RUMOR: A Hardcore Toyota GR Camry Is Coming!

Together with Honda, Toyota is one of the brands keeping sedans relevant in the United States. The Toyota Camry and Corolla are two of the few sedans that are among the best-selling cars in this country, along with Honda's Civic and Accord. If Toyota wants to maintain interest in sedans for the foreseeable future, one way to go about doing this is to release performance-oriented versions of them. Sedans are often more sensible than their SUV counterparts, but making them desirable again isn't a bad tactic.

The rumored Toyota GR Corolla sedan would be the perfect way to do just that, but could the GR badge soon bless the larger Camry as well? It seems that the answer to that isn't too far off, and it would likely leave the Kia K5 GT and Hyundai Sonata N Line eating its dust.

Bob Carter, executive vice president of sales at Toyota Motor Company, told Motortrend to "stay tuned" when asked about the prospect of a GR-badged sedan. Without specifying whether it would be the Corolla or Camry, the idea of a hot Camry has us particularly excited. After all, we've heaped praise on the Camry TRD V6 before and many shoppers clearly love it, too. With its 301-horsepower V6, the TRD is deceptively quick and takes under six seconds to reach 60 mph, but a GR derivative would be a different animal altogether.

The smaller GR Corolla hatchback already has 300 hp from its 1.6-liter three-cylinder turbo, so it's safe to assume that a potential GR Camry would make upwards of 350 hp to compensate for its larger size and increased weight.

As for what could power a GR Camry, Toyota could potentially rework the TRD's 3.5-liter V6 and add forced induction. That could easily raise the output to over 350 hp. Coupled with all-wheel drive, a 0-60 mph time of around five seconds doesn't seem out of reach.

Like the GR Corolla hatch, Toyota Gazoo Racing has a lot of toys to throw at the ultimate Camry like front/rear Torsen limited-slip differentials, an AWD system with multiple power splits, and wider tires. Unlike the GR Corolla, an automatic transmission is more likely for a midsize sedan like the Camry.

While we expect the Corolla sedan to get the GR treatment before the Camry, it's hard not to warm to the idea of one of America's most sensible sedans being transformed into a true enthusiast's car, but one that can also handle the school run without breaking a sweat.