tragic oversight. But the surprise is that Toyota's hybrids will get the Gazoo treatment too. The Vitz hybrid, Aqua (Prius C), Prius, and Prius α (Prius V) will all get a GR version.
GR and GR Sport models will get upgraded suspensions, some with Sachs dampers, sport seats, smaller diameter steering wheels, and appearance upgrades like new grilles, body kits, and new interior trim. The 86 gets a limited slip differential, but so does the Vitz.
The Vitz and Prius C also get additional chassis bracing and extra spot welds for more stiffness. The Prius gets the extra bracing.
For now, the GR models are for Japan only, but Toyota owners who wanted to Gazoo their rides could probably find ways to get the parts once they go on sale. As far as the rest of the world, Toyota may branch out the Gazoo line sometime in the future.
