Latest GR Corolla Ad Confirms That It’s Not Your Daddy’s Corolla

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Toyota continues to lean into its GR performance division and this time it’s doing so with a new video highlighting the hot version of the Corolla. Dubbed “The Shoot”, this nearly five-minute clip features numerous stunt driving scenes including one where the GR Corolla drives on two wheels. What’s even more impressive is that Toyota employed exactly zero CGI.

This video is what Toyota is calling a finale of a multi-year campaign it calls “The Pitch”, which includes two other videos, one highlighting the GR Supra and one focused on the GR86. The automaker shot this final video at Diamond V Movie Ranch and Golden Oak Ranch studios in California.

Parts of the video feature two people Toyota calls “creatives” who are trying to film the commercial while two “executives” continue to raise concerns over how the shoot is coming together. It’s clear from their dialogue that Toyota understands the general public’s view of anything with the name Corolla on it. And it’s clear that it wants to blow that boring visual out of the water.

More: Toyota Reverses Course, Will Cover GR86 Engine That Blew Up On Track

To accomplish that it used Toyota GAZOO Racing North America team drivers behind the wheel of GR Corolla for the stunts. That includes a reverse-180 in the dirt, some high-speed mountain driving in snow, and then a quick chase scene with a classic Corolla that pretends to be stranded on the side of the road.

A callback to the model’s well-known reliability, the actors ask “have you ever seen a Corolla broken down?” Moments later the call for “more GR” comes in and the GR Supra and GR86 join the fray. The GR Corolla then “shoots the gap” by driving between the other GR cars on two wheels. Again, none of this is CGI, says Toyota. I personally want the name of the person who approved a stunt that very likely could’ve ended with one less GR Corolla in this world.

Finally, the commercial ends somewhat anticlimactically as the GR Corolla rockets off of a ramp into the sky only for the scene to cut to black before we see the landing. Kudos to Toyota for literally sending it on this one. A spokesperson for the company confirmed to us that this particular GR Corolla was modified to safely complete the stunt.