There’s no place like the track. From the thrill of finding the perfect braking point to the cholesterol of greasy concession stand food, these ribbons of tarmac serve as closed playgrounds where we can enjoy performance driving to the fullest. Getting on track is worth it, but there are several precautions worth noting, particularly when it comes to safety and temperatures. Rule Number One is be safe, obviously, but Rule Two is preserve the car. Unless you’re tracking something that’s okay to essentially burn down, being cautious with modifications, temperatures, and lubrication is important, especially if you’re deviating from factory specifications. With that said, we don’t know why this GR Corolla blew up.
Recently, a video (shown below) has been going viral of a rare Toyota GR Corolla Morizo Edition getting loose, going through a tire wall, and then catching on fire. It’s a lot to process all at once, and a huge amount of loss in a short period of time. The owner explained what happened on Instagram, writing:
My account of the sequence of events:
This was near the end of session 1 day 2, my first time in group 3, third overall track day, not educated enough to pay close attention to my gauges, not taking cool and hot laps, full send the whole time. Car was hot, oil was thin. Coming around turn 11, oil pressure drops momentarily (as per video), accelerate through 3rd, through 4th, shift into 5th and coast into T14. Engine fails while coasting, unbeknownst to me (you can identify the moment of failure watching the oil pressure gauge), oil spews into the engine bay, onto the track, and onto my rear tires. Downshift input and oil on tires kicks my rear end out to the right sending me off track and into the tire wall. Hot oil ignites engine bay.
First off, I gotta give respect to this owner for acknowledging driver error. They recognized that they didn’t have an eye on fluid temperatures and weren’t doing cool-down laps, and that could be part of what resulted in this unfortunate situation. Now, you might be thinking, don’t modern cars have safeguards in place if oil pressure drops or if fluid temperatures get dangerously hot? Many do, but they can’t always account for every situation, and ECU tunes might throw those safeguards out with the bathwater. As the owner posited on Instagram:
There are a lot of factors at play here. Was it the tune? Was it oil starvation? Was there an issue with one of the internal mods? I argue it’s hard to point a finger at one as the single root cause, it’s more likely a combination of things, including my driving. Some say it’s the tune but the day before this incident a fully stock GRC blew on the T8/9 straight in the same way, minus the fire (you may remember, this was the one guy that got Toyota to pay for the rebuild). My new build is more conservative, maintains factory seals, runs heavier oil, has cooling and oil slosh protection, and still tuned
Let’s take a step back from the engine failure to what may have been the point of no return, that momentary oil pressure drop in turn 11.
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We don’t really know what happened, but let’s look at suspect number one, the possibility that the lubrication on hand wasn’t sufficient for the extra modifications put on the engine. The Toyota GR Corolla normally runs a 0w20 oil, a fine spec for cold flow and efficiency in daily driving, but maybe not the most common race oil (it is what Toyota recommends, though plenty of folks seem to be using a 30-weight for track driving). Let’s look at Pennzoil Ultra Platinum; if we zoom in on kinematic viscosity at 100ºC, or 212ºF, we’ll see that the 0w20 rings in at 8.8 centistokes, while the 5w30 posts up a figure of 10.3 centistokes. Now, 8.8 centistokes is still perfectly safe in many applications, but obviously a stock car is different than one that’s been modified, and oil temperatures in modern cars often climb far beyond 212ºF.
In this case, the owner of this GR Corolla stated a logged oil temperature of 254ºF, or a hair over 123ºC. That’s pretty toasty, but not unusual for the platform when it’s put on track. However, there is a big asterisk here, as this particular example isn’t perfectly stock.
As the owner reports, it had new camshafts and valve springs, a new head gasket, a new intake and downpipe, different spark plugs, and a tune. More power means higher cylinder pressures, and the lubrication needed for a stock car might not prove adequate once those cylinder pressures are turned up. An application like that may require a sturdier boundary layer so that everything stays happy, and this can be achieved either through additional cooling to keep the factory oil specification in a happy window, or through a change in viscosity. There are risks to both strategies, from oil pressure drop through a cooler to any potential issues that arise with slightly thicker oil including sub-optimal circulation, but tuning is often about experimenting, testing, collecting data, and reflecting. There’s always a bit of a gamble in it.
We can also talk about tires. While a non-baffled wet sump oiling system should be fine for a stock engine in a car on stock tires, upping the coefficient of friction and thus the cornering loads can move oil into strange places with this sort of arrangement. Some owners have reported oil pressure challenges on track, and sticky tires may exacerbate that issue. Short of say, the classic Honda S600 which used a roller-bearing crankshaft, most passenger car engines rely on a thin film of continuously flowing oil to maintain space between parts like connecting rod bearings and main bearings, piston rings and cylinder walls, and pressurized cavities of hydraulic valve lifters so metal doesn’t kiss metal, resulting in hardcore damage. Once that oil pressure dropped to zero, it was all over for this turbocharged three-cylinder.
So while we don’t know exactly what caused engine failure in this GR Corolla (see the Instagram comments to see folks’ guesses at the root cause), it seems there was likely a lubrication issue of sorts. Even though we can only guess specifics, there are still several things to learn here. Firstly, stock is generally the way to go for reliability because professional automotive engineers have spent tens of thousands of miles torture testing that exact package. The research and development is essentially baked in, versus having to learn new weak points as you go along. Secondly, the safeguards that exist for a stock car might not be enough for a modified example.
Finally, sometimes you just don’t know when things are going to let go. Aside from the oil pressure warning light flashing in turn 11, there clearly weren’t that many early warning signs that this GR Corolla would host its own viking funeral. As a result, track insurance is a good idea on anything you aren’t prepared to scrap in the event that everything goes horribly wrong. It generally won’t cover personal liability, but an agreed value trackday insurance policy will make you whole on the car’s value should a catastrophic failure and/or a crash happen.
There’s definitely some risk to getting out on track, especially in a modified car, but it’s also hugely rewarding. Be safe, take precautions, maintain your vehicle well while still knowing that things might not go according to plan, but still remember to have fun. Anything that makes you a better driver is worth doing.
Top graphic image: gogomorizo/Instagram
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A better headline would be: “A Far From Stock Owner-Modified-Engine Corolla GR Still Using The Stock-Spec Oil Failed At A Track Day.” It’s really not fair to have someone scan the headline and think oh another stock GR had an issue. (Yes I know there have been some stock failures, this is likely not that).
If more of these start blowing up on track days, I’d say there might be something to it. However this engine has more than a “tune”.
“Engine mod list – install date:
Eventuri intake – April ‘24
OTL high flow cat downpipe – April ‘24
Radium catch can – April ‘24
Kelford Stage 1 Cams – May ‘24
Kelford springs – May ‘24
HKS Grommet head gasket – May ‘24
Lamspeed H13 Street Studs – May ‘24
ECUTEK/L+1 tune – May ‘24
NGK Ruthenium HX spark plugs – May ‘24”
A whole lot of commercials and the promised video never plays what is this?
Possibility #1 is that this was a built motor. It could have been a lot of different things, but one thing you can’t do is treat this like it has anything to do with a stock G16’s reliability.
These tiny motors are already squeezing out unthinkable power from the factory.I get it but what do you expect with more power and higher temps at long duration?Something is gonna give and it’s usually expensive.
*slaps forehead* I could’ve had a V-8
pushing just as much air-fuel mix though 3, eh,
As a GR Corolla owner, I’ve seen enough people on the forums trying to push the engines as far as they can and “see what happens”. I see what happened here.
Engine compartment getting sprayed with oil and catches fire, that’s why it “blew up”. Why the oil spray? Likely attributed to the modifications, or something stupid like a hose clamp. (Grassroots Motorsports just had an article on this exact thing with this exact outcome).
They’re already making nearly 200 horsepower per liter stock. Trying to eek more out of them just seems like asking for trouble to me.
Sounds like Focus ST owners from 10 years ago. Used to see those EVERYWHERE and now they are all off the roads with blown engines.
Yeah, either by owners or due to the closed deck I4 Ecoboost coolant intrusion issue.
Or given the oil pressure issues – a rod through the side of the block. That tends to get things a tab bit oily.
I just raced at Thunderhill a month ago, and as much as what happened here sucks, he’s lucky the tire barrier was there to hit. That’s a high speed straight and the backside of turn 14 is the backside of turn 8, so at least he didn’t go sailing off into the grass and hit another car on the other side of the track.
This also demonstrates why I have big fat oil and coolant pressure warning lights in my race car. They’re obnoxiously bright and can’t be ignored.
For anyone wondering, cars don’t normally behave like that
Why i hate tuners that claim stupid hp from a car that barely is cooled at normal temps.
600hp when you can cool 300hp is probably fine at the drag strip or dyno. It’s not OK 20min deep in a session.
Its worse when you have a wrx that stops flowing air in the woods hoodscoop at high speeds. Or other aerodynamics going on.
I mean, we’ll never know exactly what went wrong. I’d be willing to bet that the mods and tune definitely didn’t help, and I remain confused as to why people toon these in the first place. The engine is at nearly 200 horsepower per liter from the factory. If you want to push it beyond that you’re asking for trouble. It’s a 1.6 liter 3 cylinder…
Anyway, these also aren’t track cars. Toyota advertises them as such but they have serious cooling issues. There are piles of threads and articles online about how they overheat after a couple of laps. If you want to do serious driving in them you need to modify (not toon) them heavily….and the biggest issue (the differentials overheating) still hasn’t been solved last I heard. The aftermarket doesn’t have a fix and neither does Toyota.
Anyway, I’m not gonna rag on this guy too hard because he was willing to admit he fucked up and I’m still a relatively inexperienced track driver myself so I can’t really talk shit. But if you want to buy something in this class of car to go hoon on a track you should get a CTR (the FK9s had thermal issues but I believe the FL5 solved them) or *everyone groans* one of the Hyundai Ns.
Or if you don’t need the space get a Toyobaru. You really only need to do pads and brake fluid on those and I think they have a TS version or whatever it is that gives you upgraded braking from the factory. In the hands of a good driver they can be pretty quick, but then again I remember their being horror stories out there of the current gen ones blowing up too.
In my opinion Toyota is already wringing too much out of those 3 cyls from the factory, any modding is just going to shorten its lifespan.
Physics is what it is and I’ve had no interest in this engine because of this, never mind tuning it past what I’m sure are already tiny safety margins. I’m sure a bunch of dorks will come on soon with “you don’t know what you’re talking about, they tune GR Yarises to 6000 hp in Europe all the time and they’re so reliable that they can do three dyno pulls without a failure!” I also wouldn’t want to be running 0W-20 at those temps, but I just don’t get the whole tracking a modded hatchback (that nobody would think showed much promise in standard guise), anyway. These are heavily compromised by being built from low end, low-power, unsporting street cars, not even something leaning toward a more sporting intent. I also don’t see major cooling mods on that list—something he should have done before modding further—but I guess those aren’t cool (pun and slight intended). He could have built a better track rat for cheaper.
To be fair, literally every rally car today is built from “ low end, low-power, unsporting street cars”. The question is how you build them.
I agree with those that say these are cranked up to “10” from the factory, and you crank them up to “11” and flog them around a track without keenly watching pressures and temps at your peril. Or evidently, just crank down the interstate at 85mph, as a couple have blown up doing THAT too.
I think I read that the highway failure was traced back to an earlier money shift, but I might be remembering wrong/thinking of a different one. If it wasn’t the owner’s fault or modded, Toyota should have covered it. Sometimes these things happen and that’s a highly strung engine. A number of vocal GR86 owners who got denied and hoped to use social media to get Toyota to change their minds went quiet when they were discovered to have been at fault (One “I didn’t money shift” guy comically posted his ECU read out showing an rpm event over 10k, matching the rpm of a 3rd gear shift at 4th redline or something like that and it was pointed out, and he disappeared). Toyota is the same company that replaced frames under warranty on trucks up to 15 years old, after all.
The regular Corolla is an anti-driver’s car, but not all small cars rally cars are built from suck to drive so much in base form even if they lack power, plus rally cars are much more heavily modified than some regular person’s track day car, using OEM parts as minimally as homologation requires. I lost interest in it when the FIA allowed a central block power takeoff for the Peugeot and/or Citroen (I forget) rally cars that, of course, the road cars didn’t have. Rally aside, for the money this is costing the guy, he could have bought/built a pretty serious old Miata or maybe even a FFR Cobra.
Differential overheating. What causes that? Is it caused by all the active clutch plates in the diffs?
Edited title:
“Car with thermal management issues is then modified and goes boom”
Good thing he put in a catch can, phew.. really saved the day with that one.
What is odd is that it seems that this started as a drivetrain issue. In the video you hear an odd noise, then it seems like he can’t steer correctly, then crashes.
It almost seems like a CV/halfshaft went nuts
In fairness oil catch cans are designed to catch small amounts of oil blowby from the PCV system, not the entire contents of a grenading engine.
I’m still interested in buying one as a daily.
(Not THIS one, mind you.)
But it depends on whether I should instead die a little and buy a boring A-to-B transportation product.
Track day is not racing.
Racing is a competition where there is a winner. Track day is not a competition. There are no winners, but sometimes there are losers.
So what you’re saying is it’s like arguing on the internet. Got it.
/s
Exactly.
Wait a minute….
He was racing his car around the track, even if he wasn’t racing his car around the track. 😉
He lost.
Last place.
Maybe you should get one for yourself instead of an XJ and spend months doing “research” to identify the failure method. After all you were a cooling systems engineer in your past life. Just make sure to partner with a tire brand first. (I’d recommend Hankook so they can supply you with the ventus rs4s)
A GR is a bit rich for my blood.
I’m willing to bet you can get a smoking hot deal on this one though. 🙂
No rust.
After getting that toasty, it will be pretty rusty in short order.
Yep, there’s no reason to push your car too hard on a track day. Do a warm up lap, do your hot laps till you feel the tires starting to lose traction from the heat (same with brakes), do a cool down lap, then hit the pits. Admittedly my dad and I are members at what’s essentially a race track country club (Putnam Park) so we have more free time on the track than your normal track day, but I rarely do more than six or seven hot laps at a time. And that’s in a track-prepped S2000 that could easily handle way more. Hustling around a track can be work and I need breaks to keep my focus sharp.
Even without pushing things $hit has a way of finding you at a race track. After years of it working properly, I burned down a friends car in a similar way right after I paid and entered the track compound. Never even made it to the paddock. Oil line feeding the turbo chose exactly then to burst. Car was mechanically OK but electrically totalled, and only reason the outcome was so good was BECAUSE I was at a race track. 30 seconds to the first responder, and about 1:10 before the engine compartment is completely deluge with water from a proper fire truck. Car got rebuilt but any place 5 minutes earlier would have meant all that would have been left is a few unmelted washers.
Fun track. Did my first track day there.