2025-26 Wheels Car of the Year finalists, 3RD: Toyota GR Corolla

Only one car needed a new set of tyres after the COTY testing program.

It was also the car with the heaviest fuel use and the one that usually went missing when it was time for the lunch run. It was, of course, the Toyota GR Corolla. At some time, everyone wanted the key for a bit of PDA. That’s a personal display of affection, in this instance. It was usually on the ride-and-handling circuit, one-up without a passenger to critique the drive, and it was a reflection of the unique position of the GR Corolla in the COTY contest.

But there were also four-up laps to check the car’s ride quality and composure, and an in-depth check of the engineering work under the pumped-out guards and big wheels. Even the cabin, which is everything you expect of a Toyota with none of the theatrics of a go-faster Audi – or even some ordinary Chinese EVs – to tantalise the driver, was assessed against the basic requirements of a daily driver.

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Then it was time for the foot-down fun runs around the Lang Lang torture tracks which exposed the shortcomings of every COTY contender. The GR Corolla?

“It puts a silly grin on your face,” said David Morley.

He was right about a car with a back story that tracks all the way up to the top at Toyota, and company chairman Akio Toyoda. It was Toyoda, who races as ‘Morizo’ and has a private company called Gazoo Racing, who decided that the bland-mobiles from brand T needed an injection of driving enjoyment to help them step above challengers from Korea and China.

The result is the GR family of showroom hotrods and, indirectly, the GR Supra coupe that will compete in Supercars racing in Australia from the start of next season. So, as there were HSV and FPR, and still AMG and M, there is now GR. It’s shorthand for Gazoo Racing and reflects the special sauce applied to turn ordinary – and Toyota knows plenty about ordinary – into extraordinary.

The first real example was the GR Yaris and now the same basic mechanical package – a turbocharged three-cylinder engine, all-wheel drive, with sports suspension and brakes – has been upgraded onto the Corolla.

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The GR Yaris was a touch unhinged, like the best special-vehicles cars, which helped it become a sell-out cult figure in the same way as the early Subaru Impreza WRX and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. The GR Corolla is obviously bigger, but also more balanced and refined. It’s hardly grown up, but it is more grown up than the Yaris.

The driving position is better, the car is more balanced in heavy braking or through a slalom run, and 9.5 litres/100km – a figure not nearly matched at COTY – is reasonable economy. It costs silly money for a Corolla, at $70,490 for the eight-speed automatic on call for COTY, but some people see it as a bargain compared against the latest WRX or a Golf R.

For context, the GR costs more than twice as much as a basic Corolla Ascent and it adds nearly $10,000 to the price-tag of the WRX. But, what a car.

“It is a ridiculously easy car to drive fast,” said Trent Nikolic.

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And that’s what the GR Corolla is all about. It is swift but secure. Solid while being slightly silly. You can fit two Aussie adults in the back seat – we know because we did it – and the quality is typically Toyota, but the boot is silly small and everyone who sees the GR-mobile knows it’s a touch anti-social.

“If I’m spending seventy grand on a Corolla, I want everyone to know,” said Morley.

The GR Corolla is brilliant at Lang Lang, and unique too even in a COTY field of achievers. It runs hard and fast in any conditions, and anyone can satisfy their ambitions without destroying their dreams.

It makes a rousing 221kW, but it’s the 400Nm of torque which gives such easy access to the performance. You can grunt out of any corner with serious thrust, all the way up to the silly speeds which must be contained inside the Proving Ground.

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Toyota withholds a 0-100 thrust time, but 5.4 seconds was Karl Reindler’s quickest timing at COTY.
There are driving modes to vary the engine response and torque balance in the transmission, too, with flappy paddles for fun. But it’s just as easy – no, easier – to leave everything set on D for dunce and just go driving.

Push hard and the front end usually washes wide in corners, but in quicker corners the Corolla will move around in the rear just enough to make it feel like a rally car on the loose. It’s a car where the driver will usually give up first.

Although the GR Corolla can look like a one-trick pony, it’s still a Toyota and still a Corolla. The air-conditioning is good, the panel fit is good, and it promises to be reliable and (relatively) cheap to run.

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“It’s come right at the end of the life of the current Corolla. Which is a real tribute to Toyota,” said Robinson. “But the boot size is silly.”

“It is silly fun. But I don’t think I’d want to own one,”

I added to the conversation.

So, is too much just enough for a COTY champion?

“Yes, it’s a niche car. Yes, it’s expensive. Yes, it’s a bit of a hoon’s car,” said Nikolic, as he added the GR Corolla to the final COTY vote.

“But we can all rejoice that it’s a car that still exists in 2025.”

Specs

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