Ever since it debuted in 2022, the GR Corolla has been a huge success for Toyota. Not only have enthusiasts been fairly consistently rushing to line up for the opportunity to buy one—myself included, when I placed a deposit the day after its reveal—it also gave us all a renewed hope that we are not as close to the death of fun cars as we might have all thought. Three years into its life cycle, the 2025 Toyota GR Corolla receives some key updates to keep the hype train going, but one—the introduction of an eight-speed automatic transmission—raises some eyebrows.
So, what’s new for 2025?
Despite being manual-only, the Toyota GR Corolla does not lack buyers. Part of that is because it is geared towards those who would traditionally enjoy rowing-their-own, anyway. The other part is that the six-speed manual is a genuinely good transmission, offering a great sense of engagement that only gets better the more you push the car. However, in order to broaden the GR Corolla’s mass-market appeal for 2025, the automatic was necessary, as there will always be a select number of buyers actually willing to drive with three pedals. Fortunately, with the GR Corolla being performance-focused, Toyota was not simply going to add a slushbox and call it a day.
This eight-speed automatic was tweaked by Toyota’s Gazoo Racing division specially for sporty driving. Toyota says it can patter its shifts based on throttle and brake input, ensuring the car is always in an optimal state to react to the road ahead. From our experience, it mostly achieves this when leaving the transmission to its own devices. When shifting manually, however, we noticed a slight delay that takes away from our experience, but at least Toyota has finally gotten on board with the pull-back-to-upshift, push-forward-to-downshift pattern on its shifter for manual shifting. This makes much more sense when you factor in natural g-forces during acceleration and deceleration, and in our opinion, should be adopted universally.
Engine and driving impressions
The GR Corolla’s 1.6-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine also receives a small tweak for 2025. Power output remains at 300 horsepower, but Toyota bumped peak torque to 295 pound-feet, up from 273 in previous years. All this continues to give the Japanese hot hatch an intoxicating driving experience once the throttle meets the floor. The GR-Four all-wheel drive system is quick to find traction, helping launch the GR Corolla with a level of ferocity that gives us a big smile over and kept it there, over and over again. The small engine did have some unwanted turbo lag especially during stop-and go-traffic, but it doesn’t require too big of a stretch of road ahead to have us start smiling again. We averaged 9.3 L/100 kilometres over our week with the automatic GR Corolla—slightly better than what we originally expected, given Toyota’s official rating of 10.5 combined. Premium fuel is required to fill its 50-litre tank.
The GR Corolla’s steering feels accurate, incredibly quick, and with above-average feedback. It rotates exceptionally well thanks to the standard front and rear limited-slip differentials. The AWD system can split power front/rear three different ways—60/40 by default, 50/50 for maximum grip over gravel or in the wet, and 30/70 for some tail-wagging antics. In its pursuit to make the GR Corolla nimble, Toyota engineers increased structural rigidity and spring rates, but this results in a firm ride that borderlines on jarring. Unlike its arch rival, the Honda Civic Type R, the GR Corolla’s dampers are not adaptive.
Styling, comfort, and practicality
For a sporty small car, the GR Corolla nails the aggressive styling. Wide fenders, functional brake cooling ducts, and 18-inch wheels make the GR stand out over the standard Corolla Hatchback, and the front fascia sees a slight tweak for 2025 for better cooling and aerodynamics. Our tester is the Premium model that comes with a forged carbon fibre roof—an exclusive feature for this segment—and a bulging hood for enhances form and function. Standard colours include black and white, while Heavy Metal—read: grey—and our tester’s Supersonic Red are unique to the Premium trim.
Moving inside, this is where you’ll find the biggest flaw of the GR Corolla. Its interior appointments are below-grade compared to the competition. The eight-inch touchscreen is much smaller than today’s industry standards, there are a lot of hard-touch panels and surfaces throughout, and the overall layout is not much different than a base Corolla. The good news is that usability is excellent, with an easy-to-use infotainment interface and well-placed shortcut keys in easy-to-reach locations. The GR Corolla-specific bucket seats provide a firm hold, and we also liked that the GR Corolla can fit three in the back, albeit not very comfortably. It’s an improvement over the Civic Type R and Integra Type S, which don’t have a middle seat even though there’s enough room for one. Cargo volume checks in at 503 litres—a whopping 157 less than the standard Corolla hatch, which was already tight enough. This is because the cargo floor sits higher, on account of the battery being relocated to the back.
The verdict
In order to get the GR Corolla with the automatic, buyers will need to spend at least $58,992 for the Premium trim—a $10,000-plus premium over the base, manual Core. Of course, the extra creature comforts—such as the better JBL audio system, the heads-up display, dual-zone automatic climate control, wireless phone charging, and parking sensors—but the smart money will go to the Volkswagen Golf R if you are after an all-wheel-drive hot hatch.
Time will tell whether adding an eight-speed automatic to the 2025 Toyota GR Corolla will be successful, but the effort Toyota put in to make it as fun-to-drive as the manual is apparent. The interior design and high price point will turn away some buyers, but at the end of the day, we love the fact that there are more fun cars available and we think there will be enough demand for the GR Corolla to remain successful.
