Who Makes TRD Parts For Toyota? A Look Inside The High-Tech California Facility

Toyota has all sorts of performance vehicles, as the GR (Gazoo Racing) branch of the Toyota tree handles sports cars like the GR Supra, coupes like the GR86, and their all-wheel-drive hot-hatchback, the GR Corolla. Its also involved in race series like GR Cup, providing spec driving units to up-and-coming race car drivers. On top of the GR products, Toyota also makes in-house performance pieces, manufactured by TRD.

TRD, also known as Toyota Racing Development, has its hands in a number of high-performance pots. It builds engines for Toyota's NASCAR operations, work on NHRA Funny Cars, are involved in Formula D and help develop drivers in the TD2 race series. You might think of the subsidiary for its reliable compact sedans or fuel-efficient hybrid hatchbacks, but Toyota really likes to go racing.

TRD parts are made in California, in the company's Costa Mesa headquarters, where engine engineering is done and where much of the support for Toyota's massive race teams takes place. Toyota invited me to their Costa Mesa TRD facility to show off the advanced manufacturing line and get a look behind the scenes at what goes into making a TRD-branded product. TRD production is an in-house operation that handles all sorts of racing responsibilities, and they make suspension components for some of Toyota's most successful trucks too.

Giant five-axis CNC machines are constantly running in the Costa Mesa TRD facility, cutting the various grooves into metal that will eventually become suspension components on the Tacoma, Tundra, 4Runner, and Sequoia – all available with TRD-Pro trims. TRD's Irvine facility and the Costa Mesa manufacturing center make all those upper suspension components in house. It has rear control arms in development too, and it seems like it is eager to keep expanding production.

More than just commercial suspension components, TRD makes some interesting hydrogen products as well. During our tour of the TRD facility, we got a glimpse into the hydrogen fuel cells used in its Tundra-mounted generators. The systems can be used to power events or even home infrastructure in the case of a power outage. And, of course, with Toyota's NASCAR engine operations dominating most of the space in their Costa Mesa facility, TRD makes big V8 racing engines there too.

On top of manufacturing suspension components, the TRD HQ in Costa Mesa does a lot of intricate science. While I wasn't allowed to take photos in certain sections of the facility, it did show off the materials laboratory, where a sort of forensic science is done when any Toyota NASCAR engine breaks. According to the various team members at the TRD HQ, when a part inside a NASCAR engine breaks, it's sealed up, sent to the lab and put under a heavy-duty microscope, literally. The team looks for the how and why parts failed, developing new materials to strengthen the engines and other various components for its race teams. A sort of crime scene investigation takes place where they look for failure points and work on potential solutions for future engines, hoping to improve on a constant basis.

The materials lab was also involved in getting the specific red anodized look you see on TRD upper control arms that line the wheel wells of Tacoma TRD-Pro models. The TRD was proud of the long hours of testing that go into their materials and components. It boasted that it expects the suspension pieces to survive hundreds of hours of rigorous testing before going into production, much more time in testing than the competition. After all, when your trucks have a reputation for reliability, there's a strong standard to uphold.