Excel vs GR Sport

[ninanina]

Does the GR Sport have different suspension to the Excel version? Also are wheels 18” on both?

I have narrowed down my next car to the C-HR or Corolla but as I like a comfortable car I didn’t want to look at a Corolla GR Sport if it had ‘tweaked’ suspension 

I am looking at 2022/23 cars

[Red_Corolla]

I think they're both 18" wheels. Not sure about the suspension but suspect it's also the same. The design trim gives you most of the important goodies with slightly more forgiving 17" wheels.

[TonyHSD]

Same suspension all models. 2023 cars are 2cm higher from the ground but not sure if any more comfortable or just higher ground clearance. 18” wheels tyre sets aren’t good at all for these cars, just look good but you feel every single stone , crack or bumps on the road. 205/55 16 standard on icon trim are the best sets. Try the car and if you like it you can always swap the wheels for smaller ones or install all season tyres, they help a bit with reduced road noise. 

[Neptuneblue]

2 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

you feel every single stone , crack or bumps on the road. 

No you don’t, total exaggeration. Not saying the 18s are as forgiving as the 16s at all but what you said was rubbish.

To add: I live and drive in Northumberland where the roads are total crap but I enjoy my 73 plate 2.0 excel. Rides fine, not perfect but just fine👍

[Corolla Mike.]

2022 GR Sport on 18" driving around the North Cheshire moonscape, can't  say as I notice the ride being at all an issue. Best to make you're  own judgement after road testing them. 

[Steven83]

I’ve got the excel on 18’s. Ride is perfectly fine for me. 

[Corolly Poly]

I don't notice anything particularly poor about the ride on my Excel apart from a slight sensitivity to certain road surfaces but they are fortunately rare and its probably more to do with the OEM tyres than the wheel size.

[Red_Corolla]

It's a trade-off between performance and aesthetics. 18" wheels aren't always going to result in 'bad' ride quality; it depends on the overall wheel size and how the suspension has been engineered.  It's just that smaller rims, and therefore more air between you and the road, does yield an improvement, both in comfort and road noise. The one advantage to the bigger rims, performance - wise, is more rigidity in the tyrewall, making the car slightly more responsive to sudden steering movements. But it's mainly done for aesthetics and does come at a cost, no doubt about that.

Toyota will spec the cars according to the market they're being sold in and what's going to sell best. There will be other markets where they favour smaller rims, I'm sure.

[Cyker]

Yeah, it's really annoying for me as I hate the look of low profile tyres - The ratio of rim to sidewall just looks all wrong to me and I don't understand how anyone thinks they look good, but such is personal preference. More annoyingly is this weird off-ratio seems a general trend, like on many newer cars, the car is all door and no window, which other people seem to like but to me looks like an elephant sat on the car or something  

I still applaud Mazda for giving the option of 15, 16 and 17" rims on their Mazda 2 Hybrid Yaris (  ) and continue to wonder why Toyota can't/won't when Mazda can...  (Is Mazda that much smaller they qualify for looser regulations or something??)

I gotta say replacing the factory 17"s with 15"s was one of the best decisions I made with this car - My colleague with the Auris just had to replace another tyre due to pothole pinch-puncture damage! I reckon it's saved me several hundred quid in replacement tyres and probably rims too    (Or maybe that's why the industry has pushed the trend in that direction...  ) 

 

[Mr Billiards]

I have an October 2023 2ltr GR Sport Hatch. The ride quality is just as good as the ride quality on my previous Mazda 3 Sport Tech with 18'' wheels.

I like the road holding and sporty look of my Corolla (white bi-tone) with the 18'' wheels.

The only downside for me is road noise on poor road surfaces which I think could be improved with different tyres.

The 2ltr car on 18'' wheels is an excellent motor and is quick in Sport Mode, and still easily returns 50 mpg +  On a recent 80 mile round trip the car achieved 59 mpg under normal driving conditions.

Having previously owned Honda's and Mazda's for many years, I rate the 2 ltr Corolla highly.