Memory is a funny thing. It has a habit of putting on rose-tinted spectacles and erasing the mundane, focusing exclusively on the highlights. The BMW 2002 is iconic, but fewer people remember the 1602. The Dodge Neon SRT-4 is now pure nostalgia, but fewer people remember the Neon R/T. You can probably guess where I’m going here. This is the 2026 Toyota Corolla FX Hatchback and if you’re overly excited at the thought of a reborn Corolla FX-16, I’m going to need you to hold your horses for a second.
Right out of the gate, the 2026 Toyota Corolla FX Hatchback comes in three colors: the pictured Inferno, the Enterprise-worthy Ice Cap, and the extra medium Blue Crush Metallic. No matter which paint you pick, you’re getting white wheels, a bear to keep clean but far more interesting than the industry-wide infestation of diamond-cut rollers that frequently make cars look like they skipped leg day. From there, Toyota adds a spoiler to the Corolla FX Hatchback, orange stitching, a bit of suede, and a throwback badge.
I know what you’re thinking at this point, what about performance? Well, the Corolla FX Hatchback does get some very GR Corolla-like seats and that’s about it. No word on suspension, no extra power, just a pack of 169-horsepower CVT-equipped creamsicle hatchbacks for sensible extroverts.
It’s the sort of move that sticks a pin in the balloon of hope for a Honda Civic Si competitor, because nobody remembers the base-model Corolla FX hatchback of the 1980s but everyone remembers the FX16, a twin-cam three-door hot hatch with a rampaging 112 horsepower thanks to a 1.6-liter 4A-GE four-cylinder engine.
An FX16 this is not, and that’s largely due to the car community’s own unrealistic expectations, like a group of college juniors nervously stumbling into the campus pub hoping to not go home alone, only to sink a combined 23.5 Twisted Teas and still be too shy to talk to anyone. See, Toyota already makes a hot Corolla, the all-singing all-dancing 100-horsepower-per-cylinder GR Corolla, and the hot hatch market has proved slim enough that, well, why would Toyota sell something in between the 169-horsepower regular Corolla and its 300-horsepower creatine-mixing brother?
So, if you want a mildly more interesting compact hatchback with better seats and a fantastic shade of orange, Toyota’s building 1,600 of these Corolla FX Hatchback models for the 2026 model year. If you were hoping for a Toyota-built counterpart to the Honda Civic Si, maybe put another small bill in the slot machine. Between the cost of development, the cost of homologation, and the fact that enthusiasts like you and I are the worst customers ever because we complain about everything then largely go out and buy second-hand stuff on this end of the market, throwing something like the 244-horsepower S20A-FTS two-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine from the Chinese-market Highlander in a Corolla just doesn’t make sense, assuming it would even fit. Besides, it’s not like we’re that short on sport compact options. If you want something hotter than a regular Corolla but not as expensive as a GR Corolla, Toyota has something called the GR86 they’d love to sell us.
Top graphic credit: Toyota
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needs a small turbo’d six-cylinder and a real transmission. Then you have a decent, if not great little hatchback.
I’m surprised they even bother. There’s more GR Corollas available in my region than there are regular ones. And every single one is white or silver. All but one is a 30k XSE trim. A 50 mile radius, and I see 4 total. Half the dealers don’t have a single one in stock. Which sucks, because the hatch is actually a sensible, but reasonably fun daily.
As for the CVT, the one being used in the hatch (not sure about the sedan) has a trick real first gear to avoid the awful rubber-banding that you usually get from CVTs off the line. It helps a ton.
I would rather drive an ev then drive a CVT. Literally all they needed to do was make a not track ready GRC. I recently took one for a 24hour test drive from Carmax and upon making it up in the hills where the roads aren’t great it showed how awful of a car it is for US roads. I love the GRC but the suspension is damn near unusable (at least on the latest version).
The GRC isn’t even track ready. The differentials overheat after 3 or 4 laps and Toyota still hasn’t figured out how to address it.
Bummer. I do not like the newer Civics, and I love the look of these Corolla Hatchbacks, I have looked at getting one of the uber rare manual ones but they are hard to find and carry a huge premium these days. If this was an Si competitor it would be far more interesting than a sport. Both ends of the Corolla spectrum are too extreme right now, and I would love to see a detuned GR with 220ish and FWD.
Speak for yourself.
I’d rather a new mild-hatch with 6MT than a used hot-hatch. The CTR & GRC/GRY seem like fun, but I could never justify the pricetag they command – nor would I want to daily-drive them.
New gives me reliability, lower maintenance costs, and a warranty.
I’ll now go back into my little corner of the internet and get mad at Subaru for still not having a hatchback 6MT WRX.
If something is really new, you have no idea what the reliability is. Just go ask Hyundai or Toyota (Tacoma). That’s part of the reason I prefer to buy used or new only when it’s a model that has some track record in its current form.
Warranties are great, but if the car is unreliable and in the shop most of the time, it doesn’t do me much good even if I don’t have to pay. I’d prefer to have something older that is actually reliable and has a rich history so that any future repair has likely been tackled before and can be easily repeated.
Besides all of that, the current trend is towards things I don’t think increase reliability in any way – CVTs, GDI, small displacement+turbos, “lifetime” fluids, internet connected features, touch screens instead of buttons, etc.
Maybe I’m just getting old, but all of that crap screams better for the mfr and service department (at least as far as revenue goes), but not necessarily any better for the consumer.
Yeah I wish this trim had come before they canned the manual on these but at this point seems like it’s not really even worth mentioning anymore…
The Venn Diagram of “people who complain about new cars not having manuals anymore” and “people who actually buy new cars” has like 1 atom of overlap.
Car blog: Here is an article about a new minivan
Enthusiasts: NO MANUAL NO CARE
Car blog: check out this HD truck
Enthusiast: NO MANUAL NO CARE
Car blog: there’s a new performance EV
Enthusiasts: WHY DOESN’T IT HAVE A MANUAL
Car blog: check out this new family crossover
Enthusiasts: I’D BUY IT IF IT WAS BROWN AND MANUAL AND AN INCH SHORTER BUT AS IT IS DAMN IT TO HELL
Manufacturer: here is a new hot hatch that’s exclusively manual
Enthusiasts: TOO EXPENSIVE ILL CHECK IT OUT IN 10 YEARS MAYBE
Manufacturer: since it’s not selling as well as we thought we’re gonna add an auto option
Enthusiasts: WOW *insert manufacturer* IS DEAD TO ME! WAY TO OPEN UP A FORMERLY COOL CAR TO FILTHY CASUALS!
Et cetera, in perpetuity
I never understood the argument for manuals in heavy duty pickups. Arguably the least engaging type of vehicle you can buy and you’re mad it doesn’t have a stick? In 2025? There may have been an argument back in the day but not anymore. HD trucks come in essentially two flavors – stripped down work truck and luxury car that can tow 30,000lbs. Neither of those need or would benefit from a stick.
My nuclear take is that the vast majority of cars today wouldn’t benefit from a stick. I get the kvetching about VW killing the stick in the spicy MK8s, I think it’s a scam that Porsche won’t give you a manual in a base 911, the Supra launching as auto only was worthy of derision, etc.
There is no goddamn need for a stick in non performance luxury sedans, family crossovers, full sized trucks, efficiency focused hybrids, etc. Really the only normal car related hill the manual cult is willing to die on that I agree with is economy shitboxes. I’d much rather drive a manual Sentra, Mirage, etc. if I’m stuck in a cheap penalty box.
It wasn’t that long ago that you could get everything with a manual transmission. When I bought my six speed Forester in 2017, you could still get manuals in most crossovers in its class (at least in FWD flavors).
Manual Civic Sports were available last model year.
It’s not like we’re whining about the lack of crank starters.
You could not get a manual RAV4, CRV, Tucson, etc. in 2017. Really the only company that still offered manuals in crossovers back then was Subaru, and they stopped doing it because people didn’t buy them.
I actually wish we could go back to bitching about manuals. Now everything is $63,000 and that’s the new problem.
Actually, I do know one old-fashioned way to knock $1,000 of the price of a car!
Manual.
The FX sedan basically replaced the Nightshade, so assume that will happen here too. This will probably sticker at least $27k with destination. Which is okay, but it also isn’t really a value against any of the other small hatches.
It still feels like Toyota doesn’t really want to offer the hatch, yet also doesn’t really seem to have a niche that explains why they do other than allowing for the GR. It’s rated for better mileage than some of the competing hatches, but also tighter inside and rarely cheaper. An Impreza is cheaper/Mazda 3 is cheaper when comparably equipped, Impreza and Civic are much roomier inside, even the Mazda 3 has more space.
If you want a small Toyota hatchback with more zip in between this and the GR, the Prius is honestly the closest bet.
The next generation needs to ditch the belt CVT in favor of hybrid-only (as seems to be the trend for Toyota) apart from the GR, and put the hatch on the same wheelbase as the sedan so it’s not so tight inside – usually hatchbacks are roomier than the sedan on the same platform, Toyota!
I am 100% here for any wannabe Darth Vader “Nightshade/Blackout/Midnight Edition/Batmobile Cosplay” appearance packages being tossed in favor of orange cars with white wheels.
Offering this without a turbo option significantly hamstrings its tunability. There’s maybe another 20-50 HP to be gained with a tune and bolt ons, but that’s it. And CVT only? Ugh.
The Corolla hatch is a handsome car. But the FX is an appearance package with better seats and an upcharge.
The options for a ‘warm’ hatch with a manual were limited when I was shopping last year. GR Corolla and Civic Type R are too high-strung for daily highway commuting. The manual Civic Sport Hatches were limited in inventory with no more on the way.
That’s how we ended up with the Ioniq 5. I’d rather jump to an entirely foreign propulsion system than drive a CVT.
I ran a GRC and then an FL5 as my DD for a year each before finally trading the Civic in for a TourX wagon. Contrary to your disqualification of GRC/CTR as too high-strung for daily duty, among my top reasons for letting them go is that when driven normally as a DD they felt too normal. They may as well have just been a regular Corolla and Civic for how I was using them, which was a waste of $10k worth of performance.
They had my GR86 as a stablemate, which out-funned them in every way except raw power. This drove the bulk of the feeling that they were redundant. If I had to go down to one vehicle, it would be a hard choice of which one, but I would go back to either FL5 or GRC.
I decided to go to a DD that was still cool (always had a crush on TourX) maxed out practicality and also got rid of a car payment.
While I get the truth of appealing to the boring middle, can I at least get more choice for snazzy colours offered on other cars and less ugly wheels?
Bummer about that CVT but otherwise another mildly spicy hatch is always appreciated.
Solid logic. Toyota can ignore, a bit, the cries of “Why are you not making a car that I want to buy used in 5 years?” That attitude worked to kill off the Kia Stinger.
It’s a Corolla, so more people would be able to buy it new. Also, if Kia had built a manual awd stinger I absolutely would have purchased one new.
There is a lot of noise on the internet, but there are still buyers in that noise.
It’s not enough to put out limited numbers (announced or otherwise) of an enthusiast car. That’ll just get them caught in inventory while dealers add markup and buyers wait for the markup to come off.
What they need to do is dump them on the dealerships in such numbers that the dealers know on day one that they’re going to have to struggle and put cash on the hood to move these things.
Truth
Me and me 2023 WRX(purchased 3 months ago) agree to that statement.
It doesn’t help that my state doesn’t tax cars bought through private party transactions.
As a recent purchaser of the GR86 I do agree that it is truly a magnificent choice between this FX and the GR Corolla.
However, if you have ANY intentions of carrying more than one passenger, then it isn’t the car for you. I think there’s a case for a fun hatchbacky 4-door option that slots between the two Corollas, if only for space and carrying people.
Having said that, I still would have bought my 86 because I love it and it’s truly one of the best vehicles I’ve ever purchased, even if it can’t carry more than one extra person.
Can confirm, I have a BRZ and have accepted that it’s a 2 seater with a decently sized parcel shelf in back.
I never got it, my 3500lb Evo X I had during the time these came out had a shorter stopping distance, better slalom speed by nearly 10mph, and of course can make power and drop weight later.
I never got the point of the BRZ. It wasnt any better than a 4 door awd.
I had a WRX hatch before my BRZ. I LOVED that wagon and would swap my BRZ for another one today if Subaru brought it back. It was ruined by a hurricane and insurance cut me a check for it. I sat on that check for an entire year trying to decide what to do with it. The obvious answer was to go buy another WRX since I loved the last one so much but they quit making the hatch by then and I just couldn’t bring myself to spend that much money on the sedan. I knew it would drive the same as my wagon and it looked ok, but I didn’t want to spend $30K on something I only sort of liked. I knew the BRZ was down on power compared to the WRX but to me it looked way better, especially in the WRB color, and I can say it handles way better. It may not be as fast through a slalom but it’s more fun to throw around probably due to it’s unending eagerness to throw the rear end out just the right amount.
I wouldn’t mind an EVO too, but after owning 3 Starion/Conquests and 2 AWD DSMs I’m over my Mitsubishi phase. The Starion widebody is the most beautiful car ever made in my opinion, and when it was running the 1G DSM is by far the best car I’ve ever driven, but I couldn’t rely on any of them to actually get me to work every single day. I’d love to have another 4G63 as a weekend car, but I don’t make weekend car money, whatever I drive has to be reliable and fun to drive. So, I’m in a great looking but slow BRZ sliding sideways at least once or twice a day and getting 28mpg on my commutes all while holding great resell value. I guess that’s what’s important to me now, I am officially an old. 😐
I like them in theory, but any time I use one I’d be carefully counting how many times I’d need to get in and out on any given trip.
Thank you. This is one of the aspects that bugs me about the Toyobaru hype. Sooooo many blogs and YouTubers tout it as THE one car solution and it just isn’t. I haven’t driven one, partially because I’m almost certain I’d come home with it and have a lot of explaining to do, and I understand that they’re great cars. But if you have a family and/or a furry friend of even modest size they’re not going to work.
In the 9 years I had my FRS I’m not sure the back seat was used more than a dozen times.
The backseats work in a pinch – I’ve put adults back there but they’re usually a bit drunk. Kids would fit better, but if they’re young enough to be in a booster that’s a pain in the ass. As much as I loved that car and would get another in a heartbeat, I just couldn’t see recommending it to someone with kids (unless I caught them mid-stride running to buy a Miata and you were trying to be more sensible than that option)
GR86 is a great car, but there are huge practicality tradeoffs. The rear seats are nice to have for emergencies, but they are not suitable for full-sized humans. I used to put my 30 pound dog back there. I don’t think I’d be able to put my current dogs back there. Small trunk with a weird-shaped opening. There is a pass-through, but you’re limited because of the weird trunk opening.
It’s definitely not a comparable solution to a five door hatch.
It’s fine honestly. It’s a better looking Corolla with nice seats. As long as the option isn’t too expensive and people actually buy them maybe they’ll continue past 1,600.
Because an option between a $24k sensible hatchback and a $40k rally-inspired turbo monster seems like a fairly large target.