Whenever a new Toyota debuts at home in Japan, it’s instantly bombarded with tons of upgrades developed by Modellista and TRD. The fifth-generation Prius is no exception as the iconic hybrid car – now looking better than ever – has been spoiled by the automaker’s two in-house tuners. Toyota Racing Development features a revamped model with an assortment of Gazoo Racing branded parts.
Unlike the flashy Modellista package introduced earlier this week, this GR Part is more polished. A prominent spoiler lip is visible at the front while the rear houses a pair of winglets on the tailgate. The 2023 Prius has been fitted with different wheels, maybe slightly bigger and apparently has black wind deflectors as it appears to still be in the Land of the Rising Sun.
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It should be mentioned that this is not the first time that Toyota has given away the Prius GR as the once very popular hybrid car has had its share of sportiness in Japan since the second half of 2017. The JDM-spec Prius Alpha (aka Prius v in United States and Prius+ in Europe) and the Prius PHV (Prime in the US) has been available in GR Sport trim domestically for about five years. The GR Sport is at the bottom of the GR food chain, positioned below the mid-tier GR and the top-tier GRMN.
It seems highly unlikely that Toyota will come out with a true performance version of the all-new Prius as the model is still all about efficiency. That said, the latest generation is far more powerful than the models it replaces in both the standard and Prime variants. The former has just under 200 hp while the latter delivers a hefty 220 hp, good for sprinting from 0 to 60 mph in just 6.6 seconds.
That makes the Prius Prime just half a second slower than the 2023 GR 86. Even the regular model is much faster than before, taking 7.2 seconds to complete a task or 2.6 seconds quicker than its predecessor. The all-wheel-drive version of the non-Prime Prius cuts the sprint time to 7.0 seconds.
