2025 Toyota GR Corolla Review: Turbo Hatchback Shines With A Stick

The only significant deviation for the enthusiast-beloved Toyota GR Corolla for the 2025 model year is the inclusion of an automatic transmission option. While purists and elitists are certainly not quiet about their opinions on the matter, our experience with the automatic variant was still quite pleasant. Moreover, it gives folks who are physically unable to drive a manual transmission car the chance to experience the phenomenal driving experience of Toyota's spicy all-wheel-drive hot hatchback. So, can it, would you? We get it. You don't like automatic cars.

With all that out of the way, I feel it's worth noting that I don't really like automatic cars. Given the choice, I'm always going to spring for the manual option. So, I was pleased to find the six-speed stick in this 2025 Toyota GR Corolla Premium. Last year, I drove the 2024 Circuit model and was enamored for months. That's not an exaggeration, either. There's a reason that across various writers here at SlashGear, the GR Corolla consistently secures a 10/10 rating.

The GR Corolla's driving experience is bordering unfathomable in a modern setting. This breed of (relatively) affordable compact performance cars is nearly extinct. Yet, here we are, with the opportunity to buy an all-wheel drive hot hatchback ready to rip through a racetrack like a hot knife through butter in 2025. 

Pitted against my favorite local windy mountain road, the GR Corolla makes you feel like an absolute racing champion. I've navigated it in dozens of cars, from the Maserati MC20 to the affordable handling hero benchmark, the Mazda Miata. Still, nothing quite hits the spot like the GR Corolla. It isn't just the car's phenomenal grip and all-wheel drive system that makes this the case, either.

When paired with the manual transmission, the visceral experience of downshifting into tight corners and punching out with the angry roar of the Corolla's mighty little three-cylinder is unmatched. The GR Corolla evokes the feelings of a breed of cars that, not long ago, felt like it had died off. The ride is relatively rough, the gear shifter is notchy and mechanical, the brakes are aggressive, and it has a fairly substantial amount of road noise. It's a 100 percent true-to-form hot hatchback. An affordable run-of-the-mill vehicle turned into a monster designed to punch up and outpace performance cars that cost five figures more than it does.

There's no shade being thrown at folks who can't drive a manual or prefer the automatic version. It's your money and your car. That said, I am a firm believer that those who can experience the manual GR Corolla will have a better time rowing their own gears.

Like the previous model, the 2025 GR Corolla Premium uses a six-speed manual transmission with Toyota's Intelligent Manual Transmission (iMT) technology. When switched on, the iMT perfectly blips the throttle to the ideal engine RPM for whichever gear you've put it in. So, when ripping through corners and using a bit of engine braking to assist, one can simply keep one foot on the clutch and one on the brake while the car handles the throttle. The system works flawlessly, though I can already hear the purists screaming about how that's "cheating." While I, too, prefer to do the rev-matching myself, let's not forget that actual race cars use auto-blip systems like this.

The allure of an automatic for a daily driver is understandable. As someone who regularly navigates rush-hour Los Angeles traffic in a manual car, I get it. However, I assure you that if you're on the fence about buying a manual to save your left leg in traffic, you will not regret smiling through the suffering once the roads clear.

According to the EPA, the manual-equipped 2025 GR Corolla gets slightly better fuel economy than the automatic variant. With a rating of 24 mpg city and 28 mpg highway, it beats the auto by two mpg city and one mpg highway. Surely, that's a fairly negligible difference if you're after the auto. However, I should note that with both the 2024 Circuit and 2025 Premium, I drove the same 150-mile trip and averaged over 30 miles per gallon with cruising speeds between 70 and 80 miles per hour. Both times, it was a pleasant and welcome surprise.

Overall, the GR Corolla's calculation showed an average of over 27 miles per gallon throughout my week of city and highway driving. Of course, there was a healthy dose of spirited acceleration there. Considering most folks don't spring for a 300-horsepower all-wheel-drive car with fuel savings in mind, I'd say that's pretty dang good.

As is standard on all Toyota vehicles, the Safety Sense suite is present even on the base Core trim GR Corolla. That means features like radar cruise control, lane departure warning, automatic lane keep assist, and more. It begs the question, why spring for the Premium package?

Its additions largely focus on the interior: heated front seats with synthetic leather and a heated steering wheel; a JBL Premium audio system. You also get front and rear parking sensors, and a Qi-compatible wireless charging pad. 

Admittedly, even with JBL's handiwork, the overall audio experience is still lackluster. In addition, as was referenced in our automatic variant review, the interior is fairly bland: at the end of the day, it's still a Corolla. I maintain that should be viewed as a plus, though. It's not pretending to be anything it isn't. It's a proper hot hatchback. Whether those creature comforts are worth a nearly $2,500 trim level upgrade, though, is entirely up to you.

The biggest problem many folks have with the GR Corolla is its price tag. After all, a base-model standard 2025 Corolla Hatchback starts at just under $24,000. So, stepping up to even the Core GR Corolla model adds a cool $14,000. The Premium model I tested has a sticker price of $47,603. That's a whopping $23,000 more than a standard Corolla Hatchback. 

In the grand scheme of things, nearly $50,000 for a Toyota Corolla is understandably off-putting. However, when put in the context of what it should be compared to, it starts to seem slightly less crazy. The iconic Honda Civic Type R starts at nearly $46,000, the Integra Type S base is nearly $53,000, and the 2025 Golf R is likely to be priced around the same range. Considering that the entry-spec GR Corolla is cheaper than every one of those competitors, it starts to seem far more reasonable.

Despite the scoffs I got at the gas station when asked how much the Toyota costs, then, it's pretty par for the course. It might share the name and platform with one of the go-to cheap and reliable hatchbacks, but it's still a turbocharged all-wheel drive performance car.

Just like the last time I spent time behind the wheel of a GR Corolla, I'm returning the car obsessed. I find myself constantly thinking about ways that I can bend my finances to my will and put one in my garage. It's hard to explain, but, in my opinion, the GR Corolla is by far the best enthusiast vehicle on the market right now. It's remarkably easy to overlook the basic interior and semi-uncomfortable ride quality when you're grinning ear-to-ear, ripping around corners, and having the time of your life.

As Ferris Bueller said, far more elegantly than I could: "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up." So, if you're considering purchasing a GR Corolla and are more financially fit than I am, I would strongly encourage it. The reality is every bit as good as it is in your head.