Autoblog and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article.GR Learnings In Other ProductsAutoblog recently spoke with Toyota's Gazoo Racing division ahead of the launch of its six-figure halo sports cars, the GR GT. While GR will be getting new models under its own newly-launched brand, that does not mean other Toyota vehicles won't see the benefits of development work done by this performance arm.View the 3 images of this gallery on the original articleAdvertisementAdvertisement"Gazoo Racing is its own genuine brand, but there is a story of where is comes from and how it can find its way into any of our products: Toyota currently. I don't think we'll ever see a GR [badge] on a Lexus, that's not in the cards," said Jeff Bal, Director of the Sports Car Program for Gazoo Racing. "GR is going to be its own thing, but it's going to inspire [other] brands. Maybe the next-generation LX, IS F Sport, or RAV4 will have something that was learned and built from a GR product."The "GR Mindset"ToyotaView the 2 images of this gallery on the original article"GR is a mindset," added Nick Miller, Senior Manager of Motorsport and Special Products for Toyota North America. "We (Toyota) have been in motorsports since 1957. The mantra is to push the vehicle to its absolute limit and find where the failure points are, then break those. Once we figure out how far we have to push something to break it, we reinforce those parts to make them better to they don't break in competition. In theory, if they don't break in competition, you're going to make some of the best road cars ever."Miller says that Toyota gives its engineers opportunities to work on GR projects, then take the mentality from those vehicles into other segments such as RAV4 or 4Runner to make the product better. "The perils and efforts of motorsports make ever better road cars," he said.Not Just Track CarsGR Yaris M ConceptView the 3 images of this gallery on the original articleAdvertisementAdvertisementGazoo Racing has a wide bandwidth for product development, not just to develop its own products, but to improve other Toyota, Lexus, and perhaps even Crown vehicles in the future. Speaking on behalf of GR vehicles, Bal and Miller stressed that the mission is to deliver purpose-built vehicles that drivers can connect with, but those cars may not always be designed for the pavement."The birth of the first GR product was the Yaris. The Celica stopped racing (in 1999) and we essentially had to exit at the time to turn to Formula 1," Bal explained when asked about the potential for a GR-branded rally car product. "Yaris was developed with all-wheel-drive, Corolla follows suit, just a larger version. There's rumors of other things..."Bal even mentioned the GR Yaris M, a mid-engined concept car revealed a few years ago at the Tokyo Auto Salon. Though there is no official design direction for the car, the 2.2-liter engine does run, and Toyota has been spotted testing it in the Yaris."People are saying 'it's the new Celica, no it's the new MR2,'" Bal joked. Toyota clearly has the intention to build more fun cars in the future through its GR division, and they may take several different shapes.AdvertisementAdvertisementThis story was originally published by Autoblog on May 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Autoblog as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
