2023 Toyota GR Corolla new car review

Toyota sold more than 200,000 cars in Australia last year, but you can’t just walk into a dealership and buy this one. This is why.

You don’t choose to buy the Toyota GR Corolla. Toyota chooses you.

Demand is so strong that a friend looking to trade a high-performance BMW for the Toyota was interviewed by sales staff for half an hour to see if they would be a worthy owner.

Toyota has asked dealers to prioritise amateur racers and car club members when pairing the car with customers.

2023 Toyota GR Corolla GTS.

A spectacular slide through the first corner of our track test reveals this is a Corolla unlike any sold to the public.

Built in small numbers, it is a spiritual successor to the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo and Subaru WRX STI, carrying the torch for rally enthusiasts looking to buy a turbocharged, all-wheel-drive pocket rocket with four doors and a practical boot.

It has the same turbocharged engine and rally-bred four-wheel-drive system as the smaller GR Yaris, repackaged into the more accommodating five-door Corolla body.

A very limited supply means Toyota is being picky with who it sells its cars to.

Back doors and rear seats capable of accommodating grown-ups join a far more usable – though by no means generous – boot in the back. The Corolla rights the Yaris’ ergonomic wrongs by positioning the driver lower in the car, with a taller roof and bigger windows that deliver improved sightlines.

Rewinding for a moment, Toyota shocked the performance car establishment in 2020 with a turbocharged, four-wheel-drive GR Yaris hot hatch offered for a scarcely believable $39,950 drive-away as part its “Gazoo Racing” launch campaign. It sold out in hours.

It’s priced at about $66,000 drive-away.

That car costs officially about $54,000 drive-away now, or $59,000 as a more focused “Rallye” version with upgraded wheels, tyres and differentials.

The new GR Corolla is priced from $62,300 plus on-road costs (about $66,000 drive-away).

It undercuts the new Honda Civic Type R and Volkswagen Golf R by a handy margin, but makes do with a plain cabin largely lifted from the regular Corolla.

Though you get a new steering wheel, sports seats and customisable digital dashboard, it’s not a particularly special space.

A rally-bred all-wheel drive system and turbo engine provide potent performance.

The Corolla has plenty of safety features including auto emergency braking, active cruise control and blind spot monitoring.

Infotainment is accounted for by an 8-inch touchscreen with sat nav, smartphone mirroring and a decent JBL stereo, as well as heated seats and dual-zone climate control.

Corolla customers get the Yaris Rallye’s limited-slip differentials, but miss out on its forged wheels and carbon fibre roof – those are reserved for a more expensive two-seat GR Corolla Morizo model due later this year.

A longer wheelbase and wider track join chunkier tyres on the Corolla, which feels more planted than the Yaris on road and track.

Most of the cabin fitout is lifted from the regular Corolla

Heavier than the two-door, with a wider footprint and slower steering, the bigger car doesn’t quite match the jet fighter turning response of its smaller cousin.

The Yaris is ultimately more agile and also fractionally quicker to 100km/h, with a 5.2 second claim besting the Corolla’s 5.29 second sprint. But this doesn’t mean the bigger car is less fun to drive.

You have to work the Corolla hard to extract its 221kW and 370Nm.

The three-pipe exhaust has a charming warble and the intake sounds heavily turbocharged, with an occasional hiss and twitter from the triple’s induction system.

It comes with only a manual transmission.

The little motor feels fizzy in the right element but laggy when caught in the wrong gear, which encourages drivers to work the six-speed manual transmission regularly to keep it on the boil.

Brake feel is a particularly strong point for the Toyota, which lets you carefully balance stopping power with steering input to make the most of its Yokohamas.

Get it right on track and the hatch pivots around you, oversteering on corner entry with a delightfully naughty drift that becomes a powerslide when you mash the throttle.

On track the Corolla GR can deliver delightful slides.

It’s also a cracker in the dry, with a willing motor, accurate steering and enormous grip reserves.

Sure, the single-mode suspension is tauter than what you’ll find in more sophisticated machines. And the lack of an automatic transmission option limits the car to keen enthusiasts. But that hasn’t stopped thousands of people from choosing the Corolla as their next car.

The burning question is whether Toyota will choose them.

VERDICT 4/5

A hoot to drive on road and track, the Toyota GR Corolla brings rally driver fantasies to life for those lucky enough to get hold of one.

TOYOTA GR COROLLA GTS VITALS

PRICE From $62,300 plus on-road costs

ENGINE 1.6-litre 3-cyl turbo, 221kW and 370Nm

WARRANTY/SERVICE 5-yr/u’ltd km, $1800 for 3 yrs

SAFETY 7 airbags, auto emergency braking, active cruise control, lane keeping assistance, blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alerts

THIRST 8.4L/100km

CARGO 213 litres

SPARE Repair kit

Originally published as 2023 Toyota GR Corolla new car review