Toyota GR Corolla on the track

The 2023 Toyota GR Corolla is not grandma's Corolla. You definitely can't get it in gold. Senior editor James Riswick hits the track in Utah to see if the mighty little hot hatch is really worth all the hype. Available in Core, Circuit and Morizo Edition trim levels, each rocks a mighty 1.6-liter turbocharged inline-three that packs 300 horsepower. A three-pipe exhaust completes the three-themed powertrain trifecta. A six-speed manual that includes iMT auto rev-matching is standard along with the GR-Four all-wheel-drive system developed specially for the car that allows for different torque splits at the turn of a dial.

Video Transcript

- All right. So this is the long awaited 2023 Toyota GR Corolla. This is not your grandmother's Corolla, though. This has 300 horsepower from a 1.6 liter turbocharged inline three. So you do the math. Yeah, that means this has 100 horsepower per cylinder.

It has a six speed manual transmission with an auto rev matching feature. You can turn it off if you want. But on a track, I like to use it. And [ENGINE REVVING] sounds pretty cool. Zero to 60 in the low 5 second range. They hadn't exactly said exactly what it's going to be.

Now, an available front and rear limited slip differential is available on this core model and is standard on the Circuit and Morisseau. And then, this does come standard with all-wheel drive.

And there are three different torque splits available for all-wheel drive. The default is 60/40. And then there is a 30/70 rear biased. It's looser. I guess it's a little more fun. But it's not exactly a drift mode.

And honestly, it seems like a good way to go slower around the track. So note, if you are on a track, you should be in track mode. That is 50/50. It makes an absolute difference. I was going notably faster at points on the track when using it.

And for a track day car, this is quite a lot of fun. Now, if you are going to be focused more on track driving, that Morisseau edition is what you're going to want even though it costs about $50,000, everything's tighter. The suspension torque is greater. And it comes on sooner.

It's lighter. There's no backseat. So that's something to definitely focus on if you are looking just for the track. But this core model on the track is still a heck of a lot of fun. And the GR Corolla doesn't disappoint.

[ENGINE REVVING]