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Toyota TRD and Gazoo Racing products are some of the most potent in Toyota’s lineup. Examples include the GR Corolla and the Tacoma TRD Pro. These divisions are significant in the automaker’s fleet and have an extensive history in motorsport.

The models that wear their badges are easily distinguished from the standard Toyota passenger carriers either by a significant disparity in performance or a more aggressive design. Often, it’s a mix of both. The question is, though, what’s the difference, since both are performance-focused divisions of the Toyota Motors brand?

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Who And What Are They?

Before discussing the differences between TRD and GR, it’s important to understand who and what they are. Let’s start with TRD, which is short for Toyota Racing Division.

Toyota Racing Division

This factory-back racing division has been in the US for almost as long as the Toyota brand, meant to usher the Japanese firm into the racing world via its motorsport division known as Toyota Sports Corner (TOSOC). The genesis of this subdivision can be traced back to the 1950s when they became the first Japanese automaker to enter into the Mobilgas Rally in Australia, using a Toyopet Crown that was chosen, somewhat out of necessity, because it was already tailored to Japan’s undeveloped road network at the time. This model was lightly modified, featuring a water-cooled four-cylinder engine rated for an output of 48 hp at 4,000 rpm. This iconic saloon placed third among the foreign entries at that year’s rally and was Toyota’s first rally car.

This marked the genesis of the Toyota Racing Development division, which would only officially adopt that moniker in 1976. The performance-focused division would go on to compete in more motorsport events throughout the years and has been involved in helping Toyota develop racing cars since the 1990s and into the 2000s. Since its debut, the TRD moniker has become a mainstay in the firm’s lineup, and it has stood side-by-side in Toyota’s performance wing with Gazoo Racing.

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Toyota Gazoo Racing

Now, Gazoo Racing was the passion project of the grandson of Toyota Motors’ founder, Akio Toyoda. When he became a member of Toyota’s board of directors, he met Hiromu Naruse, a seasoned driver who grew close to Toyoda when teaching him how to navigate around the Nürburgring. In 2007, after years of using old MK4 Supras to become acquainted with the many intricacies of the famed circuit, Toyoda and Naruse formed a small racing team. The idea was to use motorsport knowledge and experience to improve the firm’s cars.

The team eventually entered the Nürburgring 24-hour endurance race. Still, because Toyota didn’t back it, it had to enter under the Gazoo.com moniker, Toyota’s marketing and internet brand at the time. The team didn’t win the 24-hour race but was set on using the experience of participating in those races. Soon, word of the Gazoo Racing team spread to the engineers at Lexus, who loaned prototypes of the Lexus LFA to race with. In 2010, the Gazoo Racing team would emerge victorious at the Nürburgring 24-hour endurance race, beating BMW, Porsche, and Audi.

Once Akio Toyoda became Toyota’s president, he pressed to create more exciting road cars, which resulted in the creation of the GRMN and GR Sports brands. The GR brand is one of the most recognizable offerings in Toyota’s modern lineup and is, without a doubt, the spawn of Toyota’s most capable road cars available today.

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So What’s The Difference?

Toyota has already acknowledged an overlap between the two divisions in its fleet. Both divisions are heavily involved in motorsport, attributing their founding to some facet of motorsport, and both serve as performance-focused divisions in Toyota’s catalog. However, there is a distinct difference between the two. One division is focused on producing and improving vehicles for off-road use, and the other is focused on producing track-ready road cars.

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In Toyota’s fleet, the Toyota Racing Development division focuses on developing and producing vehicles geared toward off-road performance, mainly pickup trucks and SUVs. The TRD trim has already become a mainstay of the Toyota Tacoma, and the division also has an extensive array of products that span different categories like styling, performance, chassis upgrades, suspension upgrades, engine upgrades, and even wheels. TRD will continue to be involved in the pickup truck and SUV models offered in the North American market, given the long-standing production of the division’s mainstays, the Tacoma and the 4Runner.

Now, Gazoo Racing is distinguished as an arm of Toyota that produces evolved versions of Toyota’s standard road cars and other performance-focused models that can serve as track tools and fun-to-drive offerings in the automaker’s fleet. The GR fleet consists of two models: an evolution of already existing passenger cars and standalone models. These are the pure-blooded Gazoo Racing models. There are also models in its catalog that aren’t as performance-inclined as the division’s front-runners but still wear the GR badge. These models are distinguished by the GR-Sport badge, mainly featuring sportier styling and some revisions to elevate their performance slightly.

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Performance-Focused Catalogs

The differences between the Toyota Racing Development and the Toyota Gazoo Racing divisions are most evident in the models that exist in Toyota’s lineup.

Toyota Racing Division

As we’ve said before, TRD focuses on improving the off-road performance of pickup trucks and SUVs. Four models exist in Toyota’s fleet, constituting the TRD Pro Series, representing the most off-road capable offshoots in their respective model ranges. These models are the Toyota Tundra, Toyota Sequoia, Toyota Tacoma, and the Toyota 4Runner. A common feature in the TRD Pro Series is upgraded suspension systems, bespoke visual elements, and various driver assistance systems. Some of these upgrades include TRD-tuned FOX shocks, the introduction of a Multi-Terrain Select system, BBS wheels, and an aluminum skid plate. All the changes introduced in the TRD Pro Series models are done further to improve the off-road capability of Toyota’s pickup trucks and SUV models.

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Toyota Gazoo Racing

Gazoo Racing only has four thoroughbred models: the GR Supra, GR Corolla, GR Yaris, and GR86. The GR Supra, needing a very little introduction, is the follow-up to the Mk4 Supra that debuted in the ’90s. While it isn’t an evolution of an existing model coaxed to higher performance standards, it is one of the most athletic models in Toyota’s current fleet. The same can be said for the GR86, a standalone performance model.

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The GR Corolla and GR Yaris are examples of cars available as standard passenger cars and pushed to new heights through intensive and extensive revisions to everything in the standard model from tip to tail. Unlike the TRD range that focuses on off-road performance, these models are designed to offer track-ready performance from the factory and utilize the knowledge and technology gained from Gazoo Racing’s extensive history in motorsport.

Sources:
Toyota
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Toyota Gazoo Racing
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Toyota UK Magazine