THE GR COROLLA GOES AUTOMATIC

I love Toyota products. My daily driver is a Toyota. So, needless to say, I'm excited that LA Car was granted access to a sleek, sporty 2025 GR Corolla Premium Plus. My route will take me from L.A. through the Inland Empire and into the Coachella Valley and, I must say, I'm going to look pretty cool rolling into sunny Palm Springs.

I've heard mixed reviews on the exterior styling of this vehicle, but I think it looks awesome. Our test vehicle is Supersonic Red in color with a striking forged carbon fiber roof. The gloss-black front grille and hood bulge gives the car a bold, determined look, while the triple stainless-steel-tipped exhaust in the rear adds to the vehicle's dynamic appearance.

And as if all that isn't enough, there are wide front and rear fender flares that draw attention to the big 18-inch matte black 15-spoke alloy wheels. The red brake calipers with the GR (Gazoo Racing) logo really stand out!

The car looks pretty sharp on the inside, as well. The seating is comfortable, and the GR headrests look great. The heated front seats are trimmed in soft Brin-Naub suede and synthetic leather. The heated leather-trimmed steering wheel is a nice touch, too. Many of the control buttons for vehicle features are located on the steering wheel, which seems practical but can be a bit of a distraction when searching for a specific button.

The driver has a bright, functional 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and a helpful head-up display. There is a perfectly sized 8-inch multimedia screen for navigation and infotainment needs. A JBL premium audio system with eight speakers (including a subwoofer and amplifier) certainly does a respectable job of playing your favorite tunes. As with most newer vehicles, the GR Corolla has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility.

The vehicle seems to be a solid performer. Under the hood of this all-wheel drive beauty is a 300-horspower 1.6-liter 3-cylinder engine (the same as in the GR Yaris) with a top track speed of 142.9 mph. Paired with that peppy engine is a fairly decent 8-speed automatic transmission, although a slight lag in acceleration is a bit annoying. This car would be better served (and more fun) with a manual transmission and - guess what - that's exactly what the 2026 models are equipped with. This vehicle has paddle shifters if I do wish to shift manually.

My road test allows me to try the various drive modes of the vehicle, including a gravel setting, and they each perform well. Most people would just take the freeway straight down to Palm Springs, but I'm testing the GR Corolla not only on the freeway, but also on the twisty-turny, gravel-laden side roads of Reche Canyon (watch out for wild donkeys in the area) and even a stop along Historic Route 66 at Southern California's legendary Wigwam Motel in San Bernardino. The car handles quite well on the various road surfaces, not to mention getting quite a few looks from other drivers along the way.

My biggest concern with this vehicle thus far is the bumpy ride. The suspension is stiff and, call it sporty or whatever you want to, this is probably the least comfortable ride of any vehicle I've tested in recent memory. It is equipped with MacPherson-type struts in the front and double-wishbone rear suspension, as well as GR sport-tuned suspension, but bumpy is bumpy! But, aside from the jarring ride, the car does handle well, cornering sharply and braking confidently.

The GR Corolla has a variety of safety and convenience features, including a pre-collision system with pedestrian detection, dynamic radar cruise control and lane departure alert. Toyota's Star Safety System includes many features, such as enhanced stability control, traction control and electronic brake-force distribution, just to name a few.

There are a number of connected services available, as well, such as Safety Connect (enhanced roadside assistance, automatic collision notification and stolen vehicle locator,) Service Connect (for maintenance updates and vehicle health reports,) Remote Connect (interact with your vehicle via your smartwatch,) Drive Connect (cloud navigation with points of interest,) and Wi-Fi Connect, with an AT&T hotspot and streaming music services. There is a free trial subscription for each.

So, as mentioned before, I love Toyota products. As for the 2025 GR Corolla Premium Plus, do I love it? No. I like it a lot, but I don't really love it. Our test vehicle, as equipped, has an MSRP of $49,009, but it just doesn't feel like 50K worth of car to me. The stiff suspension and less-than-comfortable ride is a bit off-putting, plus I think this car would be much more fun with a manual transmission rather than an automatic. But, for speed enthusiasts, this turbocharged all-wheel drive performance hatchback may check all the boxes. – Reed Berry

Sidebar Comment

For years, manufacturers have tried to make sporty cars with sporty automatic transmissions. About 20 years ago, Volkswagen-Audi introduced its dual-clutch, quick-shifting DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox) automatic transmission, and several other manufacturers followed suit with their own versions. They worked so well that sporty cars with dual clutch transmissions started turning in quicker 0-60 mph times and faster lap times than their manual transmission counterparts. 

Notwithstanding the efficiency of dual-clutch automatics, GTI aficionados will tell you the manual is more fun to drive and makes the driver feel more in control of the car. The GTI fan base lamented the discontinuance of the manual transmission this year (see LACar’s The Final Stick Shift GTI).

When Toyota introduced the GR Corolla, the car was only offered with a manual transmission. It was the logical choice, given the GR Corolla’s higher state of tune and more primal demeanor. Unlike the GTI or Golf R, the GR Corolla has no pretense of luxury. Door and dash panels don’t hide its Corolla underpinnings. What you get is virtually a street legal race car. 

Still, people clamored for an automatic transmission version. And so this year Toyota introduced the GAZOO Racing Direct Automatic Transmission (DAT) for the GR Corolla. The DAT GR Corolla uses software to analyzes the driver's brake and throttle inputs to predict and execute shifts before changes in vehicle dynamics occur. It also features a multi-plate lock-up clutch for a direct connection, and high-response solenoids for quick shifts, plus launch control for off-the-line acceleration. The system includes rev-matching on downshifts, which helps provide a smoother and more performance-oriented driving experience. 

Toyota’s version of a sport-orientated automatic transmission has proven to be smoother than its dual-clutch competition for every-day driving. Like the dual-clutch variety, however, Toyota’s version is quick. While early reports had the manual turning quicker times, more recent tests indicate the DAT is faster to 60 mph and in the quarter mile. The DAT has been dinged for occasional premature shifts in the middle of cornering, but this is all a matter of software tuning. The DAT is expected to improve over time. 

As good as it is, however, GR Corolla enthusiasts are quick to point out that the car with a manual transmission is more fun to drive and simply a sportier experience. The purists have a point. You don’t buy a GR Corolla for a casual Sunday drive. The GR Corolla is for high involvement in the driving experience. Getting an automatic GR Corolla would be akin to going to the best burger joint in town and ordering a hot dog. Then again, some of those hot dogs are pretty damn good. – Roy Nakano