2023 Toyota GR Corolla

ALISTAIR WEAVER: Hi, I'm Alistair. That's Jonathan. This is a Toyota GR Corolla Morizo. That is a Honda Civic Type R. And this is the Edmunds U-Drag you've all been demanding. Let's get on with it. JONATHAN ALFALAN: Well, you asked for it, you got it. We have the front-wheel drive 2023 Civic Type R with 315 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque blasting out of the turbo inline four mated to a succulent six-speed manual. [CAR REVVING] Going up against the all-wheel drive 2023 Gr Corolla Morizo with 300 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque coming out of a tweaked out turbo inline three also mated to a six-speed manual. [CAR REVVING] These two are going head-to-head on our Edmunds U-Drag track, which starts with the quarter-mile drag, then they hit the brakes, snap a 180, and power back to start/finish. At the end of the first run, to make everybody happy, we'll swap drivers and lanes and do it again. Are you grilling like and subscribe burgers? They smell so good! You want to know what else smells good? Edmunds.com/udrags for all the snackable information your heart desires. All right, let's hit it. ALISTAIR WEAVER: So, how do we set up the Gr Corolla for the fastest launch? Well, of course, the big difference between this Toyota and that Honda is that this has all-wheel drive. And that means we can be more aggressive with the launch. So we're going to put the drive mode into sport. Then, we're going to push this track button here and then twiddle this knob. Our experience at our own test track and other running has told us that probably the best way of launching this car is to have 30% of the torque at the front, 70% at the rear. That's what I'm going with. Manual transmission, of course, so we're going to dial up first gear. We're going to get pretty unsympathetic with the mechanicals. So I'm going to dial up about 6,000 RPM and then pretty much slip off the clutch, side step it, off we go. I should, in theory, get a jump on the front-wheel drive Honda. We shall see. JONATHAN ALFALAN: All right. Civic Type R. This thing is so cool. No launch control, but we don't really need it, because we have Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, which have a ton of grip. And, unfortunately, the engine is limited to 3,500 RPM, which just isn't enough power to really spin and overcome the grip of those tires. So I'm going to try my best to get those tires moving. In order to do that, I need to select R mode. I'm going to go ahead and turn off traction and stability control, which is just a single beep. There's no two stage here. And then I'm going to rev it up to 3,500. I now have the power advantage. So I'm hoping that, with that car's all-wheel drive, it's not going to leave me in the dust. And I think if I get off the line cleanly, then it's going to be the Type R's race to win. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Visualize the lap. - Five, four, three, two, one. JONATHAN ALFALAN: Come on, Civic. Come on. Yeah. Going to get it back. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Come on. There's the Honda. JONATHAN ALFALAN: Got him in the quarter. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Watch for the braking. I'm going to try and brake a little bit later. JONATHAN ALFALAN: Here we go. ALISTAIR WEAVER: [INAUDIBLE] JONATHAN ALFALAN: Here we go. ALISTAIR WEAVER: I'm going to use all the track. JONATHAN ALFALAN: I got it. There we go. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Ah. JONATHAN ALFALAN: Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Civic. ALISTAIR WEAVER: So, Jonathan, it's a fairly clear victory in the end. JONATHAN ALFALAN: The Civic definitely has a power advantage. And it's just so well put together. The previous generation Type R was the best handling front driver that I had driven in a long time, maybe ever. How about the Corolla? ALISTAIR WEAVER: Yeah, I expected to win in the places that I didn't, which means I expected to get a better launch off the line because of the all-wheel drive and the fact that I was pretty aggressive with dropping it from 6,500 RPM. But then it still bogged a little bit. And then you just came through. When we got to like third gear, you were just pulling away. I mean, this is a really fun little thing. It's got a great little gearbox, it steers beautifully, it stops beautifully. I'm just a bit surprised that the all-wheel drive just doesn't give it more of an advantage. And maybe in the wet or on a less grippy surface it would, but not here. JONATHAN ALFALAN: That's enough talking. Let's switch lanes. I want to try that Corolla. ALISTAIR WEAVER: So it's weird jumping out of the Toyota into this Honda. It instantly feels a lot more grown-up, a bit less toylike, a bit less raw, if you like, which is kind of a weird thing to say about a Type R, but there you are. And it seems that the big challenge we're having with this is the car won't let us use enough revs off the line to actually generate some wheelspin and keep the momentum going. It'll let me use 3 and 1/2 RPM, which on a grippy surface like this isn't really enough. So it's going to bog down. And I've got to hope that similar thing. I can get into third gear, and then the extra power will see me win the day. JONATHAN ALFALAN: All right. GR Corolla time. You know, all-wheel drive-- these launches are not mechanically sympathetic. So I think if you own your car, you don't want to be doing this too much. Obviously, this is a special occasion. So we're going to we're going to give the Corolla its due and to show what it can do. So I'm going to rev it up to around 6,000 and just kind of let it rip. Hopefully, we get some wheelspin, get off the line, get a head start on that Civic, and take the win. - Five, four, three, two, one. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Bogged a bit. Three. That's the rev limiter. Starting to pull a little bit. JONATHAN ALFALAN: Come on, Corolla, you got it. Right there, right there, right there. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Let's nail the braking. Get it straightened up. JONATHAN ALFALAN: So close. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Ah, he's pulling away. JONATHAN ALFALAN: Right there. Come on, you got it. Oh! Oh! ALISTAIR WEAVER: Victory to the Honda. So, I think that's pretty conclusive. I'm not sure that was my best run in the Honda. I think one of my practice runs was better. But still enough to see off the Corolla. JONATHAN ALFALAN: I mean, this thing was good, got a good launch. This car is a lot more physical than you expect to drive. It's got a pretty heavy clutch, especially compared to that Civic. It's just a little more rough around the edges than that car. ALISTAIR WEAVER: If anything, it feels like it needs more power to actually make the benefits of all-wheel drive and some of the attributes-- it feels like it's a little bit underpowered for having all the hardware that it has. JONATHAN ALFALAN: It's making some impressive power for as big of an engine as it has. But I agree with you. If it had a two liter, this thing would probably feel even better. And it's time for the best numbers. In the quarter mile, the Civic barely takes the W at 14.3 at 104.8-- only 0.1 second faster than the Morizo. In the turn, the Civic also edged out the Corolla, pulling 1.28 Gs. The finish was close, but in the end, the Civic takes it with a 38.5 at 113 miles an hour. Did somebody say leaderboard? Remember, each car's quickest run goes on the leaderboard regardless of pairing. In the end, the Civic Type R hits number 12 with a time of 38.5 at 113 miles an hour, with the Morizo right below at 13th with a time of 39 flat at 108.6. Give me some of that POV data magic. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Bogged a bit. Two. Three, that's the rev limiter. Starting to pull a little bit. Four. Come on. Let's nail the braking. Down to two. Get it straightened up. Ah, he's pulling away. He's pulling away. Victory to the Honda. JONATHAN ALFALAN: Come on, Corolla, you got it. There. Right there, right there, right there. Oh! So close! Right there. Come on, you got it. Oh! Oh! Almost had it. ALISTAIR WEAVER: So I'm a bit surprised by this. JONATHAN ALFALAN: Yeah? ALISTAIR WEAVER: Yeah. Because, although, on paper the Honda's got more power, I did think the all-wheel drive might make a difference both on the launch and also getting out of what is a pretty tight bend at the bottom. And, actually, it didn't. JONATHAN ALFALAN: I'm not surprised by the result, because, I think you know, I've driven the Civic and the Corolla back-to-back, and I know the power advantage that that had. The grip was a concern. But as we found out here, not a concern out here. And so I think it took away the only advantage that the Corolla had, was grip and just like being able to use all of its power. But here, the Civic clearly could use all of its power very easily. Between the two, which one would you take home? ALISTAIR WEAVER: Well, given that we've got like a few hours to get home, the Honda is going to be the better. I mean, if you gave me like a little scrappy road, I think I'd love the Corolla. But that's just a great all round car that, you know, you can throw the kids in. That's it for this version of U-Drags. For all the latest races and our fabled leaderboard, head to edmunds.com/udrags. That's plural. And while you're there, check out everything else that Edmunds has to offer. And please, while we're developing the wish list, subscribe to our channel too, so it keeps us doing fun stuff. Thanks for watching. See you next time.