Interior is not very good. The seats SHOULD be better, but they're comfortable enough. If I were turning this in to a dual duty/track car, I would replace at least the driver's seat. Lack of armrest. I just know that Toyota will make an armrest standard in 2024 MYs.

I hate the stupid annoying pop ups on the infotainment and dash. On the dash, these stupid notifications wont go away on their own and you have to hit the back button to clear them. I also hate how unintuitive the dash information is to customize. You're stuck with 3 presets and have to hold the OK button and press arrows to change the the left of right info squares.

The infotainment doesn't display engine metrics like oil temp, pressure, coolant temps, etc. like other performance cars such as the EN, VN, CTR, etc. Wasted space and function for track or spirited driving.

I also dislike the auto high beam function as it is both too sensitive AND not sensitive enough depending on conditions. Yes, I've changed the sensitivity, but either direction makes it worse than the default. I dislike that it's a button further down on the left side of the dash and not on the light stalk.

Dampers could have better damping especially for high speed compression and high speed rebound. Maybe a slightly larger rear anti-sway bar for more rotation as well.

Steering could be a heavier. I was surprised when I drove it and felt how light the steering was.

Exhaust note could be louder past 5000 RPM. I thought that's what the exhaust valve was for. Aftermarket will take care of it, but I feel that there's little to no middle ground with aftermarket exhausts. Either you're stuck with the quiet stock exhaust or you get a much, much louder aftermarket one. No in-between.

Engine is weaker than what reviews had claimed. I knew it would be low on torque but it just does not pull very hard from 2-4K. From seat of pants impression and from trying to merge, it is lacking. Weight and 4WD dont help I guess. Morizo has +20 torque so a proper tune can hopefully add torque down low and more HP.

I don't think any reviews I've read or watched claimed that the engine was strong under 3500-4000 RPM. In fact, the vast majority of them mention said it takes a while for it to get in to boost. The larger turbo for the 1.6 small displacement of the engine takes a long time to spool. If it had a smaller, faster spooling turbo to better match its displacement, it would have torque in the low RPMs but power will fall off sharply after 5000 RPM. I prefer the larger turbo, because I like the high RPM powerband. In addition, a larger turbo being off boost at low RPMs means better MPGs. I've owned several small turbo cars in the past and you have to drive those like a near-blinding grandma to get any decent gas mileage. With the GRC, I can rev it to 3-4k RPM before shifting during normal driving and still get over 20 MPGs. If I did that with my Veloster N, I would get 17 MPGs.

----
Other than these gripes(I'm sure I'll find more in the future), it has at least met my expectations for a fun, all season, mostly practical daily driver. I think that Toyota went a little too conservative(even with the Morizo Edition) with this car, but that's just Toyota being Toyota. There is no doubt in my mind that the aftermarket will be massive for the GRC and one can build it however they want. Which is what I think Toyota was going for anyway.

 

The infotainment doesn't display engine metrics like oil temp, pressure, coolant temps, etc. like other performance cars such as the EN, VN, CTR, etc. Wasted space and function for track or spirited driving.

Are you wanting that info on both the instrument cluster AND the infotainment screen?

You've already mentioned the cluster three squares that you can change, so I'm assuming that you know that all three of those metrics that you mentioned are able to be displayed in the cluster. Just not the infotainment screen.

 

I've had mine since the first wave hit dealers in December. Here is my list of annoyances.

• Low rent interior. I feel like I'm driving a $20k car when I paid $40k for this thing.
• Lack of storage overall. No center console/armrest, no seat back pockets, small rear hatch.
• Constant pop-ups on my cluster for things I do not care about. I don't need a pop-up every time I turn on cruise control or telling me that my engine is cold.
• Gas tank is too small. I get that this is to save weight, but I'd really like a 16 gallon tank instead of the 13 it has now.
• iMT and ALL of the drive modes need to be a persistent setting. I hate having to turn on iMT and switch to sport mode every time I drive the car.
• No dual climate control when the XSE has it. This is just stupid.
• No button in the cabin to open the hatch.
• Gloss black plastic everywhere SUCKS. I need to wrap all of it at some point.
• The brake pads are super dusty and squeaky (small gripe).
• iMT doesn't always rev match. Maybe I'm downshifting too slow or something, but sometimes it just doesn't rev match.
• Backup camera has the quality of a potato.
• Wireless android auto randomly disconnects sometimes.
• The JBL system desperately needs a small subwoofer.
• The wireless charger sucks and won't charge either of my phones.
• Lane keep assist deactivates itself after 10 seconds if it thinks you're not grabbing the wheel. Super annoying.
• Active cruise is way too quick to brake. It seems to slam on the brakes if the car in front of me slows down a little instead of just letting off the throttle.
• The seat belt alarm is the most annoying sound I've ever heard. (I always wear my seat belt when on the road, but I live on a large property and do not wear a seat belt when driving my car to my shop on private property.)
• The cluster settings will not save the TPMS widget no matter what I do. The rest of my settings save, but TPMS always reverts back to something else every other drive or so.

I think that's everything. Most of my issues have to do with it just being a Corolla at the end of the day. Economy car problems. Maybe I should've bought an Audi or Lexus, lol.
The driving experience mostly makes up for all of the issues. I think this drivetrain with a Lexus interior and features would be my dream daily. I still plan to upgrade to a 2025 or 2026 Special edition when they release even with all the little issues I have with the car.

 

Same to all of the above. Deff going to sell mine now. lol jk jk

Also that seatbelt ALARM IS ABSOLUTEY HORRIBLE!!! im just moving it around my driveway!! Please relax!

 

Cant select which mode to start in (Custom or Sport would be great to default to)

 

Perfect summary @Sparkko.

 

Whoever created the seatbelt alarm in this car should be shot....

 

It is the worse alert sound I have ever heard, and it's loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage. I HATE it. Which I guess is the point.

 

And do you plan to just live with these issues or do something to improve them?

No.1 issue for me:

SEATS :

Not enough blustering for a sport/track car. Fast cornering to the right pushes left shoulder against hard pillar plastic. They are too high so I have to set steering wheel to full out and full up to get room for knees not to hit the wheel when shifting or braking.

2 other issues:

Engine is weaker than what reviews had claimed. I knew it would be low on torque but it just does not pull very hard from 2-4K. From seat of pants impression and from trying to merge, it is lacking. Weight and 4WD dont help I guess. Morizo has +20 torque so a proper tune can hopefully add torque down low and more HP.

Brakes have no initial bite. Will try this weekend to bed them in, might help. But will change to DTC-30s before autoX. That should improve brakes instantly.

Annoying but smaller things:

- Rev match off by default and no way to set it (should be addressed with tune)

- Not able to start in sport mode (tune)

- Nav app locked behind a pay wall. Money grab, GPS is built into the car.

- Looks like they glued a tablet to the dash.

Clutch pack heating I knew about, disappointing but should not be an issue for autoX. Track days in high heat maybe. But I am not the fastest guy on track so should be ok.

Brother, I do not know where you drive in Canada (401?),
but this thing has no trouble merging with/passing normal traffic.

 

I think this would be better titled: 2 month ownership check-in, what is great, and what is not so great.

not so great:

• JBL rear speakers are non-existent, meaning to have a decent range of audio, it sounds like the sound is coming out of the windshield and possibly the car in front of me.
• wireless charger is non-existent.
• it'd be nice if the iMT setting would persist, but just as with the STI, it's part of the startup procedure now. start the car, flip switch to sport, press iMT button, check mirrors, put on seatbelt and go. not great, but it is what it is.
• the TPMS not persisting is mildly annoying.
• before the engine has come up to a temp that the ECU says is safe, the iMT is VERY slow. you have to be on your toes with the engine while it's in the warm-up mode, luckily, I live in Houston and the outside temp is usually 175F anyway, so the car starts and is in optimal operating temp immediately.

great for me:

• the interior is spartan and purposeful. there aren't wasted things and the purpose of the vehicle is understood immediately as a car for driving.
• the cubby holes under the hatch floor are very useful for storing things I need to have with me, but don't want cluttering the interior, or have just laying in the hatch area.
• the power delivery is great, very linear, granted I come from a long line of Subarus with questionable stock tunes and my immediate previous car was a '18 BRZ.
• initially I didn't like the shifter feel, but the shifter feel has grown on me. it didn't feel as engaging as the BRZ did, but actually after 2 months of ownership, it almost feels like after a break-in period, it's gotten better. or maybe I've gotten used to it.

 

+1000 for the things already mentioned. Persistent driving settings is my #1.

Only thing I'll add that I didn't see is that the steering feel is a bit "comfortably numb". I can feel the road, I get the sensation of turning etc I just don't get much feedback. Heavier would be nice as mentioned already, but MORE feedback/input feel would be awesome.

 

I love many things about the car but if there’s one thing I hate…

It’s definitely the placement of the brake and throttle pedals. Maybe I got used to the BRZ & GR86. But in the GRC the brake pedal is so much higher than the throttle pedal AND there’s a decent space in between them. It makes it very difficult to heel-toe. I’ve been practicing but it just feels so unnatural

 

Ill be totally honest....if I had to pick one thing I hated about my grc, it would 100% be nothing.

 

Agreed. Maybe the horn though...?

 

Just drove to town on a snowy day, so fresh in my mind is the persistent pop-up warnings. Ice sticks to the radar sensor? Constant pop-telling you to clean the sensor that just keeps popping up no matter how many times you dismiss it. Same thing when the camera can't see the lane lines, alert dismiss alert dismiss alert dismiss.
"System inoperative, Check your owners manual" without telling you what has shut down. Maybe give us a page number?

The steering seems very numb when you are trying to detect that slight freeing of the wheel when the front tires lose traction. The car seems to stick well with good snow tires, but I'm not sure what's happening at the limit.

Obligatory mention of no spare tire, no jack, no console storage, silly wireless charger taking up more storage room, paywalled navigation, nosy Toyota Connect apps, tiny rear door opening, feeble horn, silly fog lights, small gas tank and a high gross weight for a compact car.

Connect data is with AT&T, which does not have the best coverage in rural areas, so nav search is frequently not available for me.

Of course a lot of this is going to be the case with any new car....

 

I agree with all the above but my gripe is the seats, I would've liked a better seat design (like the CTR; those seats are godly) don't get me wrong the seat are comfy but they could've made them sportier.

 

I agree with all the above but my gripe is the seats, I would've liked a better seat design (like the CTR; seat those are godly) don't get me wrong the seat are comfy but they could've made them sportier.

I'm half-regretting not trying to keep the factory Recaro seats that were in my Fiesta ST!

 

How's the lumbar support?

 

Nonexistent

 

And do you plan to just live with these issues or do something to improve them?

No.1 issue for me:

SEATS :

Not enough blustering for a sport/track car. Fast cornering to the right pushes left shoulder against hard pillar plastic. They are too high so I have to set steering wheel to full out and full up to get room for knees not to hit the wheel when shifting or braking.

2 other issues:

Engine is weaker than what reviews had claimed. I knew it would be low on torque but it just does not pull very hard from 2-4K. From seat of pants impression and from trying to merge, it is lacking. Weight and 4WD dont help I guess. Morizo has +20 torque so a proper tune can hopefully add torque down low and more HP.

Brakes have no initial bite. Will try this weekend to bed them in, might help. But will change to DTC-30s before autoX. That should improve brakes instantly.

Annoying but smaller things:

- Rev match off by default and no way to set it (should be addressed with tune)

- Not able to start in sport mode (tune)

- Nav app locked behind a pay wall. Money grab, GPS is built into the car.

- Looks like they glued a tablet to the dash.

Clutch pack heating I knew about, disappointing but should not be an issue for autoX. Track days in high heat maybe. But I am not the fastest guy on track so should be ok.

I think the low torque from 2-4k is part of this engines magic.
To have that turbo lag in my opinion is part of the throw back feel of this car. Personally I love it that you FEEL that turbo kick in to action.

Brakes in this car are one of the strong points in my experience the pedal is very precise and predictable and brakes have a nice bite to them.

For me personally also the starting procedure is very interactive and part of the charm almost like getting ready to take off , turning on IMT , changing diffs to 30:70 and then flicking it to sport and see the gauge cluster changes , just part of the experience .

 

I think the low torque from 2-4k is part of this engines magic.
To have that turbo lag in my opinion is part of the throw back feel of this car. Personally I love it that you FEEL that turbo kick in to action.

Brakes in this car are one of the strong points in my experience the pedal is very precise and predictable and brakes have a nice bite to them.

For me personally also the starting procedure is very interactive and part of the charm almost like getting ready to take off , turning on IMT , changing diffs to 30:70 and then flicking it to sport and see the gauge cluster changes , just part of the experience .

I agree with the power delivery. Every other turbo car has linear power at the low end and runs out of steam up top because they use smaller, faster spooling turbos. The GRC makes peak power at 6500 RPM and while it does drop off until it's 7000-something redline(also unusual for a modern turbo engine), the power taper isn't drastic compared a car using smaller faster spooling turbos. Meaning that one can absolutely let this wonderful engine sing on track or with spirited driving.

And another upside to a slower spooling turbo is that off boost, the MPGs are great. Can't do that with other turbo cars because you're always on boost from as low as 2000 RPM. So one really needs to drive a small turbo car like a grandma with glaucoma to realize decent MPGs. The 10.5:1 compression ratio and free-revving nature of the G16E-GTS also doesn't make it feel slow down low. There's enough grunt off boost below 4000 RPM to get off the line at a dead stop with good acceleration. It does not feel like a NA Honda K20 or F20/22 down low. There is a bit of pick up if you use the throttle more. And then once you get to 4000 RPM and up, there's a rush of power that only a rush of power a larger turbo can provide.

This engine is a gem.

 

I think a lot of car companies intentionally place the brake pedal much higher, much larger and far to the left for liability/ unintended acceleration issues. Nothing specific to this car but I have seen an accelerator extension piece that essentially extends the accelerator pedal to the left etc.

 

And do you plan to just live with these issues or do something to improve them?

No.1 issue for me:

SEATS :

Not enough blustering for a sport/track car. Fast cornering to the right pushes left shoulder against hard pillar plastic. They are too high so I have to set steering wheel to full out and full up to get room for knees not to hit the wheel when shifting or braking.

2 other issues:

Engine is weaker than what reviews had claimed. I knew it would be low on torque but it just does not pull very hard from 2-4K. From seat of pants impression and from trying to merge, it is lacking. Weight and 4WD dont help I guess. Morizo has +20 torque so a proper tune can hopefully add torque down low and more HP.

Brakes have no initial bite. Will try this weekend to bed them in, might help. But will change to DTC-30s before autoX. That should improve brakes instantly.

Annoying but smaller things:

- Rev match off by default and no way to set it (should be addressed with tune)

- Not able to start in sport mode (tune)

- Nav app locked behind a pay wall. Money grab, GPS is built into the car.

- Looks like they glued a tablet to the dash.

Clutch pack heating I knew about, disappointing but should not be an issue for autoX. Track days in high heat maybe. But I am not the fastest guy on track so should be ok.

I just got mine, coming from a mk7 GTI with performance pack, and overall driving experience is spectacular. All the inputs are butter smooth. Engine loves to rev. most power in the upper RPM, but that's honestly more fun. GTI would have most torque lower in the rev range and honestly it's kind of boring
I really can't imagine a better daily driver. Seats are super comfortable. They're not as bolstered as let's say a focus RS, but that's a trade off for daily comfort.

One thing I was not prepared for is how small the trunk is, or how small the car is in general. Like the interior feels smaller than a normal Corolla hatchback. I don't think the front seats are scooped in the back as aggressively as the normal hatchback and the trunk is much smaller.

 

I have only had the car for 500 miles and just regret getting it overall lol. Just not my style i guess. Gave it a chance..

 

Another flipper in the making.

 

I personally don't think this is the car to buy if you plan on Flipping it.
The better car would be a Porsche GT3 or GT4 if you plan on Flipping.

 

Considering the white one on c&b went to 41k and hasn’t moved in like 2.5 days I agree for sure

 

Someone buying something completely out of their comfort zone automotive-wise, not liking it, and deciding to move on is not flipping. This happens all the time and the current scarcity is creating an us enthusiasts vs them flippers mentality. Dude just doesn't like the car and rightfully wants something else and that's A-OK.

 

• Power delivery, car is pretty slow out of the box
• Cramped interior
• How the display screen is 60% of the actual screen size
• No arm rest
• Sea of plastic EVERYWHERE (this has to be worse than a base Corolla, no?)
• Digital dash. Seems like they half-assed the development, called it quits when it was "good enough"
• OEM real spoiler, makes the car looks very odd from certain angles
• Wireless "charger" aka phone microwave
• Seatbelt alarm is the craziest I've ever seen in a car
• And of course the weak ass horn haha

Plenty of things to like about the car though too.

 

• Power delivery, car is pretty slow out of the box

You must be used to a different class of cars than me. I thought this thing was a little rocket. It's really quick lol.

 

There should be a thread of favorite or good things about the car, because all this negativity is giving me serious second thoughts! I'm supposed to pick mine up next month, or as soon as delivered to dealer. Anyone here feel like you wouldn't buy it again knowing what you know now if you could do it over?

 

It's not negativity. It's being realistic and transparent about the ownership experience. The GRC is an outstanding car, but it's not without its flaws. And at this price range, it's going to have a few of them. There are simply things that we think could be better overall. And this thread could be read as a 'what to expect when you finally get your car'. And what I don't like might not necessarily be something you also dislike.

And despite the shortcomings of the GRC, I would buy the same one again if I had the chance. No ragrets.

 

Well going in I knew what I was getting - ie a cheap interior. The driving experience to me is very rewarding. I think it comes down to what are you driving/have owned in the past. This thing is a big upgrade for me.

 

That's good to hear. So, you'd buy it again if had a do-over? I've had some very expensive/fast cars and some very cheap cars. I really liked my 16 FiST and everyone complained about the interior in that car. It was so playful and just plain fun though - that's really what I want and hope I'll get from the GRC. Crazy to think that 16 FiST with sunroof and premium paint had a MSRP of like $23k, and I got a serious discount. Those days are long gone.

It's not negativity. It's being realistic and transparent about the ownership experience. The GRC is an outstanding car, but it's not without its flaws. And at this price range, it's going to have a few of them. There are simply things that we think could be better overall. And this thread could be read as a 'what to expect when you finally get your car'. And what I don't like might not necessarily be something you also dislike.

And despite the shortcomings of the GRC, I would buy the same one again if I had the chance. No ragrets.

True enough - and this thread is good to point out those flaws to help set realistic expectations. There has been so much hype around this car I can't help but think some people will be let down a bit. It doesn't help that test drives are basically not possible and you pretty much have to commit to a car before you've seen it. I think it was Doug Demuro that said in one of the first reviews that some of the Lambo-type YouTubers that said they were buying one might be let down. I just don't want it to drive like a cheap car.

 

Just got mine today. Long time Japanese car/truck enthusiast part of many forums. I like this thread, no hate to anyone and their opinions.

Literally my only complaint is how gentle the throttle in 1st gear is. My Type-R I could rev with a pinky toe, this GR needs a good quarter throttle for a smooth take off. It's not a bad thing, I just need to get used to it.

I'd probably have more complaints if it was my daily but at 38, I appreciate my lazy-boy 21 Tundra. Oh yeah and I wish the GR had a sub as part of the JBL system, my wife's 21 Venza bumps lol.

 

Literally my only complaint is how gentle the throttle in 1st gear is. My Type-R I could rev with a pinky toe, this GR needs a good quarter throttle for a smooth take off. It's not a bad thing, I just need to get used to it.

Less torque down low than the FK8 is part of it. Could be the throttle mapping too though. Throttle map changed with drive mode in the CTR, was very aggressive in sport and more so in R.

This is another thing that should be able to be adjusted with a proper tune.

 

I think that might be the difference between AWD vs FWD. You'll need a bit more throttle for a smooth take off.

 

For me its simply these few things:

1. wireless CarPlay doesnt always work. cuts out all the time randomly.
2. I like the iMT but hate that I always have to turn it on every time I get into the car
3. wish the seating position was lower
4. wish the cloth interior wasnt the base but an option. I like the CE interior much better as I think most people would prefer. id pay a little extra to have that
5. hate that the paint is so soft that it chips easily
6. hate that the rims dont better fit on the body of the car; hence the rear spacer from factory
7. HATE that the rear clutch pack over heats when being tracked and yet, this is marketed as a car you can track. THIS SHOULDNT have left the factory with this problem not addressed!
8. I hate that the core was the first edition offered and that the other editions are so hard to get
9. dislike that the back doors dont open very wide. I often find myself accidentally trying to rip them more open than they go
10. wish the hatch had more room than it does
11. wish that we had the better gearing and power of the ME in all editions, or at least offer it as an upgrade

think... thats it. I think.

 

Hate that the rims dont better fit on the body of the car; hence the rear spacer from factory

They could have changed the rear rim offset, but then you couldn't rotate them.