WITH WIDESPREAD electrification making its inexorable advance in the motoring world, it's a brave move on Toyota's behalf- and perhaps a long-overdue one - to finally introduce a high-performance variant of its big-selling Corolla so late in proceedings.
We've now had two decades' worth of Volkswagen Golf R variants, a bunch of Honda Civic Type Rs and a barrage of other high-quality hot hatches, yet the 'Gazoo Racing' GR Corolla GTS is the first genuine attempt by Toyota at a redhot 'Rolla since... um, the Celica-engined Corolla Sportivo in Australia (2002-2006) and the Corolla-based, V6-engined Blade Master in Japan (2007-2012).
Yet Toyota's loyal fanbase has remained ever-faithful, scrambling to acquire every build allocation of GR product the world over, starting with the GR Yaris in 2020 and now continuing with the new GR Corolla.
Developed mostly to satisfy the North American market (which doesn't see the Yaris version), the hairiest Corolla carries over much of its baby brother's hardware and performance focus - including being six-speed-manualonly - blended into a more refined package ... though as we shall see, the highly focused GR Corolla is more incidentally liveable rather than deliberately cushy.
Australia and New Zealand are among a handful of markets to receive both GR Yaris and GR Corolla models, with Toyota Oz managing to secure 700 examples of the five-seat GR Corolla GTS ($62,300) over the next 12 months - officially on sale from the first week of March - and 25 examples of the more hardcore two-seat Morizo Edition ($77,800) arriving later in 2023.
Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Wheels Australia Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Wheels Australia Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
JAGUAR XE
JAGUAR WAVES GOODBYE TO LOWER-END PRODUCTS”
LOTS TO LIKE, NIGGLES TO FIX
MAZDA'S BOLDEST SUV YET WAVES GOODBYE, BUT IS IT A HIT OR A MISS?
THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE MORNING
ELLEN'S UP WITH THE LARKS BUT GETS AN UNWELCOME EARLY MORNING ALARM
LAND OF CONFUSION
OR HOW THE GENESIS GV80 STILL MANAGES TO KNOT THE BROWS OF THE UNINITIATED
CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
NAME YOUR TOP 10 HOT HATCHES AND WE’LL BET NONE OF THEM HAVE BATTERIES. THE ABARTH SO0E AND MINI COOPER SE AIM TO POWER INTO THAT OPPORTUNITY
Polar expresS
A DROP-TOP FERRARI ON THE COLDEST DAY OF THE YEAR? ANDY ENRIGHT RUGS UP FOR A FRESH BLAST THROUGH SOUTH GIPPSLAND'S FINEST ROADS
DYNASTY REUNION
AHEAD OF THE ARRIVAL OF THE GS0 BMW Mo, WE FIND OUT WHICH GENERATION OF MUNICH'S SUPER-SEDAN IS THE GREATEST EVER
FORD CAPRI
THE EV YOU ALWAYS PROMISED YOURSELF?
VOLKSWAGEN TOUAREG R
TOP-TIER TOUAREG DELIVERS WHAT YOU EXPECT FROM THAT R BADGE
MG 4 X-POWER
MG TAKES A MULLIGAN ON THE X-POWER