Varis Has Just Made The Toyota GR Corolla Even Cooler

The absence of the Toyota GR Corolla from the European market makes us very sad. Yes, we get the sensational GR Yaris, but it’s a very small, specialised thing with largely unusable back seats.

That same drivetrain in a bigger, more practical five-door hatch is something we can only watch on with jealousy as it’s enjoyed by people in America, Japan and Oceania (without spending inordinate amounts on importing one, anyway).

That jealousy has just become even more intense, because Japanese modifying legend Varis has just unveiled its take on the already pumped-up GR Corolla, and gosh darn.

A selection of carbon fibre parts helps make the 300bhp, four-wheel drive mega-hatch look even more swole. There are some fairly tasteful extensions to the front and rear bumpers and side skirts, while the rear spoiler is replaced with a big adjustable carbon fibre flap.

The bonnet is now an angry-vented affair (in carbon fibre, obviously), and the standard car’s rather curious triple exhaust setup has been replaced with two big central pipes.

To top it all off and make us want it even more, Varis has fitted its demo example with a set of bronze TE37s – and there are very few things that don’t suit a set of bronze TE37s. Those light grey decals are giving us all the right kinds of noughties nostalgia, too.

Should you live in Japan and fancy all this kit, it’ll cost you around ¥1.17 million, about £5,700 to us in the UK, including taxes. Seems fairly reasonable to us, although that doesn’t include the rear splitter, the pricing of which hasn’t been announced yet.

If you’ll excuse us, we’re going to go have another cry about the fact that we can’t buy the GR Corolla while we imagine this bodykit teamed with HKS’s stroked G16 engine. Sigh.