Toyota’s Gazoo Racing actually worked over the Copen Kei car, and it’s awesome
You obviously know about the Toyota GR Supra, and you probably know about the Toyota GR Yaris, but did you know that GR Racing has an entire lineup of road vehicles? The GR Sport lineup includes models like CH-R GR Sport, Corolla GR Sport, and even a Prius GR Sport. Outside of this, though, there’s the car you see here, the Copen GR Sport, and it’s the coolest little Toyota sports car that you need to know about.
The Copen GR Sport serves as the entry-level GR Sport model, but it’s only available in Japan. As you’d expect from a GR model, the exterior is adorned with aggressive front and rear fascias, a larger grille, and there’s even a set of tiny, matte grey, BBS Wheels. If it doesn’t look good enough, there’s a number of optional exterior accessories, including a GR front spoiler, side skirts, and a trunk spoiler.
What’s more interesting is that this little Kei car even features GR-Sport branded Recaro seats inside, a leather wrapped Momo steering wheel, and a GR-specific instrument cluster. You can even see hints of carbon fiber here and there. Naturally, the car is a two-seater, though, but it won’t feel quite so cramped once you lower the top – something that makes the Copen GR Sport fairly unique as here in the U.S. Toyota doesn’t sell a true-to-life convertible.
So, what about performance? Well, the Copen GR Sport is powered by a 0.6-liter (660 cc) turbocharged engine that makes just 63 horsepower and 68 pound-feet of torque. The five speed manual transmission would be my preference, but there is also a CVT transmission available with seven simulated gears and paddle shifters. Toyota hasn’t gone into details about sprint time performance or quarter-mile times, but the GR Sport model features improved body rigidity and enhanced suspension tuning. This is achieved collectively by the updated front brace, retuned spring rate, and improved power steering.
It might be a little kei car that you can’t have here in the U.S., but from the right angle it kind of looks like a mini Honda S2000. Make no mistake, this is probably one of the coolest kei cars from a mainstream manufacturer on the planet. Pricing starts out at 2,380,000 Yen with the five-speed manual transmission pushing the price up to 2,435,000 Yen. At current exchange rates, those prices translate to $22,767 and $23,200, respectively.
