The Toyota GR Corolla is a disruptive hot hatch and it’s finally hitting the track. Independent performance testing can tell us a lot about just how capable any car actually is and new results from the first go in a GR Corolla continue that trend. While the GR Corolla might be a great hot hatch, this first series of tests suggest that it’s not an all-out world beater by any means.

We loved our time in the GR Corolla and crowned it as the current king of hot hatches (at least until the Civic Type R arrives). Its outstanding 300 hp (223 kW) engine and AWD system are seriously impressive. The rest of the automotive world seems to largely agree.

Motortrend is part of that group and it just finished a series of tests with the GR Corolla Core equipped with the Performance Package. The biggest surprise? Instead of doing the 0-60 sprint in 4.9 seconds as Toyota advertises, the best MT could manage was 5.4 seconds.

Driven: The 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Is The New King Of Hot Hatches

Why the discrepancy? Testers rightly point out that sometimes the conditions have to be absolutely perfect to achieve manufacturers’ claimed performance figures. Remember how Tesla said that the Model S Plaid could do 0-60 in 1.9 seconds but then admitted that it required a prepped surface and a one-foot rollout? That kind of stuff could be at play.

In addition, the testers said that you could technically get to 60 mph with only a single 1-2 shift but you’d have to commit to bouncing off of the rev-limiter in second gear. While that might be the quickest way to 60 it certainly isn’t the way most people would drive their car. Other tests resulted in similarly middling figures for the GR Corolla.

What About The Competition?

It completed the quarter mile in 13.7-seconds at 101.2 mph (162 km/h). That time is equal to other MT test results from the 2021 Civic Type R (0-60mph in 5.3 sec and  1/4 mile in 13.7 sec at 107.8 mph)and the 2021 Veloster N (5.1 sec / 13.7 sec at 102.9 mph), though both hit 60mph a hair faster. It’s almost a second slower than the 2022 Golf R which did the quarter mile deed in 12.8 seconds while hitting 60mph in just 4.2 seconds.

It’s also near the back of the pack when it comes to skidpad figures (0.94g average), 60-0 braking (110 ft), and the MT figure eight where it lost to every car mentioned above. Despite results that might be disappointing, keep in mind that this is only one data set and there are many more to come. Let’s wait to condemn the little car until more have had the chance to test it out.