2023 Honda Civic Type R vs. Toyota GR Corolla: Hot Hatches Go Toe to Toe!
62023 Honda Civic Type R vs. Toyota GR Corolla: Hot Hatches Go Toe to Toe!
So, which of these go-fast hatchbacks rules the hardest?
You knew this comparison test was coming. The moment Toyota literally slid the GR Corolla across a stage for its big debut, we were wowed by its "that's a Toyota?!" audacity and 300-hp, racing-derived three-cylinder engine, six-speed manual, and adjustable all-wheel-drive system. Its bogey for true greatness was clear even then: The Honda Civic Type R has been our favorite hot hatch since 2016, when for the first time in 30 years of Honda's Type R subbrand, it was sent to America. Could a Corolla go toe-to-toe with the house of R? R you kidding?
Tale Of The Tape
Nope, there's no joke here. The 2023 GR Corolla, whose name ties it into the same Gazoo Racing subbrand behind Toyota's GR86 and revived Supra sports cars, arrived as a legitimate hot hatch competitor. It packs 300 hp from a racing-derived turbocharged three-cylinder(!) engine, a standard six-speed manual transmission, and an adjustable all-wheel-drive system inside a Corolla hatchback body puffed up with adorably chonky fender flares and a gulping front intake.
Right on cue, Honda unveiled its new 2023 Civic Type R, a heavy update of the previous generation with new styling inside and out that largely retains the old model's mechanicals—the good stuff. It remains a 300-plus-hp compact hatchback with a six-speed manual gearbox, firmed-up suspension, and a looming rear wing. Having felled all of its all-wheel-drive competition—and with the front-wheel-drive Hyundai Veloster N's exit this year—it becomes the lone front-drive hatchback with more than 300 ponies. To see whether Toyota's GR Corolla could topple the Civic, pulling off what the also-AWD Volkswagen Golf R or now-defunct Ford Focus RS could not, we ran the two side by side down our favorite back roads outside of Los Angeles, as well as on the Streets of Willow at Willow Springs International Raceway, to find out.
Toyota doesn't merely try upstaging the Honda with an extra driven axle, nor is the car merely wild "for a Corolla." It is wonderfully, gob-smackingly weird, period. Its 1.6-liter turbocharged inline-three-cylinder G16E-GTS engine is borrowed from Toyota's rally homologation special, the global-market GR Yaris hatchback, and tuned for even more power. Down a cylinder and some displacement on the Civic's 2.0-liter I-4, it nonetheless packs 300 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque; the range-topping Morizo Edition adds an extra pound of turbo boost and makes 295 lb-ft.
The mid-level Circuit Edition tested here at least has a back seat—that's right, the Morizo model lacks a back seat, making it a four-door, two-seat … hatchback. Every GR has a big ol' knob on the center console that lets drivers select from a trio of options for distributing power between the front and rear axles. There is a 60 percent front/40 percent rear split, a 50/50 setting, and 30/70 where 70 percent of engine torque goes to the rear wheels.
Drivers can call up those splits independent of the drive modes (Normal or Sport), which are chosen via a toggle switch ahead of the torque-split knob. Curiously, a huge "Track" button on top of that knob calls up the 50/50 split, not a Track mode. Stranger still: Setting up the Toyota for maximum attack requires Sport mode, even if you've already selected Track. OK, then.
We're only getting started. You can pull the handbrake while moving, and the GR Corolla's computers cut power to the rear axle automatically, ensuring you can do flagrantly stupid things without needing to clutch in or worry about grenading your center coupling. Available Torsen limited-slip front and rear differentials—included on the Circuit Edition and Morizo, and optional on the base Core model—make the most of the sideways action that results.
The Civic Type R at first presents as business as usual. The engine and transmission carry over from the last version. The car even looks less interesting than before, trading its manga/gundam-inspired styling for more subdued, European influence. So drastic is the Type R's cosmetic pull-back that the huge rear wing atop racy struts looks almost out of place hovering above the Civic's clean lines and simple front and rear lighting. In Championship White, it is nearly plain.
But Honda didn't phone this in. It massaged another 9 hp and 15 lb-ft of torque from the K20C1 turbocharged 2.0-liter I-4, bringing the totals up to 315 hp and 310 lb-ft. A newfound seriousness pervades the rest of the Civic experience. Keep in mind, the old Type R isn't a car we'd describe as having slack in its steering, brakes, or suspension. Yet Honda rooted out whatever hidden slop there was, because the new model's controls respond with noticeably more immediacy.