Honda Civic Type R vs Toyota GR Corolla: a drag race full of surprises

The Toyota GR Corolla is a fantastic hot hatch which has long been forbidden fruit in the UK. It’s available in Japan and the USA, but Toyota has never officially sold it on our shores.

That hasn’t stopped Welsh tuning company Whifbitz from importing one itself, so naturally I’m going to drag race it against the Honda Civic Type R. Lets start by taking a look at the stats.

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Honda Civic Type R

I’ll be driving the Civic, and it has a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine with 329hp and 420Nm of torque. This is sent to the front wheels only via a six-speed manual gearbox.

It tips the scales at 1,429kg, and costs from a hefty £52,000. That’s more than a Volkswagen Golf R. You’d better get in quick if you want a Civic Type R, because Honda recently announced that it’s killing off this legendary hot hatch in 2026.

Toyota GR Corolla

The GR Corolla is a different animal in many key ways. For starters, it’s got a 1.6-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine, as opposed to the Honda’s four-pot, and it puts out 304hp and 370Nm of torque.

It does have a six-speed manual gearbox, but this rally-bred car has all-wheel drive for added grip. This does mean it’s a bit heavier than the Type R, weighing in at 1,475kg. Despite the fact this car is imported, it’s actually £7,000 cheaper than the Honda at £45,000.

Honda Civic Type R vs Toyota GR Corolla: the drag race

On paper, I should’ve creamed this – the Civic is lighter and more powerful than the Toyota after all. I thought the Corolla’s four-wheel drive system would get it off the line first, but then the Honda would reel it back in.

But it didn’t go down like that. Being a manual car, I knew there would be some trial and error to figure out the best way of launching it, but no matter how I tried it, the Type R just bogged down off the line.

I tried gently feeding in the power, dumping the clutch and everything in between, but I got the same result every time. The Toyota shot off into the lead, and it stayed there.

I started to get bored of looking over to the Corolla and seeing Rory’s smug face as he’d claimed another victory, so I called in Racing Driver Sam. If he couldn’t take the Civic to victory, no one could.

He gave it his all, utilising all the years of racing experience, but I’ll be bragging about what happened next for all eternity.

I was faster.

That’s right – the fastest time I managed was 14.3 seconds, whereas Sam took 14.5 seconds. Granted, I had more attempts than he did, but don’t tell him that.

Either way, the GR Corolla was still way faster. It completed the standing quarter mile in 14.0 seconds. The four-wheel drive traction off the line was enough for it to cruise to victory.

Maybe the Civic can win back some pride in the rolling races. To find out if it did, make sure to watch this week’s video.

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