Toyota's bland-and-boring image is personified by the sensible Corolla. But clearly its grey-suited engineers occasionally get a rush of blood to the head, which explains this Blitz.
For it's effectively a Corolla with a facelift and a 3.5-litre V6 engine wedged under the bonnet. Yep, the same unit that powers the much bigger Aurion, the RX350 and the Lexus IS350 performance sedan is fitted to a mainstream hatch.
The suspension's upgraded to cope with an independent double wishbone rear in place of the torsion beam of our Corollas, while braking's boosted by bigger, front ventilated discs.
Hubba-hubba was my first thought; here's a Toyota that could foot it with a hot Golf.
That impression holds when you pull away. The mighty motor's at its best in a lighter car, flinging its 206kW and 344Nm to the front wheels via a quick-shifting six-speed auto. There's less torque steer than expected and you literally rocket away from lights or on to motorway on-ramps with the sort of blistering delivery that'd give the average Corolla-owner indigestion.
