1 hour ago
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Owning a weekend car is a luxury few can afford, and it’s not even a monetary issue for some; it’s often based on space and time restraints.
The choice for the fortunate has always been to buy a practical car that gets you and the family around during the week, and then something to drive through the twisties or on a race track at the weekend.
The truth is that performance cars are mostly uncomfortable, impractical, and a pain to drive in traffic. If you're looking for practicality, comfort, and performance in one car, you’d need to increase your budget and consider a hot hatch or sporty SUV.
But what if there was something you didn’t need to drop six figures on, and was as comfortable to drive every day as it was entertaining to drive on the weekend?
Well, Toyota has re-joined the fray of fun cars that might not actually be painful to drive on a day-to-day basis, and the new automatic gearbox option makes life a lot easier.
The Toyota GR Corolla still retains the basics of a standard Toyota Corolla hatch body, but while it does use the same monocoque construction as a standard Corolla hatch, it’s all different underneath.
Where something like a Hyundai i30 N sees an engine capacity increase and a few go-fast parts thrown in over a standard model, the GR Corolla has a whole floorpan and driveline change from front-wheel drive to all-wheel drive.
It's less of an evolution from an existing model, like a hot hatch, and more of an entirely new car dressed in the attire of a standard Corolla – a model-line overhaul that Toyota isn’t new to.
The GR Corolla's “GT-FOUR” badging is an homage to the final years of the Celica, where Toyota spun off the Celica GT-Four all-wheel-drive down its own model line and kept the Celica line as a front-wheel-drive model. The special four-wheel drive, turbocharged rally homologation special was developed to sell to the public in order to compete in the World Rally Championship (WRC).
After WRC rules changed, and the need for such a car dwindled, Toyota discontinued the homologation special and carried on producing affordable passenger cars. This left enthusiasts to either up their performance car budget to a fully-fledged sports car, or kick rocks.
However, by reviving the GT-FOUR badge for the GR Yaris and later the GR Corolla, it has reintroduced a feeling of excitement and produced a new poster car for all.
But could it really be a solid daily driver? I just so happened to have a 2026 Toyota Corolla Cross Atmos Hybrid in for review, allowing me to compare the GR Corolla side by side.
Everything about the GR Corolla still feels familiar to the Corolla; it's just that little bit different. The dashboard remains the same, but it's now adorned with boost gauges and sports badging. The exterior is the same, just dressed up in one gorgeous body kit.
The little hybrid Corolla Cross I drove during the week we had the GR Corolla in the office had a combined power of 146kW, while the GR Corolla saw an increase in power to 226kW. Numbers alone don't tell the whole story; the main difference comes from the way the power is delivered.
The Corolla Cross has a conservative 2.0-litre four-cylinder paired with a hybrid system, which provides a smooth driving experience. However, flip the token to a 1.6-litre three-cylinder turbo running at full throttle, and the driving experience changes.
But the new eight-speed automatic transmission seems to tame the beast, making the overall drive enjoyable and easier to manage. While there is still a reasonable level of driving comfort you sacrifice when jumping into a sportier option as a daily driver, that gap between having a high power output and a throttle that's easy to manage is getting smaller and smaller.
The sacrifice in driving comfort is certainly felt more through the suspension and interior. Don’t get me wrong, it's certainly not an uncomfortable car, but it’s not anything like the Corolla Cross, which seems to float over bumps compared to the GR Corolla.
It’s a firm and low driving position, with seat bolstering that does a good job of keeping you from sliding around, but they tend to get a little uncomfortable after a while.
The same goes for the suspension. It does an amazing job of handling the road like a road-going rally car. But, this firmness might be okay for you as a driver; it's less okay for your partner in the passenger seat.
You also lose a heap of boot space when jumping into a GR Corolla over a standard Corolla hatch, and even more over a Corolla Cross, because of the rear axle and suspension setup for all-wheel drive. Comparing a tiny 213L boot in the GR, 333L in the hatch and 380L in the AWD Cross, it's an easy decision if interior space is at the top of your buying checklist.
But the all-important question is, can you live with it? Personally, if you’re a two-person household or have adult children who don’t rely on you for their transportation, then there is a chance it could be your only car.
But, suppose you’re a parent, trying to relive your youth by retaining a fast car as your only car. In that case, you’ll need to put up with not being able to fit your pram in the boot, struggling to fit a week’s worth of groceries, and kids crying in the back about being uncomfortable, you'll need to weigh up whether that's a risk you're willing to take.
Ultimately, is it a far stretch from a regular car? Not really, the only mild annoyances you would find jumping from a regular Corolla to a GR-fettled one would be the requirement to slow down to a crawl to get over speed humps without scraping the front lip, and not having the forgiveness of high-profile tyres when going over bumps.
It’s genuinely a really interesting car that tickles a part of my brain that not a lot of new cars can. It looks cool, goes quickly, and doesn’t feel like I’m driving something with suspension travel as an afterthought.
However, it overlooks modern buyer demands. Good fuel economy (9.5L/100km isn’t exactly the best), boot space (which it doesn’t have), comfort (which doesn’t come in abundance) are all misses for the GR Corolla.
After having both the Corolla Cross and GR Corolla side by side, performance aside, it makes the GR Corolla look and feel unliveable. But despite being the more functional "fun car" to come out of the Toyota factory, it still has a long way to go before it can make it as a family vehicle.
Going into my time with the GR Corolla, I had high hopes that I finally found something that could make me sell my car collection and condense it down into one car. I will certainly admit it is so close to an "everything" car, without it costing both my kidneys, but there's still a little more to go on the practicality side.
The reality is, I might have to keep saving for something closer to daily driver excellence, with a touch of excitement. Perhaps a BMW M3 Competition for three times the price.
Zane Dobie comes from a background of motorcycle journalism, working for notable titles such as Australian Motorcycle News Magazine, Just Bikes and BikeReview. Despite his fresh age, Zane brings a lifetime of racing and hands-on experience. His passion now resides on four wheels as an avid car collector, restorer, drift car pilot and weekend go-kart racer.
