After the immense success of the GR Yaris, which proved its worth as being a proper rally-bred machine on numerous occasions, Toyota decided to try their luck with a slightly bigger proposal: the Corolla. Part of the GR lineup, it made its debut last year, and it kind of follows in the footsteps of the ultra-hot GR Yaris, albeit using the same construction (with beefed-up dynamics) as the regular twelfth-gen Corolla.
All-wheel drive is obviously on deck, thus improving both the cornering and grip of the hot hatch that guns for the likes of the Volkswagen Golf R. It packs a 1.6-liter three-pot, developing 300 horses. The torque stands at 273 pound-feet (370 Nm) according to the Japanese car manufacturer. Everything is transferred to the axles via a six-speed manual transmission.
On top of this, the Toyota GR Corolla can be either front-, all-, or rear-wheel drive biased at the twist of a knob, as the power can be split at 60:40, 50:50, or 30:70 between the front and rear wheels. It takes a hair under the five-second mark to hit 60 mph (97 kph). Keep the right pedal pinned to the floor long enough, and it will eventually run out of breath at 143 mph (230 kph).
As we already told you, it is based on the same construction as the regular Corolla. However, Toyota’s sporty division does say that it features more weld points as well as an additional structural adhesive. Moreover, it has stiffer suspension, and a double-wishbone multi-link arrangement. Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires were wrapped around the 18-inch wheels, which are backed up by uprated brakes, with four-piston calipers at the front and two-piston at the rear and ventilated discs on both axles.
Every gearhead and their pet can tell you that the Toyota GR Corolla is a great proposal in the compact hot hatch segment, and one that won’t bankrupt you. The automaker is asking a minimum of $35,900 for the base model, which is called the Core, in the United States. The mid-spec Circuit Edition has an MSRP of $42,900, and the slightly torquier Morizo Edition is offered from $49,900.
Now, we’ve seen the GR Corolla being subjected to all sorts of tests ever since its introduction a little over a year ago, and it has pretty much aced most of them. But can it impersonate a rally car in winter conditions? Answering this question is the Team O’Neil Rally School, which recently had a close encounter of the third kind with a 2023 car, with only the delivery miles under its belt. The vehicle was put through its paces in the snow, and you’re about to find out whether it can go rallying or not in the video shared down below.
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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