Toyota Corolla GR (2023) Review

If we told you last year that a Toyota Corolla launch will be the most anticipated of the year, you would have laughed. But the hype is real! The 2023 Toyota Corolla GR is here, and it's sensational!

Whether it is the box, bubble or chisel shape, South African motorists and enthusiasts have a special connection with the Toyota Corolla. To show just how far the nameplate has evolved, in March 2020, Toyota South Africa introduced the current 12th-generation Corolla sedan as well as a hatchback variant that appealed to a different demographic. 

To quote Glenn Crompton, Vice President of Marketing at Toyota South Africa Motors: "For decades, the Corolla has been one of South Africa's most-loved models, and it's exciting to see how it has evolved and maintained relevance in the market over the years." 

But when was the last time that a Corolla was fast? The RSI/RXI 20-valve sedan was the last performance offering, but that was back in the early noughties. More than two decades later, a new champion has risen in the form of the manic GR Corolla. First things first – the engine.

The Corolla is back! 

The GR Corolla is powered by a turbocharged 1.6-litre three-cylinder engine that sends 221kW and 360Nm to the configurable GR-Four all-wheel-drive system. It is the same engine used in the GR Yaris, but Toyota turned up the wick in a big way with improved internals and more boost. The result is a fully-fledged race car for the road. The only similarity that it shares with the current generation Corolla is the chassis but other than that, just about every aesthetic and mechanical component is GR-specific. 

In addition to all the speed, engineers also trimmed the weight of the body and exterior by 13kg (compared to the standard Corolla hatch) with thinner front and rear bumpers, a reduction in underbody panels and sound absorption materials. Though it's not essential in this type of car, the official combined fuel consumption is 8.4 litres/100km. 

Technology has really come a long way, especially where transmissions are concerned with many performance cars equipped with direct shift units – like the Volkswagen Golf 8 R and Mercedes-AMG A35. Manual transmissions might be on their way out, but the GR Corolla bucks the trend with its six-speed manual transmission, specially calibrated for the 1.6-litre engine. If you compare apples with apples, the GR Corolla has three direct rivals – The Honda Civic Type R, Hyundai i30 N and South Africa's darling, the VW Golf 8 R. 

One mean son of a gun

Customers can choose from two derivatives – Core and Circuit – priced from R841 00 and R902 400, respectively. The derivative driven on launch at Zwartkops Raceway was the Circuit and comes standard with features like a gloss black front grille, heads-up display, synthetic leather plus suede seats, carbon fibre roof, hood air vents and a limited-slip differential. We advise spending the extra cash on the Circuit model because it looks so good. 

Besides the wider gloss black front grille, the rear bumper accommodates a tri-exiting exhaust with a deep burble on idle. There's also 'GR' badging on the front and rear bumpers, just in case you need reminding. Glacier White, Raven Black, Fierce Red and Midnight Grey are available body colour options. The hot hatch rolls on black 18-inch alloy wheels and is kitted with red brake callipers.

In terms of dimensions, the GR Corolla measures 35mm longer than the standard Corolla hatch, with a 10mm increase at the front and 25mm at the rear. Vehicle height has been reduced by 10mm. 

The GR Corolla also has four doors, making it a bit more practical than the GR Yaris, and it has a boot capacity of 213 litres. It comes with Toyota's Safety Sense system that includes front and rear park distance control, ABS, EBD, hill-assist, stability control, lane keeping, seven airbags, and lane trace assist. 

Verdict

There was no better place than Zwartkops Raceway to launch this vehicle to highlight the pure performance aspect of the GR Corolla. The manual transmission impressed us the most with its direct gears, whether at high or low speed, not to mention the turbo 'stu stu stu' sound when the foot comes off the accelerator. 

It in no way characteristically drives or sounds like it has a three-cylinder engine. The burble from idle is deep, and power is put down almost immediately. When the boost hits, it goes like a bat out of hell. Even with the all-wheel-drive system, the engine is so responsive that you must stay concentrated 99.9% of the time. It is a real driver's car that delivers on performance. 

Another brilliant mechanical feature we used is torque distribution which sets how you want that power distributed and can be done with the touch of a button. 50:50 is the default setting, but the ratio can be toggled forwards or backwards depending on the environment or surface. It would be interesting to see how well the GR Corolla performs against the Golf 8 R or Civic Type R. 

Toyota South Africa says the GR Corolla is available in limited numbers, and customers are encouraged to register their interest with the nearest dealer as soon as they can. People know this, the fastest Corolla to date, will be a historic release for Toyota. Based on what we experienced, it is worth every cent. 

Pricing 

Core - R841 000 
Circuit - R902 400 
A nine-services/90 000km service plan and a three-year/100 000km mechanical warranty are provided. Customers can also purchase extended service plans via their Toyota dealer.

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