Toyota Corolla GR vs Subaru BRZ- Track Test

I'm afraid to say the world is upside down. Once upon a time, the UK and Europe got all of the cool stuff and America got virtually none of it except the odd Corvette, maybe. But now things are completely turned around. We don't get anything and America gets all this amazing juicy stuff that we want. These two cars, for example, but we don't have. It's a massive injustice. Yeah, it's a heinous state of affairs and I couldn't agree more. But before we get into quick question about your car, isn't this supposed to be the more practical five-door version with backseats of the GR Yaris? And yet yours doesn't have any backseats. Yeah, I know, but this is the hardcore Maritzo edition and we shouldn't really get into a nitpicking thing because you've come to a test where we're celebrating the cars we can't get in the UK with a car we can get in the UK, painted blue. It's blue. It's blue. It's also got a different badge. It's the Subaru BRZ, not the GR86. And I've read that this has a slightly more sophisticated suspension, so it's a completely different car. Well, I'll take that line because I don't want this to be a head-to-head comparison. It's not about that. This is a campaign. We have one common enemy and that is the injustice faced by English and European people. Very true. What we need to do is build a reasoned, structured argument. That's probably a bit much for us, but what about two reasons per car why we need to get these in the UK, would you reckon? Okay, yeah, I'll go first. All right. This thing is faster than a GR Yaris and cooler than a Honda Civic Type R and now I'm going to prove it. Faster than a Yaris and cooler than a Type R. I might have overdone it straight away, but let's try and make that case. The bad news, bigger car, it's heavier than the Yaris, 200 kilos heavier, has a bit more power, 30 more horsepower, but that's probably not going to completely negate that big chunk of weight. But it has the same rally vibes. And to me, the Yaris, which is, I love it, it's a really cool thing, but it almost feels like it needs a bit more weight because it's set up mostly at lower speeds to understeer a bit and then it weirdly starts to oversteer at higher speeds when understeer would be quite nice. A bit more weight, a bit more freedom in the car might just bring out a more fun side. So whether it's faster than the Yaris or not, I think it's pretty close, to be honest. It does feel a little bit more gutsy, but my hope is that it's also just a bit freer dynamically. And I have to say, it's got that lovely Yaris aggression and it's got a little bit more noise, a little bit more attitude somehow, got more turbo noise. It does feel a little bigger, a little heavier in direction changes, but for the most part, the Yaris' dynamics are retained and there is that playfulness just on turning that you get with a bit of extra weight. It's just a really cool thing. What about cooler than a Type R? Well, I mean, it's got all that rally homologation coolness, hasn't it? So this lovely little three-cylinder engine and four-wheel drive that I can set to 30-70, which is what I'm on now. So that gives me the opportunity with the Civic. You can be playful with the rear of the car, but with this, you then have the mechanical package to ride that out. So rather than the front wheels just pull it straight, if you get it right and you pitch the car and get it set up nice and early, you can then power slide out. So that in its own right makes it cool, I think. And what it really does as well is challenge you. The Civic is just a fantastic car, but I think because it's front-wheel drive and there's that natural limitation that you rub up against, and this has obviously got its own natural limitations, but you can adapt your style more and more in order to get the best out of it and to affect it. And I really love that about four-wheel drive cars, actually. They take longer to get your head around and they can feel frustrating at first because maybe the way you drive is contradicting what the four-wheel drive system wants to do. But once you get your head around that and figure out the technique, you seem to open up this whole new world of what can be done. And I find that challenge really, really interesting. And even when you've got it, you think you've got it right, it's quite a narrow window to get the best out of it. Whether you're wanting to just slide around or wanting to go quick, you have to be really disciplined and keep yourself in this sweet spot. It gives it longevity. I don't think you'd get bored with it because you're able to affect what it's doing so much with your driving technique. So you would almost think, wouldn't you, that everyone in the world could afford a GT3. Every time I look online, there's another GT3 video, another GT4 RS video, another GT3 RS. Now there's GT2 RS spy videos going around the ring. It's like it's just what we drive. This thing, okay, it's $51,000 but you can get a base car for $37,000. You can get a circuit pack somewhere in the middle. So it's not crazy money and there's a real authenticity to it. It doesn't feel like a marketing exercise in any way. It feels like a taste of an exotic motorsport sort of world for people who can't afford a GT3. And guess what, there are quite a lot of people like that. Me, for example. And that is something that we need to remember. I love hooning around in other people's several hundred thousand dollar or euro or pounds, whatever you deal in car. But this sort of thing that's relatively affordable and really exotic is just not just an endangered species. It's pretty much extinct. And to me, that's pretty tragic. So this thing is every bit as focused as wild in concept and as exotic and special and charismatic as some of those special Porsches or Ferraris or whatever it is. And that's great. We need more cars like this. We need many, many more cars like this. All right. I think you've maybe convinced me there. Nailed it, mate. Your turn now. All right. We need the BRZ in the UK because it will make the Subaru brand great again. If ever there was a car to make Subaru great again in the UK, the BRZ is it. It is a little bit cheap. I'll be honest, this interior, the graphics on the screen, the quality of this switch gear, it's not fantastic. But then it is a cheap car. This one costs thirty one thousand dollars and this is the high spec version, which is a lot of fun, but not a lot of money. And look, it can hold its own on track. It can do big, silly skids if that's what you want it to. And then you can drive home in comfort later on. It's astonishingly broad in its capabilities. Oh, what I love about this is the fundamentals. They're all spot on. The driving position is good. The seats, they're squidgy, but they hold you in place. The gear shift is really nice and snappy. And this engine, well, it's a 2.4 now, a bit more torque. It's a naturally aspirated petrol engine, not the most characteristic one in the world, but it does a job. And it just adds to the fact that this is a no frills fun machine, honestly. Come on, give us what we want, Subaru. The UK needs this sort of stuff. Save us from big, characterless, heavy electric cars. I'll tell you what, it was relevant 12 years ago when this car and the GT86 was launched and the GR86 and the BRZ, they're still relevant today. Cars that are this fun and this simple and this back to basics, they don't go out of fashion. We will lap it up, Subaru, trust me. The GR86, the UK allocation, two years of cars sold out in what, 90 minutes? It's a surefire bet. Point number three is that the GR Corolla, it's like a GT3 for poor people or anyway, less rich people. It's just such a cool, special thing. It's got all of that rally goodness. That means 1.6 litre, three cylinder, turbocharged engine, 300 horsepower, that's 185 horsepower per litre, which sounds pretty Porsche to me. Everywhere you look, there are just really special components. We've got cup two tyres, of course, huge brakes. The four wheel drive system, again, has its roots in rallying. You can adjust it. It starts off 60-40. You can go 30-70 in sport mode, so you get more rear wheel drive, more fun. Then when you want to go really fast, track mode's 50-50. There's a carbon fibre roof for lightness, lower the centre of gravity and make the car stiffer. This is the Maritza edition, same power, bit more torque, but who cares? It's got no rear seats. Who doesn't love a hot hatch with five doors and nothing in the back? This car, at its core, is just unbelievably focused, unbelievably special and exotic. We should celebrate cars like this because everybody needs a car like this. This is fascinating, but I've got point number four and I think it's going to be a lot more fun than you walking around a car, if I'm honest. Fine. All right, so point four, the BRZ can make a drift king out of anyone, even me. Yeah? With your help. Yep. Okay, that does sound fun, actually. Right, time for my lesson. What have you got in store? Okay, so this car is a little bit more understeer than a GR86. Let me remember which one I'm in. But when you get the tyres nice and hot, it's very easy. So we're not just going to try and drift, we're going to go for a transition. So that means we've got a left, a tightening left, and then it goes into a right. And it sounds scary, but if we can get the tyres hot, and I'm going to demo, so I'll get the tyres hot. It's not so much it sounds scary, Jeff, it just sounds difficult. It sounds difficult. If you're teaching your kids to ride a bike, do you put them on a, you know, a mountain bike and push them up a hill? We're trying to show that this can make anyone into a drift king. So here we go. Tighten, take a bit of a curve, on the exit for style points. All right, Jimmy, one take. That was quality. Okay, so I'm going to give you the key pointers. Got the tyres hot, we're going to turn in, off the power, nice and aggressively, feel the rear move, do not immediately correct, let it go, because this thing's got this really benign balance. So you've got time, watch, you can feel it. It's going, and then you can just feed on the power. Sorry, I was just having a look out the window over there at that lovely train. I thought we were the same height. How do you sit this much further away from the wheel than me? We're in for those big balls. Hopefully there's going to be a second gear in this car in a minute. Here we go. Second gear, yeah? Yeah. Turn, lift, power. Okay, we've got the first one. All right, we'll try the second bit, right? Power. That was a good first go. I mean, you haven't seen the corners before. You've got a lot of angle quite early on, but you need so much throttle to maintain it this time. You haven't got a ton of power. Once you've got all that lock on, you've got to be committed, otherwise you're going to get that tank slap. We don't want to go into dirt, so it's a good start. Power. That was a bit early, but that was right. That was close. Windscreen wipers were on. The wipers were on. You know it's been a quality drift when you get the wipers on. That was a sign of effort. So listen, the transition you nearly had there, but it was just a bit early. You need to extend it. Extend that first drift. Right, ready? Yeah, a bit later on the old initial. Nice control so far. That's it, that's it. You're getting there. You're nearly a drift king. Nearly, being the operative word. You did, you actually did pretty well. You'd never seen the corners before, and if you'd have done that transition another 27,000, 28,000 times, boom, you could be officially a drift king. Really? Only 27,000? Oh, mate. It was all right. The car's great fun, isn't it? It is. It's super, super fun, but we need to make a big decision here. Which one of these are you going to take home? Pretty tough actually. On balance, because I'm one of those rally rep geeks, I think I'll take this one. Yeah, that's worked out nicely because I'm going to have the BRZ, and you can always just buy a second hand off me when I bin it. Also, $20,000 in your pocket as well, so I can do some nice mods, turbochargers, uprate the dampers. Or pay me and I'll actually teach you how to drive properly. All right, it's a deal. In fact, come on, I want to have a proper go in that. I've been watching you have a good time all day. All right, I'm happy with that. Okay, so let's find out what Jethro's been harping on about all day with this GR Corolla, and straight away you can feel that it feels bigger and heavier and slightly less agile than the BRZ, but that's not necessarily a bad thing because it also feels full of grip, super stable, unlikely to spit you off the track. This engine, it's a little firecracker, isn't it? More power than the GR Yaris, and this gear shift, it's snappy, it's delightful. A little bit of understeer when you come into the Oh, big question. Do I want this car more than I want a GR Yaris? It's close. I don't think I do. I think I prefer the Yaris, but let's not take anything away. This is still a hell of a car, in fact. Jethro, I think I've made a terrible mistake here, mate. I don't want the BRZ after all. I want them both. I want them both. Well, Jack, we make the rules, so if you want to take that and this, I'm happy about that. The campaign was to get great affordable driver's cars to the UK. It doesn't have to be just one of them. Let's be greedy. Let's take them both back to the UK. The truth is we need as many affordable, attainable, accessible driver's cars as we can get wherever that is in the world. Come on, Toyota. Come on, Subaru. Don't let the Americans have all the fun. Do the right thing. The UK needs you.