2025 Toyota GR Corolla First Look: Wait, What's DAT!? An Automatic?
Updated hot hatch includes a two-pedal option, uprated torque, better cooling, sharper suspension, and more.
The GR Corolla is a rally-inspired, turbocharged three-cylinder, all-wheel-drive hot hatch we never knew we wanted from Toyota of all companies. Its execution turned out to be as good as the premise, and given the successful-ish releases of Toyota's Gazoo Racing (GR)-massaged Supra and 86, it feels like the automaker has reconnected with the fun-to-drive car mojo that used to be sprinkled throughout its lineup. As if really pandering to the car enthusiasts in the cheap seats, Toyota even made the GR Corolla manual-only, with no automatic transmission offered. But that also left a lot of stick-shift-unfamiliar enthusiasts out of the picture, as well as those who slog through tedious commutes in between pulse-quickening back-road blasts or track outings. To bridge that gap, Toyota has developed an eight-speed automatic transmission for the 2025 GR Corolla. Don't worry, the six-speed stick shift is still standard.
0:00 / 0:00
DAT Gearbox
The new automatic transmission is one of several improvements this year from the brand’s speed shop solely for the performance version of the Corolla. Toyota also adds some torque, more aggressive ducting, and a few other conspicuous tricks. But let's start with that transmission.
Toyota gives the eight-speed a no-nonsense name—Direct Automatic Transmission—and promises quick shifts and optimal gear selection. Its tune is said to rely more on driver inputs than vehicle dynamics (drawing a distinction between the Corolla and the eight-speed automatics available in the GR Supra and GR86 sports cars, whose transmissions are programmed to respond as much to the vehicle's actual behavior as it moves across the pavement as the driver's direct inputs), and if you don’t like what the computer gives you, it comes with paddle shifters that let you pick your own ratios. Unlike the automatic in Volkswagen's Golf R, another turbocharged, all-wheel-drive hot hatch, the Toyota's is a regular torque-converter unit, not a dual-clutch automatic. We look forward to testing how "direct" the GR Corolla's new automatic feels compared to the VW's sharp, quick-shifting twin-clutch format.
Also, while the 2025 model-year Honda Civic Type R has yet to be detailed (the rest of the Civic lineup receives a refresh this year), it likely will continue on with only a six-speed manual, meaning this new DAT option gives Toyota one new edge over its Japanese rival.
Torquier, More Stable
Also updated this year is the GR Corolla’s power output. Every hatchback’s 1.6-liter G16E-GTS engine now makes 300 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque, a 22 lb-ft bump compared to last year's Core and Circuit trims and on par with the back-seat-less, hardcore, track-focused Morizo Edition that was dropped from the 2024 lineup after one model year. (It isn't yet clear whether Toyota also has gifted regular GR Corolla's with the Morizo's shorter-ratio manual gearbox, too, but that model's extra torque is welcome.) Launch Control has been adopted for the new eight-speed auto, as well.
The Corolla’s suspension receives front and rear rebound springs this year. Toyota says it also optimized the hatch’s rear suspension geometry with improved springs and anti-sway bar and a new higher trailing arm pickup point. The purpose of these changes is a flatter, more stable GR Corolla in fast corners. We didn't find the car particularly squirrelly under such conditions previously, but it was definitely tuned for more rambunctious tail-end behavior than the more mature Honda Civic Type R, which lent it a fun rally-car vibe in slower, tighter corners.
New Face
Models with the automatic also come with a standard transmission fluid cooler. The 2025 car’s front bumper has been carved up to accommodate it and other cooling components, namely the radiator, intercooler, upgraded brake ducts, and a new available sub-radiator.
The Corolla looks a lot buffer with the bumper and the bulged hood with air vents that is standard with the Premium Plus model—definitely JDM time attack vibes. The venting should help with operating temperatures, too.
Updated Premium, New Premium Plus
The supplementary heat exchanger is offered as a factory-installed option on the upgraded Premium trim and standard on the new Premium Plus. The enhanced Premium model also gets GR-logo'd suede-trimmed seats with gray stitching, front and rear parking sensors, and new two-zone climate control, which should go nicely with its heated front seats and steering wheel.
Other returning model features include JBL eight-speaker premium audio and a wireless phone charger. The 2025 GR Corolla Premium includes a gloss-black grille and vented rear lower bumper, and is available in Ice Cap, Heavy Metal, Black, and Supersonic Red exterior colors.
The Circuit Edition has been discontinued for 2025, but the Premium Plus takes its place at the top of the lineup, though the two trims are pretty different. The common element is the forged carbon-fiber roof. A head-up display is newly standard at this grade.
The 18-inch BBS wheels on the Circuit are gone, though, replaced by Toyota-spec matte-black alloys on the Premium Plus. It also gets red stitching instead of blue, and the blue accents that came with the Circuit model are history.
Additional changes to the 2025 Core base model are minimal. The front and rear torque-sensing limited-slip differentials and 18-inch wheels on performance tires that were standard last year on the middle trim have now trickled down to the entry-level model.
Gratis NASA Membership
To encourage owners to bone up on performance driving basics, Toyota includes a free one-year membership to the National Auto Sport Association with purchase of a 2025 GR Corolla. The club racing sanctioning body offers benefits including one free High Performance Driving Event, or if you’d rather watch than drive, discounted admission to NASA races.
When and How Much?
Every version of the GRC that we’ve driven has been a blast and we can’t wait to strap into this one. The brains at Toyota’s performance arm are clearly on a roll. The 2025 GR Corolla arrives winter 2024 with new standard GR-branded red painted brake calipers and fresh interior trim finishes on flat surfaces and switches. Look for more details and pricing to come out closer to launch.
My dad was a do-it-yourselfer, which is where my interest in cars began. To save money, he used to service his own vehicles, and I often got sent to the garage to hold a flashlight or fetch a tool for him while he was on his back under a car. Those formative experiences activated and fostered a curiosity in Japanese automobiles because that’s all my Mexican immigrant folks owned then. For as far back as I can remember, my family always had Hondas and Toyotas. There was a Mazda and a Subaru in there, too, a Datsun as well. My dad loved their fuel efficiency and build quality, so that’s how he spent and still chooses to spend his vehicle budget. Then, like a lot of young men in Southern California, fast modified cars entered the picture in my late teens and early 20s. Back then my best bud and I occasionally got into inadvisable high-speed shenanigans in his Honda. Coincidentally, that same dear friend got me my first job in publishing, where I wrote and copy edited for action sports lifestyle magazines. It was my first “real job” post college, and it gave me the experience to move just a couple years later to Auto Sound & Security magazine, my first gig in the car enthusiast space. From there, I was extremely fortunate to land staff positions at some highly regarded tuner media brands: Honda Tuning, UrbanRacer.com, and Super Street. I see myself as a Honda guy, and that’s mostly what I’ve owned, though not that many—I’ve had one each Civic, Accord, and, currently, an Acura RSX Type S. I also had a fourth-gen Toyota pickup when I met my wife, with its bulletproof single-cam 22R inline-four, way before the brand started calling its trucks Tacoma and Tundra. I’m seriously in lust with the motorsport of drifting, partly because it reminds me of my boarding and BMX days, partly because it’s uncorked vehicle performance, and partly because it has Japanese roots. I’ve never been much of a car modifier, but my DC5 is lowered, has a few bolt-ons, and the ECU is re-flashed. I love being behind the wheel of most vehicles, whether that’s road tripping or circuit flogging, although a lifetime exposed to traffic in the greater L.A. area has dulled that passion some. And unlike my dear ol’ dad, I am not a DIYer, because frankly I break everything I touch.
Read More
