Turns out all the might of the GR Corolla’s all-wheel drive can’t make it faster than a FWD hot hatch hero

by Sam D. Smith

4 hours ago

by Sam D. Smith

We can all agree 2020 was a miserable year. With the pandemic at its peak and the entire world seemingly in some form of lockdown, things have never looked quite as bleak. But for petrolheads, there was a glimmer of hope: the GR Yaris from Toyota.

Originally destined to compete in the 2020 World Rally Championship (before the pandemic scuppered those chances), the GR Yaris is a tour de force of homologated excellence. Not only does it have a completely different bodyshell from the original — ditching five doors for three — it has 259 additional welds and 48 feet of extra structural adhesive. Most panels are aluminum, and the roof is carbon fiber. That’s all before you get to what was the most powerful three-cylinder engine in the world (257 hp / 261 PS / 192 kW) coupled with Toyota’s first new AWD system in more than two decades.

There was just one problem. As the Yaris was never sold stateside, those in the U.S. couldn’t get one. The costs to homologate the GR Yaris alone for the U.S. market were prohibitive. In fact, Americans have been denied virtually all WRC-homologated hot hatches. But there was one Toyota hatchback already on sale in America — the Corolla.

Related: Toyota GR Corolla Circuit Edition Returning For 2024

The GR Corolla took the transmission, suspension, and brakes from the GR Yaris and bumped the 3-cylinder’s horsepower up to 300 (304 PS / 224 kW), setting another record. But despite the Corolla going on a similar crash diet — with the Morizo even ditching its rear seats — the question remains whether it can be as fast as its still lighter forebear.

We now know thanks to the latest Icons video from Jason Cammisa and Hagerty. While the two cars are fairly evenly matched on the straights, the story is very different around the Willow Springs track. The Toyota GR Corolla Morizo set a time of 1:22.94, a whole five seconds faster than the GR Yaris. Granted, there were some inconsistencies, such as the Corolla being on grippier tires (Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s vs. Dunlop Sport Maxxs on the Yaris) and having limited slip diffs vs. the Yaris’ open ones. But even so, the bigger, heavier, and, let’s not forget, non-WRC-homologated car wiped the floor with its smaller brother. Even a decades-old — but granted, breathed upon — Lancia Delta Integrale was faster than the Yaris.

See Also: Honda Used New Lightweight Civic Type R-S To Set Nurburgring Record, But It’s Not Coming To U.S. Or U.K.

There’s just one problem, though: the Honda Civic Type R, fresh from setting a Nurburgring record. Let loose around the same track, Randy Pobst managed to better his own time set in the Corolla by half a second — a feat that’s even more impressive when you remember that the Civic is front-wheel drive.

Of course, there’s more to hot hatches than setting lap times. But even then, the GR Corolla’s trick all-wheel drive system is more about ensuring all the power is put down than having tail-out fun. The same cannot be said of the Volkswagen Golf R. Although slower, the Golf R can better distribute its power to trigger those smile-inducing powerslides. A wet track helps the Corolla, and that’s because of the car’s rally-oriented all-wheel drive layout.

But as Jason points out, we’ve all managed to survive a pandemic. Instead of taking life too seriously, we should be having fun — and that’s something that Toyota’s new crop of performance cars, including the GR Supra and GR86, are all delivering.