What someone else sees as trash could be their prize. And while my own life has shown me this to be true in many situations, it is especially true when it comes to cars. I don’t know why. It could be because cars are naturally difficult works of engineering and design. We are emotional and practical tools that we deeply feel but don’t always fully understand. As a critic, it’s important that most people can’t try these goods for themselves and decide for themselves what they think about them. Most people don’t get to drive as many cars as I do, but there are still a lot I will never get to try. I would rather accept Top Gear’s old-fashioned claims that old Alfa Romeos are unstable but have “passion” or that the R35 GT-R is very powerful but analytical and careless. To disprove them, I have yet to gain first-hand experience. This is what I’m thinking about the 2024 Toyota GR Corolla that I just bought. Yes, I do enjoy it, but I’ve had some worries since I bought it. There were some things I liked about the inside of the hot hatch that I didn’t love. When the GR Corolla first came out at dealers, I was able to test drive it. Then, about a month or two later, I was able to test drive the new Honda Civic Type R. Besides that, I spent a week living with the newest Volkswagen Golf R. It was true that I was setting myself up for a bad experience because, while I wasn’t completely unaware of the Corolla’s meetings, I also hadn’t come across them every day either. Since the GRs became mine more than a month ago today, I’ve figured it out. Of course, the inside of any Corolla, even one that costs between twenty-five and forty thousand yen, is nothing special. It’s great, though, if you spend at least $42,000 on the new Premium standard, like I did. Even though it doesn’t look great, it’s well-made and, to be honest, pretty cheap for a hot hatch in this class. I think that when we talk about the inside of cars, we don’t always use very high-level words. What do you believe makes a house beautiful? Is it nice to look at? Is this right? Is it a fancy place? Is everything put together just right? There are four very different things, but they are all controlled by “good” and “bad.” Actually, if I had to pick just one cabin in this class, I’d pick the Civic Type R’s for two reasons. The red carpet and chairs come first. Second, it’s really beautiful. The detailed art deco climate vents on my Honda are beautiful, and I can’t get enough of them. Even so, the Civic is less luxurious or well-made than other $40K sports cars in the same class. Besides how it looks, the only clear ways it’s better than the Golf R are in how it works and how it feels to drive. Because of the Golf R’s screen and four touch-sensitive buttons, these don’t work when you breathe on them. This is starting to change, though. The Fiesta ST is giving way to a Corolla. The state of the inside of a cheap Ford is worse than that of most other drivers’ cars. I don’t believe in magic. The dash feels good to touch, and this hatch doesn’t rattle. The metals used inside are strong and will last a long time. The Premium and Circuit Edition grades have seats that feel like leather and every kind of tactile button you can think of. People say good things about Fiesta’s Recaros, and I did find them to be useful, but these are better for people who have trouble with their kidneys. I don’t like the wide borders around the 8-inch touchscreen in the middle. It looks like extra buttons that aren’t needed for Toyota’s newest entertainment system, which is used to take up the whole space to the right of the touchscreen. I don’t miss the middle seat as much as I thought I would. Strangely, it’s gone, but you get used to it. The only thing I don’t like about the inside of this car is how it’s packed, which doesn’t make any sense. People often said nice things about the Honda Fit’s strange ability to swallow things much bigger than itself, kind of like a TARDIS. It’s amazing when you think about how badly the GR Corolla handles its impact. It’s ridiculous that people in the rear seats don’t have more legroom. I forget about it, though, since I don’t go back there very often. However, it’s less likely that anything can be moved in the area behind those chairs. For the GR model, Toyota moved the Corolla’s battery to the trunk to make the car’s weight more even. While it is cool, it becomes less cool when you learn that it was done by raising the whole level above the load floor and placing the batteries there. I would have liked it if the batteries took up a rectangular piece of the trunk area, like an old subwoofer. However, I do love the foam cubbies that were cleverly added to make the space around them more useful (thanks for the Fix-a-Flat tube!). In this place, verticality is really respected. So, the GR Corolla is not a no-compromise small like many hot hatchbacks. One thing it could be better at is doggin’. But it’s good enough for me. It might be nice if that’s the case.
