The GR Corolla is a marvel to behold
Back in the spring of 2022, Toyota unveiled the GR Corolla. The company described it as a “powerful, stylish, and agile hot hatch” that was inspired by Toyota’s Gazoo Racing (hence “GR” racing) division. The description fit perfectly: three cylinders and a fatty turbo spurred 300 horsepower from a 1.6-liter engine, and since it comes with a performance-focused and customizable all-wheel drive system with torque vectoring, the launch is enough to make the grumpiest person grin like a kid in a candy store. For a little pocket rocket that ranges from $39,920 to $45,965, it’s not a terrible bargain.
Kristen Brown
While it’s loaded with race-ready tech, drivetrain and powertrain components, suspension, braking, cornering, and real-time information displays, it’s missing a few other essential features that would make it a good car for a family. It has rear seats and windows, but cargo space is a bit lacking. My toddler’s car seat was easy to install, and they loved every second. But I only drove it for a week. Can it work for years? Here are my thoughts.
For obvious reasons, the back seats aren’t the best for car seats, but they’re not the worst, either
When you buy a car with a racing pedigree that’s built for, you know, taking on a track, you’re probably not asking yourself things like, “Are the rear seats big enough for kids? Do they have their own A/C vents? Will they have charging ports for phones and tablets? Are the windows big enough to keep car sickness at bay?” The GR Corolla certainly wasn’t designed around the ability to keep rear passengers as comfortable as the front passengers. But I was shocked by how functional they were for adults and older kids.
Kristen Brown
During my loan, my youngest was rear-facing, and my oldest was front-facing. My rear-facing toddler’s seat had to be moved to the passenger’s side because the angle of her seat didn’t work well with my preferred seating position. I kept the front-facing seat behind me; otherwise, the rear-facing seat would have my knees pushed into the dashboard. So, if you have two rear-facing seats, I hope you’re very short, because the safest angle for a car seat will have you holding the steering wheel like a grandma who can’t see.
Kristen Brown
There isn’t a center console or elbow rest (and who needs one when you’re white-knuckle driving at your closest autocross session), and while that makes it a bit uncomfortable for longer drives, it also means there isn’t much for the rear passengers, like A/C vents–though they’re so close to the front it doesn’t matter too much. There is an armrest in the rear, too, built into the middle seat that folds down, so for older kids who don’t need seats or kids who need a booster seat, thumbs up. For car seats, it’s tight. One thing my husband said was, “But they’re not in car seats forever!” So, do with that what you will.
The rally-ready GR Corolla doesn’t have the smoothest ride, but it can be adjusted
My toddlers grew up going for rides in Daddy’s car, a 2002 WRX wagon, which has been modified to have a stiffer ride, and it has a louder catback exhaust system. It was my daily driver when I was pregnant with my first, so she’s quite used to being jostled around in a loud, bumpy car. My youngest is one of those toddlers who could sleep through a World War if she were tired enough, so the GR Corolla’s bumpier ride paired with the loud (and very satisfying) factory exhaust didn’t bother her. My girls loved hopping into the GR Corolla, but I thought of my nephew, who’s very sensitive to loud noises and gets overstimulated by too much movement.
Kristen Brown
If your kid(s) are similar to my nephew, they most likely wouldn’t appreciate the GR Corolla as the default mode of transportation. But if they’re like my kids, who thrive on chaos and noise, they’ll be begging you to take them with you when you’re heading out to get groceries. My kids adored the track mode, which made launching from a stop so easy a caveman could do it–but I could see it scaring the socks off of my nephew. However, the racing-ready suspension is also adjustable, and you can easily adjust the dampers to make it less bumpy in Eco or Custom mode. That got a solid thumbs up from my husband and me, though we enjoyed it in its standard suspension feel setup.
The trunk is actually pretty decent
Once you look past the rear bracer that’s hidden in the trunk, the GR Corolla has a trunk that measures 17.8 cubic feet, which is only a tad smaller than the Mazda CX-30 or the Subaru Crosstrek. So, it’s more than enough space for your groceries, or your pack to hold your racing suit, helmet, and shoes, but you’d be asking a lot of it to carry baby essentials like a stroller (unless it was a compact or modular stroller, of course). The entrance to the trunk is a bit on the narrow side, too, so you’d have to do some serious fiddling to get larger items to fit.
Kristen Brown
The sloped hatch would make it a challenge to stack boxier or taller items, too, so it obviously wouldn’t be the ideal car to use for moving or longer trips with a boatload of luggage. That’s when I employ my SUV or our old Land Rover. If the GR Corolla were your only car with kids, well, good luck to you.
The purpose-built hot hatch is packed with safety features, though
By now, you’re probably thinking that you won’t be able to convince your partner to let you buy a GR Corolla to haul the kids around in because of its lack of passenger and cargo space. However, a very strong argument can be made about its safety features. After all, if it’s meant to be a great track day car, it has to be safe to do that in, right? The little rapscallion has a long list of safety features from the company, like its excellent pre-collision system in the front and rear, complete with pedestrian detection, lane departure alert with steering assist, lane-keeping assistance, and adaptive (and excellent) cruise control.
Kristen Brown
The Premium Plus trim also has road sign assistance, and when it’s built with the automatic transmission, it also has proactive driving assist that employs the car’s camera system and radar to apply braking and steering support with it detects another car, pedestrian, or even a cyclist when you’re cornering. It also has blind spot detection and rear cross traffic alert, automatic emergency braking, and rear side impact airbags with front and rear side curtain airbags, too, so your little ones would be plenty safe in the back of the GR Corolla.
Final thoughts
Since my toddlers enjoyed their time in the back of the GR Corolla Premium Plus, I could absolutely picture one in my driveway. However, for the same reasons I don’t use the 2002 WRX as my default kid-hauler, its cargo limitations make it more of a hassle than it is fun. Every once and a while, when I need a system refresh and my kids could use a giggle sesh, I’ll put their seats in the WRX, but I always end up putting them back in my SUV, because an SUV is a lot more versatile with car seats and hauling larger items. It also gets better mileage (though, not by much, because it’s a Subaru). So, can it work? Yes. Does that mean you should be driving them every single day in one? That’s entirely up to you–but as much as I love driving a small hot hatch with my car seat-bound kids, I feel like it would be a lot more fun when my kids are bigger, since they don’t require as much.
