--- title: 'Toyota Just Embarrassed Everyone' source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=lXBwiDcNT_4' video_id: 'lXBwiDcNT_4' date: 2026-08-03 duration_sec: 729 --- # Toyota Just Embarrassed Everyone > Source: [Toyota Just Embarrassed Everyone](https://youtube.com/watch?v=lXBwiDcNT_4) ## Summary The video discusses the announcement of the Toyota GR Corolla GRMN, a lightweight, track-focused version of the GR Corolla. It highlights the car's engineering details, the historical significance of the GRMN badge tied to Toyota's legendary test driver Hiromu Naruse, and criticizes the dealership model for likely imposing massive markups. ### Key Points - **GR Corolla GRMN Introduction** [00:08] — Toyota is launching the Corolla GRMN, a lighter, stiffer, and more aggressive version of the GR Corolla, representing the pinnacle of Gazoo Racing's capabilities. - **Automotive Climate Context** [01:56] — The video frames the GRMN as a response to the trend of heavier, quieter, and more detached cars, positioning it as a beacon of hope for traditional enthusiasts. - **GRMN Meaning** [03:05] — GRMN stands for Gazoo Racing Master of Nürburgring, a badge reserved for the most uncompromised vehicles Toyota produces. - **Hiromu Naruse's Legacy** [03:34] — Naruse was Toyota's legendary chief test driver who mentored Akio Toyoda and dreamed of a dedicated performance division. He died in 2010 while testing the LFA Nürburgring Edition. - **GRMN History** [05:51] — GRMN cars are ultra-rare, built in small numbers, and sold out instantly. Examples include the iQ GRMN, Mark X GRMN, Yaris GRMN, and GR Yaris GRMN. - **Corolla GRMN Specifications** [07:40] — The GRMN features carbon fiber hood, roof, forged wheels, removal of rear seats, additional spot welds, track-tuned coilovers, reworked aero with a swan neck wing, and a tuned G16E-GTS engine with close-ratio manual transmission. - **Dealership Markup Problem** [09:14] — The video predicts massive markups (up to 200%) due to limited production and the US dealership model, making the car unaffordable for true enthusiasts. - **Democratization vs. Speculation** [10:27] — The GRMN was meant to democratize performance, but will likely become a speculative asset, parked in garages and auctioned later. - **Celebrating Existence** [11:08] — Despite the dealership issues, the Corolla GRMN's existence is a symbol that driving passion isn't dead at the corporate level, honoring Naruse's spirit. ### Conclusion The Corolla GRMN is a remarkable engineering achievement and a tribute to Hiromu Naruse, but its impact is undermined by the dealership model that will likely price it out of reach for enthusiasts. Its existence, however, signals that the passion for driving remains alive. ## Transcript the sound of a turbocharged 1.6 L 3-cylinder engine screaming its lungs out at 7,000 rpm. For the past couple of years, the Toyota GR Corolla has been the undisputed hero of the working class car enthusiast. It gave us a rally-bred all-wheel drive, a manual transmission, and a widened fenders all wrapped in a practical hatchback body. But, Toyota, it wasn't finished. They were holding something back, something darker, something much, much faster. Ladies and gentlemen, Toyota's officially launching the Corolla GRMN. It is lighter, stiffer, significantly more aggressive, and it represents the absolute pinnacle of what Gazoo Racing division is capable of. I mean, it is without a doubt the decade. But, before you pull out your catches. First, getting your hands on one's going to be like winning the lottery. And second, when you finally do find one at a dealership, get ready to see market adjustment stickers that's going to make you physically ill. We're talking 200% markups. Today, we are diving deep into the new Corolla GRMN. ultimate middle finger to the current automotive climate and why the letters MN carry so much emotional weight for Toyota. And why the dealership model is going to totally ruin this thing for car people who actually want to drive it. Like, subscribe so we can hit 2 mil, and let's go. Hey guys, real quick, the giveaway for the Shelby and Supra in the $100,000 has ended, and well, the winners are being picked right now. But, we're coming back bigger and better and first comment because, like Rocky who won the GT-R, like Greg who won the 100K, you can sign up to be notified and get 100 free entries once it goes live. So, click the link down below, go put in your email, and I can't wait to show you what we have cooking. All right, back to the show. So, to understand why the Corolla GRMN is such a monumental deal, we have to look at the world that we're currently living in. Frankly, if you're a traditional car enthusiast, it's a through the sunset of the internal combustion engine. Cars are getting heavier, quieter, and infinitely more [music] detached from the driving experience. Everything is transitioning into heavy battery packs, synthesized engine noises pumped through speakers, and steering that feels like a Logitech gaming wheel unplugged from the wall. We are losing the mechanical connection. I vibrating soul of the automobile is being sanitized in the name of efficiency and automation. That sucks, brother. In this sterile environment, the original GR Corolla has become a beacon of hope. It proved that a giant, sensible corporation like Toyota still remembered how to have fun. The GRMN is different. The GRMN is not just a fun daily driver. It is a homologation style track weapon born from a similar obsession of motorsport. It is a Toyota looking at the impending death of the internal combustion era and deciding to go out screaming, kicking, and burning high-octane fuel. is the antithesis of the modern, bloated smart car, and we need it now more than ever. car, and we need it now more than ever. But, what exactly does GRMN stand for? street, they might know what GR stands for, you know, Gazoo Racing, but those two extra letters, MN, elevates a Toyota from a cool sports car into automotive royalty. GRMN stands for Gazoo Racing Master of Nürburgring. Yeah. So, to understand the weight of this badge, you have to know the story of a man named Hiromu Naruse. Naruse-san was Toyota's legendary chief test driver, and if I'm getting Naruse-san wrong, I'm sorry, Naruse-san or Narusan. He joined the company in 1963 and had a hand in developing almost every iconic You know, the first supercar, the 2000GT, my favorite the AE86, the MR2, the Supra, and eventually the Lexus LFA. He knew the Nürburgring better than almost anyone on Earth, earning the nickname "Der Meister" from the locals in Germany. But Naruse's greatest contribution to Toyota wasn't just mentorship of a young corporate executive named Akio Toyoda. Ever heard of him? Years ago, Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the company's founder, was just a suit climbing the corporate ladder. The story goes that Naruse-san pulled Akio aside and basically told him, "You don't know how to drive. Don't tell me how to make cars until you know what makes a car good." And instead of firing him, Akio asked Naruse to teach him. Naruse became Akio's driving master. He took him to the Nürburgring, racetrack in the world, and taught him how to push a car to its absolute Naruse shared his dream with Akio. He wanted Toyota to have a dedicated, hardcore performance division. He didn't just want sticker packages or mild TRD suspension lifts. He wanted a true, in-house [music] tuning arm that could rival the very best from Europe. He wanted Toyota's equivalent of the Mercedes-AMG or BMW's M division, a skunkworks [music] team dedicated to pure, uncompromised performance. Tragically, in 2010, while testing the Lexus LFA Nürburgring Edition just outside the track in Germany, Hiromu Naruse was killed in a head-on collision. It was a devastating loss for the automotive world and a deeply personal loss for Akio Toyoda. When Akio became president of Toyota, he didn't forget his master's dream. He created Gazoo Racing and he reserved the ultimate badge, uncompromised vehicles the company would produce. It is a tribute to Naruse. When you see the MN on a Toyota, you're looking at the realization of Hiromu Naruse's lifelong dream. And because of the reverence placed on the GRMN badge, Toyota didn't just slap it on anything. In fact, if you live in North America, you have They have historically been the ultimate forbidden fruit, built in incredibly small numbers, usually reserved for Japan or Europe, and sold out instantly. The first official GRMN car, which was hilariously but also brilliantly built, are you sitting down? The 2009 Toyota iQ GRMN. They took their tiny smart car rival, threw a supercharger on it, gave it a manual and stiffened the chassis, and they just built a hundred of them because they could. Guess what? They sold out in a week. Then came the Mark 10 GRMN in 2014, and later updated Mark 10 GRMN in 2014, and later updated in 2019. Imagine a Lexus IS-size sedan, but equipped with a naturally aspirated 3.5 L V6 making over 300 horses and a six-speed manual transmission, rear-wheel drive, a carbon roof, a hardcore track suspension. It was a Japanese M3 built by Toyota. They only made a few hundred, sold out immediately. Now, fast forward to 2018. Europe gets the Yaris GRMN. Toyota ripped a 1.8 L supercharged engine it into a front-wheel drive Yaris chassis, added a Torsen limited slip diff, and created an absolute riot of a hot hatch, limited to 400 units in Europe, gone in 72 hours. And most recently, you guys, the Japan-exclusive GR Yaris GRMN, limited to just 500 units, featuring a fully spot-welded chassis, shorter gear ratios, mechanical limited slip diffs, a massive carbon wing, and no rear seats. Demand was so high that Toyota had to use a lottery system just to decide who was allowed to give them money. The point is, GRMN, you probably never heard of it, is not just [music] a trim, though. It is a bespoke, hand-tweaked, ultra-rare engineering exercise, which brings us to present day and the new Corolla GRMN. We thought the GR Corolla Morizo Edition was absolutely crazy. Trav and I drove it on the track relentlessly and it was fast, but the GRMN takes that formula and injects it with pure [music] adrenaline. Toyota engineers essentially took a standard GR Corolla and asked, "How can we shave seconds off of the Nürburgring lap time?" First, the weight. Hey, Jenny Craig, the standard car is a bit portly. So, the GRMN goes on a massive diet. We're talking carbon fiber everything. Hood, roof, lightweight forged wheels, and the complete removal of the rear seats replaced by a structural cross brace to stiffen the chassis. Speaking of the stiffness, the GRMN gets an additional spot welds and meters of structural adhesion applied at the factory. It sits lower on bespoke track-tuned coilovers. The aerodynamics have been completely reworked with a more aggressive front splitter, dive planes, and a towering swan neck carbon fiber rear wing to generate actual usable downforce. Under the hood uh is the brilliant G16E-GTS three-cylinder engine that has been breathed on. While horsepower numbers might only seem modestly bumped, the torque delivery is brutally aggressive and the manual transmission features close gear ratios to keep the engine absolutely singing in the power band. It is a street legal race car, plain and simple. Now, for the absolute heartbreak, the part of this video that absolutely makes my blood boil. Toyota has built a masterpiece. They have [music] exactly what they've been begging for and they created a shining beacon of internal combustion glory. Yet, the dealership networks are going just be realistic for a second. What happens when some company builds an incredible car? Well, Toyota's likely going to build less than a thousand of these things globally. The MSRP might be somewhere between 55 and 65,000 bucks, that because the archaic franchise dealership model in the United States, dealers are allowed to charge whatever they want for a car. We are already seeing that when they had the standard GR Corolla and the Morizo Edition. We saw 20, 30, and even $40,000 markups on those cars. For the Corolla GRMN, prepare yourself for 200% [music] markups. I guarantee you the day this going to see photos of window stickers demanding 150,000 for a Toyota Corolla. Dealerships will lock these cars in the showroom behind velvet ropes, refusing to let anyone test drive them, even breathe [music] on them, or fart in the them like rare Renaissance paintings instead of machines meant to be driven hard. [music] The tragic irony is that Narusan and Akio Toyota built the Gazoo Racing brand to democratize performance. They wanted to build cars with passionate [music] driving enthusiasts could buy, tune, and take to the local tracks. Instead, the Corolla GRMN will likely become a speculative asset. It pay a $100,000 markup just so they can park it next to another car in a climate-controlled garage with 12 miles on the odometer to then auction it off on Bring a Trailer 5 years from now. It's just infuriating. I mean, the manufacturers did their job flawlessly. The dealers are going to hold this car hostage. But, and there's always a but for every seat because besides the depressing reality of the dealership model, we still have to celebrate the fact that the Corolla GRMN even exists at all. In an era of silent 5,000-lb electric crossovers, Toyota authorized a lightweight manual transmission wide-body track monster that pays homage to a legendary test driver. It is a symbol that the passion for driving isn't completely dead at the corporate level. The spirit of Hiromu Naruse is still alive and well inside Gazoo Racing. Even if you and I will never be able to afford the insane dealer markup to put one in our driveways, the world is objectively a better place because the Corolla GRMN is in it. So, let me know what you think. Is the Corolla GRMN the ultimate send-off for the hot hatch era? And more importantly, what is the most ridiculous dealer markup you've personally seen in the wild? Let us know enjoyed the video, hit the like button. Also, remember to subscribe cuz we want Check out some of these Ideal vids. I'm Brad Danger. This is Ideal. And promise me one thing, keep living the Ideal lifestyle and don't pay markups. That's lifestyle and don't pay markups. That's bad. Love you.