Toyota’s essence can be distilled into one Japanese word: Kaizen. It essentially means “continuous improvement,” never resting on one’s laurels—and it’s foundational to how Toyota operates. Kaizen is, perhaps, why after just two years on sale, Toyota is already rolling out big updates for its highly touted rally hatch.

The big one: An automatic transmission. If you’re part of the tedious No Manual, No Care crowd, take solace in the fact that a six-speed manual still comes standard, and that Toyota expects it to make up a vast majority of GR Corolla sales. But know that the automatic will help Toyota sell more GR Corollas, justifying the model’s continued existence. And that it is an excellent transmission.  

Rolling out of the pits at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course—the Roval—this transmission is immediately impressive. Put the car in Sport mode, and it rips off shifts as fast as any automatic out there, and you don’t even need to use the paddles on the steering wheel. The car always picks out the correct ratio.

Naoyuki Sakamoto, chief engineer for the GR Corolla, tells us that this transmission is based on a standard Toyota eight-speed automatic, and identical to the unit in the new GR Yaris. But other than the case itself, basically everything is unique. It gets shorter gear ratios, new friction material for the clutches, and a new valve body for faster shifts. Plus, dedicated programming for the automatic mode. 

Toyota

Still, it’s a lot more fun to put the car in manual mode and use the (admittedly cheap-feeling) paddles. I’ll cop to some skepticism when I first heard the GR Corolla was getting a traditional torque-converter automatic as opposed to a dual-clutch, seemingly more befitting of a sport-compact. Yet, pull the paddle for an upshift and it changes gear almost instantaneously, and downshifts are just as good. The torque converter also has a lockup clutch that engages very quickly, so there’s a direct relationship between your right foot and what the engine is doing.

This is as good as any traditional automatic on the market. I’d put this transmission up there with BMW’s eight-speeds, and if—if—you give up anything to a dual-clutch, it’s made up for with smooth shifts in everyday driving. The auto also has nicer ratios than the manual, with shorter third, fourth, and fifth gears that help keep the GR Corolla in the meat of its powerband. Note, though, that you have to move the gear selector over to the left to get a real manual mode—using the paddles in Drive does the strange but typical Toyota thing where you can choose the highest ratio the transmission will use. That’s fine in a Highlander, but perhaps not a GR Corolla.

Toyota

Pros: Excellent Automatic Transmission, Playful Chassis, Drives Like Nothing Else 

Once you realize the automatic is simply never underfoot, you can concentrate on the rest of the GR Corolla. Which is excellent. Tweaks to the rear suspension help make an already playful car more so, while also upping stability in high-speed cornering. There’s a softer rear anti-roll bar to help with turn-in and rotation, but tighter rear springs to maintain the original car’s roll stiffness. Toyota also added a bit of anti-squat at the rear to help under acceleration, and all around, there are new dampers with internal rebound springs that act like a more sophisticated bump stop, better controlling body motions.

Without driving new and old GR Corollas back-to-back, it’s harder to judge the suspension changes, but this one has a wonderful balance. The Roval is deceptively technical, and there are moments where you put a ton of load in the car. Exiting turn three, a third-gear right, you’re pretty heavily loaded up, pointing towards the runoff. You only need a light brake for turn four, but you’re scrubbing off speed pointed in somewhat the wrong direction. 

Toyota

Toyota

It’s an odd complex, but the GR Corolla loves to brake and turn. Get a little weight on the nose, and the car intuitively makes for the apex. Then get back to power super early, let the all-wheel drive system and front and rear limited-slip differentials—now standard—sort everything else out.

A new Track all-wheel drive mode has a variable torque split, from 60:40 to 30:70, and it works away subtly. The GR Corolla never feels rear-biased, yet it doesn’t feel so proscriptive, so all-wheel drive either. It’s a very intuitive thing.

Toyota

Cons: Bouncy Low-Speed Ride, Booming Exhaust, A Bit More Expensive Than Last Year

All the things we loved about the original are here in abundance, too. The engine has so much personality, with its gruff three-cylinder sound and strong mid-range torque. Toyota actually upped torque from 273 pound-feet to 295, and it pulls hard throughout the rev range. The steering isn’t the most talkative, yet it’s very easy to tell grip levels through the seat of your pants, and the brakes feel great. That said, Toyota wouldn’t let us run continuous laps in the car, so we can’t say how they stand up to real abuse.

Plus, the six-speed manual is still a ton of fun. It can be notchy at times, and the pedals are spaced too far apart for heel-toe downshifts, so you rely on the GR Corolla’s automatic rev-matching system. Yet, it remains the clear enthusiast’s choice. However, I was so impressed by the automatic that I wouldn’t blame anyone for going two-pedal. 

Toyota

Unfortunately, we only had about a half-hour to sample the GR Corolla on the road. Even in a limited time, though, the automatic continued to make a case for itself. You’ll never be fooled into thinking this is a regular Corolla—the low-speed ride is still bouncy and the exhaust is boomy. But the automatic smooths things out, ironing out shifts when driving around town, while still being sharp and responsive when you want it to be.

All this comes at a price. The base Core model rises by $2,360 to $39,995 with destination, though it does now come with the front and rear limited-slip differentials standard. The mid-tier Premium is up by $1,120 to $42,575, while the top-dog Premium Plus starts at $46,850. Going for the automatic adds $2,000 to all trim levels. Yet, a Golf R starts at $46,890 and it doesn’t have anything like the character of the GR Corolla, and the Civic Type R’s MSRP is in the mid-40s, too. And nothing else on sale drives like the GR Corolla. 

And this one is even better than before. Maybe there’s something to this whole Kaizen thing. 

Competitors

Honda Civic Type R
Subaru WRX tS
Volkswagen Golf R

Competitor Reviews

The Subaru WRX tS Approaches STI Greatness: First Drive Review
2023 Honda Civic Type R Review: Rip-Roaring Riot

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