Toyota Corolla ESport & Camry Extremo Debut in Bangkok
We don’t always get a chance to cover some of the smaller international auto shows, but this week’s Bangkok Motor Show had a couple special treats from Toyota that we wanted to share with our dear readership. Check out the Nürburgring Edition of the Toyota Corolla ESport and the Toyota Camry Extremo below:
Toyota Corolla ESPort Nürburgring Edition
Toyota Thailand has prepared a special version of their Corolla to commemorate the Corolla Altis’ 7th place finish in last year’s 24-hour endurance race on the Nürburgring. This is a direct homage to that car, labeled the Toyota Corolla ESport Nürburgring Edition.
Unfortunately, an honest to goodness high-performance Toyota Corolla is a little too good to be true. Toyota Thailand hasn’t made any actual powertrain upgrades to the Corolla ESport – it still runs on the same 1.8L four-cylinder petrol with a modest 141 horsepower, paired to a CVT that drives power to the front wheels of the car. However, they have revised the suspension to offer more invigorating driving dynamics than the regular Corolla ESport.
The rest of the changes are purely aesthetic. Toyota Thailand added beautiful 17-inch alloys that perfectly accentuate the new piano-black grille and extra-large front bumper. They’ve also added a spoiler and diffuser to the back of the car, and the cabin gets black leather-wrapped seats with sporty red accents.
Toyota Camry Extremo
Unlike the Corolla ESport Nürburgring Edition, the facelifted Toyota Camry Extremo doesn’t commemorate any on-track achievement. We find it a bit funny that Toyota Thailand decided to add horsepower to this one and not the Corolla ESport. Granted, the Camry Extremo is a permanent offer for Thailand’s drivers so it makes sense that they would put a bit more effort into it, even if it isn’t a limited edition model.
Under the hood you’ll find that the 2.0L engine has been tuned up to 167 horsepower and 147 lb-ft of torque, and the transmission has been upgraded to a six-speed automatic. The Extremo will slot beneath the Camry 2.5G in the Toyota Thailand’s lineup, and will be the first Camry they’ve targeted specifically at young, sporty drivers. Of course, the real appeal for the new Extremo comes from the aggressive new body kit complete with side skirts and chrome 17-inch alloys.
Inside, the Toyota Extremo’s cabin stands out from the crowd with features like adaptive cruise control, conductive wireless smartphone charging, and three-zone custom climate control complete with ventilated seats to keep everyone in the car comfortable.
While we don’t ever expect either the Camry Extremo or the Corolla ESport Nurburgring Edition to go on sale internationally, it’s always fun to see what Toyota’s domestic branches are doing to find new ways of reaching out to their domestic market.
