Toyota has recently joined the hot-hatch market with the beefed-up GR Yaris, but it wants to expand to new segments now. With the GR Yaris aimed at the Volkswagen Polo GTI and the Ford Fiesta ST, Toyota wants a competitor for the larger and more popular Volkswagen Golf GTI and Ford Focus ST. So the Corolla is next in line for the Gazoo Racing treatment and the good news is that it will come to the United States.

The first beefed-up Corolla since 2004

The GR Corolla will be the first high-performance Corolla model since 2004. Back then, Toyota introduced the XRS, powered by a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine rated at 170 horsepower. Naturally, the upcoming GR Corolla will be notably more powerful. But how much oomph are we talking about?

Toyota Yaris GR specifications

Given that the Corolla is bigger and heavier, Toyota could even increase the engine's output to around 280 horsepower, but 257 horses are more than enough to go against the Golf GTI and Focus ST.

The German hatchback comes with 241 horses on tap, so the GR Corolla will benefit from an extra 16 horses. The Focus ST, on the other hand, comes with 276 horsepower, so that's a 19-horsepower deficit for the Toyota. But overall, the GR Corolla will be able to compete with both.

On top of the beefed-up engine, the GR Corolla will also feature a stiffer suspension, bigger brakes, larger wheels, and a retuned manual transmission. The car's exterior will also feature sportier bumpers, wider wheel arches, and bigger vents.

Performance-wise, expect the GR Corolla to hit 60 mph in less than six seconds, a benchmark for the nameplate. However, the Corolla will be slower than the GR Yaris, which hits 60 mph in less than 5.5 seconds thanks to a better power-to-weight ratio. Top speed should also be on par with the competition at around 150 mph.

The Toyota GR Corolla is coming to the U.S. for 2022

According to Car and Driver, the GR Corolla is set to cross the pond to the U.S., where the GR Yaris isn't available, for the 2022 model year. This means that it should break cover sometime in 2021. The same outlet speculates that the hot-hatchback will start from around $30,000. That's $1,500 more than the outgoing Volkswagen Golf GTI. For reference, the standard Corolla retails from $20,290, while the range-topping XSE trim comes in at $23,240 before options.