My expectations as an owner of a current Corolla HB XSE:
Ride: a little stiffer but hopefully doesn’t lean in the turns too much, I’ve been surprised by how much performance Toyota‘s lean in turns on previous cars (’91 MR2 Turbo, ‘01 Celica GTS, etc.) Hopefully it handles more like the GR86 with more poise in the twisties. The jury is still out on road noise for daily drivers, as sound deadening may have been removed for space or weight and we don’t know what sounds the new power train will produce in the cabin. By comparison, the Corolla HB XSE is very comfy on long trips And surprisingly quiet That being said I am curious about the manually adjustable seat and getting the right position, the Corolla HB XSE has a power electric drivers seat.
Power: being that the engine displacement is so small, I don’t have my hopes up, but I am hoping that they engineered this new version of the engine to have low end grunt and turbo assisted upper rev range. It appears this may be the case based on the low max revs. This set-up is typically fun passing on the highway as well. I really don’t enjoy the engines that you need to wring out to get the performance (2001 Celica GT-S comes to mind)
0-60: I’m expecting somewhere between 4.6-5.2. I’d still except 5.5 with a disappointed frown though. Toyota has often times said that the Golf R was their benchmark, but you can’t find a 0-60 time for the manual Golf R anywhere, only the automatic. I don’t see the GRC moving as quickly 0-60 as the Golf R auto…..so likely in the 5 sec range.
Interior and Exterior fit and finish: I expect something similar to the Corolla, not Lexus. Keep in mind that the Corolla is actually really nice, so I don’t feel like this is a downgrade. One thing of note is that I don’t expect the digital display to have the cool graphics like you would see on the Corolla GR Sport or the CTR where they incorporate graphics of the finished vehicle in the background. The digital display seemed to be a late addition and was just being added in when the GRC came to the US, so I would expect the same basic display we saw at the reveal. To be honest, I’m just happy to have one. Still waiting to see the ”sport fabric” seats in the cores, CE seats look good. And even though I would like to see a fancier key fob, I’m expecting to see a standard Corolla key fob with a GR logo replacing the Corolla logo - it’s not a deal-breaker.