By: Colin Windell
It’s cute, it’s sassy and it’s fast. Very fast! Anyone left thinking the Toyota Corolla is a mild-mannered, perhaps even, vanilla, family hatch needs to rethink that with it joining the growing ranks of GR-badged speedsters.
In gaining the Gazoo Racing magic wand of tweaks, the Corolla joins a family including the GR86, GR Supra and GR Yaris and Vice President of Marketing at Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) Glenn Crompton says the addition of the GR Corolla to the local Gazoo Racing line-up represents a landmark occasion for both TSAM and the Corolla nameplate.
“For decades Corolla has been one of South Africa’s most-loved models, and it’s exciting to see how it has evolved and maintained relevance in the market over the years. Similarly, motorsport has long been a part of Corolla’s DNA and to have a fully-fledged hot hatch version of the Corolla is a huge thrill.”
A quick blast around the Zwartkops Raceway confirmed the Corolla GR is a fully-fledged member of the exclusive club and it demonstrated a genuine love for point-and-squirt activity with leech-like roadholding, yet without losing any of its ability to be a small family hatch.
More importantly, for purists, it is a manual, enhancing the driving sensation and even though the slick stick shifter slots easily into place up and down its six ratios, it requires that little bit more from the driver than asked from an automatic.
The obvious comparison is the Yaris GR and where it is a wild and untamed thing that turns on the proverbial tickey, the Corolla – being slightly larger – has a little more poise and rapid directional changes do not feel quite as harsh.
Nestled under the bonnet of the Corolla is a high-performance turbo-charged 1.6-litre three-cylinder petrol engine based on the same engine powering the GR Yaris. However, the powertrain has been further developed and modified for the GR Corolla, delivering increased peak outputs of 221kW at 6 500 r/min and 360Nm from 3 000 r/min – 5 550 r/min.
Official combined fuel consumption is 8.4 l/100 km with CO2 emissions of 191 g/km.
Toyota has a long history of building sporty cars and involvement in motorsport going back to the iconic 2000GT, the MR2 and the Celica with the sport covering rallying – locally currently using the Starlet – Formula 1, World Endurance Racing and Rally Raid with the locally designed and engineered Hilux.
So, to achieve the performance delivery of the Corolla GR, motorsport provided answers such as using
Thinner cylinder head walls and a two-level cam cap structure help reduce weight, while improving sealing and combustion chamber cooling by reworking the structure of the water jacket and cylinder block.
A new exhaust cam bearing has been added at the rear edge of the third cylinder to increase output, while motorsport technology has been used to ensure high-speed combustion is achieved.
The piston combustion chamber has a spherical shape to reduce knocking and air disturbance and there is an eccentric press-fit valve seat added in the intake valve seat.
Upfront there is a MacPherson strut-type suspension set-up and a modified trailing double-wishbone suspension arrangement is used at the rear.
Stopping power is via four-piston aluminium monobloc front calipers and 356 mm ventilated two-piece disc brakes, with two-piston aluminium monobloc calipers and 297mm ventilated discs at the rear.
But, it is not just about performance and the GR Corolla stands out on the road, gaining outwardly extended front and rear wheel arches (20mm and 30mm respectively) with track increased by 60mm at the front and 90mm at the rear for optimal grip and roadholding.
The front end is revised, adopting the Functional Matrix grille that adorns other GR products and which
features a square design for the grille to enhance cooling performance, with airflow to the radiator, turbocharger and brakes assisted by an air guide below the grille.
Flanking the grille is a pair of side air curtains that channel air into the wheel arches and out via ducts placed behind the fenders.
Like the GR Yaris, the GR Corolla features a large front underspoiler with a raised central and horizontal section designed to control airflow under the vehicle and reduce drag.
Overall, the GR Corolla measures 35mm longer than the Corolla hatch, with a 10mm increase at the front and 25mm at the rear. Vehicle height has been reduced by 10mm thanks to the sports suspension.
There are two derivative options – the Core and the Track – and on the latter the bonnet is raised by 25mm with additional air vents on top to aid in dissipating heat.
Inside, GR Corolla gains a new three-spoke leather-wrapped steering wheel and the centre console has been redesigned for the short-throw shift lever, while the console trim, manual parking brake and shift gate are upholstered in leather with contrast silver stitching.
The centre console box has been replaced by an open tray with USB-C and 12V ports to ensure unobstructed operation of the manual transmission and features two cupholders and a wireless phone charger.
Aluminium pedals leave no doubt as to the sporty intentions of the GR Corolla and the front seats (heated) are upgraded to cater for enthusiastic driving.
The 12.3-inch instrument cluster display offered on GR Corolla, allows the driver to customise the layout based on their preference – the first shows a linear tachometer running along the top of the screen with selected gear and vehicle speed shown below and is ideal for track driving.
The second is centred around a circular tachometer containing vehicle speed and selected gear, with additional read-outs on the side.
The GR Corolla’s 7.0-inch touchscreen display houses Toyota’s advanced multimedia system, offering compatibility with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
Time on the track was limited, only giving a hint as to what the full capability of this speedster really is and a later road trip on public roads confirmed the beast could be suitably caged to allow for the daily commute, shopping or school run.
It comes with a 9-services/90 000 km service plan as well as a 3-year/100 000 km Warranty and pricing is R841 000 for the Core and R902 400 for the Circuit.