2025 Toyota GR Corolla Revealed – New 8AT Box, More Torque & Better Cooling

The 2025 Toyota GR Corolla officially debuted earlier today with a slew of minor improvements plus a newly added automatic transmission option.

It was long rumoured, but it’s now a fact – the GR Corolla has gained an automatic transmission option, just like its smaller GR Yaris sibling. Revealed earlier today, the 2025 Toyota GR Corolla also brings forth a slew other changes, some bigger than others.

Visually, the exterior changes are moderate the say the least, though the 2025MY version does sport a new front bumper with improved cooling channels including larger new brake ducts. The same can be said about its interior apart from some new trim pieces in the 8AT-equipped variants.

The new front bumper offers improved cooling thanks to revised intakes plus larger new brake ducts.

Straight into the new automatic transmission, it is in fact an 8-speed ‘Direct Automatic Transmission’ option developed by Toyota’s Gazoo Racing arm. Similar to the unit primed in the refreshed GR Yaris mentioned, Toyota says it delivers perfect gear shifts by sensing brake and accelerator inputs instead of speed and deceleration G-force.

Notably, said new 8AT box boasts similar ratios as the six-speed manual transmission that’s still offered as standard. It even has its own dedicated cooler that keeps it optimised and cool for longer. Toyota also offers an optional sub-radiator for additional cooling through the Premium models, but it comes as standard in Premium Plus variants instead.

Called the 'Direct Automatic Transmisison', the new 8-speed automatic box is developed by Gazoo Racing and boasts similar ratios as the standard 6-speed manual box. There's a dedicated cooler plus launch control feature that comes with this box.

8AT-equipped variants also see new trim pieces added on board. Toyota adds that the 8AT box delivers perfect shifts by sensing brake and accelerator inputs.

These new additions on the transmission front match up well with the beefed up 1.5-litre 3-cyl turbo petrol mill mounted up front, which sees its torque output raised from 370 NM previously to a much meatier 400 NM now. Toyota also added a launch control feature for models equipped with the 8AT box, but it has yet to disclose an official 0-100 KM/H sprint time.

Powertrain aside, the 2025 Toyota GR Corolla also benefits with optimised chassis and handling. Key amongst which are newly added rebound springs for the front and suspension to reduce inner wheel lift or ‘tripoding’ – a common quirk of overpowered hot hatches. Enhanced too are both the rear springs and stabilisers.

Toyota also enhanced the 2025MY GR Corolla's chassis by beefing up its suspension all around. It even repositioned the trailing arm mounting. Altogether, these changes promise to mitigate 'tripoding' and squats under acceleration.

Additionally, Toyota also repositioned the trailing arm mounting point, which in turn reduces squat under acceleration. Beyond which, Toyota will also equip all versions of the 2025 Toyota GR Corolla with both front and rear Torsen limited-slip differentials (LSDs) as standard.

Lastly, for models bound for the North American market at least, select variants will sport tasty additions like a forged carbon fibre roof, a ‘custom’ front hood, sub-radiator, wheels dressed in matte black, a heads-up display (HUD) unit, as well as GR-badged suede-covered seats.

Toyota has yet to announce pricing and availability for this upgraded 2025MY version with a new 8AT box option. For reference, the current – read: outgoing – version of the Toyota GR Corolla is available through UMW Toyota Motor priced at RM355,000 sans insurance.