2023 Toyota GR Corolla Circuit Edition vs 2023 Volkswagen Golf R - Head to Head Track Review!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ย. 2024
- I drove the new GR Corolla Circuit Edition and Golf R back-to-back at Road America to find out which manual, 300+ hp, AWD hot hatch is more enjoyable on track.
Shout-out to the kind folks at MAMA who organized the 2023 Spring Rally at Road America.
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Thanks for another great video!
There are some things to note also when comparing these cars as there is a distinct target audience difference which is kind of an elephant in the room for me. Not many people touch on the topic and I think it goes largely misunderstood.
European and Japanese cars are built to different markets, and in both cases the more premium versions are definitely focused more toward their “home crowd” rather than the “away crowd”. That said European cars simply aren’t meant to be on the road passed their warranty periods and therefore must present better value off the showroom floor, whereas Japanese cars are made to last the long haul and are built in a way that aids that target. This is why you’ll find soft touch leatherette in a base model European car and hard plastic in a flagship Japanese car. If you’re going to pay lots of money for a car that will last you 5 years tops, it’d better be nice!
There exists a similar approach to performance between the two, also. European cars are made to be better optimised out of the box, which is why many of them really rip hard. Japanese cars are always made to be more conservative and “safe” - particularly Toyotas.
As an owner of a GR Yaris I can say hand on heart that out of the box the car sucked 😂 The ecu is excessively detuned, excessively nanny and reduces power whenever the breeze is too warm, the ergonomics of the seats were made for 140cm grandmothers, the factory ride was also made for said grandmothers, all in all the car was too safe and too soft. Simply changing the alignment made the car wildly different, and replacing the drivers seat was like buying a new car all over again. Fast forward 2.5 years of ownership and track development and the car is irreplaceable. I say that knowing I park it next to a GTR. They basically gimp the thing to make it modest and safe, but leave oodles of race engineering locked away for enthusiasts to find and use. If this at all sounds far fetched you haven’t watched the original debut media from Toyota where (then) CEO Akio Toyoda literally said that the car was a blank canvas for owners to complete. It was never a finished product.
Something to forewarn those in the states is that the GR Corolla is a larger scale production version of the GR Yaris. Borrowing most of its components, some of them updated from prior learnings, and adapted to the Corolla body. It’s not as bespoke or Motorsport as it’s older (smaller) brother. So, set the bar a peg lower IMO.
The same cannot be said about the Golf R. Out of the box the car is made to be amazing. Any change is a trade off, and in my experience often a large one. To make it handle better than stock you would give away a lot of comfort, and perhaps not yield the results you were necessarily looking for. The cars are so well made you would need to really know what you were doing to improve drastically on the factory performance. A far cry from a set of KW suspension and a good alignment. Apologies to those who have done this and think they’ve made a massive improvement.. Remember I started by saying the stock Yaris sucked, but there are those who put out way too many Yaris reviews talking about how it was the wildest thing ever made.. lol sure.
Not to say the Yaris isn’t insane, they’re doing 56 seconds at TC2000 now and likely to keep bringing that down, but it’s just not that in stock form.. In fact in stock form it does 1’06 at TC2000, much like a Suzuki Swift. IYKYK.
Anyhow, I hope that’s helpful to someone. Live the car life and enjoy it!
Good points
Owned 7.5 Golf R now own a GR Corolla…
Corolla is much more fun and the shifter / clutch is far superior for engagement not just marginally better, it is emphatically better.
Great video as usual. From the audio and your voice, I felt from the video that the Golf R pulled harder and would be a better street car where the thrill will be had with street light pulls and backroad shinanigans.
Spot on. Golf R has much less turbo lag and I believe shorter gearing. GR Corolla feels more raw, but it's also slower in most conditions (not track).
Anyone else notice that the GR Corolla is not in Sport mode but Normal mode with TC completely on?
Nice quick review. You mentioned you didn't have time but it would be ideal to test them head to head with the optimal settings. For the Golf the special mode is the true race setting. Responses are much quicker in this mode.
I think from what I've seen on other videos, turning off the traction control on the golf r wouldve given you over steer and more playful feel you were looking for.
Yeah, wish I had more time with the car to figure everything out
Under which setting in the infotainment 😂
I would love to see you use the Golf R Alan but with the DSG. Against any car, but if you asked me what car….. Tyoe R. Love the video
I came out of a modified Audi S3 (platform twin to the Golf) to the GR Corolla (core with perf pack). No comparison. The Audi just so much better at literally everything, but the GR has a manual and is just silly fun - I wanted the silly fun that all the performance of the S3 (with 400hp) just wasn't giving me. The handling of the Gr is just totally benign no matter what you do with it and is surprisingly capable. Stock for stock these two cars are similar for handling and power, but its Sooooo easy to modify the golf for big numbers that you won't get in the GR, so stock a toss up, but modded, the Golf takes it and is a much nicer car all around.
Awesome video I really enjoyed this, how would you rate the 23 Subaru WRX and the 23 Civic Type R against these cars?
I got my circuit at msrp so I had luck on my side
What drive mode did you have it in? Because in sport mode (not talking about the awd bias) the digital cluster should turn into a bar.
You can change it, but chances are he probably had it in normal.
Which one has less rev hang?
"good luck getting one at MSRP"
this is why Toyota is shooting themselves in the foot with this bizarro exclusivity idea. I'm not gonna bother hunting for the GR Corolla and beg the dealers to give me an allocation. I'm just gonna walk to a VW dealer and get a Golf R instead
Hate to break it to you but Vw dealers do the same thing.
This has to be the funniest comment. While you’re at it: walk into a Honda dealership for a 25% discount on CTR msrp.
Great comparison. Cool to see the 20th anniversary golf r(at least I think that's what in this video based on the wheels) and the circuit edition. Keep up the good videos.
GR Corolla is the most overpriced car and not performing as well as other cars in the segment and price range. It's essentially the same $26k Corolla with more power and the AWD. That's a $25k upgrade for about 120HP.
not to mention its abysmall on a track since the awd system is prone to overheating quickly and going into limp mode.
this is a un serious car for tracking. its really a dd but lacks all the amenities you would want in a dd unlike the golf r.
Ngl driver mod is needed 💀💀💀 30-70 counter acts the understreer 💀
The gr yaris can pull the handbrake without releasing the clutch. Does the gr corolla have that function?
It does, but I wasn't able to test it
Hoping the Mk8.5 fixes the UI. My Mk7 GTI has been awesome, but going for the Corolla just to try out something new and because of the many scathing reviews of the Mk8 UI. If I get a Circuit Edition, think I will wrap the roof!
Just wondering, why turn off rev match?
to actually drive the car yourself, part of the reason you would drive a manual in the first place.
rev match is for noobs
@@FIN4LBO55 but he was under reving the downshifts on someone else’s car
@@justint5387 he did pretty damn good, mild underrev on the heeltoe is no big deal. better than an overrev imo.
30-70 will oversteer
Golf for the spec junkies and red light racers, GR for the person who enjoys driving and thrashing a car.
It's all fun and games with both until the insurance bill comes due.
@dantesinfernopurgatory7826 I traded in a '22 Camry for my GR and my insurance went up $8/month
I’d love to see how my highly modified Miata stands up against these. Roughly the same HP depending on how you define parasitic drivetrain loss but I should be ~340’ish. My advantage would be the 2300 lbs vs 3300 lbs.😊
Interestingly, the Golf R has the better rear diff, while the GR Corolla has the better center diff.
it has no center diff. it has a wet, electronically controlled clutch pack to mediate torque between the front and rear diffs. that driveshaft spins constantly no matter what, even if there is no torque being sent backwards, and the clutch pack is constantly in a state of slip.
3250lb
your drivering so poor
you just a point and go driver
sad for people watching that dont know better
your talking so much but
all you
gave some times to see if bring truthful