She has left the House and My Review take on why GR Corolla

[Dpro]

Ya o I went through a lot of back and forth and mixed emotions. In the end a couple of things pushed the decision. The first and large motivator was the fact that my new GRC was actually $400 a year less for Insurance than the FIST and that it was not an out of the norm . I discovered all FiST owners are getting raped by Insurance I actually reposted a former industry insiders post from the Corolla forum here.

Next was discovering that in 30/70 the Corolla indeed felt and drove a lot like the FiST with no real TQ steer. Then it was getting in the FiST after not driving it for a week and a half and realizing that until around 3-4k It felt and was slow in comparison to the GRC which has absolutely amazing bottom end grunt and. pulls all the way to redline stock the G16E is an amazing engine compared to the FiST engine.

Plus for a daily the Corolla is so much nicer ride wise and comfort wise. About the only thing the FiST wins on for interior is maybe a little more room in the back and the Recaros hold you in . Yet they feel like rocks compared to the GRC seats .😂So ya there is a lot to like about the GRC.

On the FiST it was like given all this and the fact that for all intents and purposes I would be paying 2k a year for 6 year old salvage title vehicle . It will become salvage the second the next owner pink slips it . Which I am not hiding , really made me scratch my head. While I can afford it the amount I am tossing out each year for all 3 cars was going to be steep. If I lived in a different area with lower rates it might be different. My buddy Patrick owns a condo in San Pedro and only pays $600 a year. Ya Insurance rating is wack.

I was actually surprised that the minute I listed there was someone with major interest. I guess that speaks to my build and documentation.
That makes selling it a bit easier because it brings the total of collected cash from the car up about $28k ( Yes it getting T boned and rebuilding it actually was a blessing in disguise 🤣 That pretty much translates to 3k for 6 years of driving and owning a brand new car with 10k of mods. .🤪🤣 that kind of does ease the transition away.Though ya the GRC is pretty dope .

My buddy Danny also bought one and has come to the conclusion it replaces his FiST and he was another owner who swore he was not going to buy another car and that his FiST was ultimate. After seeing mine and test driving one he bought . Then he ran the cars back to back on the Crest and came to the conclusion that The GRC could go faster on the crest than the the FiST. In 30/70 with all nannie’s off it drove completely like his FiST, but at much higher levels. He also noticed the lack of bottom end power( in the FiST) and came to the conclusion his FiST was not going to see as much use.

Am I a bit sad sure but at the same time it does not make economic sense to keep the FiST they are plummeting in value while being more expensive to own , shades of European cars trajectory.I also am quite happy to be back in a JDM car It feels like coming home.🤣

I can say the GRC is quite the chameleon car more so than a FiST. FiST is like the crazy puppy always wants to play. GRC flexes it can be that crazy puppy but then it can drive and ride like a much more expensive car, solid , quiet compared to a FiST very comfortable as well. No regrets buying one it’s a bad ass machine and the next logical step from the FiST in the hot hatch world.

So ya she just rolled away on a trailer off tto AZ with her new owner who is going to be a good owner, another forum member here. I can only hope he loves her as much as I did. I will stick around the forum . It’s been a fun place I have made new friends here. The local meets and drives were great.

So ya it made sense to let her go.

 

[gtx3076]

Cars come and go. I'm looking forward to passing mine on and getting into something more capable off road since I'm moving to the PNW. I'm also getting to a point in my life that I'm probably going to limit how much I modify my cars to consumables like tires and brakes. It's just not where I want to focus my time and money.

 

[dhminer]

Let us know if you ever need a good fisting. I’m sure the locals would oblige. Enjoy the GRC!

 

[Dpro]

Let us know if you ever need a good fisting. I’m sure the locals would oblige. Enjoy the GRC!

😂

 

[TDavis]

I'm sure a big factor in the GRC feeling more grunty down low is probably the AWD lol

 

[Dpro]

I'm sure a big factor in the GRC feeling more grunty down low is probably the AWD lol

Oh there is no doubt the AWD helps it hook up more but like the Zupra Toyota sandbagged on the numbers limit1 boosted performance , stratified plus a few other shops including Nemtec have all dropped the stock cars on the rollers and seen numbers in the 265-270HP at the wheels and a lot of these were on Mustang dynos that are known to rate low. With the AWD drivetrain there is no way you would only lose 35hp in parasitic loss it would be more like at least 70hp that pushes the car over 300hp stock that Toyota advertises. It’s not surprising though as the the same thing happened with the Zupra . So ya having lots of experience driving my S280 powered FiST I can tell you the GRC blows it off off the line. Oh and ya again I am not the only one noticing this . Danny noticed it as well.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Just imagine what the forbidden over here, ~450 lbs. lighter(?) Yaris GR feels like off the line.

 

[Dpro]

Just imagine what the forbidden over here, ~450 lbs. lighter(?) Yaris GR feels like off the line.

it’s almost 400 not 450 but ya until this year it had less power . This years has the same amount and that’s most likely nuts . Yaris 2870 My car is 3250. GR Yaris would have never sold over here anyways it’s absolutely tiny seen them in person. It was also not as much forbidden as demes completely unsellable and impractical. They sold regular Yaris’s here till 2020 . They could have done it but. it would have been completely cost impractical and Toyota would have lost a shit ton of money on it in our market. had absolutely. nothing to do with being forbidden🤣
I often wonder if they are making much on the GRC and it’s a hit selling more than any other manual vehicle Toyota sells.

 

[M-Sport fan]

By 'forbidden' I was implying that we are not allowed to have it by Toy, despite so many enthusiasts swearing that they would rob banks, or sell body organs in order to obtain one.

Either way, the GRs are effectively total 'showroom traffic generating loss leaders' given how few they will produce anyway, regardless of how much they make or lose on each one sold (when they are used to selling millions of lower Corollas).

So the minuscule size of the Yaris would not have mattered much, given it's greater performance (at least now on equal power).

True, they are selling every GRC they offer as I see at least 3-4 of them around here to every (which is NONE!) FiST I see in this area. LOL

That shocking blue/'Nitrous Blue' one (I don't know what Toy calls that color ) I had seen last week parked outside a shopping center was pretty hot, but it definitely would be attracting much unwanted attention, and that color also makes the sore point aesthetic problems of the car (to me the front clip/fascia/lights) stand out even more than on the more sedate/stealth gun metal/grey/like our Magnetic color versions.

 

[Dpro]

By 'forbidden' I was implying that we are not allowed to have it by Toy, despite so many enthusiasts swearing that they would rob banks, or sell body organs in order to obtain one.

Either way, the GRs are effectively total 'showroom traffic generating loss leaders' given how few they will produce anyway, regardless of how much they make or lose on each one sold (when they are used to selling millions of lower Corollas).

So the minuscule size of the Yaris would not have mattered much, given it's greater performance (at least now on equal power).

True, they are selling every GRC they offer as I see at least 3-4 of them around here to every (which is NONE!) FiST I see in this area. LOL

That shocking blue/'Nitrous Blue' one (I don't know what Toy calls that color ) I had seen last week parked outside a shopping center was pretty hot, but it definitely would be attracting much unwanted attention, and that color also makes the sore point aesthetic problems of the car (to me the front clip/fascia/lights) stand out even more than on the more sedate/stealth gun metal/grey/like our Magnetic color versions.

Ya they are an exercise in Toyota showing everyone what they can do if they want too. Except your opinion of the minuscule size of the Yaris not mattering is I think it would Every enthusiast came out of the wood work saying they would buy the FRS\BRZ when Toyota and Suburu unveiled them. I was at the Toyota press event in Hollywood . The first year sales were so bad though Suburu thought about pulling it after the second or third year.

On top of that numbers were so bad it killed the Nissan IDX which was a cross between a modern day Datsun 510 and 240sx coupe that was dope. Nissan saw those poor sales numbers and said no a car in that segment won’t fly. It would have been the same with the GR Yaris it would have been close to if not the same price as the GR Corolla and people would have been whining about the price as some people who don’t know any better already whine about the GR Corolla price . Plus despite you and I Toyota might be losing money on the car it’s a runaway hit for them and they are selling every single last one they make. The only reason some where sitting on lots is because of greedy dealers pushing hard ADM’s thats starting to subside though.


I do feel the Blue Flame is a little over the top and do not consider it a Hot color and Blue is my favorite color😂. Ya my Heavy Metal to me is the best color of all the colors they have for the cars. It’s literally Silver in bright sunlight and more grey at night .

Oh and ya weren’t you always anti Japanese cars at least you posted like that in the past.

 

[Zala]

it’s almost 400 not 450 but ya until this year it had less power . This years has the same amount and that’s most likely nuts . Yaris 2870 My car is 3250. GR Yaris would have never sold over here anyways it’s absolutely tiny seen them in person. It was also not as much forbidden as demes completely unsellable and impractical. They sold regular Yaris’s here till 2020 . They could have done it but. it would have been completely cost impractical and Toyota would have lost a shit ton of money on it in our market. had absolutely. nothing to do with being forbidden🤣
I often wonder if they are making much on the GRC and it’s a hit selling more than any other manual vehicle Toyota sells.

The GRY would have sold. I would definitely have bought one. I don't personally like the pig offering that is this GRC that Toyota offered us instead of the Yaris. The GRY would have been ultimately cost ineffective for Toyota because they would have had to support a chassis that's no longer offered in our market (same general reasons the Fiesta is done here, but kept alive in Europe a bit longer).

Toyota has been smarter about limiting their stock in the US. Now that I think about it, I probably would not have bought a GRY if these MSRP++ market affected that car too. It's the same reason I haven't bought any new Toyota in the last 5 years because I definitely want to try out a manual Supra. Maybe I will soon enough when the market softens a bit more.

No, I'm not stroking the Fiesta. It's significantly cheaper feeling than most other cars in today's market and slow (mine's just FBO). I bought it cheap and am enjoying it cheap. For more thrills I got some boosted Miatas and good bit more exciting cars than even the Supra, which ultimately is probably what makes me so choosy with my next $50-70k choice. Right now, an Evora 400/GT is looking far more worth my Manual Supra monies, so just watching that market a bit more.

Congratulations on the GRC. If you enjoy it for what it was worth to acquire, then that's all that matters. I'm sure it's enjoyable to drive and any car built for that purpose (and still manual) I can get behind, even if it's not how I'd spend my monies.

 

[Dpro]

The GRY would have sold. I would definitely have bought one. I don't personally like the pig offering that is this GRC that Toyota offered us instead of the Yaris. The GRY would have been ultimately cost ineffective for Toyota because they would have had to support a chassis that's no longer offered in our market (same general reasons the Fiesta is done here, but kept alive in Europe a bit longer).

Toyota has been smarter about limiting their stock in the US. Now that I think about it, I probably would not have bought a GRY if these MSRP++ market affected that car too. It's the same reason I haven't bought any new Toyota in the last 5 years because I definitely want to try out a manual Supra. Maybe I will soon enough when the market softens a bit more.

No, I'm not stroking the Fiesta. It's significantly cheaper feeling than most other cars in today's market and slow (mine's just FBO). I bought it cheap and am enjoying it cheap. For more thrills I got some boosted Miatas and good bit more exciting cars than even the Supra, which ultimately is probably what makes me so choosy with my next $50-70k choice. Right now, an Evora 400/GT is looking far more worth my Manual Supra monies, so just watching that market a bit more.

Congratulations on the GRC. If you enjoy it for what it was worth to acquire, then that's all that matters. I'm sure it's enjoyable to drive and any car built for that purpose (and still manual) I can get behind, even if it's not how I'd spend my monies.

A matter of opinion I would say. If you think the GRC is a pig you really don’t understand a lot of things.

My 97 E36 M3 is pretty much the same weight as my GRC (coming in at just over 3200lbs and driving like it’s a sub 3k car) and you know what no one ever dissed E36 M3’s for their weight . In fact they were on Car and Drivers 10 best list for ten years straight.

edit…. Oh should I mention the Porsche GT3RS that weighs about the same? Do not see people calling them pigs or the 718 Caymen GTS coming in at 3150 a mere 100lbs lighter again no one complaining about that being a pig.


Another car that weighs the same or close to the GRC and another all wheel drive car no one disses it is the Skyline R32 GTR and its younger brother the R34 weighs more. No one disses those cars either. So before you start calling a car that is only 390 pounds heavier than a modern day feather weight a pig try to understand the physics of equipping a car with AWD . The GRY falls between the FiST and the GRC by the way.

Yes in these days and times the only thing lighter is a Miata oh and yours which are probably not new either.

Oh and just to straighten out some facts the Fiesta and the Fiesta ST are dead now in Europe as well Ford killed them there too this last year was the swan song.
I never dissed Fiestas either I absolutely loved owning my FiST it was an awesome car. The GRC just so surpasses it.

I too echoed the same exact comments you did and then I actually saw the car in person and drove it and was like ok now I am starting to get it. The more I have learned the car the more it has impressed me.

It’s more than what a Miata or a FiST can be and you won’t get it till you get your head around that. GRY is literally in the same category as the FiST but in a sense a little more worse for the fact that it’s pretty hardcore. There is less trunk space than a FiST or a Miata it’s a tiny car. I saw them in person Tokyo at the Auto Salon. They would make a great second fun car they would not even do as well as the FiST does in daily driver duty.

I bought my GRC to do daily driver duty and fun. I own other cars . Oh and to put the value in perspecitve something a lot of people don’t reallly get . The average Corolla at MSRP spec‘d nicely is 30k I had roughly 30k in my FiST fully setup including purchase price. (Thank you Insurance for giving me a total return on that investment😂) The fact is though I bought the GRC for about 10k more , no dealer markup and under MSRP! For that 10k I got a 300hp ( actually under rated by Toyota) turbo engine that has amazing bottom end TQ and screams all the way to redline with no falloff ya the engine is much better than our FiST engine again our FiST engine is nice the GRC’s is better , can we say timing chain instead of belt. Ya I much prefer when engines have timing chains .

. It has AWD that can be bias adjusted. Huge Radial mount factory brakes , no need for brake upgrades here. Plus a car that drives fantastic , it’s comfortable it does have a better interior than a FiST and yes blasphemy it is better buit
than the FiST.

A chassis that has over 130 more welds and reinforcements . Built in the same factory in Japan that the LFA is built in. 49 Cars a day!


Stock factory chassis bracing in all the places that people spend a fair amount on the FiST to put it in. Michelin PS4’s in 235/40 18 stock on Concave Enkei wheels. Body aero that is actually is functional. outside of the cosmetic wing on Circuits. a completely sealed up flat bottom pan again more function aero . It’s just so much more car. Oh and no one dissed the ForS as a pig and this car is lighter and performs better overall and ya a lot of former FoRS owners are driving GRC’s now.

Oh and while ya Toyota initially limited production in the first year they have in a year and a half sold more GRC’s than Ford sold FiST’s in the first two years of unlimited production. 😂 Also the GRC has outsold all other manual cars and trucks that Toyota sells.

Oh and since you mentioned the Supra err cough cough BMW . Ya Evora cool Emira nicer in my book . Oh and ya my money would go to an Emira as I would not even consider a Zupra regardless of the B58 engine😂

So is it worth the 10k more than what I had invested in my FiST overall? Yes you get a lot more than people realize for the money. It is better than any current Subie offering and ya Savage Geese is guilty of extreme bias in favor of Honda 😂
I should add you can get Cores with the Performance pack( front and rear LSD ) now for just over 38k.
Thats cheaper than my Premium.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Are the factory brakes so huge that one could not fit 15s over them if they really needed to (winter snow/ice, or gravel road driving)?
(Some of the model year Scoobie STI's had that problem and people had to go to smaller brakes than the factory supplied ones in order to rally their cars. )

I am asking seriously, and absolutely NOT being dissing, snarky, or facetious with that question.

 

[Dpro]

Are the factory brakes so huge that one could not fit 15s over them if they really needed to (winter snow/ice, or gravel road driving)?
(Some of the model year Scoobie STI's had that problem and people had to go to smaller brakes than the factory supplied ones in order to rally their cars. )

I am asking seriously, and absolutely NOT being dissing, snarky, or facetious with that question.

Actually yes the Brakes are big enough that depending on the wheel they do not clear. There already some brands of 17‘s that won ‘t fit due to barrel design which is what it comes down too.
Konigs actually do fit even Tire Rack has them listed.

Though Toyota also actually sells a smaller brake kit that was initially offered for Rally spec GRY’s . There are already guys putting them in because they are planning on taking their cars Rallying and are RallyXing the cars.

I should add you can actually just order the GRY bracket and backing plate from Japan and use Camry Rotors there are literally the same size as GRY rotors as the Calipers are the same size for both cars from the factory the only difference is the GRC runs larger rotors therefor different bracket.
Oh and the Brakes are radial mount stock!

A number of parts crossover between the two cars. Toyota actually used Corolla Suspension in the GRY in the first place to get the wider track. That is a big reason it was literally not hard for them to build a GRC . All of the rear suspension and drivetrain were a direct swap. Ya the Yaris used its front struts and the Corolla use its .

Though beyond that Toyota took the chassis and just went to town. Far more than what Ford did with our FiST chassis. I kinda tripped when I saw all the braces that people spend extra money for on the FiST were stock on GRC. I have photos of all of this stuff . It’s pretty amazing Toyota brought either car to market it’s really an excercise in them showing what they can do with the platforms.