First Cameras Allowed in Toyota’s GR Factory: Minimal robots & More Humans | Capturing Car Culture

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:10]Just take one guess where I am today.

[00:00:38]For this episode of Caption Car Culture, we went to the Toyota Moamachi plant for an exclusive behindthescenes look at where Toyota builds the GR Yurus, GR Corolla, and the LBX Marizo RR.

[00:00:58]This is the body welding area. This is crazy. Like getting this kind of exclusive access to see them put these vehicles together. We have the GRS coming down the line. This is just so different from any other car factory or assembly plant we've been to. There's a lot more of a human element to this. Of course, there's the robots, there's the welding that's going on, but it's amazing to me to watch the handone processes, including laying down the beads of adhesive, hand welding, hand spot welding a lot of these areas and components. This is unbelievable. Like, the attention and care into every single one of these chassis is something I've never seen before.

[00:01:47]In terms of the speed, we're talking about maybe 10 minutes per car versus a lot of the vehicles that we've seen at Tahara as well as Toyota Texas. It's about a minute give or take each vehicle. I mean, these are like homologation race car specials. It's just really cool to see where they're made.

[00:02:20]This factory is dedicated only to GR cars. The normal passenger Yurus is built elsewhere and the process there is completely different much more like the traditional plants we have seen in the past. For example, even though the GRS is only about 4 m long, approximately 35 m of structural adhesive are used.

[00:02:42]That's 15 m more than what the standard Yurus gets. If there was any question that these cars are homologation specials built for stage rally, the bodies that eventually become WRC Rally 2 vehicles are also built right here on the same exact line. The GR factory produces about a 100 cars per day.

[00:03:07]This section is where the floor meets the driver and passenger sides of the body. One robot holds the panel while the other robots weld everything together.

[00:03:18]To cut down on the length of the line as well as the number of welding machines needed, the robots themselves have interchangeable heads or guns. The machine automatically changes tools depending on the shape of the body area it needs to weld. In this single station alone, 300 spot welds are performed. In total, about 3,300 spot welds are performed on each vehicle with roughly 250 done by hand. On average, it takes about 14 seconds to perform one weld by hand. Every individual working on the line has to keep track of every single weld location as well as where they lay each bead of adhesive on the car. The level of attention to detail here is honestly astounding.

[00:04:07]The plant itself is also very special because it was designed to be modular.

[00:04:11]Part of the reason for this is that so many new technologies and processes are constantly being introduced and implemented on this line in particular.

[00:04:20]It's much easier to upgrade and adapt if the factory isn't locked into a permanent setup. For example, many traditional factories are built across multiple levels with massive underground areas. There's conveyor belts hanging several stories high. Parts and components, including entire engines, seem to just appear out of the sky. The GR factory is different. Almost everything here is moved by AGV's automated guided vehicles. These machines handle everything from transporting parts to moving the entire car from station to station. As the chassis moves down the line, everything is measured down to a fraction of a millimeter to make sure every mounting point is perfectly within spec using precision measurement machines.

[00:05:06]Unfortunately, we weren't able to visit the paint shop as Toyota is extremely secretive about their painting process, but we were able to continue through the assembly area.

[00:05:18]This is just so fascinating. I just love showing how things are built and how things are made. It It makes you appreciate these vehicles a lot more.

[00:05:27]And so now we're going to witness this whole engine, subframe, rear subframe, all of it getting married to this uh GR crawler right now.

[00:05:56]I cannot believe how fast these individuals work but safely and efficiently. This is what I mean about this area and this factory being completely different from what we've seen before because everything is coming to this. One other thing that's really interesting to me is the fact that it's different vehicles going through here.

[00:06:18]It's not just GRS's. They have the Lexus version of the GRS going through here as well as the GR Corolla. So these individuals have to switch it up pretty much from vehicle to vehicle. They bring different parts and it's different processes.

[00:06:34]>> Another thing that is really interesting to me is how many people are working on the line here versus just a couple steps down the line. For example, on the alignment area, uh, including the headlight alignment area, I only saw one person working on that whole section.

[00:06:53]Whereas here, it's I don't even know how many people, eight to 10 people working on the same chassis.

[00:06:59]It's not like they don't have a traditional assembly line, cuz they do.

[00:07:04]To get the doors, to get uh the seats, to get glass, to get the roof, so many components, the wiring, all of that is done on the traditional line. On the very next line over from where we're shooting, it's the Lexus LBX, and that's the Morizo edition. Only the Morizo edition gets built here in Moramochi.

[00:07:31]It's essentially the Lexus high-end version of the Yarus.

[00:07:43]This one that we're watching get built right here is right-hand drive. So, I'm assuming it's for Japan market. So, in order for them to be able to carry the wheel and tire, they have this really cool machine that does all the lifting for them and it aligns it perfectly.

[00:07:58]They still have to bolt it on with a standard impact gun. Uh, not like the crazy machine gun thing that we've seen before, but you know, this is just a lot more delicate process versus building trucks. On the other lines, what we've seen is there's like this thing that you pull if you have a problem, right? Like let's say if you accidentally strip a bolt or if there's some sort of issue or emergency whatever what you do is you pull the line and then it it sounds this and then everybody gets notified hey the line is stopped right so that way you can catch up or you can fix what's wrong here. Every station has their individual tablets which allows you to stop the line if you need to stop the line.

[00:08:47]I'm not here alone. There's a lot to shoot here. So, I brought Lewis to do like a a second angle for me. So, let's check in with him.

[00:08:55]>> Basically, the car rolls up, right? Then there's okay, rear drive shaft, front drive shaft with motor, but it's essentially like four or five dollies that carries everything to the car because if you look at it right now, it's like nothing underneath is there.

[00:09:09]Whereas like these four or five dollies carry like almost all the mechanical bits for the car.

[00:09:14]>> And then for whatever car comes next, it gets refreshed. And like he's prepping even the grommets >> to get it installed.

[00:09:22]>> This one this one setup also carries the same exhaust for the Corolla. This is the Yus exhaust cuz it's it's a dual, not not the triple. But like this one dolly can hold both. So like the guy pulled the muffler and the exhaust tips off here, but he's also prepping like this mid pipe here. So he can just grab the mid pipe. Then all the hangers are being put on right now that you just saw. But then on the flip side, the drive shaft is right there. So it's all like just like very seamless. Everything just gets brought over and over, >> right? They just want to make it as efficient as possible.

[00:09:49]>> Oh yeah. It's like it's so fast, but like it's so different from all the other um factories in that like, oh, this is where all the wheels go on.

[00:09:57]Okay, now it's going to go to where all the exhaust is going. Okay, now it's going to go to this and that. Whereas like basically this is the assembly and then everything goes on. Everything goes on here.

[00:10:08]>> What's also interesting to me is that everybody they've done it for so many times. Like they've done every process.

[00:10:15]They know exactly >> like how much room to leave for the other person and what to do. There's no real communication. They just kind of do it and this person takes care of this.

[00:10:26]This person takes care of this and it's all just like this dance. It's like in harmony. They're not making a single misstep, right? So, one's like dashing to the left here to grab this while the other's getting out of his way. But he's not really getting out of his way. He's just moving in his line to do his next step.

[00:10:56]While the process of marrying the subframe and the engine is super cool, it becomes a car there, but in this station, it actually becomes a GRS. And I think it's so cool that they put on the cowl, a lot of the little accessories, a lot of the core support, headlights, and of course the bumper.

[00:11:18]One thing I also wanted to point out is the front and rear bumper meet the car after all this time. and it's painted the same.

[00:11:26]They torque the wheels. They do the inner fender liners. There's so many things that happen here. Look at that.

[00:11:32]The headlights, they work. They just put them on 2 minutes ago and now the headlights work.

[00:11:39]What's also really amazing to me is how much everyone does. This one person has to remember so many different processes which is just so different from doing something on the line where we've seen somebody literally just put on one bolt.

[00:11:55]That's all they do all day every day is just drive one bolt in and then now this is all the stuff for the next car including the battery, the bumper support, the cowl, um the core support. That's just all of this one cart here.

[00:12:15]So now they're raising it for some more processes.

[00:12:19]I love the music that they're playing here to signify that it's moving.

[00:12:25]They're also proud of the fact that once they get it off of this step and they move it to the next step, instead of just driving it or instead of moving it some other way, they've developed this jack system where it picks up the entire vehicle and then it just shifts it over a couple lanes in order to get it to the next system. They do that so it doesn't mess up the suspension components at all. they have to move it ever so carefully in order to just get it into position for the next couple steps, which of course includes alignment. The reason why they've made it a big deal for them to build this little um dolly to pick up the vehicle is because they used to just turn the wheel and drive it through. But the problem is they don't want it to be driven with a messed up alignment even for a couple feet. So to save that, instead of driving it to the next area, it just gets picked up and it gets moved a couple feet, which is really so crazy how much thought they put into everything to make sure these cars are absolutely perfect. They were explaining to me about the 1G process. I was thinking 1G as in 1GR, but 1G as in uh that's just uh gravity. This is a concept that is very nuanced and you can't actually unless you're a racing driver, unless you measure with really precise instruments, you can't tell the difference uh of what they're doing here. What they're actually doing is they're letting it sit on its weight on the tires before they bolt certain structural things on the vehicle. Even though these chassis themselves are so stiff, there's still maybe one or two millimeters of difference uh in terms of adjustment. So with it sitting on the floor, they bolt the cowl, the front core support, all that stuff together.

[00:14:24]So that way that's just how it sits. Now if you lift it up, it stays in adjustment. When it's a normal production line, they'll bolt all this stuff on while it's suspended in the air. But because it's so important for them to line everything up uh under load, they put it on the ground and then they put all of the support things on.

[00:14:47]For the regular Corolla and the regular YS, they don't do this. This is just such a extra step and it just takes so much longer to do stuff.

[00:15:10]Every 2 hours they go on a 10-minute break. And at this factory, they run in two shifts. They do like a morning shift and they do a night shift. They don't do anything overnight. They also don't work on the weekends. They work Monday through Friday. They also don't go with the national holiday schedule. They go with something called like a Toyota schedule, which I guess they have their own holidays. One thing that I also noticed that was really interesting to me was when the 10-minute break starts again, everybody starts working at the very same moment. The second it goes back from break and the line starts again, everybody starts working. And it's so interesting like the way they get ready if they're tightening something. They have the torque wrench or they have the impact wrench on the bolt, but they do not dare to push that trigger to tighten or torque anything down. They don't do any work until the alarm sounds. It's almost like they're waiting for uh the snap uh in football or they're waiting just for this signal to all start working again. And it's so interesting like the noise of everybody starting work at the same time is so unique.

[00:16:31]>> Couple things I wanted to point out also. These folks are moving so fast. If I am waiting for something to happen, for example, the battery getting installed, I was like, "Okay, maybe I have a couple seconds. I'll turn around and I'll shoot something else. Something else getting bolted in and then I turn back and the battery disappeared all of a sudden. It takes them like 2 3 seconds to install everything. So, if you just blink then you'll miss it. And I've missed so much. I cannot believe how fast these folks are.

[00:17:09]What do all these cars behind me have in common? They're all insured by Hagerty.

[00:17:13]It's because they mean the world to me.

[00:17:16]You name the value of your own car, they get it. They're enthusiasts just like us. Go to hagerty.com to get a quote for your car today.

[00:17:29]Before it leaves the factory, it goes through this very intensive alignment process where they simulate having a driver and passenger both 75 kg on the seat. So that way they can align it perfectly with the car weighted versus I'm assuming a lot of times with normal vehicles they don't go through that extensive process. It's kind of similar to what we do when we go racing. We want to make sure we align it with me sitting in the car so that way it drives as perfect as straight as possible.

[00:18:12]Toyota has even gone as far as matching suspension components to each individual vehicle. Every suspension arm, link, and sub assembly is measured and matched to a specific car because there are tiny variations that occur during the manufacturing process. It's very similar to matching piston weights in a high performance engine. The same philosophy is applied to the suspension components.

[00:18:40]Again, this is an obsessive level of precision that you normally only see with the highest performance cars in the world, and any normal driver wouldn't be able to tell the difference from one or the other.

[00:18:55]After the vehicle is completed, each one gets tested. Cars are driven 1 and a half laps at the maximum speed of 120 km per hour over a 3 km course. Inspectors who are required to pass regular monthly examinations carefully assess and check 14 inspection items under the supervision of professional drivers.

[00:19:18]These items include vehicle behaviors, handling, and steering responses. For a normal GRS road car, they use a sampling inspection method and they would test only a few cars out of the mini that were produced on the line in a single day.

[00:19:42]>> They're running around for help.

[00:19:45]>> I was also so excited to visit Shimoyama, which is the global headquarters of GR and Lexus. This is a brand new state-of-the-art facility, and the structures itself were so impressive. The entire campus is a perfect mix of high-end design and industrialism. As if it wasn't evident enough already for Toyota to show that they're fully committed to building sports cars, they dropped the mic on us by proudly displaying the GRGT race car and street car versions in the lobby.

[00:20:15]Not too far away was also the Lexus LFA concept car. We got a sneak peek of a new prototype vehicle that Toyota is developing. We also saw Akio Toyota's aka Mr. Marizo's personal man cave that is located right next to Toyota's test track that was inspired by the Nurburgine. We start off with a little drive in the GRS Kyla Romper edition on their 3.3 mile test track. It has a variety of surfaces to test the handling performance of a vehicle with built-in bumps and dips. And just like on the real Norifa, it has a jump. Also had a chance to catch up with now Hiko Saitto, who is the chief engineer of Toyota GR.

[00:20:59]This is going to be so cool. I get to experience the actual test track with one of Toyota's test drivers.

[00:21:07]Oh, the bumps.

[00:21:08]>> Yes. Yes.

[00:21:10]>> Simulated bump. Well, not really simulated. They're just built in. They build the bumps in.

[00:21:20]It's It's crazy to me because you can literally build a perfect track.

[00:21:25]God, we're going over some crazy elevation. You can build a perfect track, but that's not the point. That's not going to be good for testing.

[00:21:34]Yeah. What makes it a test track is simulating all the conditions that you potentially could see on the street and also on the road.

[00:21:45]So, just hit 160. Wo, these the undulations.

[00:21:52]Amazing.

[00:21:55]Next are jumping.

[00:21:57]>> Oh, this is a jump.

[00:21:58]>> Yep. Okay, let's go. Oh, buddy. Oh, buddy.

[00:22:05]And the rev limiter ga.

[00:22:09]>> Oh, buddy.

[00:22:11]That's the first bit of tire.

[00:22:14]>> So good.

[00:22:23]>> Oh, now he's pushing it.

[00:22:31]Now he's pushing it. I love that.

[00:22:36]>> Okay. He knows every inch of this track.

[00:22:38]Do you know how many times you've been around the track?

[00:22:40]>> Many, many.

[00:22:41]>> Maybe like >> 10,000.

[00:22:44]>> Yeah.

[00:22:46]>> Did you Did you ever race?

[00:22:49]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:22:51]>> A little bit. Okay.

[00:22:55]>> 24hour race.

[00:22:56]>> Oh, okay.

[00:22:57]>> And shr drive.

[00:23:00]>> Oh.

[00:23:03]Did you ever race with Morizo, son?

[00:23:05]>> Yes. Yes.

[00:23:06]>> Yeah.

[00:23:06]>> Oh, unbelievable. Thank you so much.

[00:23:09]>> Thank you.

[00:23:11]>> I'm ruined.

[00:23:12]>> This car is so good.

[00:23:14]>> And the track is beautiful.

[00:23:17]>> How many of these were produced?

[00:23:19]>> 200 for the world.

[00:23:20]>> That's it.

[00:23:21]>> Yeah.

[00:23:22]>> So few.

[00:23:24]>> 100 for Japan, 100 to Europe.

[00:23:27]>> Zero to the USA >> in the future.

[00:23:32]>> Yeah.

[00:23:33]We're getting an exclusive look at this contraption. I don't even know where to begin. Like, what what is this? Look at this thing on the roof here.

[00:23:44]>> What's crazy to me is it almost looks like a like a external air conditioner that you would see on top of a RV or something. This is something similar to what we saw at Tokyo Auto Salon last year then.

[00:23:56]>> Yeah. the this one is, you know, very, you know, beginning middle car before the that one in the Tokyo Tango, you know.

[00:24:06]>> So then I'm assuming that this is a rear engine or mid engine.

[00:24:09]>> I will show you the very secret engine in the front.

[00:24:13]>> Okay.

[00:24:16]>> Can you see the engine here?

[00:24:19]If you are honest person, it's fine.

[00:24:25]Okay. There's something here. There's a differential here.

[00:24:28]>> Yes, that's why >> it's missing something here.

[00:24:32]>> Missing something. Yes.

[00:24:36]>> Okay. Uh maybe you cannot see but you know in this here 1.6 L turbo engine here. It's same engine as the Javaris.

[00:24:47]This is very fast uh mu car which uh we started ever yet the midship then we switched to the 2.0 liter turbo engine later on. This is the first challenge >> right >> for us.

[00:25:04]>> Yeah cuz the 2 L turbo engine was displayed also at Tokyo Auto Salon. The reason why we switched to the TW G20 is to have the when we evaluate the GS in the new booking in the back straight uh many cars pass by us you know >> you want to go faster.

[00:25:25]>> Yes.

[00:25:26]>> You know in the corner we can pass them.

[00:25:29]>> Yes.

[00:25:29]>> But in the straight everybody pass by us.

[00:25:32]>> Yeah. Well because on the straight most of the other cars have two more cylinders.

[00:25:38]Yes.

[00:25:39]>> Three or four more. Yeah. Yeah. Five more cylinders.

[00:25:43]>> Yeah.

[00:25:44]>> Then we discussed with Moan to create the new engine.

[00:25:48]>> One more piston.

[00:25:50]>> That's a starting point to make it, you know.

[00:25:54]>> And then the reason why >> this is here is because >> intercooler, you know.

[00:25:59]>> Oh, it's an intercooler. External intercooler.

[00:26:01]>> Are we going out in this?

[00:26:03]>> Why not?

[00:26:03]>> Yeah.

[00:26:05]>> You can feel it the differences. That's a huge surprise.

[00:26:08]>> Really?

[00:26:09]>> Wait. So, we're going to I'm going to be able to ride in this.

[00:26:12]>> Oh, yes.

[00:26:13]>> This is serious. Look at this.

[00:26:15]>> Oh, this is more This is more of a a race car than a than anything else. Oh, I bet you the sound is going to be crazy with the engine behind us.

[00:26:30]>> Oh, this sounds good.

[00:26:43]That turbo noise is crazy.

[00:27:23]The sign is amazing.

[00:27:28]There's a sign that warns you about the jump. Here we go.

[00:27:40]Here we go. Here we go.

[00:27:43]Oh, it's not as violent surprisingly.

[00:27:50]>> So different.

[00:27:52]>> Thank you so much.

[00:27:55]>> That was awesome.

[00:27:57]That was so cool. It feels really different. You can't really compare it.

[00:28:02]Honestly, the the big thing the sound is so good.

[00:28:07]>> This is really special.

[00:28:09]>> It's basically like just a way spicier version of that. Like this is already so cool, >> but this just takes it to that next level >> with just one change.

[00:28:20]>> Yeah.

[00:28:21]>> The engine going to the back.

[00:28:23]>> Yeah.

[00:28:24]>> Versus being in the front. Mhm.

[00:28:25]>> I can tell it's such a big difference.

[00:28:27]>> Yeah. When we get into the endurance race in Japan, five international course including speedway, every course we had some issues about the understeer. Maybe you can imagine that the frontwheel drive is making that the you know negative point is the uh sphere also the turning and braking and driving is front wheel is very much uh stress compared with the rear tire. Then we we did have the underlay also the also the controlling the tire wear uh performances during the endurance race.

[00:29:11]>> It's wearing faster than the rear >> always.

[00:29:13]>> Yeah.

[00:29:14]>> Then professional driver and I discuss with Moan in the racing tent how can we improve that. Then we indicated hey let's move the engine to the back. Let's try it. Then we made it. This is the f miracle car for the train. Then we found a you know good yoing moment. It's when get into the corner turning. It's easy to turn. You know what the the negative point of midship when you you remember the MR2.

[00:29:49]>> Yeah. Lift off over stairs. over stairs, you know, suddenly or you know >> that. But W four-wheel drive can make the improvement when in from the middle of the corner front wheel can pull the vehicle to erase the dumping the you know over stairs. Then we found this is it. But we still develop mean we have many issues like you know cooling performance also the suspension geometry is very different from the front wheel but we are aiming to make some you know road girl in the future.

[00:30:34]I was really excited to see Ako Toyota's private garage that he uses to entertain guests as well as a home base for when he is testing cars.

[00:30:43]>> Morizo Garage.

[00:30:45]>> MN garage.

[00:30:46]>> MN garage. And so this isn't open to anybody.

[00:30:51]>> No public.

[00:30:52]>> Not even employees.

[00:30:54]Wa.

[00:30:57]This is awesome. Oh, is that from the LFA?

[00:31:03]>> Yes. The car which drove the NR 24 hours >> 20 Oh, 2013. I was there.

[00:31:09]>> Here, here.

[00:31:10]>> I have pictures of this guy. Okay.

[00:31:12]>> I was there.

[00:31:12]>> That's the one.

[00:31:13]>> Yeah.

[00:31:17]>> Mizo's personal garage was absolutely inspiring to see. It's interesting to think what would have happened if Akio Toyota did not take those steps to fund his own racing program under the name Gazu Racing about 20 years ago. I was chatting with Saittosan a little more and he mentioned that when Toyota decided to go allin with the GR brand, it was almost if they had to relearn how to make fun to drive sports cars. For a while, the only sporty car was the MRS, which was introduced in late 1999.

[00:31:51]The very next fun to drive sports car was debuted 14 years later in the form of the GT86 and the Scion F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F FRS in the US.

[00:32:01]By the time AO Toyota resuscitated the idea of building funtorive cars, many of the engineers that developed the Supra and MR2 retired already or they left the company. So, in order to find young and talented enthusiasts to work on these GR related projects, they didn't have to look very far. Toyota has many car clubs within the company to promote the love for car culture and driving. For the past 2 years, I've been drifting at Mubar Circuit the day after Tokyo Auto Salon. This year, I brought my own JZX100 Chaser. Word got around and the drift club within Toyota gathered a bunch of their members and shipped their cars from Achi and Kansai Prefectures all the way to Chiba. Six engineers from the JR team made the trip to Mubar circuit with their vehicles to show me how it's done.

[00:33:25]These guys were so good. I couldn't believe it. And they are exactly the kind of people you want. engineering modern fun to drive cars. One of them is even a D1 Grand Prix professional drifter, which means Toyota lets him have the time off on competition weekends. Of course, he drifts a 2JZ powered GR86.

[00:33:49]The passion for motorsports and the pursuit of constantly improving is very evident throughout Toyota, but most importantly, it goes all the way to the top. Just a few days earlier, I had a chance to meet Akyo Toyota for the first time as he was doing some demonstration runs in the WRC Rally 2 GRS. Even to this day, he is hands-on with every single performance vehicle in the GR lineup, lending his driving skill to testing and improving the vehicles under the most extreme conditions. He was even the first person to roll a gr >> when he drove the rally evaluation in the gravel road. He it just hit the you know hill. I can tell you I I was so sweaty, you know. It was a problem on the BSC automatically changed off to the on. But he he said, "Hey, I found issues when he get out the roll over the car >> instead of being upset."

[00:34:51]>> Yes.

[00:34:52]>> He he used it as a learning point.

[00:34:55]>> Also, he he told me that, you know, this car has lower casing inside here. Mhm.

[00:35:03]>> Not outside here.

[00:35:04]>> Yeah.

[00:35:05]>> Then also but we uh at that moment we never evaluated rollover test. So he said hey he I I was the first man who evaluate roll over.

[00:35:21]So he he said that you know uh this this rollover safe.

[00:35:33]The last area we checked out in the Shimuyama facility was where Toyota preps their domestic rally cars as well as where they prepare Ako Toyota's personal demonstration vehicles. So this area is called maintenance garage number two and we are doing a preparation and maintenance for racing cars mainly for Japanese ready championship JRC and uh just before the start of the season we are doing a very heavy maintenance annual maintenance for for yeah so removing all the parts from the car like this uh the category called MCC modo challenge cup uh the the regulations is very strict more strict than grip and Radica car. So we all all we can do for Radica is changing the suspensions, ASDs and the brakes. That's all. And the other parts are all stock.

[00:36:25]>> So why are they removing some of this?

[00:36:28]Uh >> just updating for right weight.

[00:36:31]>> Yeah. Yeah. Even just that much >> makes a difference.

[00:36:34]>> Yes.

[00:36:35]>> Of course. Every one g makes makes difference.

[00:36:39]>> This is what you removed from this yard.

[00:36:42]>> Yes. 1 kilogram.

[00:36:44]>> It's actually weight. It's quite a lot.

[00:36:46]>> You can feel You can feel it, right?

[00:36:48]Right.

[00:36:49]>> I mean, this is equals time.

[00:36:51]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:36:54]>> Look at all of these wheels and tires.

[00:36:57]>> Tires. Yeah. Demonstration runs.

[00:37:00]>> For example, this car is used by Taka uh on Sunday. One and a half minutes.

[00:37:07]Only one and a half minutes.

[00:37:13]And then is this the one that was uh >> Yeah. driven by Moris on Sunday, >> right?

[00:37:19]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yes.

[00:37:22]Yes.

[00:37:31]>> Is this just for demonstration or is this for rally also?

[00:37:35]>> Uh basically this guy is just uh for demonstration purpose only.

[00:37:40]but can can be used on the rally or it's still a full functioning stage rally vehicle.

[00:37:53]>> I learned so much from checking out Modamachi and Chimoyama, but I wanted to get behind the wheel of the GRS as well as the GR Corolla just to see how they drive. So, we went to Macawa Motorland, which is a local track close by to Shimoyama. I even had a chance to do my first all-wheel drive donuts. It proved to be a lot more difficult than I imagined considering there is so much more forward traction even though all four wheels are spinning. It was nothing like doing donuts in my drift car.

[00:38:34]So, now we're at the test track. I already had a chance to drive the 25 model year GR Corolla as well as the 26.

[00:38:42]One was automatic and one was manual. Of course, my preference is the manual. We also had a chance to drive three different versions of the Yurus, two different versions of the JR MN as well as the newest, latest, and greatest 2026 model, which had so much power. All three were so much fun to drive. My conclusion is that I'm just so bummed that we don't get this car in the US, but I'm glad I got to experience them here. They are so much fun. They're so light and they're so nimble and they're just really fun to drive. Really fun to toss around. They're such a good car.

[00:39:21]We're going to ride with these folks in their rally car. That way they can show us how it's really done on this track.

[00:39:34]So as I explained in this morning, this car is almost stock.

[00:39:38]>> Okay.

[00:39:38]>> Just replacing the suspension, the front and the rear LSDs and brakes. That's all. So almost stuck we can say.

[00:39:48]>> And from the power point of view, this has a kind of restricted on the intake.

[00:39:52]>> So the air amount of the air is restricted. So the acceleration is less than the stock.

[00:39:57]>> Less than stock. Okay.

[00:40:09]Wow.

[00:40:14]Yeah.

[00:40:22]And you're pushing it.

[00:40:31]Nice heat.

[00:41:05]That's crazy.

[00:41:23]This trip was an absolute blast getting a chance to watch where these vehicles are born as well as where they're developed and all the way to burning rubber at the local club track. I'm definitely looking forward to the next chapter of what Toyota GR has to offer as it's very evident that they are leading the way for fun to drive cars for many years to come.