Back in 2017, then Toyota President Akio Toyoda made a proclamation that his company would build “no more boring cars.” After spending a week driving a 2023 Toyota GR Corolla, a car that, just a decade ago, we wouldn’t have believed could exist, it seems that promise has been fulfilled. The GR Corolla is not without some stiff competition from the likes of the Honda Civic Type R, Hyundai Elantra N, Subaru WRX, and Volkswagen Golf R, but it has something to set it apart from those rivals: unique character. And loads of it.
On paper, the Toyota stacks up neatly against other hot hatchbacks and sporty sedans in its price range. 300 horsepower, a manual transmission, and a mid-$30,000 starting price seem pretty competitive, but not necessarily class-leading. Dive a little deeper, though, and the GR Corolla starts to leap off the page. Nothing else in this segment packs a three-cylinder engine, enough boost to jumpstart a small wind farm, and a configurable all-wheel-drive system that can send up to 70% of power to the rear wheels. We once called the Ford Fiesta ST an unparalleled hot hatch driving experience, but Gazoo Racing may have stolen the Blue Oval’s title.
Exterior: Angry Hatch
Run a quick Google search on what a Toyota Corolla looked like ten or twenty years ago, and it becomes obvious why the GR Corolla is such a big deal. No one could have predicted that Toyota would ever make a Corolla that’s this cool.
Toyota sent us a 2023 Circuit Edition to review for the week because a 2024 model year was not yet available. Our tester came wearing Heavy Metal paint, which is not available for the 2024 Circuit Edition. Instead, Toyota will offer Ice Cap (white) or a hot shade of Blue Flame. Opting for a Core or Premium trim unlocks Black or Supersonic Red in addition to Ice Cap, while the Premium is the only way to get the Heavy Metal shade our tester shows off in these photos. 2024 changes also include BBS forged wheels as opposed to the Enkei ones pictured here, and black side rocker graphics.
Every GR Corolla looks angry, but the Circuit Edition appears especially irate with its vented, bulging hood, functional air ducts, black rear spoiler, and forged carbon fiber roof. At the back, there are three exhaust tips (one for each cylinder), letting everyone know that this is no ordinary Corolla.
Interior: Upgrades From Gazoo
Using the Corolla as a starting point for this interior means that the GR Corolla doesn’t necessarily feel premium for its price point. You can tell where the money was spent here, namely on the powertrain, but there are some nice touches inside like the GR-specific heated seats wrapped in leather and Brin Naub suede, a heated sport steering wheel, customizable digital gauge cluster, and a shifter plaque with Akio Toyoda’s signature on it. For 2024, the red stitching is replaced with blue to match the exterior. The base Core model comes with cloth seats that feel less luxurious but are still nicely bolstered.
All of the technology is borrowed from the regular Corolla, meaning you get a small but user-friendly eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system with wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. We wish Toyota would have left more physical buttons and a tuning knob, but we’ll have to settle for excellent and responsive voice command. Toyota recently showed off a facelifted GR Yaris will a new interior layout and we wonder if those changes will make their way to the GR Corolla.
Practicality: Small Hatch
Even measured against its contemporaries, the Corolla Hatchback is on the small side of the compact segment. 29.9 inches of rear legroom is pretty tight and the high floor in the trunk only allows for 17.8 cubic feet of space (Toyota doesn’t quote figures with the seats folded).
To put all of that into perspective, the Civic Type R has 37.4 inches of rear legroom, the VW Golf R has 35 inches, and the Elantra N has 38 inches. As for trunk space, the Civic smashes the Corolla with 24.5 cubes, while the Golf R offers a bit more than the Japanese hatch at 19.9 cubes. The Elantra and WRX are technically smaller at 14.2 and 12.5 cubic feet, respectively, but that’s merely because the hatchback body style delivers more vertical space. In the real world, the GR Corolla isn’t much more practical, unless you fold the seats down.
Performance: Gazoo Goes Wild
A 1.6-liter three-cylinder engine might sound like a downgrade, considering that everything else in this segment uses a four-pot, but this plucky little mill has a giant turbocharger that spits out over 25 psi of boost pressure. That’s enough to produce a whopping 300 hp (100 hp per cylinder) and 273 lb-ft of torque. While not class-leading, the GR Corolla is light at a little over 3,200 pounds. A Civic Type R is just under 3,200, but it only has two driven wheels.
That relatively low weight helps this performance car achieve decent fuel economy figures of 21/28/24 mpg city/highway/combined, while managing the 0-60 mph sprint in around five seconds. That’s decent, but there are quicker options for the money.
The GR Corolla’s trump card is its GR-Four all-wheel-drive system. A dial on the console can instantaneously shift power from a 60:40 default split to either 30:70 or 50:50. This amazing feature completely changes how the GR Corolla feels on the fly, essentially creating three vastly different handling profiles. A six-speed manual is the only transmission option, but perhaps Toyota will be swayed to add the new dual-clutch automatic transmission from the Yaris in subsequent model years.
Driving Impressions: A Rally Experience
Performance figures like 0-60 mph don’t do an adequate job of describing how a car like the GR Corolla feels behind the wheel. This car delivers a fizz, unlike anything we’ve experienced since the Fiesta ST left production back in 2018. For good and for bad, the three-cylinder engine is derived from a Gazoo Racing rally car, meaning it often feels like it’s trying to vibrate the whole car into millions of pieces. This is great when pushing the GR Corolla to the ragged edge of its AWD grip, but not so great when commuting home from work in traffic. The engine can settle down on the highway, but stop-and-go traffic is filled with an odd frequency buzzing from the three-pot.
As for the suspension, it’s unsurprisingly stiff, causing the car to bounce over large bumps. The dampers are decently compliant though, so the GR Corolla doesn’t come crashing down ungracefully. A Civic Type R or Golf R will deliver a more compliant ride, but the GR Corolla feels on par with the equally stiff Elantra N.
Throws from the six-speed manual transmission are longer than some enthusiasts might like, given the shift knob length and position, but the engagement is satisfying with a light but communicative clutch.
The GR Corolla shines on a backroad, making full use of its piece de resistance GR-Four mode selector. With the default 60:40 split, it feels like driving in a racing simulator with all the assists turned on; you never have to worry about crashing, but the front end will push wide when hustled too fast. The 30:70 setting lets you have the most fun, rotating the back end out while still getting a little pull from the front wheels to avoid going tail-end-first into a tree. 50:50 is the track mode, distributing the power equally to keep all four wheels planted. 30:70 might be more exciting, but 50:50 will likely set a quicker lap time.
A communicative steering rack conveys the nuances of each mode back to the driver. In 60:40, you’ll feel a shimmy from the wheel like you would in a front-drive car like the Civic Type or Elantra N. In 30:70, the steering lightens up with less power going to the front axle. Lastly, 50:50 inspires the most confidence as if an all-knowing being is guiding the GR Corolla safely – and quickly – around corners. This car makes anyone feel like an expert driver.
Pricing & Verdict: Need Not Want
Pricing for the 2024 GR Corolla starts at $36,500. That’s a lot for a Corolla, but it is in line with the performance compact segment. We’d budget for the $1,180 Performance Package with the front and rear Torsen limited-slip differentials, which do not come standard on the Core. For 2024, some of the available options on the Core have been moved to a new Premium trim level, which starts at $40,320. The Circuit Edition returns for 2024, once again limited to just 1,500 units, priced at $45,140. In our opinion, the Premium trim is the best value.
As for the competition, a base Subaru WRX is the cheapest path to AWD at $32,7355, while the VW Golf R is the most spendy at $45,665. The GR Corolla falls within this range, with the Premium at the best price.
It may not be the largest or the most premium, but the GR Corolla offers the best overall balance within its segment. It’s as fun to drive as the Type R or Elantra N but includes a fantastic AWD system. This feels like a spiritual successor to the Fiesta ST, a performance car bargain that we thought was irreplaceable given rising car prices. After spending a week in the GR Corolla, we don’t just want to buy one – we need one.