You can accuse Toyota a little late to the party with brand new stuff GR corolla, was revealed this week. A turbocharged, all-wheel-drive C-segment hatchback that can slide? We’ve seen that before – perhaps best known for Ford Focus RS was launched in 2015.
The hype around this car is huge. An affordable, super-fast hatch with ‘drift mode’ seems like a dream come true for a lot of enthusiasts. But the all-wheel-drive ‘GKN’ trick fitted to the Focus allows for the out-of-the-box functionality on that claim (which doesn’t lead to anywhere near as many embarrassing YouTube crash videos as expected). ) unlike what lies under the skin of the GR Corolla.
Whenever Focus overdone, it feels odd and ‘synthetic’. You can hold a slide without any facing locks, relying on the car to do everything for you, which seems odd. The very nature of the system means that the RS can’t really send large amounts of torque to the rear wheels, so once tuning comes into the equation, the car takes on a very different character.
When its 2.3-litre ‘Ecoboost’ inline-four is turned on, the front wheels have to take in most of the extra performance. I remember driving a Focus RS a few years ago, the Essex-based Mountune tuned to 513bhp and 516lb ft, most of which had to go through the front wheels. At full throttle, I felt like I was going to fall out of my arm.
The GR Corolla, on the other hand, works fine. Along with the 1.6-litre, turbocharged inline-three from the Yaris GR, it also borrows that car’s ‘GR-Four’ all-wheel drive system. It’s also pretty smart, operating without a center differential and instead using a clutch package to transfer torque between the forward axle and the rear differential.
Just like it does in GR Yaris, the GR-Four system here provides 30/70 torque deflection in Sport mode, putting up to 100% in the rear if the situation calls for it. If its little brother is anything passing, it offers a true rear-bias feel without the need for the gimmicky ‘drift mode’. With the 1.6 engine up to 295bhp for the larger car, it can be more fun to drive, and this time around, with enough space to carry a bit of luggage and older kids or even adults behind.
I chose the Focus RS specifically partly because of the hype surrounding it at launch, and partly because it was the initiator of the entire drift mode. But many have jumped into the fray since – Mk8 VW Golf CHEAP, Mercedes-AMG A45and Audi RS3 have all tried to do something similar to Focus. And they all felt a little skeptical. On the other hand, the GR Corolla should have a pure mechanical feel to it, judging by what we’ve seen from the Yaris. The only problem? It’s not coming to the UK.
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