Car Reviews
CENTS AND CENTSIBILITY – TOYOTA’S COROLLA CROSS AND GR86
CENTS AND CENTSIBILITY
TOYOTA’S COROLLA CROSS AND GR86
In an overview provided by – you’ve already guessed! – AI, feng shui is ‘an ancient Chinese practice of arranging living and working spaces to harmonize with natural forces, promoting balance, health, and prosperity’. And what says prosperity better than a $70K car purchase? Unless, of course, you need two cars, and have only $70,000 available – cash or credit – to purchase both. Well, kids…have we got a deal for you: Toyota’s Corolla Cross Hybrid and GR86 2+2. In buying both your outlay is within spitting distance of that $70K budget, and the two cars can comfortably accommodate six big ‘uns and two little ‘uns. It just makes so much cents…
Although AI doesn’t reference aligning your garage space with feng shui, I’d suggest my own garage is in need of it, suffering – as it does – from a visual imbalance brought by the purchase of a ’25 Grand Cherokee. The big Jeep shares the space with my ’21 Miata, and the meet-up creates what I’ll gently term a ‘visual dissonance’. The Jeep is much bigger than two empty-nesters need, while the Miata proves a tad too small and/or noisy for anything beyond a Cars & Coffee run. Downsizing the Jeep and upsizing the Miata could make for a perfect pairing; happily, Toyota offers it.
Our first take was with Toyota’s Corolla Cross, delivered to us at LAX for just over a week of driving. This isn’t our first meet-up with the Corolla-based crossover, but probably the most informative. The Corolla Cross sits on a footprint not too dissimilar from early gens of the RAV4, while those platforms were still compact and not – as the RAV4 is now – bordering on midsize. There’s enough of a conventional two-box here to know that the Corolla Cross is a crossover, but not so much as to look truck-like or excessive. In fact, the Corolla Cross is brimming with logic. Having an overall length of just under 15 feet atop a wheelbase of 104 inches, it’s small enough to maneuver in the city, while large enough to meet your needs on a family vacation. That’s an observation supported by its 17 cubic feet of cargo behind the second row, with a hybrid powertrain and all-wheel drive. Headroom and legroom are generous front and rear, and the only caveat is putting the 5th passenger in the middle of the rear seat. For lunch this works. Heading to Lubbock for lunch? Unless you start in Lubbock, probably not…
Under the hood Toyota gives you two choices, but I’m giving you just one. The press vehicle boasted the conventional drivetrain, a 2.0 liter four offering 169 horsepower, 151 lb-ft of torque and a 0-60 (per Car and Driver) of about nine seconds. But notably, it seems slower, helped in no small part by its CVT trans. Although the estimated fuel efficiency isn’t bad (roughly 30 City/32 Highway/31 Combined), those numbers work better when the Strait of Hormuz is open – and who knows when that’ll happen?
The Corolla Cross Hybrid is the best option, especially when you consider a price bump of only $2K. Not only do you improve the efficiency by almost 40% in combined driving (the hybrid’s EPA estimate is 42), but your run from 0-60 is just over 7 seconds rather than that aforementioned nine. The whole things seem both faster and more nimble, and for an all-in at around $35K, who’s gonna’ argue?
With that $70,000 to spend on two cars, you still have fully half of that remaining to spend on something fun. And I’m putting Toyota’s GR86 coupe front and center. Now in its second generation, if you’ve followed women’s tennis (40+ yeas ago…) I’ll liken that 1st gen to Chrissy Evert, while the second is Martina Navritalova. Both were – in their day – attractive and athletic, but Martina came with a more assertive vibe. And that’s what happened when Toyota and Subaru refreshed the GR86/BRZ. This second iteration is immediately recognizable as the logical successor to the first, but there’s more ‘there’ there; or, you know…’here’ here.
Finished in Trueno Blue, the GR86’s 168 inches of overall length is made more dramatic by an overall height of just over 51 inches. Getting in requires a climb down, but that’s relatively easy if under six feet; if over that you’ll want to take the Corolla Cross. But if you fit you’ll feel fitted.
The driver’s seat is essentially Command Central, with digital instruments informing you, infotainment reasonably intuitive, and ventilation controls immediately accessible. But the standout element is the relationship between steering wheel, manual 6-speed trans and the go-pedal beneath your right foot. The flat four’s 228 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque may not seem like much, but 60 comes up in roughly 5.5 seconds (Car and Driver), and with enough Navritalova achieves a top speed of 140. In short, it Czechs all the boxes.
Beyond the numbers, of course, is how you’ll feel behind that wheel. The GR86 offers almost the same immediacy as my ’21 Miata, while supplying enough isolation to consider the run from Dallas to Austin without having to book a hotel (or bar) in Waco. And while its +2 seating won’t take the older kids, if under 10 they’ll fit – and have fun back there. My wife and I took a Walmart/grocery store run in the GR86. If it had been the Miata we’d have done Walmart or the grocery store, but not both.
Our test GR86 was fitted with Toyota’s Performance Package of Brembo brakes and Sachs dampers, dual exhaust, performance stabilizers front and rear, and strut tie brace to reinforce the chassis. The whole ball of wax took a $31K base MSRP to about $38K, putting us just $3,000 over our $70K target for both Toyotas. Let the feng begin.
