Video: 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Review: Taking on the Honda Civic Type R

And with it, the brand has a credible competitor to the Honda Civic Type R, which has been redesigned for 2023. With pricing that's around $40,000, or more if you come across either of these cars with a dealership market adjustment, these cars are natural competitors. But there are some significant differences in the way they drive and what they're like inside. I'm gonna mainly focus on the GR Corolla in this video, but make references to the Type R throughout. In terms of driving, the GR Corolla is a little bit more visceral, a little bit more rough around the edges than the Type R is, which has gotten more refined in its current version. But, you know, that's something I like about this car. It's something you don't see every day in new performance vehicles so it's pretty cool that Toyota has kind of given it that character if that's what you're looking for. And it comes through in different ways, both in kinda the power delivery and the way it sounds from its turbocharge 1.6 liter three-cylinder engine, you know, which makes nearly as much power as the turbocharge two liter four-cylinder in the Civic Type R. It's a really gutsy little engine. I mean you have kind of power on demand, revs really freely, sounds great when it does so, and I like it a lot. (engine revs) It works with a six-speed manual transmission, just like the Civic Type R, but the Honda in my view has the advantage there in terms of transmission feel. It's just a little bit more precise than what you're gonna get from the GR Corolla's manual. I also like the Type R steering better. While the GR Corolla will, you know, go where you want pretty well, it just doesn't deliver the really great feedback and responsiveness that you get from the Type R, which is really, you know, among the best steering feel you're gonna kind of find anywhere. So, both of these cars have pretty firm suspension tuning, but in the Type R you get adaptive dampers while in the GR Corolla you don't. And when you hit a bigger bump in the GR Corolla, you're definitely gonna feel it because it delivers a hard hit that you can feel in the cabin. So, the GR Corolla comes standard with all-wheel drive and it's a pretty cool all-wheel drive system because it includes this console knob that allows you to vary power delivery in favor of the front axle or favor the rear axle or split power evenly between them. You can also get available front and rear limited slip differentials to help put down that power better. So, compared to the Civic Type R, which is front wheel drive only, this is pretty advanced and it also makes the GR Corolla more of a four season sports car as long as you put the right tires on it when you, if you drive it in colder weather. And also makes putting that power down to the road a little bit easier. This is the base core version of the GR Corolla and it has a fairly basic interior when you consider its as tested price of around $40,000. It has hard plastic on the doors and the center console here. Interestingly though, you get a padded dashboard. And compared to the Civic Type R, it's just not quite as upscale inside. There's also not a ton of storage space. You have these cup holders here and a little tray here, but it doesn't seem like it's gonna hold all that much when you're driving aggressively. There are some available features in the GR Corolla though that aren't offered in the Civic Type R. And those include heated seats and a heated steering wheel. So, the GR Corolla's front bucket seats are reasonably comfortable and they do a decent job keeping you in place during aggressive cornering, but they're nowhere near as aggressive as the standard racing-style bucket seats that the Civic Type R has. If you want that level of control in the GR Corolla, you have to go to the limited run Morizo version, which has more aggressive front seats. So, there's reasonable space in the back of the GR Corolla for taller adults but not a lot of extra space. My knees are right up against the back of the front seat here and this is where I would be driving. One thing I like though is Toyota has kept three seats in the back as opposed to the Civic Type R, which just has room for two. So, that might be a big deal depending how many people you plan on regularly transporting in the car. So, there are clear differences in the character of the GR Corolla and the Civic Type R. And those differences may mean one is better than the other for you. If you're looking for that raw little rough around the edges feel from your performance hatchback, then yeah, the GR Corolla is the one you want. But if you want a little more refinement and like the idea of standard track-ready front seats, then the Civic Type R's where you should be looking. (upbeat music)