Everyone’s attention is on the two facelifted GR hot hatches at the Toyota Gazoo Racing Season 7 finale, happening at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit now, but there’s another car on stage, one that’s a fair bit more attainable.
The 2025 Toyota Corolla GR Sport is the sportiest variant of the local civilian Corolla range, and it’s aimed at young drivers, even those with a family, who want a sporty sedan for everyday driving (UMW Toyota Motor’s words).
“Unlike ‘sporty variants’ of some other models in the market, the Corolla GR Sport does not merely have sportier looks but also genuinely improved driving performance, particularly in the area of handling,” the company says.
The 2025 car replaces the Corolla GR Sport that debut in August 2023, and the sedan gets revised exterior features, improved performance from a new ’10-speed transmission’ (more on this later), GR Sport leather and suede seats and an upgraded infotainment display.
We’ll start with the gearbox, which UMWT calls a 10-speed Sport Sequential Shiftmatic. Replacing the standard CVT with seven virtual ratios (it’s still a CVT), the ‘box here has more ratios that ‘allows for smoother transitions’ and each ratio has been ‘optimised for optimum performance’. The manual mode has enhanced response time and there are steering paddle shifters too, of course. UMWT has done this ’10-speed trick’ before with the 2020 Vios GR-S.
No change to the output of the 2ZR-FE 1.8-litre Dual VVT-i engine, which remains at 139 PS and 172 Nm, but UMWT says that revised ECU programming adds responsiveness. When in Sport mode, there’s ‘Auto Brake Downshifting and Cornering Gear Fix Control’ that aims to provide better throttle control when exiting a corner.
There’s more under the hood. The electric power steering’s ECU has been optimised for smoother steering during multi-turn manoeuvres, such as driving along a twisty road. “Being able to feel the torque more directly gives the driver a better feel of what the front wheels are doing. Together with better straightline stability, the driver will have more confidence at high speed,” UMWT says.
Like the old Vios GR-S and outgoing Corolla GR Sport, the 2025 car gets sharper handling than the 1.8 G thanks to retuned shock absorbers, rear coil springs and stabilisers. The result is reduced roll, pitch and bouncing, but the firmer damping and improvements to driving dynamics have not caused a loss of ride comfort, UMWT claims.
Exterior changes include a redesigned front bumper and lower grille, which is much more in line with the look of the full bore GR cars. A more square lower grille, basically. The ‘mouth’ is covered with a G-shaped mesh. The rear end is enhanced with a boot lid spoiler and lower spoiler, while the tail lamps have a darkened ‘smoked’ effect. UMWT says that aerodynamic performance has been improved.
To garnish, the 2025 Corolla GR Sport has a new two-tone body colour with a black roof. The three colour options are Red Mica Metallic, Platinum White Pearl Mica and Attitude Black Mica – the latter won’t be two-tone, of course. There should be no change to the wheels, which are 18-inch items paired with 225/40 tyres.
Inside, the black-themed cabin with red stitching gets new GR Sport Design front seats upholstered with leather and suede. Other notable points are a GR emblem for the sports steering wheel (start button too), red seatbelts and smoked silver metallic trim. A non-sporty but good upgrade is the larger 10-inch touchscreen infotainment with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The full Toyota Safety Sense suite of active safety systems is included, along with a security system with immobiliser, ultrasonic cabin sensor and glass breakage sensor. UMWT’s usual vehicle telematics system, too. The 2025 Toyota Corolla GR Sport is priced at RM149,800 on-the-road excluding insurance and the transferable factory warranty is five years with unlimited mileage.
GALLERY: 2025 Toyota Corolla GR Sport
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