Toyota Corolla Cross GR Sport revealed for Taiwan – sporty design elements; petrol, hybrid; from RM131k

After releasing Gazoo Racing-branded vehicles in Thailand and Indonesia, Toyota is now doing the same in Taiwan with the new Corolla Cross GR Sport, which is essentially a kitted-up version of the crossover that we are already familiar with.

On the outside, the Corolla Cross GR Sport gets a unique front fascia to distinguish it from the regular model. Highlights include a different bumper design with a more prominent underguard, while fog lamps have been moved higher up and placed within blacked-out trim pieces.

The lower intake also gets a new mesh design that is replicated on the main grille, which itself gets an additional black garnish as well as a thick bar running through the Toyota logo. Elsewhere, the sport crossover gets redesigned rocker panels and a rear underguard that are more rugged in appearance, along with a two-tone paintjob.

For branding, there’s a GR badge on the tailgate, while the interior gets a dedicated boot screen for the nine-inch touchscreen infotainment system, an engine start button with GR lettering, and seats with “GR” embossed on the headrests.

It isn’t just the visuals that have been worked on, as the Corolla Cross GR Sport also comes with sports suspension and a chassis reinforcement brace. Beyond that, the rest of the mechanicals are pretty much unchanged from the standard model.

Customers will have two engines to choose from, including a 2ZR-FE 1.8 litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder petrol unit with 140 PS and 172 Nm of torque, with drive sent to the front wheels via a Super CVT-i gearbox.

The alternative is a hybrid setup with a 2ZR-FXE 1.8 litre (98 PS and 142 Nm), an electric motor (72 PS and 163 Nm), a nickel–metal hydride battery and an E-CVT. This setup remains front-wheel drive and the total system output is rated at 122 PS.

Pricing for the petrol variant is 875,000 New Taiwan dollars (RM131,094), while the hybrid will cost more at TWD 945,000 (RM141,581). Standard kit for both include 18-inch alloy wheels, halogen projector headlamps, keyless entry and start, a 4.2-inch multi-info cluster display (the hybrid gets a seven-inch unit), Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 suite, seven airbags and an around-view monitor.