If you’ve been waiting for Toyota to release a paddle-shift option for the GR Corolla before pulling the pin on that order, the good news is it’s finally here. The bad news is the 2025 GR Corolla automatic costs more than you were probably expecting. Choosing to go with the new eight-speed auto instead of the standard six-speed manual transmission adds US$ 2,000 to the bill, which isn’t an outrageous amount. But factor in the GR Corolla’s US$ 2,360 price increase for 2025 on top of that auto premium and you might start wishing you’d just bought a manual last year and quit being so left-leg lazy.
There are a couple of reasons to be glad
you waited until 2025, however. One is that while this year’s 1.6-liter,
turbocharged triple makes the same 300 hp as the 2024 motor, it does
get a small torque boost, the total improving from 370 Nm to 400 Nm. The new eight-speed auto also gets a launch control that the manual
misses out on, though Toyota says the stick version now has a snappier clutch
action. And all GR Corollas benefit from a revised suspension setup that
includes rebound springs to keep the inside rear wheel planted, and changes to
the rear mounting points to reduce squat under hard acceleration.
At the top of the lineup, it’s all
changed; last year’s Circuit Pack car is replaced by the dreary-sounding but
well-equipped Premium Plus. Costing US$ 46,650 with three pedals (US$ 48,850
with two), it gets a forged carbon hood with bulge and functional air vents, a
sub radiator, matte black wheels, a head-up display, and red stitching for its
GR-logo sports seats.