The 2025 Toyota Corolla: A More Important Model Than You Think

As one of my favorite new cars I've driven in recent memory, the regular Corolla is often overlooked, but it's actually more important than its high-performance counterpart. In 2023, Toyota sold almost as many Corollas as it did Tacomas, and even sold more Corollas than Tesla sold Model 3s. This shows that the non-GRR Corolla clearly matters to a lot of people.

Toyota is adding an extra dash of spice to the lineup for 2025 with the introduction of a new FX Special Edition. The idea behind this model is to pay homage to the OG Corolla FX1 16 from 1987, which was a fun hot hatch packed with a powerful 1.6L 4-cylinder engine that produced 108 horsepower and revved up to 7500 RPM Red Line. The modern Corolla FX, however, oddly only comes in sedan form, which I feel is a misstep on Toyota's part.

The FX trim does get some nice styling upgrades, including a set of 18-inch satin black and finished alloy wheels at the corners, which are adorned with lowering springs to give it a sportier stance. There's also a sporty rear spoiler, black trim accents everywhere, and Moonstone sport fabric seats with orange stitching that look nice. The inclusion of the new 10.5-inch center screen as standard is also a highlight, although I wish it were available on both sedan and hatchback forms.

As for color options, you can choose between black, white, or dark gray, with all of them getting a black roof. While the car looks good, I firmly believe it would look a heck of a lot better as a hatchback. Adding a slightly throatier exhaust to give it more noise wouldn't hurt either, considering it's not a high-performance machine.

The 2025 Corolla gas-only models come with the same 2L 4-cylinder engine that produces 169 horsepower and 151 lb-ft of torque. It's an impressive engine, but I imagine it would be even more fun in the original FX6 model. The new center screen is available as an option on the SE model but comes standard on FX and XSE cars, while those without the bigger screen are fitted with an 8-inch center display for the 2025 model year.

The gas Corolla lineup that doesn't start with the letters G and R consists of the Le, SE, FX, and xse, all of which start under $30,000. The top-spec xse starts at $29,500, while the special edition starts at $26,635. As for the GR Corolla, it starts in the high 30s and runs to the mid-40s, assuming you shop at a dealer that doesn't Mark it up. Despite its high price tag, I still think the GR Corolla is worth it, but overall, the regular Corolla deserves more attention than it's getting.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: ensure the gr Corolla gets all the attention rightfully so really as it's one of my favorite new cars I've driven in recent memory but the regular Corolla is actually more important since it's one of the highest volume cars on sale today in 2023 Toyota sold almost as many Corollas as it did Tacomas in fact Toyota sold more Corollas than Tesla sold model 3s so the non grr Corolla clearly matters to a lot of people for 2025 Toyota is adding an extra dash of spice to the lineup both inside and out the fun news for the 2025 Toyota Corolla is the addition of a new FX Special Edition the idea is that this model pays homage to the OG Corolla FX1 16 from 1987 that original model was a fun hot hatch packed with a REV happy 1.6 L 4cylinder engine it made 108 horsepower and rev to a 7500 RPM Red Line the modern Corolla FX oddly is only offered in the sedan I feel that's a bit of a misstep on Toyota's part the FX trim should either be offered on both or only on the hatchback regardless it does get some nice styling upgrades you'll find a set of 18-in satin black and finished alloy wheels at the corners Toyota sets the FX stance via a set of lowering springs and you get a sporty your rear spoiler out back there's black trim accents everywhere as well in the cabin Moonstone sport fabric seats look nice with the orange stitching even better is the inclusion of the new 10 1/2 in Center screen as standard Toyota also retunes the power steering for a sportier feel to me that reads as if they likely dialed in some extra heft as far as color options go you can choose between black white or dark gray white and dark gray get a black roof and the black one I mean obviously also gets a black roof they all get black roofs the car looks good but I 1,000% believe it would look a heck of a lot better as a hatchback also it wouldn't hurt to throw a slightly throatier exhaust at this it's not a high performance machine but let it make a little more noise right speaking of performance all 2025 Corolla gas only models run with the 2 L 4-cylinder engine it produces 169 horsepower and 151 lbft of torque imagine that engine in the original fx6 that would be fun I also mentioned the new 10 1/2 in Center screen it's available as an option on the SE model but comes standard on FX and xse cars without the bigger screen are fitted with an 8 in Center display for the 2025 model year the gas Corolla lineup that doesn't start with the letters g and R consists of the Le SE FX and xse all of them start under 30 grand with the top speec xse starting at $29,500 special edition starts at 27,0 635 and the gr Corolla that you actually want starts in the high 30s and runs to the mid 40s assuming you shop at a dealer that doesn't Mark it up they do exist I've seen it yousure the gr Corolla gets all the attention rightfully so really as it's one of my favorite new cars I've driven in recent memory but the regular Corolla is actually more important since it's one of the highest volume cars on sale today in 2023 Toyota sold almost as many Corollas as it did Tacomas in fact Toyota sold more Corollas than Tesla sold model 3s so the non grr Corolla clearly matters to a lot of people for 2025 Toyota is adding an extra dash of spice to the lineup both inside and out the fun news for the 2025 Toyota Corolla is the addition of a new FX Special Edition the idea is that this model pays homage to the OG Corolla FX1 16 from 1987 that original model was a fun hot hatch packed with a REV happy 1.6 L 4cylinder engine it made 108 horsepower and rev to a 7500 RPM Red Line the modern Corolla FX oddly is only offered in the sedan I feel that's a bit of a misstep on Toyota's part the FX trim should either be offered on both or only on the hatchback regardless it does get some nice styling upgrades you'll find a set of 18-in satin black and finished alloy wheels at the corners Toyota sets the FX stance via a set of lowering springs and you get a sporty your rear spoiler out back there's black trim accents everywhere as well in the cabin Moonstone sport fabric seats look nice with the orange stitching even better is the inclusion of the new 10 1/2 in Center screen as standard Toyota also retunes the power steering for a sportier feel to me that reads as if they likely dialed in some extra heft as far as color options go you can choose between black white or dark gray white and dark gray get a black roof and the black one I mean obviously also gets a black roof they all get black roofs the car looks good but I 1,000% believe it would look a heck of a lot better as a hatchback also it wouldn't hurt to throw a slightly throatier exhaust at this it's not a high performance machine but let it make a little more noise right speaking of performance all 2025 Corolla gas only models run with the 2 L 4-cylinder engine it produces 169 horsepower and 151 lbft of torque imagine that engine in the original fx6 that would be fun I also mentioned the new 10 1/2 in Center screen it's available as an option on the SE model but comes standard on FX and xse cars without the bigger screen are fitted with an 8 in Center display for the 2025 model year the gas Corolla lineup that doesn't start with the letters g and R consists of the Le SE FX and xse all of them start under 30 grand with the top speec xse starting at $29,500 special edition starts at 27,0 635 and the gr Corolla that you actually want starts in the high 30s and runs to the mid 40s assuming you shop at a dealer that doesn't Mark it up they do exist I've seen it you\n"