Toyota just took the wraps off their all-new 2023 GR Corolla and things look pretty good on paper. Compared to the competition, it's got some really potent hardware that promises a good time both on the road and on a track, for hopefully not much money. Having said that, how does it compare to its own little brother purely on the basis of power-to-weight ratio? Well, I did some number crunching, and here's what I found.

Overview

Now it's no surprise that the GR Yaris played a big role in the makings of the new GR Corolla. Demand for the pocket rocket has been through the roof and people were utterly disappointed to learn that the Yaris wasn't heading to the States. But in order to make up for that, you have the next best thing, the GR Corolla.

Did you know that GR Yaris was in itself a mixed-up car, with the front end from a regular Yaris fused with the rear of a Corolla? This time around, Gazoo Racing has worked its magic on the full whole Corolla. Most of the hardware from the smaller car has thankfully made it to the GR Corolla including the G16E-GTS 1.6 3-cylinder turbo, that now produces a healthier 300 horsepower.

GR Yaris vs GR Corolla Power-To-Weight Comparison

As you can see from the charts above, the power-weight ratio of 0.0923 hp/lb on the GR Corolla falls right in between the GR Yaris' 0.091 hp/b at the lower end and 0.095 at the upper end. We have a range for the GR Yaris because it has slightly different power outputs catering to different markets.

Dimensions Compared

While this is indeed good news on paper, you can't take away from the fact that the GR Corolla is a bigger car, which means it won't be as nimble, that's just plain physics, and the only way to find out how close it is to the Yaris is to have both cars out on track. Now that will be a difficult proposition as just like the GR Yaris didn't make it to the United States, the GR Corolla won't be sold in Europe or the UK. Maybe Toyota themselves could do a side-by-side.

Conclusion

So there you have it, Toyota has definitely gone the extra mile with the GR Corolla to capture some of the essences of the GR Yaris. In retrospect, the GR Corolla is part of a super rare breed of hot hatches in that it packs AWD with a manual, and it's only got one chief rival in the Golf R. A side by side against the Volkswagen would also be great. Watch this space.