Is the all-new Toyota GR Corolla that much better than a regular Corolla?
So today we were invited by Toyota Malaysia to test drive their 5 newly unveiled GR sport models which were released last night. Today, I got to drive three of these cars on the Sepang International Circuit and now, I want to share with all of you why I think the all-new Toyota GR Corolla is better than one might think.
First things first, I got to drive the all-new Toyota GR86 (in both manual and automatic transmissions), the Toyota GR Supra (which is now available in a manual transmission, which I drove) and of course, the Toyota GR Corolla. I think the GR Corolla is far better than any Corolla in every metric, let’s explore why.
While we have always enjoyed the very reliable Toyota Corolla Altis here in Malaysia, this is the first time the GR Corolla has entered the Malaysian market and featuring a 1.6 turbocharged 3-cylinder making 300PS of power and 370Nm of torque, this car is so much more powerful than anyone would assume.
Moreover, the all-new Toyota GR Corolla is available in a 6-speed manual option which I got to launch today and honestly, the car was deceptively fast, hell it even gave the much more powerful Toyota GR Supra a run for its money. Pair this with the four-wheel drive system of the car and you have yourself a car that can do it all.
The interior of the all-new Toyota GR Corolla is also equally impressive, with red stitching and sporty seats in a spacious interior, it also comes with an advanced 9 inch central infotainment display as well as bright and clear 12.3 inch digital driver display that comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a head-up display too.
Perhaps my favourite part of the interior of the Toyota GR Corolla has to be its manual handbrake, in a time where most carmakers are opting for parking switches and automatic transmissions over the manual handbrake and manual transmission, I am glad to see Toyota sticking to the nostalgic feeling of these items.
On top of that, despite being a powerhouse in terms of performance and handling, the Toyota GR Corolla is perhaps the most sensible of the five new GR models as it comes equipped with a ton of safety features including 7 airbags and the full suite of Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) but the manual sadly loses a few of these features.
One key quality the Toyota GR Corolla has which I love is the fact that it stays so firmly planted on the ground even when one drives it around corners at high speeds. We tested this when we took the car out for a slalom test and I was thoroughly shocked at how well the four-wheel drive keeps the car planted.
At RM355,000, the Toyota GR Corolla is definitely not what most people would call cheap but for the price, I feel it is worth every cent.
