It seems Hyundai’s premiere hot hatch/sedan packs more a punch than the carmaker claims
May 2, 2025 at 11:50
- The GR Corolla has more horsepower and torque than the Elantra N.
- These are two of the best bang-for-your-buck performance cars available.
- Toyota updated the GR Corolla last year with an 8-speed automatic.
On paper, the updated Toyota GR Corolla with the available 8-speed automatic transmission should leave the Hyundai Elantra N for dead. However, results from a recent U-drag test performed by Edmunds prove that statistics are one thing, but real-world performance is something else entirely.
Powered by a 1.6-liter turbocharged three-cylinder, the new GR Corolla pumps out 300 hp and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque. Not only that, but it comes standard with all-wheel drive and limited-slip differentials front and rear.
Read: 2024 Hyundai i30 N Sedan Perfects Price-Performance Ratio
By comparison, the larger 2.0-liter turbo-four of the Elantra N packs 276 hp and 289 lb-ft (392 Nm), although horsepower does increase to 286 hp for 20-second bursts with the N Grin Shift switched on. Alongside having fewer horsepower and less torque than the GR Corolla, it’s also only front-wheel drive.
Off the line, one would expect the Toyota to have a massive grip advantage. While it did get a slight jump on the Hyundai, it was only ahead momentarily while the Elantra N struggled to get its power to the ground. Before long, the Hyundai overtook the Toyota and continued to stretch its advantage down the runway, allowing it to enter the U-turn section first and accelerate back to the start/finish line. It ends up winning by several hundred feet.
The second race is much the same. The Toyota gets a slight jump off the line, but the Hyundai quickly storms past and never looks back, easily taking yet another win.
Over the past couple of years, there have been many reports that Hyundai has severely underreported the power output of the Elantra N, and many dyno tests indicate this is true. It may not corner quite as hard as the Toyota, but it’s close.
We’ll have the opportunity to test the 2025 GR Corolla in both automatic and manual guises in the next few weeks and will report back on how it performs. With the hot hatch market spicier now than it’s been in recent years, it better be good.
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