4 Things To Expect From Toyota GR Sports Models In 2026

Toyota's lineup is one of the most versatile in the industry at the moment. Whether you want a small, affordable sedan, a full-size, low-slung coupe, or an off-road beast of a pickup, the Japanese brand fulfils the "something for everyone" phrase to the fullest extent. What puts Toyota at the top of the sales sheets, however, is the SUV fleet. Most notably, the compact RAV4. This SUV has been one of the highest-selling models in the States for a few years now, and for the 2026 model year, it's getting a huge overhaul.

Entering its sixth generation, the RAV4 signals a huge step forward for the already adept SUV. And with a completely new design philosophy (aside from still being compact), Toyota has marked the changeover by bringing the GR Sport trim level to the U.S. While the racing-inspired GR Sport trim hasn't ever been available on an American-spec Toyota, it's well-established elsewhere, giving us plenty of ideas of what to expect from future GR Sport models besides the brand-new RAV4.

Not only has the RAV4 received a major overhaul on the outside, but the spec sheet also looks a lot different from the outgoing 2025 model. Following the path that the Camry took, the RAV4 is now available exclusively as a hybrid, with the standard model utilizing a full hybrid setup comprising a 2.5L four-cylinder engine and two electric motors. Next year, a new plug-in hybrid model is also set to join the lineup.

Alongside the innate differences the PHEV will have, it will also be the first model in the U.S. that'll get a GR Sport trim. Developed in collaboration with Toyota's racing division, Gazoo Racing, the goal of the GR Sport trim for the 2026 RAV4 is to hone in on the driving dynamics of the SUV. For the powertrain, the 2026 RAV4 GR Sport will get the 2.5L four-cylinder combined with three electric motors, resulting in an output of 324 horsepower. The suspension is another key area that Toyota has improved, with the brand calling it 'GR-tuned'. A plethora of aero pieces have also been added to the GR Sport, and expect to find GR Sport-exclusive badges and cosmetic features just about everywhere you look. The PHEV version of the new RAV4 is penciled in for the spring of 2026.

At the time of writing, the RAV4 PHEV is the only Toyota that's officially announced to be getting a GR Sport trim in 2026. But as the marquee isn't new in other countries, we can certainly expect more to follow soon after. There may be some influence on how many we get based on the success of the RAV4, but recent interviews confirm that the U.S. market has more in the pipeline. 

Speaking to Car and Driver, the senior vice president of product at Toyota, Cooper Erickson, said, "we will probably have a few of them in the lineup. It won't be a lot." While other trims are used quite extensively throughout Toyota's current fleet, there are only a few that rely on performance. Erickson noted that "the last thing we want to do is dilute the GR name", so the money is only on the best road-focused models outside the already purpose-built GR models getting a similar package. 

As mentioned previously, the GR Sport trim is new in the U.S., but it's well established in some of Toyota's key markets. Australia and the U.K. are two nations that get a handful of GR Sport trims for various nameplates, and with both of them getting similar lineups to each other overall, it's clear what type of model Toyota likes to give the GR Sport badge to.

Starting with the small SUVs, the Yaris Cross is available in its GR Sport guise in both Australia and the U.K. The Yaris Cross isn't sold in America, the larger Corolla Cross being the closest to it Stateside. Base performance is a must to get the GR Sport badge, and the Corolla Cross does, in fact, have more horsepower than the Yaris Cross as standard. 

In the U.K., both the standard Yaris Hatchback and Corolla Hatchback models also get the performance-based trim, but it may not be as likely for the Corolla to get a GR Sport model in the USA, especially with the GR Corolla already being available here and with less demand for the segment. On the contrary, the Hilux, which is a similar size to the massively popular Tacoma, has a GR Sport trim in the U.K. Again, there's no confirmation past the RAV4 thus far, but Toyota could easily mirror what it does elsewhere to select the best fits on the American market for a GR Sport trim.

Upgrading the GR Sport trims so that they're closer to the official GR models than the base version of the nameplates would essentially make the trim obsolete. As seen with the aforementioned GR Sport models that are sold in other international markets, Toyota improves upon elements like suspension and chassis to enhance the handling, rather than pure power that you get with the heavy hitters. In his interview with Car and Driver, speaking on the RAV4 GR Sport, Toyota's Ericksen said, "It has true GR suspension tuning and handling, but the powertrain is the most powerful powertrain for that vehicle."

When you compare the likes of the base Corolla hatchback with the GR Corolla, the differences are huge. Aerodynamics and handling overhauls aside, the latter gets a more powerful 1.6L turbo producing 300 horsepower. The Supra and GR86 are separate from the rest of the lineup completely, as is the recently-announced GR GT supercar that'll lead the racing brand on the road. So while these cars will still very much be at the top of the Toyota brand moving into 2026, the GR Sport models have already proven to offer more excitement behind the wheel despite fewer upgrades, and at a considerably lower price.