If the GR Corolla won't come to us, we'll go to it...
to get the Corolla GR sold in Europe hasn’t had its desired effect, we have managed to score a drive in the Yaris GR’s bigger brother in the US. To cut straight to the chase, you can rightly feel miffed that it doesn’t seem destined to make it here.
But while the GR Yaris is effectively a 2+2 frankencoupe, with rear access both tight and limited, the GR Corolla remains a five-door Corolla, with a cabin very nearly as practical as lesser versions. It feels similarly sensible, too – with the same dark, durable plastics common to pretty much everything else Toyota has ever done.
The engine is as fizzy and exciting as it is in the Yaris. There’s lots of lag, unsurprisingly given the boost pressures involved. Carpet the throttle below 2,000rpm and you can count the time it takes for boost to build in Mississippis. But revs turn it good, and the GR is one of those cars that is always egging you to push harder, snarling harder as its gets to higher revs. It starts to feel a little tight just before the 7,200rpm limiter, but is still happy to run to this.
But that clears the deck of substantive criticism. The rest of the GR driving experience is spot-on. It is definitely better thought of as a hot hatch with all-wheel-driven superpowers rather than a modern equivalent for earlier rally reps like the Lancer Evo or Impreza STI. The Toyota’s Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres generate big grip, but even with the maximum amount of torque sent to the back the handling balance always felt front biased on dry roads.