Key Points:
- The 2026 Toyota GR Corolla gets a stiffened structure that improves handling and steering feel.
- A new air intake helps manage engine temperature.
- The mid-grade Premium trim has been dropped for 2026.
- The GR Corolla starts at $41,115 (all prices include $1,195 destination charge).
An automaker’s annual updates to a vehicle can tell you a lot about the team behind the car and its status within the company. Appearance packages drum up a little excitement to maintain sales momentum, and technology upgrades are necessary to keep products fresh, but it’s often the invisible enhancements that identify a true passion project.
Such is the case with the 2026 Toyota GR Corolla, which looks the same as the 2025 model and doesn’t boast any new connectivity capabilities or active-safety functions. But its structure is reinforced with an additional 45.6 feet of adhesive, which Toyota says improves body rigidity for higher-fidelity steering and handling, and a new secondary air intake duct helps maintain optimum underhood temperatures. These sorts of in-the-weeds engineering changes are hard to build a marketing campaign around, but they speak to hardcore buyers like those Toyota courts with the GR Corolla.
Related: 2025 Toyota GR Corolla Track Drive: I’ll Have Six, Not Eight
Release Date and Pricing
The 2026 Toyota GR Corolla will go on sale this fall. The mid-level Premium trim has been dropped for 2026, leaving just the base trim level and the Premium Plus.
- Base: $41,115
- Premium Plus: $47,160
Trim Levels
The base GR Corolla rides on gloss-black 18-inch wheels and features LED front lighting and keyless entry and starting. It’s upholstered in synthetic leather and boasts aluminum pedals, dual-zone automatic climate control, wireless smartphone charging, six speakers, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, and an 8-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The uplevel GR Corolla Premium Plus gets a matte-black finish for its 18-inch wheels, plus a carbon-fiber roof and an additional radiator for better temperature control on track. Inside, the red stitching replaces the base trim’s gray, and there are heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a head-up display and a nine-speaker JBL audio system.
Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 is standard on every 2026 GR Corolla. This tech suite includes forward collision warning with pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control (on vehicles with the automatic transmission), lane-centering steering, road-sign recognition and automatic high beams. Front and rear parking sensors, blind spot monitors and rear cross-traffic alert are also standard.
Read More About the Toyota GR Corolla:
- 2025 Toyota GR Corolla Expands Appeal With Available Automatic Transmission
- Which New Cars Have Manual Transmissions?
- 2025 Toyota GR Corolla Up Close: Minor Tweaks, Just Like We Like It
- 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Quick Spin: A Rowdy Runabout
- Research the Toyota GR Corolla
Powertrain Specs and MPG
Key to the 2026 GR Corolla’s appeal is its engine, not just for its high output (300 horsepower and 295 pounds-feet of torque), but for its unusual configuration: It’s a turbocharged 1.6-liter three-cylinder. Triple-cylinder engines are increasingly common today, but they’re rarely relied upon in high-performance applications. A six-speed manual transmission is standard in the GR Corolla, and an eight-speed automatic is available for an additional $2,000 on both trim levels. All-wheel drive with limited-slip front and rear differentials is standard.
Toyota says the GR Corolla returns the same EPA-estimated 21/28/24 mpg city/highway/combined with the manual transmission and 19/27/22 mpg with the automatic as the 2025 model (official EPA ratings for 2026 are not yet available).
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