Motor review: Toyota's Corolla GR is a hybrid with some get up and go
The Toyota Corolla GR is something of a rarity: a hybrid that does not require you to have to learn how to drive again. A more authoritative road presence and a hefty upgrade in terms of interior quality make it quite an attractive car to own to boot.
The major hybrid offensive by Toyota in the last 10 to 15 years — which has, of course, been hugely successful and profitable — has had one serious downside for fans of the marque, particularly those who like a bit of zip in their motoring.
Time was when the Japanese giant had quite an impressive sports portfolio and cars like the Celica, the MR2, and various Corolla GTis, as well as more hardcore things such as the Supra were commonplace and much loved by the cognoscenti.
Sure we have a new Supra on the block (which we hope to test in these columns shortly) and the brilliant GT86, and even the completely nuts GRMN Yaris, however, the rise of hybrid powerplants has sort of taken the steam out of the company’s more sporty inclinations, and that's a shame really — particularly as they made so many good ones down the years.
Mention of the GRMN Yaris brings us to Toyota’s new bespoke racing department, Gazoo Racing, which oversees the company’s world rally and sportscar championship efforts — with massive success in the WRC and finally winning Le Mans and the WSC — and is now slowly coming around to making street racers. There is a new GR Yaris on the blocks, and the Supra too has had the full treatment from the division.
Gazoo is also now being given responsibility for dickying-up lesser models in the Toyota range and the first of these to come to hand is the new Corolla GR, which is not so much a hot hatch, but one which has had the not-so-hot chillies applied to its rear end, making it something of a tepid hatch.
That may sound like I’m about to give this car a critical review, but for those of a nervous disposition in the Toyota HQ in Dublin or even the odd quaking dealer or two, I can assure all concerned that this is not the case.
The fact of the matter is that I am delighted to see anything that is any way sporting and mainstream coming from the manufacturer, and I am — if mildly surprised that they have managed to make anything truly sporty out of their hybrid obsession — also delighted that the Corolla GR turns out to be quite an entertaining drive without much of the downside usually applied to the hybrid genre.
A failed experiment with the Auris nameplate, which was sort of a non-Corolla Corolla, if you follow, Toyota has reverted to the Corolla as an all-things-to-all-men sort of a car. They introduced the Auris back in 2007 in an attempt to reclaim what was perceived to be lost ground in the ‘yoof’ market.
It was felt within Toyota that the Corolla hatch, which was the preferred choice of younger Corolla buyers, has lost its mojo and was no longer appealing to the people the manufacturer wanted it to appeal to. Instead an older demographic was attracted to the car and the younger buyer was shopping elsewhere.
Auris was designed to stem that flow of customers, and Toyota stuck with the marketing plan for just over 10 years until, in 2018, it abandoned the largely failed experiment. Auris had not truly had the impact desired, and it was felt prudent that the badge would be retired and the Corolla hatch would be reinvented.
The Corolla saloon had been in production all along and two years ago it was once again rejoined by the Corolla hatch as the mainstay of the company’s C-segment sales endeavours. The re-launch was a big success because of a car that was not only green enough (thanks to its hybrid power), but funky enough to meet the demands of younger buyers.
Those of us old enough to remember the many generations of Corolla down the years would never be foolish enough to suggest that any of them merited the description ‘funky.’ No, these were staid workhorses designed to be practical and to demonstrate efficient competence, but provide little inspiration.
These cars were not supposed to look exciting or be in any way inspirational; rather they were designed to get you from A to B without fuss — or any inkling of style — while being a bomb-proof owning proposition.
The new Corolla — the Auris replacement — had not added much by way of élan in terms of the driving experience, but then neither had it lost any of its long-life characteristics. What it did add, however, was a considerable dash of good looks and style — in keeping with company boss Akio Toyoda’s ‘no more boring cars’ edict — and a hefty upgrade in terms of interior quality.
Now Toyota has taken the Corolla a further step down the road of rehabilitation by introducing this new GR version, but in truth there is not a whole lot going on here that would get excitement levels into the red zone.
Sure, they have ramped up the visuals to give the car a more authoritative road presence and they have also upped the engine ante to the point where there’s a decent 180 bhp on offer from the new two-litre hybrid powerplant, but don’t be fooled into thinking that this is a fully-blown assault on the hot hatch market, because it's not.
That’s not to say this is a terrible car, or anything such. Far from it, in fact. Having said that, it should be pointed out that a fully whacko 260 bhp 4x4 Corolla GR is on the drawing board and will be with us in due course.
The Corolla GR is actually something of a rarity: a hybrid that, firstly, does not require you to have to learn how to drive again; and, secondly, with just a minor bit of adaptation from the way you would drive any normal petrol car, will give you a very pleasing behind-the-wheel experience.
Away from the slightly massaged exterior look which is designed to make the car appear more purposeful — not to mention the sporty seats and the other interior upgrades — the GR provides a solution for people who want a green hybrid, but one which drives more like a conventional car.
Now while I'm not a noted fan of either hybrids or CVT gearboxes, the manner in which the Toyota engineers have delivered this car pleased me no end. This is not a shouty hybrid like so many others of the genre.
Rather, it is quietly hushed, but responds well to accelerative action, and the CVT seems more engaged and with-it than most similar systems we’ve encountered. The 7.9-second 0-100 km/h time and the 180 km/h top speed are not slack and compare well to non-hybrid opponents.
Equally, the chassis is not the most exceptional you will ever drive, but it delivers decent ride and handling without ever suggesting it is a world-beater in either area.
As mentioned earlier, the interior is of a different class to Corollas of old. Long gone are the wall-to-wall plastics and lesser-quality materials. This car is a very nice place to spend time in and the equipping levels are equally impressive.
All told then, the Corolla GR is far from being the last word in performance terms, but it illustrates that Toyota are now beginning to take their hybrid revolution and make it into something which is both capable and very nice to drive. And not before time.
