2023 Toyota GR Corolla Circuit vs Subaru WRX vs 2023 Honda Civic Type R, Hot-Hatch Drag Race. Join this channel to get access to perks: / @samcarlegion
my daily is 14 years old and every time it runs without issues is a blessing. if i could have my pick for free, it's the GRC, but if i'm writing the check it's the WRX. similar enough performance for $15k less (there are dealers discounting new 2023 base models under 30k). meanwhile GRC is $45k & markups (still).
It's a incredibly polarizing design to say the least imo! I liked the last two generations appearance much better, because they looked way more like an aggressive performance car!
@@raymondhachmishvili2483The rear bumper is a crime against humanity. I’d hate to see what your girl looks like if you think the VB WRX is good looking 😅.
The WRX is 20 thousand dollars cheaper than the other two. Making it the bargain winner of the 3. Put a E85 tune on it and your making 340 hp and 390 ftlbs of torque.
@@mark_845the circuit edition in this video is $42.5k and that’s MSRP without markup. Good luck finding one without markup. Even so, $10k worth of mods on the VB WRX and it will take the GRC lunch money like a bully. That GRC motor is maxed out from the factory. A simple Cobb AP and an intake gives the WRX the edge, then you still have $9k additional to fuck around with. It’s clearly the better option.
@@mark_845 I purchased my VB WRX for 27K. I was actually shopping for a GRC but couldnt find one under 50K in southern CA at the same time. Honestly I couldnt even find a GR86 for under 34K
@LoveLikeaHurricane I disagree. Some Subarus certainly suck but the WRX usually has good reliability as long as you don't do stupid mods or abuse them.
Here in Canada the WRX is half the price of the Civic Type R. Honda dealers in Canada need to stop selling the car for $80k+, it doesn’t make sense at that price.
@@vfonte218 There are Buyers = who paid more than $80k for Elon-gate so they could have Model S... 0-60/100 km in less than 3 seconds... Good for Nothing, but there are Mor0ns out there like Elon-Fans...
@@jonasbaine3538Exactly Amen also forgot Subaru doesn't make the STI anymore not that the 2020 STI was any good or whatever the last one was. That 2015 Launch edition was a beast. 0-60 in 4.6 sec with minor modifications could smoke Mustang GT350s
We have a 23 WRX, and engine is great potential and nice, but compared to our buddies Type R on the Willow Springs track, even with coilovers and 200TW tires, the new WRX handling was terrible. Subaru engineer at the event was saying it's because the new WRX is built on the SUV global platform, so it's riding on Forester and Crosstrek chassis and drivetrain, front open diff and rear open diff with their SUV electronic brake vectoring.
@@panderalexander that is disappointing to hear regarding the 23 wrx handling! would've thought that's what they would've improved upon. type r has always felt amazing on track...wish I was out in West Coast to do Willow!
@kchen101 from the previous model WRX (VA) it handles a lot smoother and better. It has greatly improved when it comes to responsiveness and handling. But the CTR has always had smoother handling than the WRX and STI.
To be fair, the WRX's strong point is hard launches with a clutch dump, while dig races is the CTR's weak point. Put them both on a track (what the CTR was designed for) and the Type R obliterates the WRX.
The subaru is cheap compared to the other brands. And in one race, beat the GR Corolla from a drag. It would take the Type R in a drag as well even though the Subie isn't a drag car. There's a lot of head room with the latest 2.4 boxer and a proper tune is already making the wrx a beast. Corolla has only a 3 cylinder so the ceiling is a lot less. The markups on Type R and GR are huge making it way past 40k+ while the wrx is around 30k. I like the the interior on the Type R. The GR interior looks cheap and the front looks like a regular corolla. Subaru is the winner here for me.
@@timomomomo969 So saying your car is msrp and then adding 5k price which is price gouging and ripping off customers is ok because people will pay them? Subaru sent a letter to its dealers saying not to do that. Subaru is a much smaller company yet the wrx hit record sales a few months ago. There are people that pay for what subaru is listing their cars.
@@ks-bg5uk if you can show me where I said any of this was "ok", I'll send you my paycheck. NONE of these are "drag" cars, but the CTR would show the scooby it's tail lights on most tracks with actual turns.
@@timomomomo969 cheap interior, looks like the base model. 3 cylinder, not much head room to tune, small rear seat...out of the box the corolla does put better numbers on a track but this video shows that the subaru at a fraction of cost can still hang with the corolla. And if you anything about know subaru wrx owners don't stay stock. Tuning a 2.4 liter boxer engine and a few upgrades can make the wrx an 11 second car and still be cheaper than the small 40k+ corolla. It's all about what your prefer.
@@ks-bg5uk All this video shows is a 0-60. I assumed Subaru owners took to the track. But then again, when I tracked my Si, they were all behind me. Cheap interior? I haven't seen an Impreza series model yet that has a nice interior. Cylinder count? I bet you don't use that when some Mustang owner brags about his V8. Toyota also has a quality rep that Subaru can only dream of. Took them how long to address an inherent flaw in that water-cooled boxer engine.
I knew the WRX was gonna lose from the getgo. Let's face it, those other cars have a SIGNIFICANT amount more power, and are tuned for actual track performance rather than "spirited street driving" (30-45HP). BUT I'm rather impressed with how the WRX performed nonetheless. Motortrend barely pulled a 6.1 0-60 time out of this car, more along the numbers of an old Focus ST rather than a brand-new sport sedan. The fact they got 5.5 (similar to the VA) out of this car shows its true capability. Also, while it may be a couple tenths off the Civic Type R, the PRICE is astounding. My premium with STI Short Shifter was $32,465. Cobb Accessport + MBRP Catback + AEM intake + Pro-tune costed a total of $2,000. Including Tax/Title/License, this car costed me a total of $36,000. It dynoed 308WHP and 342lb/ft on 91ACN (crappy CA gas). These new FA24 cars make power like VW and Audi, with simple mods netting 50-100WHP. GR Corolla and Type R may be more performance oriented cars to start with, but they command a completely untenable price tag. GR "Core" has an MSRP not that much higher than the WRX, but asking prices on these at dealerships average something like $50,000, similar to the last gen Type-R. The CURRENT Type-R has a BASE MSRP of$43,295. With dealer markups, I've seen asking prices totally eclipse even $60,000. For a CIVIC. It doesn't matter that it's "The fast civic". It's a CIVIC. These are BMW numbers for a car that was always meant for the everyman. And for those of you who immediately scream, "YOUR SUBARU IS A TICKING TIME BOMB," no, it's not. Subarus that are maintained well and modified PROPERLY with supporting mods right from the start tend to last a very, very long time. There are many 2002-2005 WRX and STIs that are still running on the road just fine. If you expect reasonable power out of them (280-350WHP), drive them well, and don't do stupid stuff with them, they are completely reliable cars. I've been owning, modifying, and tuning WRXs for many years. They are excellent when taken care of. I've yet to have a catastrophic failure out of one because I'm realistic about the limits of the car. These are not meant to put down 700WHP; they just aren't. If you want to do so, you basically have to forge and reinforce EVERYTHING to make them robust enough. WRXs are great for daily-driving performance, like I said, keeping it between 280-350WHP (maybe 400 if you push it, but at that point drive carefully). In any case, they are just way cheaper and will get to the same performance level as these other cars for very little money.
The wrx vs GR drag, the wrx won the 2nd race. 1st drag race was a tie. The wrx tune on this newer 2.4 engine is already making this car a beast for enthusiasts. And if you're looking to haul people, the rex is way more comfortable than the GR.
And some people are still going to disagree with you 🤦🏾♂️😂 I own a VB and I love it, I’m just wasting my money on making it look a little better and the I’ll start with some power mods but nothing crazy, I’m thinking about 320-340ish hp.
@@JoseRodriguez-um8jm if you’re in a state with 93 fuel, 320-340 is completely possible with only an intake, catback and a tune. These cars are pretty bonkers compared to previous gens. My 2019 took like $5K of mods to get to these numbers and required flex fuel…
@@JoseRodriguez-um8jm these cars will handle that 350lb/ft with stock internals no problem as long as you refrain from launching too much. I’d say an intake, catback, tune, and maybe an intercooler is all you need for that kind of power. If you want to be extra bulletproof, you can splurge a bit and get an oil cooler and an AOS or a catch can
At 10:00 into the video, it was at this moment that Sam became the people’s champ 😂 as a 2023 WRX owner even though the WRX lost the final dig race it was the right call to make Sam 👏🏽
WRX is great all rounder but predicted outcome being the heaviest and lowest HP and Torque of the three. I would still buy the WRX being great day to day car. Type R engineering marvel being so good and front wheel drive and putting down the power so well but too boy racer for me over 70 years old. I am sure there are older guys driving and enjoying the car however. Corolla squeezing that much power from a three cylinder is impressive but makes me wonder about engine longevity. Nice comparison.
idk why people are so caught up wirth drag racing these. a camaro SS cost about the same as all of them and will go faster in a straight line and sound better. maybe the VB might keep up but i would still rather have the v8 noises
Yup. 2.4 vs 2.0 and 1.6. WRX sadly is very detuned from the factory. But who buys a WRX to keep it stock anyways :p OTS 93 octane tune gets it to 13.1 second 1/4 mile. And that's with totally stock hardware.
@davothegreat9990 wrx is truly last awd sport car on manual ,which gives much more fun ,especially on gravel or snow. It is analog , it is reliable . Rs3 and a45 is like laboratory rats . It is very fast and very digital boring cars
Almost perfect launch from Type R, so 13.7sec is possible w/ new CIVIC TYPE R .... tuning Type R to 420-430 HP and 500Nm torque and the car is ultimate beast...
How you squeeze 300hp from a 1.6L is beyond me, turbocharged or not. I'd be concerned about the durability of that Corolla motor. Nice races, Sam, keep it coming!
I think the same thing, but then Toyota has a reputation on the line as does Honda. I would give them the benefit of the doubt. Certainly not going to buy a turbo 3 from general motors.
The USA is accustomed to engines only on the market the designs of engines you’ve never heard about coming out of Japan by Toyota and existing and many of their cars is based on years of engineering… it’ll be fine they make a lot of economy engines with turbos
@ayyo5971 For a car with more weight and less power, and coming in about 20k less than the others, damn right it did! Plus the WRX makes very low boost from factory. If you don't mind voiding your warranty, a couple grand in tunes will make the wrx faster than both the GRC and Type R
@@1anre Agreed. Took my circuit edition awhile to arrive, but was able to pick mine up for under sticker. My dealer honored MSRP as well. I've had my GRC for almost two months now, and I have yet to see another one on the road.
The WRX did pretty well considering it was at least 200 lb heavier and down on power by 30-50 HP while being actually attainable and cheap relatively speaking. While the FA24 seem to take mods very well, I'm worried about the limit of the stock transmission. They should make a tS version that includes parts from leftover STI parts bin (like the TY85 STI 6MT transmission and Brembo brakes) and that would make it a much more sturdier modding platform to start with.
Just bought a WRX. It’s at least 12,000.00 dollars less money and it’s the best value for the money. It’s a lot of fun. The others are just too much money! AWD too.
Man imagine how well that WRX will do with a tune, cause it is significantly heavier than all the other cars by over 200lbs and it's only getting 12lbs of boost lol the Corolla and Type R is getting around 20lbs of boost.
I would've liked to see how the STi performed against the Corolla. They shouldve used an STi instead. That's like using an civic Si to compete in this race lol
with some mods to equal the hp of the other two. The Subaru is still cheaper and would probably equal the Corolla or the Civic. But from a dig, no question who's taking it at that point.
The wrx I’d want in solid black. It’s kinda like the lower end models of the new tundra because of the black front. Black or grey look the best in my very humble opinion.
For the extra you pay for a civic or gr corolla you could buy a wrx put a intake , clutch upgrade, turbo back exhaust and a tune to make up the price difference and smoke both of them with ease.
Unfortunately that still wouldn't be the case, because Type R and GR Corolla are built on their own dedicated chassis/platform with LSDs, so they would be way ahead still on track. My 23 WRX with $5k in coilovers, bushings, sways, wheels, and 200tw tires, was way behind my husband's mostly stock STI at Willow Springs event. Subaru engineer at the event explained it's because the STI has it's own dedicated chassis with front LSD, center DCCD diff, and rear LSD. New WRX he explained is built on SUV global platform, so new WRX uses Forester and Crosstrek's chassis and drivetrain of SUV open front and open rear diff, no LSD, instead using SUV's electronic brake vectoring.
People always talk about tuning potential. I don’t care. I want a car I don’t have to tune or modify. I want to keep my warranty. I care more about stock comparisons than pipe dreams. Good video.
I love all these cars. Though after much consideration I ended up getting the WRX Limited with a bunch of OEM+ mods and still was way under the asking price of the Carolla & Civic. If I want extra power. I can easily get it from many performance shops that specialize in WRX. The aftermarket community for Subaru is by far the best.
@@Boom-tj6nn but AWD means nothing when it can't put the power done and understeers. We have a 23 WRX, engine power is great no doubt, but the handling is aweful, we put coilovers and 200TW tires, we reached out to Subaru and inquired why and they let us know the new WRX is only offered with opened diff and brake vectoring, like our minivan! They said the new WRX no longer has option for front LSD, rear LSD, or center diff, that they offered in previous gens.
@@panderalexander Sti’s came exclusively with lsd and some previous gen wrx’s except the va chassis. Also I said that the civic wasn’t all wheel since the dude in the vid said it was
Thanks for the awesome comparison! Subbed. Can't help but notice that at 13:16 roll race 2 with civic and corolla the civic was about half a car ahead when the race started, what happened there?! Probably a draw if it were to be done again fairly? very matched cars
That little Toyota GR is a lovely, great little package and for a 3 cylinder car it's definitely live up to more than it suppose to do , it's just the price is the problem but OVERALL I love it for the looks and performance this could be a everyday drive car in my book for real I give that little car 2👍👍 for Toyota innovation and technology.
That GR Circuit Edition's exhaust was sounding muffled as if it was chocked up. The WRX had the overall best sound stock exhaust. Thanks for putting this Compact Sporty sedan class drag together. This was the content we knew we wanted but didn't know who would put it together for us.
Love your videos! may I add a car to the line up its a cadillac CT4 V has a 2.7L turbo non blackwing has 325h and a 2.0L turbo that has 235h that that may run with them
Sam might be the first person in the history of the world to say that a GR Corolla is a hard car to launch from the dig lol. It’s AWD, build your revs, dump the clutch, hang on for dead life. It really is just that simple. Results were as expected though. The lighter and more powerful CTR is faster in the roll races, the GR Corolla should have been faster in the dig races but wasn’t launched nearly as hard it could have been. But I get it, these are people’s personal cars and we don’t want to break anything 😬 And the WRX is the slowest of the bunch but far more affordable and can be an absolute weapon with some mods. It’s a win win win for all three of these cars honestly.
It's to heavy to launch it at say 6000 RPM. I have done that in my GR Yaris few times and the smell is real bad. I just don't want to fry the clutch. So no more. PS Fastest GR Yaris 1\4 Stock I have seen is a 13.1
Now that's funny. PS There was a guy somewhere on RU-vid who tried as many times to break the clutch He got to always 30 then replaced it with stronger one. GR Corolla would break even faster lol So people upgrade your clutch if you want to launch it hard or want more HP. Clutch will not take more than 350HP from GR Yaris testing.
3 cylinder = no way, no matter the outcome. I can’t imagine that engine lasting as long as either the WRX or Type R. When looking at price and everyday driving the Subaru is hard to beat here.
As a GR Corolla owner, I noticed that you were maybe trying to preserve the clutch as you were easing on it rather than dropping it. These cars like tough love to get some really good results. I'll give it to you: It is not easy feat winning to a Type R, and you did it twice! However you could drop a second by driving more aggressive. Great races.
Out of all these cars the wrx motor is the least stressed. Stock it will last way longer. Tune it and it will be faster the the other two and still be cheaper 😂
If I could find a GRC for close to msrp, I would get it. Meanwhile, the wrx is selling for or under msrp. I dont mod ot tune, but my friends who have their 22 wrx pro tuned and modded are still running fine
I know the CTR and Si aren't for everyone...like it seems the scooby is. Fine by me, I don't care about fitting in with everyone. The driving dynamics may be the best of any fwd car ever produced. Neutral handling and light weight make the Si a hoot on the track so I can only imagine what the CTR feels like. It looks nicer than the other two and you don't see them coming and going like the Scooby, and the new scooby has those godawful tupperware wheel arches. Add honda build quality and it's an easy decision for me, but then I don't need to feel like I'm part of a club. It's ironic that the WRX has become what Hondas used to be: "ok but add this mod and that mod and then let's get it on!".
The WRX and GR will beat the Type R off the line. The GR will win the race and the WRX will take 3rd because the WRX driver won’t do a hard enough launch to win against the Type R.
♡♡♡So I had it right; Gr > Fl5 > wrx ●Gr would probably take the rolls had the fl5 not been resting while gr got hot racing wrx. ●●The gr won the type r on in 2 of 3 races in dig, (15:00 and 16:25) and barely lost to fl5 on roll (14:00) though the fl5 was resting while the gr and wrx were getting hot racing.
@@Youcallthesebagels_ Yes but the performance bar for fast among enthusiasts lies around the sub 4 sec mark nowadays. Some even feel sub 3 sec. Sub 3 is perhaps extreme, but these are sub 5 , so…
I love my 2023 WR'X, no mark up and it drives better than the 2016 STi I had a couple of years ago. Looks wise, I love it in white but its not for everybody lol
Second lightest GR (Core) vs second heaviest WRX (Limited) seems like a missed opportunity for a fair comparison. As it stands, it wasn’t a bad comp overall.
A tip on launching the gr corolla, sport mode on, turn off traction control, turn on track mode, launch at 4.5k rpm and you’ll be flying. I got 0-60 in 4.4 seconds
It's insane how much more hp you can make with this VB and still be within the safety range. I have had my tuned for about year. You can piss in the gas tank of the VB and make 50+ hp LOL
@@superplushvideos7968 This is true. But you can easily make about 330-350whp with fairly minor modifications. And that, tbh, would be plenty for this platform imo. The stock turbo is pretty maxed out in the GRC, so that kinda puts some limits.
@@TheBreakfastLover Elantra N DCT actually runs 2 more pounds of boost stock. It sounds weird but it is actually true. Dynos show the manual around 260 WHP and the DCT at 276 WHP.
@@alex-sc7zl No, the best version is the fastest and that's the EN DCT ! Anyways there's already a video out showing the new Acura Integra Type S losing to the EN !
Makes for a great daily driver, Subaru engineer event explained why that it's the first WRX built on SUV platform using the Forester and Crosstrek chassis, so very comfortable and quiet like a SUV, downside is handling isnt good since it uses the SUV's electric power steering and electronic brake vectoring with no LSD at all in front or rear.
That GRC need a proper driver. TypeR it's a better machine, but it will loose every time in 0-400 in front of a GRC with a proper driver. GRC it would be wonderful with a proper price: 35-40k max
I own a 22 WRX and it’s fun but definitely needs better brakes, coilovers, and more power to be a competitor. If I could have any of these, I’d personally want the Civic Type R. That being said I love my WRX.
have a 23 WRX here, even though I like it, agree it is behind on competitors. We actually put coilovers and 200tw tires on it and handling was still poor, we reached out to Subaru to ask why and they let us know new WRX only comes with open diff and brake vectoring, like our minivan! They said new WRX no longer has option for front LSD, rear LSD, or center diff. That is why the Type R outhandlles the new WRX even though it is FWD, it has LSD so it can actually put the power down through corner and exit, whereas the WRX starts understeering.
I'm not a subie fan at all but the wrx is probably the best buy of the bunch.. I'm not sure that highly stressed little 3 cylinder engine will last all that long an that civic is perfect but only in perfect weather. We live in Colorado and snow tires won't help that civic. Not to mention like 20 grand less... you could almost buy 2 for the price of one of those other cars
