One thing I like about your videos is that you always find good in cars that you review and drive. I haven’t seen any yet that are overly negative. It really comes across that you just really love cars which I think resonates with a lot of viewers and hopefully brings you a lot of success. I’m a new viewer and I’ll be watching every new video that comes out. Keep up the great work!
I really like the new quality and the frequency of the reviews, you're also growing pretty rapidly as you are at 32k subs right now, haha I remember when you were at 9k
We were in the Blue Golf you tore past just before the Silverstream Turnoff - was bloody stoked to see one of these IRL leaving us in the dust - great review and loving the quality content, keep up the good work!
A colleague of mine has one. Sensational car. But 100% have a bias for the Honda. The Type R, just like you said, has a slight edge on the Corolla. And way more practical. Great video as always.
Hey Mate, love the videos especially the GR Corolla! will have one one day.... in the meantime I thought a Levorg might be good for a review? they seem to be dropping in price but that's not always a good thing haha
Nice vid; I have one of these and it is great on the back roads, and on all other roads in fact! Before buying, I test drove a civic type R and it was just 'too much' on the road; very uncomfortable! The GR is much better unless you are going to be on the track every weekend! The one major complaint I have about the car, which all reviewers seem to neglect, is that the stereo is terrible for a car of this price. If you like music then prepare to be spending considerably to improve the sounds. And the boot really is very small. Apart from these niggles however, it is a fantastic car, and especially when out on the back roads!
Yeah definitely agree with all of those points. The CTR is excellent but it is also very stiff for our bumpy potholed roads. I'd back the Type R to win on track, but I'd rather have the Corolla because 99% of the driving I do is on the roads
Sat in a gr Yaris around manfield, wouldn't be surprised if it's in the mid 1:20s, the g forces coming out of corners with the AWD was mind bending I was shocked how well it gripped
As someone who spends a fair amount of time in various cars (cleaning them), including standard corollas, I don’t think the difference is huge with practicality. The back seat space and boot of standard ones are fairly small. The GR obviously has the 4wd system so it will be more compromised.
@@KiwiCarLife yeah, I’m planning on getting a GR Yaris in the near future. For my needs I can’t justify the extra $15k+ for a corolla as the Yaris will be practical enough for me.
With the new Toyota sports cars from GR the GR goes in front of the grade name. I’d also argue that the RS3 is in another segment. It’s more directly in competition with the S3 than the RS. Quite a few changes have come to the car now too with the new version
The new Corolla GR no longer is 50-50 in track mode. Its dynamic between 60-40 and 70-30 I think, savagegeese talked to the engineers. It is also now available with an AT. And a shame its not sold here in Europe, that said, it would be 80K's due to taxes so I understand why they dont. I would remove all the GR badges if I owned this though, make it a bit more of a sleeper to the uninitiated :P EDIT: 5:49, is that a CM2? :)
Yus!!! been hanging out for this video for age. i am absolutely torn between this and the yaris GR, both are absolutely incredible cars. Have you reviewed a yaris by any chance? If so which was better?? A comparison vid between the 2 would be interesting.
@@Indestructable they’re pretty similar, the Corolla has slightly more power stock. But if you want a weekend race car you buy the Yaris but the Corolla is the daily. As a dad with a kid i need the Corolla for example.
Yaris is rawer than the Corolla, lighter and faster, but Corolla is the more comfortable ride, depends what your priorities are, but both are cracking cars
I was literally saying to my wife this morning I wondered when you were gonna get your hands on a GR Toyota..... Must of heard me. Now Im thinking nice Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio or a Fiat Abarth 695 Competizione would be awesome to see if you please 🙂
Yaris is the rally spec, and this is the track spec. I think. And Yaris is lighter and is a 2 door hatch, and might be cheaper in NZ than the corolla GR. Either way, Toyota are cooking the hot hatch market which is great to see
Yeah even without a rev match it still goes in fine. I know some older cars really don't like going into first if you're moving though haha. Kinda have to though on some of those really tight corners if you want immediate power out of the corner. Otherwise you get turbo lag
I like it, but it's just not good value for money compared to it's rivals. Bang per buck you can do so much better than the GR. Still, a great car all the same. Nice review, as always. 👍
I don't know how much it costs in NZ, but in many countries a GR Yaris and Corolla, are more affordable than the rivals, and even go faster on the nurburgring. Some even called them "cheat codes", as it's easy to drive fast and safely.
Yeah see there's a car that is MUCH better value: Megane RS265. Honestly just as fun to drive as the Corolla but 1/6 the price. If you're prepared to deal with the rubbish interior that is...
@@KiwiCarLife The Corolla literally just came out on production, compared to a decade old French car, difficult to compare the value for money, specially with inflations rates we're encountering in recent years. The 2nd hands market and possibilities are clearly not the same.
_Really glad Toyota pulled their finger out and invested in performance models, there was a very dull period of selling just white goods that wasn’t good for their overall image, imo_
@KiwiCarLife of course.... could you imagine driving a pdk transmission with a gt3 or 4 on that? Would be more faster and more control than a manual transmission.
Supra I can understand, but I worked for Honda and the Type R was selling like hot cakes. I sold at least 7 or 8 just myself in a few months. In talking to the GR Corolla sales guy he said they're pretty slow to move. Market dead
You're pumping these reviews out good quality and good work! hope to see a evo 4-6 soon!
Or another Mitsubishi family sedan with a 3.8 L V6 ?😅
I think he's done an evo 5, surely a 7-8-9 somewhere soon
Thanks man! Already done the Evo V:
ua-cam.com/video/JLChsvN4GKk/v-deo.html
Would love to do an Evo 8/9 though!
One thing I like about your videos is that you always find good in cars that you review and drive. I haven’t seen any yet that are overly negative. It really comes across that you just really love cars which I think resonates with a lot of viewers and hopefully brings you a lot of success. I’m a new viewer and I’ll be watching every new video that comes out. Keep up the great work!
Thanks man! Yeah I try to be fair but see the fun side of cars for sure!
I would love one in a wagon
That would be cool!
Glad ya got ya hands on one. Looking forward to your thoughts
Yessss they are excellent
This and the Yaris were an absolute knock out of the park for Toyota, a real affordable-ish halo car
Definitely man!
I really like the new quality and the frequency of the reviews, you're also growing pretty rapidly as you are at 32k subs right now, haha I remember when you were at 9k
Thanks man! Yeah growth is doing well atm!
We were in the Blue Golf you tore past just before the Silverstream Turnoff - was bloody stoked to see one of these IRL leaving us in the dust - great review and loving the quality content, keep up the good work!
Haha no way that's crazy lol
Its look very cool in black❤❤
Yessss
Love how these reviews focus a lot on the performance driving experience. Much prefer these reviews to channels like ReDriven, nice work
Thanks man!
Long time love for the NZ car scene, keep it up!
Yessss
A colleague of mine has one. Sensational car. But 100% have a bias for the Honda. The Type R, just like you said, has a slight edge on the Corolla. And way more practical.
Great video as always.
Yeah definitely true. I'd back the Type R on track, but on the road the GR is more suited I feel.
Love how casual the sweatpants are in the reviews
Yeah I realised I'd just been working on putting the wheel bearing in the BRZ before filming this so they were a bit dirty oops
Love that road. Best car I've been over it was in a E36 M3 evo 😍
Hoho! That would be epic
Hey Mate, love the videos especially the GR Corolla! will have one one day.... in the meantime I thought a Levorg might be good for a review? they seem to be dropping in price but that's not always a good thing haha
Yeah I like the look of the Levorgs... I guess wagons in general are decreasing in popularity in favour of SUV's
Nice review, now I want one.
They're very cool!
Nice vid; I have one of these and it is great on the back roads, and on all other roads in fact! Before buying, I test drove a civic type R and it was just 'too much' on the road; very uncomfortable! The GR is much better unless you are going to be on the track every weekend! The one major complaint I have about the car, which all reviewers seem to neglect, is that the stereo is terrible for a car of this price. If you like music then prepare to be spending considerably to improve the sounds. And the boot really is very small. Apart from these niggles however, it is a fantastic car, and especially when out on the back roads!
Yeah definitely agree with all of those points. The CTR is excellent but it is also very stiff for our bumpy potholed roads. I'd back the Type R to win on track, but I'd rather have the Corolla because 99% of the driving I do is on the roads
Great review mate, pricey here in Aus but I have seen a few around and they certainly look the business, for me I would rather go with a Civic type R.
Fair enough! The Civic Type R is better overall, but this is a bit nicer on the rougher roads
Are you referring to FL or FK?
@@HashDogg06 I'm an FK fan!
Great review! I have a deposit on a 2025 GRC MT for early December delivery. It will be my daily-driver and weekend canyon-carver.
Very nice man! You'll love it!
how much is the total? and your deposit?
@@jasiantheasian8894 $500 deposit. $43k total + ttl, Premium trim
There's one thing you didn't mention - the rev hang. How was it? Is it as bad as the GR Yaris?
Nah I didn't notice it at all tbh.
another good review pity we dont get it over here in the uk
Yeah I guess you guys get the Yaris though. We’re very fortunate to have both!
I want one.
Me too!
Great cars and a good compromise compared to the GR Yaris if you need the extra practicality. Nice review mate!
Thanks man!
Be interesting to do a lap of Manfeild in that...1 min 20 maybe.
Sat in a gr Yaris around manfield, wouldn't be surprised if it's in the mid 1:20s, the g forces coming out of corners with the AWD was mind bending I was shocked how well it gripped
Yeah well my ISF did 1:22 at full chat so yeah I'd hope this would be similar if not faster
How does this compare to the golf r?
Oh much better I reckon. This is just that little bit more raw (and manual), without being too crazy. Golf is a bit like my M135i, luxury hatch
As someone who spends a fair amount of time in various cars (cleaning them), including standard corollas, I don’t think the difference is huge with practicality. The back seat space and boot of standard ones are fairly small. The GR obviously has the 4wd system so it will be more compromised.
Yeah very small boot in this one
@@KiwiCarLife yeah, I’m planning on getting a GR Yaris in the near future. For my needs I can’t justify the extra $15k+ for a corolla as the Yaris will be practical enough for me.
With the new Toyota sports cars from GR the GR goes in front of the grade name. I’d also argue that the RS3 is in another segment. It’s more directly in competition with the S3 than the RS. Quite a few changes have come to the car now too with the new version
That's true
The new Corolla GR no longer is 50-50 in track mode. Its dynamic between 60-40 and 70-30 I think, savagegeese talked to the engineers. It is also now available with an AT.
And a shame its not sold here in Europe, that said, it would be 80K's due to taxes so I understand why they dont.
I would remove all the GR badges if I owned this though, make it a bit more of a sleeper to the uninitiated :P
EDIT: 5:49, is that a CM2? :)
I see, haha yep sure is
Yus!!! been hanging out for this video for age. i am absolutely torn between this and the yaris GR, both are absolutely incredible cars. Have you reviewed a yaris by any chance? If so which was better?? A comparison vid between the 2 would be interesting.
I don’t mean to be rude, but i don’t know what is stopping you from choosing either? They’re so different it’s almost easy to pick one.
@@4dshow nah thats all good 👍🏼 mate the yaris is obviously gonna be faster but i prefer the corolla's looks. is the yaris that much faster though.....
@@Indestructable they’re pretty similar, the Corolla has slightly more power stock. But if you want a weekend race car you buy the Yaris but the Corolla is the daily. As a dad with a kid i need the Corolla for example.
Yaris is rawer than the Corolla, lighter and faster, but Corolla is the more comfortable ride, depends what your priorities are, but both are cracking cars
Both are very good, Yaris feels like more of a rally car, Corolla is more road. Civic Type R is more track
I was literally saying to my wife this morning I wondered when you were gonna get your hands on a GR Toyota..... Must of heard me. Now Im thinking nice Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio or a Fiat Abarth 695 Competizione would be awesome to see if you please 🙂
Haha I can ready your mind! Ooh yes giulia quad would be epic.
2:32 snowy day in New Zealand?
Haha nah just heavy rain
I like these a lot but shame we don't get these in the uk
Yeah true aye coz you guys get the Yaris GR
whats the different between yaris gr and corolla gr?
Yaris is the rally spec, and this is the track spec. I think. And Yaris is lighter and is a 2 door hatch, and might be cheaper in NZ than the corolla GR.
Either way, Toyota are cooking the hot hatch market which is great to see
Yeah the latest GR Toyota's are so good
If i was to only have a 1 car garage. The gr corrolla would definitely be the perfect car for the 1 car garage. Can do anything you want.
Yeah I'd have to agree. It does everything super duper well
@KiwiCarLife best part is that it's one of the only new cars with a good old mechanical hand brake.
Ow on earth did you get down too first hear around a corner 😅
Probably double clutch rev matching into it? You learn to do this if you ever owned a sub 80hp car 😂
Yeah even without a rev match it still goes in fine. I know some older cars really don't like going into first if you're moving though haha. Kinda have to though on some of those really tight corners if you want immediate power out of the corner. Otherwise you get turbo lag
this or fl5??
Honestly I’d take the Corolla tbh
what car do you think i should get for 15k looking for a manual daily
BMW 130i, Golf GTi, Subaru BRZ, basically any semi sporty hot hatch or sports car with a manual will be great
Yaris gr has more punch don’t you think?
Maybe a little? I remember the gears being shorter in that I think which might have helped
will you review a BMW M2 sometime?
Hopefully!
I like it, but it's just not good value for money compared to it's rivals. Bang per buck you can do so much better than the GR. Still, a great car all the same. Nice review, as always. 👍
I don't know how much it costs in NZ, but in many countries a GR Yaris and Corolla, are more affordable than the rivals, and even go faster on the nurburgring. Some even called them "cheat codes", as it's easy to drive fast and safely.
@@jingorooroad2559 Indeed. Sadly they are just a bit too expensive here in NZ for what they are, otherwise a very impressive car all the same.
@jingorooroad2559 cheat code is exactly how I would describe my ol Megane RS 265. So easy to drive fast and safely, handles so well over bad roads
Yeah see there's a car that is MUCH better value: Megane RS265. Honestly just as fun to drive as the Corolla but 1/6 the price. If you're prepared to deal with the rubbish interior that is...
@@KiwiCarLife The Corolla literally just came out on production, compared to a decade old French car, difficult to compare the value for money, specially with inflations rates we're encountering in recent years. The 2nd hands market and possibilities are clearly not the same.
_Really glad Toyota pulled their finger out and invested in performance models, there was a very dull period of selling just white goods that wasn’t good for their overall image, imo_
Yeah man they’re killing it recently
The boot in the base model is just as tiny. Actually smaller capacity (L) than the previous generation Yaris.
Yeah so small aye!
Great cars but I just feel they are overpriced but would definitely still get one 😂
Well, compared with all the competition 75k is about what the Type R, WRX, S3 etc all are
Surely a rs3 DAZA would kill this, totaly difference price bracket however
Yeah true, should have said S3
11.3 per 100km for a 3 cylinder
Civic type r forever and always
Bear in mind I had just thrashed it up a hill for 20 mins. It's capable of doing a lot better than that
221Kw out of a 1.6 3 cylinder engine is great! could be the one that finally outperforms the Type R.
Haha well... given the new Type R is 235kW, I'd say probably not.
the hell they put half an engine in it
One hell of a half an engine
AHHAHAHA
2025 automatic gr would be better
You reckon?
@KiwiCarLife of course.... could you imagine driving a pdk transmission with a gt3 or 4 on that? Would be more faster and more control than a manual transmission.
You have exceed 86 mph in GR Corolla. Your warranty is void. 😛
Haha lucky I didn't!
The new Civic and Mrk 5 Supra are an abomination, that's why you never see them on the streets.
Supra I can understand, but I worked for Honda and the Type R was selling like hot cakes. I sold at least 7 or 8 just myself in a few months. In talking to the GR Corolla sales guy he said they're pretty slow to move. Market dead
This is still not as good as an Civic 😂
The engine in this Yotas suck
When it's working it's good!