This week, you should have been reading a review of a 2018 Ford F-150 Raptor. However… that truck is now in a Copart yard, as the ownership period ended rather abruptly after less than an hour.
We can’t talk much about the accident yet for various legal reasons, but there’s a few photos attached below. Needless to say, a Raptor t-boning a Chevy Colorado at around 45 miles per hour doesn’t end well for either truck. The good news is that everyone walked away relatively unscathed; bruising from airbags and a sprained wrist were the most notable results.
While he hasn’t sold his Jeep yet, I convinced Mike, the brief owner of the Raptor, to test drive a Toyota GR Corolla as he’s been talking about his admiration and desire for the GRC and GR86 for the majority of time that I’ve known him.
Right off the bat, we noticed the noise is more subdued than we expected. On cold start, the exhaust sounded rather nice, and you could hear a fun amount of turbo/wastegate noise while driving around the parking lot with the windows down.
Criticism of the clutch feel was also a very quick impression. While the clutch pedals in many modern manual transmission cars suffer from similar fate, the GR Corolla’s was certainly very light and felt synthetic — whether that’s the right descriptive term or not, it definitely felt more like pressing on a spring than a hydraulic cylinder.
On the other hand, the automatic rev-matching works well and Toyota’s “i-MT” system makes the car virtually impossible to stall from a start. If you’re not shifting quickly, it may be difficult to drive smoothly, but the car won’t really let you get in trouble.
The main appeal of the GR is the engine and drivetrain configuration. Instead of just simply being a slightly sportier manual Corolla, the GR has legitimate rally-car roots and two things no other Toyota model has in the US: a turbocharged three-cylinder engine and an adjustable all-wheel-drive system.
Nicknamed “GRFour,” the all-wheel-drive system is similar to a Volkswagen/Haldex setup, featuring a viscous coupler in the rear and a slightly overdriven rear differential. Three power-split modes are offered, 60/40 by default, 50/50, or 30/70 for the majority of torque being sent to the back. In reality it’s still less aggressive than, say, Drift Mode on a Focus RS, but it does allow for a good amount of extra rotation and controllable fun.
Putting out 300 horsepower and about 270 lb-ft of torque, the 1.6-liter I-3 rockets the little GR Corolla from 0-60 in the high four-second range. There’s no doubt it’s quick, and it’s certainly a more interesting engine than what most of the competition offers. It feels very turbocharged (not in a good way) but the inherent firing order of an inline three-cylinder produces a good sound.
On the inside, the Corolla’s cabin features an odd mix of tech and appointments not really living up to the near-$40,000 MSRP of the GR. Ultimately, you’re mostly paying for a drivetrain with a body and interior attached to it. The optional Tech Package adds a few welcome conveniences, the configurable digital gauge cluster is a nice touch, and the seats are a good balance of comfort and bolstering; but on the other hand, the door panels, dashboard, and other touch points are fairly boring.
Personally, I didn’t find the driving position to be that agreeable, mainly due to the steering column’s limited range of motion. This is an issue I have experienced in a few other Toyota products and some Japanese cars in general — the lack of adjustability doesn’t allow for my legs and arms to be comfortable simultaneously.
To be fair, that’s not a major knock against an otherwise excellent driver’s car. I just wouldn’t necessarily want to daily drive a GR Corolla, even though it is objectively a great daily in most other ways. So will Mike end up replacing his twenty-year-old Jeep with the first modern sports car he’s ever owned? At this point, I guess it lies in the hands of the insurance company and their payment timeline — stay tuned.
| Vehicle Tested | 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Core w/ Performance Pkg |
| Color | Ice Cap / Black Cloth |
| Drivetrain | 1.6L turbo I-3, 6-spd manual, All wheel drive |
| HP / Torque | 300 horsepower / 273 lb-ft |
| Curb Weight | 3,275 lbs (est.) |
| 0-60 mph | 4.9 seconds (est.) |
| EPA Fuel Econ | 21 city / 28 hwy / 24 combined |
| MSRP | $38,775 |
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