The giant-slayer from Toyota: GR Corolla track test and review

I also was shopping for a fun new car that could handle some HPDE (specifically the GRC) but after some online sleuthing I came to the conclusion I didn't need to spend $45+k and figured the money was much better spent on servicing the vehicle  I currently own (that I use for HPDE).  Worth mentioning I've seen a few GRC's catch fire, blow engines and other issues popping up (just driving around, google it).  Not sure how well the GRC is going to hold up long term with drivers who actually drive.    

On a side note, my wife and I purchased a '22 Mazda3 turbo brand new and I did a track day at Sonoma (with some tires/wheels, support mods).  Reasonably fun to drive yes, but the features, design philosophy (not sure if that's what you'd call it) and build quality were what my wife kept  calling "skrimpy."  Barely 300 mile tank range, infotainment poorly designed / hard to access, paint is thin, smart key / door lock system is very frustrating, I can go on.  Definitely not a car you want to commute or have to spend a reasonable amount of time in imo.  

ps- TCR 3 was very cool.

We have a '23 Mazda CX-30 Turbo, which I suspect is basically a taller Mazda3 (not sure if the rear suspension is the same). For its intended purpose, I like it a lot and don't find the (non-touch) screen an issue, nor how the car locks, nor the automatically-applied parking brake. I very much enjoy the advances in technology that have happened since buying our 2013 F150. Fit and finish is great, zero complaints. It also has enough "go" to not embarrass itself and has room enough for us. That said, I'd never track it because it would very much be out of its element.

Just finished an 86F autocross event in my '23 Core w/ al three packages.  Never had a complaint from the car, I kept watching the dash temps because I was curious.  (I know this isn't track use, but it suits my needs just fine.  It was a lot of fun.)

I was instructing at Barber this July, it was about 94* and pretty much every gr Corolla overheated the diff once (there were about 7 of them, they get a free day with a NASA when they buy them) - everyone still had a blast, but it's something they'll need to get sorted. You'll realize how much it's doing when you lose it too! The car pushes hard when it goes into 2wd mode. 

In reply to Driving4fun :

Mazda has THE best infotainment in the business once you take the time to learn it. The fuel tank size on their small AWD cars is weird though.

accordionfolder said:

In reply to Driving4fun :

Mazda has THE best infotainment in the business once you take the time to learn it. The fuel tank size on their small AWD cars is weird though.

Man you play accordion and track a MS3.  We must be doppelgangers or something.  

I'm not in the industry nor have I cross shopped the market but I have to disagree from my own point of personal preference that the infotainment system was lame.  

accordionfolder said:

In reply to Driving4fun :

Mazda has THE best infotainment in the business once you take the time to learn it. The fuel tank size on their small AWD cars is weird though.

It's really, really good!

How small is small?  I had a car that had maybe a 250mi range if you stretched it and it was good for 35mpg when not even trying.

accordionfolder said:

I was instructing at Barber this July, it was about 94* and pretty much every gr Corolla overheated the diff once (there were about 7 of them, they get a free day with a NASA when they buy them) - everyone still had a blast, but it's something they'll need to get sorted. You'll realize how much it's doing when you lose it too! The car pushes hard when it goes into 2wd mode. 

I'm a little surprised that half the ads in the magazine aren't for GRC cooler kits. With as much grousing as is happening out there I'd think this would be a far more popular target for the aftermarket.

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

They all still had a good time and no one seemed particularly put off by it. I got to drive a students GRC for a few laps and while I didn't push super hard it was an impressive thing. The shifting in particular felt really nice and the auto downshift was fantastic.

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

From what I've seen on the forum and aftermarket shops, people know it exists but I haven't heard/seen a real solution come out yet.  I'd be surprised if there wasn't something by the end of the summer.

In reply to Jerry :

From the guy who seemed most in the know relating to the issue there wasn't a kit for it and no one is exactly sure (his words) which temp sensor it's determining the condition off of (transmission, diff, etc). One "bandaid" was to heat wrap the pipe near the diff and that didn't seem to do anything as he overheated his as well. The only car that didn't was the track pack with diffs, but he also didn't drive as hard as the others so hard to tell. 

Is it something like the Focus RS RDU where it is a calculated temperature?  Meaning, you could cool it til you are blue in the face but the computer would think it's overheating.

Methinks the solution, if that's the case, is to find out what the algorithm looks at and minimize the calculated heat load.  This will probably involve basic stuff that would make any front drive car pull harder from a corner.  That the vehicle with diffs didn't have overheating issues is telling, usually limited slip diffs ADD heat to a differential, and Torsens definitely add a lot of heat.