Toyota’s even hotter hot hatch! 2026 Toyota Corolla GRMN leaked as halo hatchback looks set to rival spicy Golf R special editions and Honda’s Civic Type R

An upgraded, sharper Toyota Corolla hot hatch Toyota has been developing all year has been leaked at a dealer event in the US.

Images posted to Instagram by an apparent Toyota micro-influencer mysupraadventures show a Toyota Corolla with GRMN badging at a dealer expo event in Las Vegas.

It lines up with an announcement from April this year ahead of the Formula Drift Long Beach weekend that Toyota Gazoo Racing had been developing a hotter version of the GR Corolla.

In the April announcement, Toyota showed off a camouflaged car in a teaser image and confirmed it would have “new fender vents, hood vents, and a rear spoiler”.

The modifications to the GR Corolla are visible enough in the teaser image to match the car photographed at the Town Hall Dealer Expo, all but confirming the Corolla is set to get an even spicier halo model.

“Born on the track, this vehicle is expected to have improved aerodynamic performance, a bump in torque and unique tuning,” Toyota said of the new hot hatch earlier this year, which makes sense given GRMN models are generally more specialised than other GR cars.

GRMN, by the way, stands for ‘Gazoo Racing: Meisters of the Nurburgring’.

From what’s been pictured clearly, a carbon fibre bonnet and rear spoiler, more air vents, racing bucket seats and what seem to be lightweight wheels are likely to be the key changes to the car itself.

Chances are the Corolla GRMN will run the same 1.6-litre three-cylinder engine as the GR, though with at least more torque than the 400Nm already on offer. Whether the power heads north of 221kW is unconfirmed.

As pictured, the Corolla GRMN will be available with a six-speed manual transmission, though any further mechanical changes would be speculation at this stage. 

Toyota also confirmed earlier this year its final test drive would be undertaken by Toyota Chair and former President and CEO Akio Toyoda.