}
High-performance versions of affordable cars were once common but had almost died out in recent years. They’re making a comeback — witness the reborn Subaru WRX, the resurrected Honda Civic Si, the all-new VW Golf R, and so on.
This one, though, is the most surprising of the batch. This is race car engineering brought to an affordable compact car.
The 2023 Toyota GR Corolla shares a chassis with the humble Corolla (sort of — here, it’s beefed up with added welds and adhesives to make it much more rigid). But it mates it to an absurd little engine — a tiny turbocharged 3-cylinder with a huge 300-horsepower rating.
That’s just the start of its performance credentials. There’s also a dial that lets the driver customize… well, you’ll see. Check out the video.
