One could certainly argue the incorporation of an urban SUV variant into the lineup of Toyota’s most famous car to be a rather clever thing to do. Take one of the world’s most recognisable car names, inject it with some additional ground clearance and additional real-world practicality and hey presto, you have the Toyota Corolla Cross.
The Corolla Cross has been with us since 2022 and had recently undergone a stylistic refresh and features new tech and there have been some moderate revisions of the lineup as it stands. Now, what if you had a Corolla Cross with an injection of sporting DNA from Toyota’s Gazoo Racing department? Why not right? Well, that is what has happened, say hello to the Toyota Corolla Cross GR Sport.
Now let’s set the record straight right away, the new Corolla Cross GR Sport is not a snarling track weapon but contains more equipment and some sporting tweaks to make just that bit more dynamic than others in the range. Replacing the Limited AWD, the Corolla Cross GR Sport “sports” a TDP (Toyota Driveaway Price) of $54,990. Buyers can still opt for the entry level GX and mid-tier GXL and Limited, but the GR Sport sits as the range flagship with all the fruit that Toyota can currently muster for this urban soft roader.
The stylistic tweaks to the Corolla Cross include a new look front grill and front bumper with honeycomb features. The GR Sports is even more different with a more squared off sporting front lip and sporting blacked out front grill. It also adds some exclusive sporting upgrades including blacked out and machined 19-inch alloys, black accents fore and aft, red GR Sport brake callipers and plenty of GR badges. Plus, it really pops in that shade of Emotional Red and for an extra $1,000 you can have your Corolla Cross GR Sport in a shade of two tonne, with a black roof giving it a colour scheme any Canterbury Crusaders fan would approve of.
The GR Sport receives the same 2.0L four-cylinder hybrid petrol engine and E-CVT transmission as the rest of the range but the gets the advantage of Toyota’s E-AWD system, double wishbone rear suspension and sporting refinements to the Corolla Cross’s electric power steering which on paper should deliver a more dynamic and spirited drive.
Power sits at 112kW and torque at 188Nm while total power with the addition of the battery pack is around the 146kW mark. Toyota also claim combined fuel consumption figures of 4.6L/100km (WTLP) and 106g/km of CO2 emissions.
Inside the GR Sport influence is further evident, especially when you notice the shift paddles, GR embossed steering wheel, gun metal interior panelling, sports pedals and more noticeable of all, suede and leather accented GR Sport front seats which once you hop inside, do a mighty fine job of keeping you snug and secure. In some instances, sports seats can be overly firm and not that nice for everyday use, so you would naturally think Toyota would strike a good middle ground between sporting support and daily driving comfort. They nailed it with the GR Supra, GR86 and GR Yaris and certainly have with the Corolla Cross GR Sport.
Toyota have also nailed it when you look at the central infotainment display. At 10.5” it is not distracting but large enough to be easy to allow you to operate all functions with relative ease. The centre console controls are also classic current gen Corolla so they are easy to reach and operate.
Being the flagship, the Corolla Cross GR Sport gets all the fruit of the GX, GXL and Limited and more, things like Wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, wireless phone charging, USB C-ports x2, heated front seats, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, sat nav, LED headlights, panoramic roof and Toyota’s full Safety Sense Suite with active and passive safety features.
This includes a 360-degree reversing camera, rear cross traffic alert, advanced parking assist, 8x airbags, 2x ISOFIX anchor points, active cornering assist, road sign assist, curved speed reduction and pre collision system with autonomous emergency braking, cyclist and motorcycle and pedestrian detection, emergency steering assist and intersection turn assist. A good 9-Speaker JBL audio system with subwoofer is also present. I reckon do some good in car audio and its very much business as usual here.
Behind the driver, the rear doors also open out wide, allowing rear passengers an easier time of getting in and out. Space is decent for said passengers too once in and the rear seats themselves, while not as supportive as the GR Sport seats in the front, still hold you in relative comfort.
The drivers door bins will hold a conventional metal water bottle, but anything like the big bottles you get from the supermarket may have to be kept elsewhere.
Storage space is still decent and when you pop the electric tailgate, which makes a rather loud beep when opening or closing so that everyone within your immediate vicinity is aware of your intentions to load up or retrieve something, and revealed is 384L of boot space. The weekly shop is easily swallowed up, and the boot floor itself is a bit deeper than you may think.
On start up its very much the familiar modern Toyota hybrid sensation of silence then when moving off, the petrol engine wakes up to that equally familiar Toyota 2.0L four pot burble. It’s a good car around town as you probably would expect. You sit relatively upright and visibility all round is pretty good. I found myself averaging around the 6.0L to 6.5L/100km mark when it came to fuel consumption and that was a mixture of restrained urban commuting and giving it a little bit of stick once or twice.
So, what happens when you do give it a bit of stick? Well, you won’t be setting the world alight with performance, but the GR Sport still feels lithe and well sorted. The double wishbone suspension set up and changes to the steering means that in Sport mode, which gives you a nice animation on the instrument cluster to signify you have changed modes, its easily the most dynamic and engaging Corolla Cross out there.
Coaxing it into a corner and it does its utmost to pull you round it with good levels of grip to boot. For what it is, it is a surprisingly supple drive. Having that 160mm of ground clearance also means gravel roads are less of an issue.
In summary, these little sporting tweaks, tech and visual upgrades which all come with having that “GR Sport” badge have made the Corolla Cross an even more compelling buy.
RATING: 8.5/10
