- Evasive Motorsports is building a GR 86 with GR Corolla running gear for Toyota.
- The job is far from a simple engine swap but instead requires several custom parts.
- It’ll be a main feature at SEMA 2024 later this year.
Toyota may not have a large lineup of in-house-built sports cars on the horizon, but it understands what fans truly desire. To that end, it’s set to unveil a spiritual successor to the Toyota Celica GT-Four at SEMA. Interestingly, this will be achieved by combining elements from two current production models, the GR 86 and GR Corolla.
The Celica GT-Four was a homologation special with a turbocharged engine and full-time four-wheel drive. Toyota has teased the return of a car like the Celica, but until that actually happens, they’re helping create a one-off GR 86 with the drivetrain of the GR Corolla. That’s right, 300 turbocharged horsepower (223 kW), all-wheel drive, and a manual gearbox.
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Toyota partnered with the folks over at Evasive Motorsports for this build and in the video below, they take Larry Chen through the process. If there’s one thing fans keep asking for is more power. The three-cylinder turbo engine from the GR Corolla will provide exactly that.
This project involves much more than a simple engine swap. Toyota has tasked Evasive Motorsports with integrating the GR Corolla’s AWD system, necessitating a comprehensive overhaul of the engine bay and front subframe. Custom mounting brackets are designed to keep the GR Corolla’s running gear largely intact, while the hubs and axles also require custom fabrication.
Eimer Engineering guides Chen through the intricate details of the build. Certain aspects cannot be finalized until the engine is installed. For instance, the team is unsure if they will need to restrict the steering due to the placement of the power steering rack.
For now, Evasive is working with Eimer Engineering to do much of the fabrication. The team has to validate that the driveline works properly before adding a full roll cage. And then, it’ll go to the paint booth before the full unveiling at SEMA 2024.