How to get your performance car into the hands of more buyers? Add an option for an automatic gearbox.
That’s exactly what Toyota has done with the 2025 GR Corolla, offering customers an 8-speed automatic–officially known as the “GAZOO Racing Direct Automatic Transmission,”…
Hold on, I have a meme for this before all the standard (get it!?) automatic vs manual posts:
Sorry if the resizing isn't working and the picture is showing up huge for everyone....
I mean, the option of an automatic definitely makes it more appealing to me.
Colin Wood said:
How to get your performance car into the hands of more buyers? Add an option for an automatic gearbox.
Shouldn't they focus on building enough so that everybody who wants one can get one without a massive mark up before they start adding variants to the car?
I'm not surprised the GR Corolla got an automatic. If speed's your game, the automatic delivers. However, it certainly doesn't offer as much of a fun factor.
So the trans gets a cooler, good. Did I miss the part where GR addressed the reportedly overheating diffs that may benefit from some cooling?
Or, maybe it's all overblown "internetting" as is often the case.
Still love the idea that this car exists, though. I almost don't want them to eliminate the squat under acceleration and inner wheel lift in a turn. Those traits may not help ultimate lap times, but they can add character and fun.
But I don't own one so my statements are worth exactly what you paid to read them: nothing.
If you have one of these, enjoy the heck out of it for me!
In reply to Coniglio Rampante :
Inside rear tire lift with a Torsen forces the car to work the rear brakes a lot harder.
I had to look up what a "rebound spring" is, it has a similar function to a top-out spring in an MTB fork:
https://www.autoresource.co.uk/resources/kyb-technical-tip-rebound-springs/
I know its a different animal, but "automatic toyota corolla" gives me zero thoughts of excitement.
Driven5 said:In reply to Coniglio Rampante :
Inside rear tire lift with a Torsen forces the car to work the rear brakes a lot harder.
Oh yeah. 
Thanks, whenever I hear of inner (rear) tire lift, my mind goes to old fwd cars like Mini's, GTi's and such.
TJL (Forum Supporter) said:I know its a different animal, but "automatic toyota corolla" gives me zero thoughts of excitement.
I certainly hope this is common, because it'd be great if these cars didn't command a ridiculous market adjustment.
In reply to GameboyRMH :
Yeah, I'm not totally clear on how the rebound spring reduces inside rear tire lift.
In reply to Driven5 :
Here's the specific language Toyota used in case I interpreted it incorrectly:
Always searching for ways to improve, the GR team tested the GR Corolla with the same approach used when developing a race car for the Super Taikyu (also known as the Japanese Endurance Race). During testing on the Fuji International Speedway, the engineers wanted to improve traction during hard cornering, so they added rebound springs to the front and rear suspension to suppress inner wheel lift during energetic dynamic driving. The rear coils and stabilizers were also improved to help boost ground contact response and controllability when turning.
These are available below MSRP now, pretty easily. So you shouldnt have to worry about them building enough.
I finally bought a slightly used '23 Core with all 3 option packages, so basically a Premium minus the carbon fiber roof (good, less potential issues) and hood/spoiler. Which I plan to add my own crazy WRC-inspired spoiler fairly soon. Less concerned about the hood but I do like the Ciruit's hood.
I've said it every time the forum/FB groups whine about an auto, the Fiat 500 Abarth ended up adding an auto option. If that helps sell the car/keep it in production longer, great! I don't want one so I'LL JUST NOT BUY THE AUTO.
The owners seem to be split on opinions of the new front end design. From what I have seen, I like it. YMMV.
Also, I'm seeing '23 and '24 models popping up pretty often, new and used, without markups. See how the '25 intro goes.
As much as I might prefer a manual, an auto that doesn't suck would actually be a big selling point for our next family fun car.
This is the new Toyota automatic that takes into account throttle position, boost and drive modes correct. I really like the idea of this and want to see how it works.
wearymicrobe said:This is the new Toyota automatic that takes into account throttle position, boost and drive modes correct. I really like the idea of this and want to see how it works.
Aisin is a member of the Toyota group.
The Aisin-Warner 5 speed automatic in the car I had that was built in 2002 did all that. It was really cool, in that I never really felt like I had to shift it manually, it always did what I wanted it to do with no real inputs of my own, aside from maybe requesting a downshift before a corner with the same little throttle double-tap that one would give with a double declutched downshift... and then it would bother to hold that gear for me through the corner. Like, you could tap the throttle, and the trans would downshift with the second tap, kind of like rev matching the downshift but with the roles reversed.
The gear ratio spread was almost the same as a NA Miata, too, so it wasn't like one of the bad old automatics with giant gear drops.
A couple years ago, we were casually shopping new cars to maybe get something for our kiddos to share. (We ended up buying an overpriced, used '08G35 sedan.) When the Corolla GR came across the screen on one of the websites, my missus paused and stared... HARD. See, she's had a life-long fondness for Corollas, having owned a few over the years. I then explained that it was manual only (she still hasn't learned), to which she replied "too bad it doesn't come with an automatic..." Does this mean a new Corolla GR is in my future? Sadly, probably not. 2 kids in college doesn't leave much room for a $40k+ car monthly payment.
wearymicrobe said:This is the new Toyota automatic that takes into account throttle position, boost and drive modes correct. I really like the idea of this and want to see how it works.
Is there something different about what they're doing here than normal? Every electronically controlled gearbox effectively does this (shift mapping or algorithm control based on TPS/APP, engine load/MAP/boost, and mode select/tow mode) and I haven't been able to figure out what is supposed to be different about this particular auto box. Even algorithmic driver-based learning has been around since the early 2000s.
In reply to darkbuddha :
I feel you, but it is nice to dream, isn't it?
And I'm sure there will be cheaper used on the market at some point (right?).
Has anyone heard about the couple of these that blew a rod out the side of the block and burned, and Toyota voided the warranty for various sketchy sounding reasons? I assume there is more to the story, but if there isn't I would end up voiding the warranty the first time I drove to work if I had one.
In reply to Tk8398 :
I feel like I keep seeing the same story over and over on the Facebook groups. And it's always one side of a story.
I can find mention of two different times, one of them has some communication allegedly from Toyota saying that they have data from the car saying the top speed recorded (at some previous point) was 114 mph, and at the time it blew up there is a video of it on the highway at 85 mph, both of which are abuse which voids the warranty. Hopefully there is more to the story than that, but I also wouldn't be surprised if they are scamming people to get out of paying for a defective engine.
Look, I'm all for saving the manuals. That said, when it comes time for me to replace my Forte GT as a daily driver, I might consider the automatic GR Corolla as an option. I like having a somewhat fuel efficient, nimble, and fun car to get around in the city, but having a manual is wearing out its welcome, as I don't do a lot of "fun" driving in this anymore and mostly crawl along in traffic. I also miss having a hatch big time. Between this, the Mazda 3 Turbo, and the GTI's (and Golf R's) with the DSG, there will be at least a couple options out there when the time comes.
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