Not your average Toyota: The all-wheel drive GR Corolla, reviewed

Although the vast majority of our car reviews are for hybrids and electric vehicles, we do still appreciate a good enthusiast's car. All the more so when they're tweaked versions of more pedestrian fare. Built in low volume and with something special under the hood? Count us in.

That brings us to today's topic, the Toyota GR Corolla.

Some regular readers might be feeling a touch of deja-vu at this point; Toyota builds the GR Corolla in three different specifications, and in March we drove the most expensive, most focused of them, the GR Morizo Edition. With no back seats, a $49,900 price tag, and only 200 units imported for model-year 2023, the GR Morizo is probably a bit too hardcore for most.

The red car you see in these photos is the GR Corolla Core, which starts at a much more reasonable $35,900, a price that helpfully does include back seats, like more common, less racy Corollas. But there is plenty here to justify the 35 percent premium compared to a Corolla Hatchback XSE.

The US market often misses out on special cars, but in this case the GR Corolla was made just for us.

Credit: Jonathan Gitlin

A Corolla hatchback is the GR Corolla's starting point, but rather than move down a production line like all those boring driving appliances, it's hand-assembled at a dedicated GR production facility. For starters, the body shell is treated to almost 400 new spot welds and more than 9 feet (3 m) of extra structural adhesives in order to strengthen it. Underfloor braces further increase stiffness.

The body looks a bit different, too, courtesy of muscular wheel-arch extensions and some functional air vents and scoops. It even has three tailpipes, an unusual trait shared with one of its rivals, the Honda Civic Type-R—but also the Ferrari F40.

Then there's the powertrain. Under the hood is a 1.6 L turbocharged three-cylinder engine that first appeared in the GR Yaris—a car we don't get here in the US—but in this case in a slightly higher state of tune, 300 hp (223 kW) and 273 lb-ft (370 Nm). That power and torque gets sent to all four wheels via a six-speed manual transmission.

Not an infotainment dial but an entertainment dial.

Credit: Toyota

The all-wheel drive system comes with a neat party trick—you can change the torque split on the fly via a rotary controller by the shift lever. By default the car starts off 60:40 front to rear, but a twist of the knob will set that to a much more rear-biased 30:70 split. Pushing the knob instead of turning it engages a track setting that's a 50:50 torque distribution.

The wheels are larger than you find on a regular Corolla hatchback—handsome 18-inch glossy black multispoke alloy wheels wrapped in 235/40 R18 Michelin Pilot Sport 4s. Behind those spokes are upgraded brakes; four-piston aluminum calipers and 14-inch slotted, ventilated discs at the front, two-piston calipers and 11.7-inch ventilated rotors at the rear. Our test car was equipped with the optional performance package ($1,800) that adds front and rear torsen limited-slip differentials but also red-painted brake calipers.

Those air vents are functional.

Credit: Jonathan Gitlin

The inside of the GR Corolla Core is a little closer to normal than the Morizo we tested previously. The multifunction steering wheel is leather-wrapped, as are the shift lever and handbrake, and the user-configurable main instrument display uses a unique GR Corolla theme that includes a G-meter. But you'd have to upgrade to the $49,900 Circuit Edition if you want the seats trimmed with synthetic suede and leather rather than plain black cloth.

The seats are manually operated, but it's easy to achieve a good driving position, and the gear lever falls nicely to your right hand. However, the standard sports seats could do with much better bolstering for your sides, considering how likely the car is to be cornering.

Our test GR Corolla was also optioned with the cold weather package ($500) and the technology package ($770). I mention them together because I found it very hard to put my phone on the wireless charging pad without also turning on the driver's seat heater. There's wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and the USB ports in the cabin are USB-C.

The layout is good, but the GR Corolla Core forgoes some of the special bits of the Circuit and Morizo editions.

Credit: Toyota

Despite all the sporty accouterments, the GR Corolla Core is as easy to drive to the store or work as any other manual transmission Corolla. There's a hill-hold function, and if you press the button labeled iMT (you'll find it on the dashboard in front of your left knee), the gearbox will even blip the throttle during downshifts.

Some purists might decry this, but if your three-pedal driving skills have atrophied on a diet of hybrids and EVs, it's a most welcome convenience feature. The clutch is not heavy and has a clear bite-point, and the gears are easy to find. You don't get quite the same positive feel as you would in a Mazda MX-5, but the shift action is no worse than in a three-pedal Porsche 911 Carrera.

But the GR Corolla is not just a car for the school run or going to the grocery store or commuting to work; it's a car you're supposed to wake up early and drive just for enjoyment, preferably on a road with as many corners as possible.

This is a Toyota Corolla you can be proud to take to Cars and Coffee.

Credit: Jonathan Gitlin

In this regard it delivers, though perhaps not quite to the same degree as a Honda Civic Type-R (at least, the last generation). There's not a huge amount of steering feel, and despite the optional limited slip diffs, it doesn't devour those corners quite as hard. With the torque split set to 30:70, it will oversteer gently if you provoke it, with as much or as little shimmy from the rear tires as your right foot commands.

Remarkably, driving it hard seemed to have little effect on fuel consumption—the car reported averaging 29.5 mpg (8 L/100 km) after a 50-mile (87 km) early morning test session, although the EPA rating for combined economy is 24 mpg (9.8 L/100km). I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention that more than one neighbor complimented the little red hot hatch on its distinctive three-cylinder exhaust burble, courtesy of that middle pipe that remains open at idle.

Add all that up, and the result is a compelling enthusiast's car that won't break the bank but will put a smile on your face.