An old hand faces its greatest challenge in years from the protégé of an old rival.
has carried the once-burning-hot street-legal rally car torch alone.
It's said experience and cunning can outfox youth and exuberance, but not in this case. The gulf between these cars is evident from the first turn of the wheel. There's a confidence in the way the GR Corolla moves that the WRX just can't match. Whereas the Subaru feels as though it's charging into the fight standing straight up, the Toyota feels crouched and ready to change direction on a moment's notice.
It's around the edges that the WRX shows its weaknesses. Before you even get to a corner, the softer brake pedal and weaker bite from the pads—to the tune of a 4-foot-longer 60-0-mph braking result of 112 feet versus 108—force you to back up your braking points. Once you've arrived, it doesn't feel as composed entering a corner, what with the twitchy steering.
If you just want to win a drag race, though, we recommend Track. It'll get you to 60 mph a full half-second quicker than the WRX . Part of that is the better weight-to-power ratio, and part of it is the fact Toyota encourages you to dump the clutch at nearly redline for maximum effect. Subaru used to let you do that—and older WRXs got much better results, but that ability has been programmed out of the car for years now in a bid to lend the driveline some mechanical sympathy.
Although the Toyota provides better initial brake bite, greater stopping power, and stronger resistance to fade, we do think it could do with a bit more brake cooling, as we did detect signs of minor warpage after three straight days of intense driving on the street and track, same as the Subaru.
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