2023 Toyota GR Corolla Debuts With 300-HP, Rally-Bred AWD
Hatchbacks
Speaker 1: We begged and begged Toyota for taste of the gr yachters and the automaker answered with a Corolla, but don't worry. The new gr Corolla here is bigger, better, and more powerful than the hot hatchback they get over in Europe. Let's take a closer look at it. Now, a little bit of a history lesson here, gr stands for GA zoo racing. It's Toyota's skunk works racing, become full performance division, and they're behind vehicles like the super and the, uh, the gr 86. And now this the gr Corolla. Now here in the engine bay, [00:00:30] we've got the same 1.6 liter turbocharge three cylinder engine that you'll find in the gr Yas, except here it's been bumped up by 30 horsepower. Now totaling 300 horsepower, 273 pound feet of torque. That extra horsepower bump is good because this vehicle's around 400 pounds heavier than a smaller sibling. So it should still be pretty quick in the corners that engine's just gonna be made it with a six speed automatic transmission.
Speaker 1: The only option, the way the Motorsport guides intended and at the business end of that powertrain is Toyota's gr four all-wheel [00:01:00] drive system with a, a customizable torque distribution. It can go from a 60, 40 front by a split to 50 50. When you need a little more grip all the way back to a 30 to 70 rear bias, when you need performance on a track or on a rally stage or something like that. And we haven't even talked about this crazy wide body kit that it's acquit with. It gives it a wider stance and filling those arches. We've at 18 inch black wheels with, uh, high performance tires. Now this specific one behind me is the circuit edition, a special edition that's [00:01:30] only gonna be available for the first model year. It features a Torson limited slip differential at the front and rear ale, as well as a more aggressive hood with a power bulge vents, a carbon forged roof, and a more aggressive spoiler Outback.
Speaker 1: Also one of my favorite bits is on the inside. It's got a shifter signed by Mazo himself, GAO racings master driver and Toyota's president and CEO a Toyota. Now, in fact, you'll find all of the same tech that you'll find on the standard yards, including an eight inch version of Toyota's [00:02:00] touchscreen navigation system, uh, standard Android auto and an apple CarPlay connectivity wireless, by the way, and most interesting Toyota full suite of driver aid technology, including adaptive cruise control, which works with the manual transmission that's novel. The 2023 Toyota gr Corolla hits the road later. This year, pricing has not been announced yet, but I'm guessing it's gonna be somewhere in the 37,000 and dollar price range with the circuit edition, adding around five or $6,000 on top of that, I'm kind of just guessing on that price, but [00:02:30] I'm kind of basing it on the fact that I think this would compete with something like Subaru's WX STI. If it weren't on indefinite hiatus in the Subaru's absence, it'll compete with Volkswagen's golf R the Honda civic type R and Hyundai's Alantra N.
