CORRECTION- The Circuit Edition does not add larger brakes or different calipers. The are the same on all models (but the calipers are painted on Circuit and Morizo. I read the spec sheet wrong. I go for accuracy, in this case I missed.
you've become hands down my favorite car reviewer, and the only one whose videos I find myself watching all the way through. Thanks for the awesome work!
I've watched many reviews on this car and yours is the best one. I think you helped me decide to get this as a daily to go along with my C8. I was a bit worried if it would be a good daily or not
@@mark_845 glad to hear! Hopefully they will become more available in the next couple years. I refuse to pay over MSRP for cars. I waited 2 years for my C8 to avoid paying over haha.
I love the GR Corolla, it has been a great daily commuter, has me taking the twisty roads to work. The interior is not great vs the GTI but it works. This car produces prodigious amounts of brake dust!
Great review, I love this car. It reminds me a lot of the 80s/90s Japanese cars. They were much more creative and daring with their designs. Nowadays, they are just boring old cars. But not this car! Yea, the Civic Type R is quieter, bigger, and has a nicer interior, but so does the Toyota Sienna. This is a great bonafide sports car.
Small corrections from a rabid fan: the brakes are mechanically the same across the board. Red brakes and LSDs are available in base trim- it is actually hard to find a truly base model without them.
I bought a '24 Premium edition and I love it. The difference between the Premium and the Circuit edition is cosmetic, carbon fiber roof, hood vents, etc.,. Mechanically, the same. Getting mods done next week, Eventuri intake, Apex'i N1 exhaust. The only minor complaints I have are the JBL stereo, had to install a Sxth aftermarket armrest (it doesn't come with one, lol) and setting up the tire-pressure dash readout, and setting up cruise control require a masters in something, don't know exactly what. Other than that, I love this car, really glad I bought it. Thinking about a Kotouc TY7-GR Sequential gearbox for next year.....
The problem I have with this car is it exists at the same time as the Golf R, the Type R, the WRX, the Elantra N, and you could even throw a GTI in the mix because stage 1 and is cheaper
Good review. Something to note. Brakes are the same across all trims. Perf pack in core just adds the red color caliper. I love my CE, very fun car and surprisingly fairly premium interior in the CE trim. Sound is incredible from factory, very engaging.
Tom, it was a pleasure running into you-thankfully, not literally-that Saturday while I was bicycling and you had stopped on the road during your video shoot for this review. I’ve enjoyed your videos for many years so it was nice to speak with you in person. Best regards.
The pleasure was mine, and I'll say hi to Peter S the next time we talk. Be safe out there on your bike. Rumor has it there are wild folks in sports cars out there.
They did not seem to do much marketing for GR Corolla, there was so much talk about the GR Yaris being so good but not coming to the US, once Toyota said the US would get the GR Corolla, the hype train was running and the wait lists filled up. The cars are made at the Motomachi plant and apparently pretty labor intensive, but I wonder if Toyota under estimated how many folks were willing pay > $40k for a manual Corolla.
@@93455Driver - Nah. The lack of supply is 100% on Toyota. In fact, they’ve publicly admitted that the lack of availability has nothing to do with their ability to produce the car and that they intend to build “One too few” GRCs just to keep the car uncommon and desirable. Pretty dumb if you ask me - especially if you have customers lining up around the block to buy your product - but what do I know.
Have u heard of supply and demand here... if Toyota 2ants to supply u with the cars they can... but they don't WANT to... the more "hard" to get the car is the more value it has... look up "blood diamonds" ..... diamond are practically worthless... but "big diamond" regulates prices by controlling supply!
@@drivedb7look up blood diamonds... "Big diamond" controls how many diamonds are circulating so the price stays high even though diamonds are really worthless .... ur right, what do u know.... they can sell a lot of cars at regular price or markup the price for a while and make more profit while keeping people anxious about getting one... the car will keep being sought out all the time.
@@trujillor84 - They’re also throttling inventory with most of their lineup and not just the GRC. Trouble is, it’s not a good long-term strategy because many folks end up flocking to other brands. It’s very myopic and greed-driven, but I suppose we shouldn’t be that surprised given that Toyota is the company which came up with “just in time” manufacturing, which many companies mimicked and is largely to blame for the supply chain crisis we’ve put up with for 3+ years.
I like 3 cylinder engines. For many years I rode motorcycles. I had a BMW and later a Triumph triple. It's a unique growl deeper than a 4 cylinder imo. If you're put off by the number 3 you really need to drive one then decide.
I'm super happy you popped up on my feed today. Such an amazing review! I just finished watching your Supra review, and you are making it super hard to pick between the two. FL5 review next please!! Liked, commenting, and subscribed.
I’d immediately replace the plastic trunk filler in back with a spare tire and Jack. The extra weight over the rear might even even out the front/rear balance. Hey, I rode in and drove a Taycan 4S Sunday. Phenomenal handling and acceleration.
Test drove this (the regular version) for my son and we both hated the interior. Was full of hard plastics and felt really cheap. Ended up buying the Mazda 3 hatchback.
Those rear seats are perfect for kids who are too young to sit on the front. Booster age till mid teens. If you don't have kids, fold them and have tons of cargo space.
@@johnboy4g63 I feel you, I wanted the heavy metal too. But you know we didn’t really have a choice. Have to take what they have, ice cap was my 2nd choice so I’m good. We’ll keep enjoying GR family 👍🏽
Hey Tom! As a fellow Western Washingtonian, where are some of your favorite places to drive? I'm always on the lookout for new roads to enjoy my ND on.
You know, I would direct you to them, but I really don’t know the names of the roads. Martin and I just have short hand for different locations. But I would try the Carnation area or up by Index. Those are two places that we use often and if you go off the main highway, there are loads of fun twisty roads.
This car will go the way of the Ford Focus RS... Sure, it's got performance, but you are still spending $40k for a $25 econobox (in terms of fit and finish). They should have given us the GR Yaris....
This car is a slap in the face to the horsepower-fixing that we've seen across the board in the past decade. A Honda Civic Si should not have the same HP in 2023 as it did in 2010. Toyota squeezing 300 hp out of a 3 cylinder just proves that manufacturers are artificially limiting HP to force us into buying more premium options.
Or maybe Honda is being power conservative since only the front wheels are driven. Or it wants the engine to last longer. So many reason why other than conspiracies.
It sounds good, it looks bad, apparently it's fun to drive, but it's not very practical due to its size. It gets ok economy, but I bet it's a small fortune to insure. Wouldn't a 15 year old 328i with an inline 6, 3 pedals and a repair slush fund make more sense? New performance cars are sketchy deals not just due to MSRP bloat, but also due to fuel and insurance costs.
@@DrivenCarReviews All good. It’s one thing to be a fanboy for one car and to learn all the specs. It’s a whole other thing to constantly review all sorts of cars and try to keep track of all the specs. Keep up the great work 👍
Too bad these go into FWD mode due to overheating on the race track. Same as the Focus RS. Very disappointing for those of us that enjoy these performance cars on a race track.
Congratulations on your daughter's nuptials! If you decide to buy lunch for the crew, try not to freak out when the number of hot dog buns in a bag doesn't match the number of hot dogs sold. I hear that doesn't end well.
I've given up on ever owning a modern performance car. Dealers nearby want $79,000 canadian for a new Civic Type R and $62,000 for a GR corolla. I'd rather just buy 90s/early 2000s versions of these cars for a fraction of the price.
Mark-ups are happening to family SUVs (telluride), EVs(model3,X, Y), supercars and anything that's desirable in the automotive world. Mark ups on cars like these prove point to their makers that they should produce them and in enough numbers at least in the first few years to capture that revenue from enthusiasts. Keep em coming but make enough, initially
I just bought one off CL private party sale with 12k in visual and suspension mods with 4k miles on it for msrp without tax and fees. It can be done!! 😎😎
It’s just crazy that people are paying over MSRP for a 3cyl with 4pot front brakes when you can get a GD chassis STI with a proper 2.5L 4cyl and 6pot front brakes which will is faster or at the very least just as fast and was made nearly 20 years ago (not to mention more granularity in the center diff). Plus if you want to use these as god intended, the STI has a plethora of rally parts readily available and every single issue you run into is already thoroughly explained in some RU-vid video/forum. But if you’re gonna be a casual about it, then why get the GR Corolla and pay the mark ups when there are so many other modern performance options without ADM? It’s the wrong tool for the hardcore and wrong price (after ADM) for the rest. If the out the door price was more reasonable then it’d be a different story.
I hear you, but lots of folks don't want a used car. Last but not least, Subaru just doesn't have the long term durability and reliability of Toyotas (Ej25, now the BRZ engine). I bet this engine is going to hold up a lot better than the EJ25. With or without added boost.
@@sunnyvalentino it’s more so that 20 years ago they were building better cars than now. EJ25 is a great engine if you treat it nicely. This is supposed to be the new version for the modern hoon/rally car but it’s a step back from what we already had. Which again is begging the question why are people going wild for it an bending themselves over at dealerships to overpay for it. If it was $30k OTD then yea, no issues. But you’re paying more and quite literally getting less
What do you call a Corolla with a broken heater in winter? 👇🏻👇🏻 (Shocking answer below may surprise you!) 👇🏻👇🏻 the Corolla BRrrrrrr (please tip your server)
Watch out for these as asphalt jockeys, there terrible and dangerious drivers...interesting car though. Btw, cars like these should be driven on backroads or out in the desert.
@@DrivenCarReviews Nice try at false-equivalency, Tom. Just because you don't like slow drivers, doesn't make them "as dangerous", and you're a clown for saying so. No, slower driving is NOWHERE near as dangerous as driving too fast and aggressively.
@@cw4623 It's more complicated than what I like / don't like. What I like are smart drivers, those that pay attention to conditions and drive appropriately. I've been in traffic running 80-85 MPH and it works because everyone is driving 80-85 MPH. When people drive too fast or too slow for the traffic they are in, it can cause dangerous conditions. Of course, driving too fast for conditions is unsafe. And stupid. I've spent years talking with Washington State Patrol and many of them say it's the difference in speed that causes problems, not just speed itself. Driving too slow can cause problems, especially at or below the speed limit in the left lane. It disrupts flow and causes other drivers to change lanes. That's where incidents happen. Our state is one of the few that tickets slow drivers in the left lane.
Calling him a clown huh? Why don’t you try not taking things so literal. But let me play your game, I’d argue a person on the phone while driving is MUCH more dangerous than a skilled driver going fast. And to split hairs even further, driving “fast” is different than driving recklessly.
How’s it feel being a loser in life, trolling the RU-vid comments section? Bc I definitely know that you speak from zero wheel time and experience with this car. You must have a very unfulfilling life. No doubt.
Like how those road rage ppl or that lady that was screaming at. It's a controversial car. Some love it and others hate it. Definitely have to have thick skin owning this masterpiece.
