SUVs dominate the streets, so it’s no shock they’re creeping onto the racetrack too. Case in point: Toyota Gazoo Racing’s (GR) new Corolla Cross racecar you see here, purpose-built for Brazil’s Stock Car Pro Series championship. Naturally, the GR Corolla Cross racecar has been slammed within an inch of its life, ditching any trace of its SUV silhouette. The body is a Frankenstein of carbon fiber, aramid, fiberglass, and Kevlar, sporting flared fenders, aggressive cooling intakes, and enough aero trickery to make an F1 engineer blush. The massive rear wing works together with a large diffuser and a prominent splitter at the front, generating enough downforce to keep it glued to the track.
While the overall shape might remind you
of the showroom Corolla Cross, don’t be fooled, pretty much the only stock parts
left are the taillights and the Toyota badge. The race-ready design is dialed
up with a bold Gazoo Racing livery, drenched in red and white graphics that pop
against the black base. The spartan cabin has a monitor, a full roll cage, and
various bespoke switches on the dashboard. The model is also equipped with a
360-degree interior camera, which will show live action from the races during
broadcasting.
And it’s not flying solo. The GR Corolla
Cross will line up against other SUV-turned-racecar mutants, like the Chevrolet
Tracker and the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross. All three ride on the same Audace
SNG01 platform, which, fun fact, has zero in common with the production models
you see at your local dealership.
Under the hood lies a turbocharged
2.1-liter engine with around 500 hp when running on Podium gasoline. All this
power is channeled to the rear wheels via a six-speed XTrac sequential gearbox.
The racecar is equipped with a pushrod suspension featuring adjustable Penske
Racing shocks. Stopping power is taken care of by a set of Hipper Freios brake
rotors with Cobreq pads and AP Racing calipers.
According to organizers, the new Corolla
Cross is lighter, faster, and more technologically advanced than the Corolla
sedan it’s replacing. Toyota Gazoo Racing has been a dominant force in the
Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series since 2020, clocking 49 wins in 106 races. This
latest evolution of the stock car will make its debut in 2025—and it’s gunning
for more.
