The Toyota GR Corolla Rally Concept From SEMA Is Absolutely Bonkers

The Toyota GR Corolla Rally Concept started life as a 2023 GR Corolla Circuit Edition before it was set upon by Marty Schwerter and the Toyota Motorsports Garage team (Brad Vetter, lead fabricator; Justin Lacore, fabricator; and David Senn, technician) who went about modifying it into the bonkers beast seen on the SEMA show floor.

What makes the GR Corolla Rally Concept even more special is that its design was penned by West Coast Customs head designer Musa Rio Tjahjono. And speaking about the design, the GR Corolla Rally Concept sports massive three-inch (7.62cm) wide fender flares that were fabricated from 20-gauge steel along with integrated carbon composite side skirts.

Other crazy addons that help with the downforce include a 4.5-inch (11.48cm) long carbon composite front splitter along with a massive carbon-fibre wing at the rear. The massive fenders also feature large openings that exhaust dirty air from the wheels while also improving downforce levels.

The GR Corolla Rally concept features the G16E-GTS 1.6-litre, three-cylinder turbocharged engine that produces a 300hp and 370Nm of peak torque. For the SEMA Concept car, Toyota added a GR high-flow air filter to help optimize airflow and exhaust performance while MagnaFlow created a custom exhaust system.

The Toyota GR Corolla Rally features a fully adjustable TEIN Gravel Rally coil-over setup and rides on 17-inch OZ racing wheels shod with 215/60R17 Continental VikingContact® 7 tyres. The GR Corolla Rally also retains the donor car's braking system but adds a second set of callipers at the rear in the form of Wilwood tuning brakes to help provide the braking and turning control needed for gravel rally terrain.

The insides of the GR Corolla Rally concept are typical rally car with only the bare rallying necessities added to the cabin. The rear seats of the GR Corolla have been modified to fit the roll cage and the spare tyre.

The custom full cage has been built using TIG welded 1 3/4-inch x .095 DOM steel. The front seats have been replaced by racing units from OMP Racing with the added harnesses. Also present is an OMP Racing fire suppression system a ZeroNoise rally intercom system and a mount for the spare tyre along with a jack to help with repairs.

Thoughts About The Toyota GR Corolla Rally Concept

The Toyota GR Corolla Rally Concept is what happens when a sensible carmaker allows its performance team to go absolutely mad. The result is the maddest Corolla the world has seen and one that many will want to see chucking gravel everywhere as it slides across a rally stage.