Many years ago, I found myself at a Cars & Coffee, or Caffeine and Cars, or perhaps an Espresso and Eagle Talons. I have many adventures, so the details sometimes blur together at the edges. What’s important is that I’d borrowed a Rolls-Royce that week, which was a mistake, so I begged my colleague Travis to take it off my hands so I wouldn’t be forced to park a car worth all my possessions (combined x50) on the rough streets of pre-Apple-Store Williamsburg.
So we met up at Kappuccinos Und Karmann Ghias. He swapped for a…. Mazda? I think it was a Mazda. And I gave him a Rolls-Royce. As far as trades go, it felt like a steal to me. A Rolls-Royce is an incredible object. With some offense to Adrian, it is a work of art. But no one street parks a Basquiat in Brooklyn, is all I’m saying.
When we were there, we happened to bump into a few young car owners who were excited to meet a couple of car writers. I’ll never forget meeting a kid in his 20s with an Alfa Romeo 4C Spider. Either through hard work or the luck of birth, this guy ended up with some money, and he used that money to acquire the most Italian sports car he could afford. Given that a 4C sold for around $70,000 back then, this was a car that was many times cheaper than even the most affordable new Ferrari or Lamborghini.
I have a soft spot for the 4C, which is a strange little car with a pleasing exhaust note, reasonably spry handling, and an aesthetic that makes it look more expensive than it ever was. It’s also a Fiat parts bin sports car with all of the problems a Fiat parts bin sports car is likely to have.
Steering? It does steer, but not in a way that’s pleasing to anyone who has driven a 718, or Miata, or even a 2006 Honda Accord. The top moves with all the enthusiasm of your average Italian assembly line worker after a long lunch. The engine is laggy as hell, and the transmission is controlled through a set of buttons modeled, I presume, after a Dutch PlayStation controller.
I didn’t say any of this to the Alfa owner, and I remember Travis politely nodding along when the guy described how great the motor was and, specifically, how much he loved the way the unassisted steering felt. I couldn’t help it, so I did ask which other sports cars he’d driven.
“None! This is the first fast car I’ve ever owned or driven,” he said.
I’m pretty sure I just said “Congrats,” but in my mind I was thinking “Never drive any other sports car and you’ll be blissfully happy.” It’s a cliché, but granting that the Alfa sounds better and arguably looks better, he could have spent about half as much on a Miata and had a superior driving experience.
You can play this game all day. Another friend, who did have experience driving cars, really wanted a 911. He was torn between a used 997 and a then-new first-year 991. I told him, purely based on steering feel, he’d be happier with the 997. He ended up with a 991 and, against my advice, drove someone’s 997 after the purchase. Suddenly, the 991 didn’t seem so great, and he got rid of it.
None of this is to say that my opinions are gospel or that the Alfa owner didn’t get a chance to drive a Boxster and still felt the Alfa was better. It’s possible. This is really just my way of saying that sometimes ignorance is bliss.
I mention this all because I got a chance to drive the automatic Toyota Corolla GR Premium. I’d wanted the manual, of course, but only the automatic was in the press fleet, and between a GR with an automatic or waiting potentially months for one with a clutch pedal, I took the auto. Plus, Thomas already drove the manual and loved it, so maybe providing a perspective on the Corolla GR with the automatic would be helpful to you, our readers.
My initial thought was that comparing the automatic and the manual would be the best way to understand the car, but the more I drove the automatic, the happier I was I hadn’t. I enjoyed this car and some portion of that enjoyment probably came from ignorance.
The Basics
Engine: 1.6-liter turbocharged three-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed direct automatic transmission
Drive: all-wheel-drive with front/rear Torsen limited slip differentials
Output: 300 horsepower, 295 lb-ft of torque
Fuel Economy: 19 MPG City, 27 MPG Highway, 22 Combined
Body style: Five-door hatchback
Base price: $47,515
Price as-tested: $50,144 including $1,135 Freight Charge
What Are You Paying $50,000 For?
Almost everyone I saw who saw the car was initially excited. It looks like a pocket rally hatchback, because it is a pocket rally hatchback. It is a three-cylinder motor that’s tuned to freakin’ Valhalla to produce 300 horsepower. Again, that’s 300 horsepower from an engine that displaces less than I do at an all-you-can-eat taco buffet. By comparison, a C3 Corvette needed about three times as much displacement and five more cylinders to achieve the same amount of power. This isn’t to say that this engine doesn’t come with risks, but it’s an incredible thing to observe.
Once I told people this cost $50,000 as equipped (Premium Plus), they were a little less enthused. Even when I said that the basest base model only costs $40,000 they still didn’t seem to totally get it.
But even without driving it, if you love cars you should get it. You’re not playing for soft-touch plastics or advanced driving aids. If anything, you’re paying for the absence of those things. The $50,000 is the cost for this car to exist at all. Toyota doesn’t have to do this and understands, reasonably, that for $50,000, most people would just buy the biggest Highlander or 4Runner they could afford. This car is not for those people. It’s for you. Or me.
Plus, someone had to develop a version of the company’s eight-speed automatic transmission and make it work in a car that’s supposed to feel like a rally car. How? Here’s how Toyota explains it:
In designing the available 8-speed GAZOO Racing Direct Automatic Transmission (DAT), Toyota focused on achieving the fastest possible downshift speed. Optimized for sporty driving, the DAT control software delicately senses the way the driver steps on the brakes and operates the accelerator. With these inputs, it anticipates when gear shifting is optimal even before changes in vehicle behavior occur, achieving a gear selection that reflects the driver’s intentions and, thus, leads to shifting that is similar to that of professional drivers.
The DAT allows drivers to focus more on acceleration/braking and steering maneuvers, so drivers may be able to drive faster if they decide to hit the track. As a result, it opens up possibilities for a wider range of drivers to enjoy sports track driving.
The Toyota GR development team used circuit and rally driving courses as a basis for setting the DAT’s close gear ratio. Increasing the number of gears from six to eight allows the transmission to have closer ratios and helps maximize delivery of engine power and torque to the wheels and enables optimal performance. Even casual highway driving has an energetic feel, due to the eight-speed transmission optimizing RPMs while at cruising speeds.
Developed for the track, you say? It’s here I have to make a little admission. We had Lime Rock Park’s autocross booked for the day, and I sort of asked Toyota for permission to take the car. Someone at Toyota said they were worried about tires being available for the next driver since there was another loan directly after mine, so they’d “prefer [I] didn’t.” Taking that preference into account, I drove the car to the track and beat on it sufficiently on backroads near the track on the way up, as requested.
Buuut… I had a car and an autocross course. I knew I could take a couple of laps and let it cool down without causing any sufficient wear to the tires, which I did. I also realized that in a situation where the car could only be driven carefully to maintain brakes/tires/fluids I should make sure the person doing the bulk of those laps had a better sense of cars and tracks than I did.
Enter friend/announcer/race car driver/mogul/airline upgrade appreciator Parker Kligerman.
What Does A Real Race Car Driver Think?
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Hi, Parker here. When I was around 10 years old — which would’ve been in the year 2000 — I vividly remember going on car websites to look at supercars, but I always ended up gravitating to the “rally cars for the street.” To me, they were something special. First off, rally racing is some of the most badass racing in the world. And second, the cars were pure superhero stuff — normal-looking street cars with fire-breathing, crackling, burbling turbocharged engines, white wheels, and an ability to absolutely send it on snow, gravel, or tarmac.
As I got older, I always threatened to get a WRX or a Lancer, but it felt like we in America never got the real stuff — the special, true rally-spec versions. Then came the Ford Focus RS, and I seriously considered buying one. I test-drove it. I negotiated with a dealer. I didn’t end up pulling the trigger, but the thought stuck with me.
I had an Audi A3 for a while, and before I sold it, I even threatened to turn it into a rally car and do a YouTube series about it (I still wish I did that). As a NASCAR driver, what drew me to rally cars is that — unlike our race cars, which have absolutely nothing in common with their road-going versions — a rally car with the right engine on the street feels damn close to the real deal.
So when the GR Corolla finally came to U.S. shores, I remember telling Matt, “Holy shit, sign me up.” And then… I never got to drive one. Until the other day — when Matt invited me to take one around Lime Rock. Even though it was the automatic, I loved it. I felt like I was 10 again. But this time, unlike the kid staring at forbidden fruit on a website, I was actually driving the kind of car I always dreamed would come to America.
We did a One Lap Review — a new series where we take cars up to Lime Rock’s autocross course and give you all the thoughts a roughly one-minute lap can provide. In this one, my first reaction was that the GR Corolla feels like a pent-up bulldog. From its stance to the way it behaves when you get into the throttle off a corner, it just feels like all of its muscle is being pulled back like a rubber band, ready to explode forward in an angry, bulldog-trying-to-get-a-bone kind of way.
Once you’re in the corner, all that energy shifts to the tires, which somehow manage to grip the track and pivot you around faster than a Twitter crypto bro pivoting to AI.
This turning ability is most obvious when you give the car a beat in the middle of the corner — just off the brake and before getting back on the throttle — where it feels like the inside front tire grabs the apex and pulls the car around. Then you get back into the gas, and unleash that slingshot effect all over again.
Even though it has multiple settings that adjust the amount of work each axle does under acceleration, in every mode, it still exhibits a slight understeer on exit. You sense the front tires are hitting their limit, like an intern who’s just been told they have to come back to the office. It’s too much.
But despite the short time I had in it, the GR Corolla absolutely lived up to the superhero fantasy I always imagined a rally car for the street would deliver. In our One Lap Review, I gave it a 9 out of 10.
On a tight autocross track, this car will make you think you’re ready for the WRC.
Will I Ever Drive The Manual? (Back to Matt)
Yeah, probably. As much as I loved this car, I suspect the fun of an AWD rally hatch with a stick that you can fit in your pocket will overwhelm my desire to preserve the memory of this specific car. My guess is that I’ll be able to hold onto this memory a little longer, though.
Photos: Author, Unless Otherwise Noted
I enjoyed the article, but I am wondering what was in Matt’s cocaine this morning, because he sounds unusually punchy at the beginning. 😛
For $50k you could get a new Civic Si, and cleanest NC Miata money can buy—with all the Flyin Miata goodies. I’ve not driven one of these, but I have sat in them a number of times, and it is without a doubt a Corolla on the inside. Neat car, but for $50k, the field of options is vast.
That is a lot of words for a sports car with an automatic. Didn’t even get all the way through.
Bleh. That “argument” is getting old. Why spend the time to comment if you can’t finish the article?
More like this please. awesome content.
$50k?!
It’s not that much, really. In 2005 money that’s $30.5K. A Golf R32 that year was $29.6K. A WRX STI would have been $33k. Meanwhile you could option a Lancer Evo up to nearly $35k. That’s $58k today.
For a car as bonkers as the GR considering the engineering involved, it’s quite a deal.
I know gas mileage isn’t the point of this car but oof 22mpg combined is not good.
that is strange. my ’17 fiesta ST with a mild tune is still netting me 32 mpg around town. I’m old and don’t hammer it that often… only when I get a chance. 🙂
obviously my ST isn’t in the 300hp realm but you’re not using all 300 to drive all the damn time.
I get exactly the same in my ’14 FiST with 106k miles.
Looking at Fuelly to get another bit of data, it shows the range is from 20-41mpg with the average being in the 25-26mpg area.
This is the perfect description of why I don’t want the automatic. I don’t begrudge anyone who chooses it if they like. But I want a hot hatch to have fun in as a daily, not for track use, so I want to do as much of the driving myself as possible. But, to reference another topic here, I like the way the Alfa 4C steers. If I were attempting to get competitive lap times on a track, I might change my mind.
But wanting to row my own gears is also the reason I would get a Civic R over the Corolla. The shifter in the Honda is a work of art.
The best part is that it’s a regular automatic and not that stupid DCT shit. DCT/DSG shit has a lot of problems and doesn’t quite feel right in D in traffic.
I even prefer a (recent version) CVT to a DCT/DCG.
Do you now?
Soooo where exactly is this Espresso and Eagle Talons?
I knew someone would 😛
It’s all I could think about while reading this article
I’d attend just to see the DSM hero’s from my youth, that appear to no longer exist on the streets
It’s the week after Roasts and Renaults.
Half the size of my engine in displacement and cylinder count, 50 less HP/TQ stock for stock, weighs 1k lbs less, yet returns worse mpg.
Without knowing what you’re driving, I would think this garden tractor-sized engine needs at least some boost to move the car a lot more of the time than yours and has to run shorter gears to stay in the power band, plus the drag coefficient is pretty bad for a modern car (.35) with large frontal area for its class from those fairly wide tires and flared arches.
Same power and mpg as my (Toyota) minivan.
I’m sure this car is awesome to drive as is; a version with the 2GR V6 instead is a fun hypothetical.
It’s also boosted into oblivion and in a car for a demographic that doesn’t give a rat’s ass about fuel economy. The WRX gets even worse mileage and people still buy those. I’m sure they could eke out a few extra MPGs with programming if they really wanted to but why would they?
This is a tooner car through and through. I’d imagine most of these are already modded within the first 6-8 weeks and getting even worse MPGs than stock. You have an Autobahn missile…fuel economy was hardly priority 1 for the folks at the Audi S/RS division but I’d imagine that it does matter to a decent amount of Audi buyers.
Slash Ze Germans make the most efficient pure ICE powertrains in the game. The Golf R/S3 can get mid 30s on the highway and anything with a B58 is capable of similar. Hell when paired with their mild hybrid system the new 540i gets 26/33, which is nucking futs for a 4500 pound, 400 horsepower, AWD luxobarge.
Yes, I’m pretty positive the engineers at Toyota could have designed this very same engine, with it’s low weight, small displacement, and high horsepower, to get 100 mpg if only they’d taken into consideration the potential heartbreak of an unknown dude commenting on a niche car blog. What were they thinking?
“…and he used that money to acquire the most Italian sports car he could afford.”
A fool and his money are soon parted.
But I’m sure what he’s lost in maintenance and depreciation, he’s more than made up for in “poon tang”. His words, not mine (I assume).
As for the Corolla, I’m happy it exists. I’m happy the automatic also exists. That said, why Toyota didn’t make a 30k Civic Si/VW GLI fighter version of the Corolla is beyond me.
To be honest, I’d be a buyer for a normal corolla hatch with a manual transmission. Just to have a tiny bit of engagement. No need for upgraded suspension or more power, although decent wheels / tires would be nice since I won’t replace those until I wear them out.
They make one like that. A hatch with a stick around 30K. It has a Mazda badge though
The 3 was in the running last time around. The bolted-on tablet (probably better than the Corolla, but still not awesome) and FWD were marks against it for my wife’s year-round commuter. I hope there is a third pedal option available on their next refresh.
They stopped selling it here when the GR came out, possibly to protect the GR 🙁
The only good reason for the GR would be to pull through some sales of lesser Corollas at higher margins and volumes.
The hate of automatics almost always seems to come from people who experienced pre-2000s era economy car automatics: sloppy, dumb as a box of hammers, and slow.
Modern autos are LIGHT YEARS ahead of the performance and drive feel of older models. Yes, there are still crappy transmissions in some late model cars, but overall an auto in a modern car is fine at worst and some are even “better” at timing than a human.
Want a manual? Get one! Want an auto? Get one! But don’t get the wrong one just because of what oldheads on the internet say. I am one of those oldheads and was fairly anti-auto until I drove a few new ones.
If I’m buying a smaller car, I am making trade-offs. I’m generally giving up interior material quality, features and high-speed stability. Going with something at the GR Corolla’s level, I assume you’re also giving up a good bit in NVH versus ‘normal’ vehicles at the same price.
In return I want responsiveness and driver engagement. A manual transmission goes a long way on both of those.
Definitely agree. The ZF8 was the transmission that got me to come around on the automatic. I had a 2013 320i 6 speed, and every time it was in the shop, my loaner was a 328i with the ZF8. It was the first auto that didn’t make me feel like I was missing something by not having the stick.
I don’t have a problem with the offering of autos (until manuals are completely replaced), but I completely disagree about the superiority over old. Modern ones are more efficient and shift faster if you just want to accelerate in a mostly straight line, but I preferred the drive experience of the old ones because they didn’t constantly hunt through having too many gears and weren’t burdened by horrible control software that second guesses every input, constantly wants to upshift to the highest possible gear at all times and do anything else with the utmost reluctance, or causing shift delays or not all the requested downshifts when the input control (often a placebo, like an elevator “close door” button) doesn’t feel like transmitting the request at all. Then, if you do manage to get a gearbox that responds, you have to bang down several gears in sequence to get into the place in the power band you want. There’s just too much gear overlap and “smart” electronics and I find them completely frustrating. At least they seem to not shift mid corner anymore.
I believed all this stuff I read about new autos being great until I drove some and found that I even prefer the feel of a CVT to all these terrible multi-speeds (though I would trust the longevity of the latter more). I certainly never thought anything would make me feel like a 3 or 4 speed slushbox was a desirable experience until I drove modern boxes. When an old auto kicked down—forced to by your demand through throttle travel via an actual relay—they didn’t have to drop several gears and there wasn’t enough gear overlap to hunt around. When I activated a kickdown, I knew what it was going to do and got it and/or I could manually shift it into its lower gear to hold it there through a turn or while waiting for an opening to pass rather than try to work some paddle, button, or stick that only seems to meekly request the desired course of action like the Cowardly Lion from the Great and Powerful Computer behind the dashboard.
The hate isn’t because of the 90s era autos (although they did suck), it’s that without any sort of connection to the car you don’t really get a feel for what it’s about.
Once all the feel is hidden behind an auto of any type, it’s just a really fast appliance. If your goal is the ultimate lap times, then the fast driving appliance is your tool. If you want to actually feel like you’re a part of the motoring experience then shifting yourself is the only way to go.
I liken it to golf. You hit a nice drive and everything just ‘feels’ right. You made that perfect swing, got things lined up, timed right and BOOM, the ball flies right where you wanted it. Yes, you could just pick up the ball and get in the cart and drive down the fairway and set the ball in the same spot. Easy, way more accurate and far more reliable. Why even use a club when you can just pick the ball up by hand? Why even play the game? The ball in hand in the cart is far more advanced than hitting it with a club and relying on skill to get you there.
I only want this car with a third pedal.
It doesn’t need to make sense. This is a ridiculous vehicle and every part of it should be silly. If you don’t get ‘it’ then it’s not for you. (‘It’ could be anything from the Corolla interior in a $50k vehicle to the 1.6 liter three-banger cranking out 300hp or the undercooled driveline)
Honestly with how many of these spontaneously total themselves without crashing I think it’s safe to say the drivetrain is horribly overstressed, and even if I were still buying ICE cars, I wouldn’t buy one of these now, though I may have been one of the unlucky impatient bastards who bought one before the public knew of all the drivetrain issues.
How many have? I can only find articles about two since the vehicle was launched and they made 6600 for the USDM the first year alone. I can’t find easy breakdown numbers for 2024 or early numbers on 2025.
Now I know where the phrase “Mat(t) the throttle” comes from.
I’m glad the car exists, but the engine seems far too on edge for me and the price too high. If they didn’t have the ’86, I’d be interested in an in-between spec. I had a Focus ST that I paid $23k for, which was a steal. The RS was more than double that for what a lot of people (even owners of both) reported wasn’t as fun an experience because it was too capable, plus it had crap mileage (ST, OTOH, averaged about 30 mpg over 180k miles). The other thing for me is that you’re paying that much and get the interior of a car that costs less than half as much at the low end. Sure, they throw in different seats and slap some slaughterhouse-scrapings top grain leather on the lower models’ grained plastics, but most of it is still there and the build quality is the same. I’m not a big interior snob as long as it functions well and the seats are comfortable (that’s the other issue for me with heavy bolstered sport seats), yet the price and the level of build quality in the rest of that price segment is tough to ignore. I get why it’s that way and that it’s the only way the vehicle could exist, but it doesn’t pass my personal value/money math. In this particular car’s case, for a hatchback, it’s also lacking in utility as the rear cargo area is not very large. Of course, it’s ultimately a niche car that’s intended to sell outside of many peoples’ personal value equations and I hope they sell as well as can be expected, especially as there just aren’t many interesting cars left anymore at any price.
I think it was cool that they developed an automatic for this car. Not everyone wants to daily a stick and having an auto option allows people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to experience the car a chance. When I bought my GTI I couldn’t even drive stick, but it served as a gateway to enthusiastland and I learned soon after. I also wound up driving actual sports cars, reading up on cars more, etc.
I see the same possibilities here. That being said, if you want an automatic hot hatch experience the Golf R pretty much costs the same as this and the DSG is a way better transmission in pretty much every single way…not to mention once a GRC is equipped to 50k it just doesn’t make sense to me anymore.
IMHO now that the differentials are standard kit this is a car you buy in the basest spec possible…and while I’m far from a manual diehard I think even I would check that box with a GRC. If you want an automatic fun car for the same price there are better options with better transmissions.
Oh and good to see you again Parker! I love the one lap reviews. They give me everything I need and nothing I don’t…and as an occasional track day enjoyer it’s valuable information for me.
I am now driving my second Golf R, a 2024 DSG, as my daily driver, first was a 2018 DSG. I did drive the GR Corolla, the CTR, and the Integra Type S when I was looking at the ’24 R. I found the GRC cramped for space inside, noisy, uncomfortable, felt strained when pushing the engine, and simply not to my liking. The CTR was also noisy but less so than the GRC, the interior layout was very nice and seats were very supportive and comfortable. The Integra was pretty much the same as the CTR but a bit quieter, more comfortable, and has an awesome stereo. The Golf R is very quiet comparatively, comfortable, handles about as well as the others and offers creature comforts the others do not such as ventilated front seats and heated outer rear seats. The Harman Kardon stereo in the Golf R pales in comparison to the Integra.
I primarily drive long distance, and the R has proven to be comfortable, relatively inexpensive to run, handles well, can carry a lot of cargo with the rear seat folded, and has plenty of power when I want it. My major gripe is the use of haptic touch controls on the steering wheel and below the center screen. It is much too easy to accidentally change a setting by simple movement of a hand. Also, VW isn’t the best with electronics which have been somewhat prone to doing some strange stuff.
All of these cars are priced near $50K, which is expensive for what you get, and that figure is just going to get higher. If I was looking today and could not afford the price of entry for these cars, I’m not certain what I would wind up purchasing.