ROMULUS, Michigan — The FX is back. And so is Toyota attitude.

The Toyota Corolla FX is low, dark and mean. I circled my Midnight Black Metallic tester like Hiccup assessing his Night Fury dragon. Chocolate mirror caps, wheels with machined accents crouched on shortened springs with a chocolate spoiler out back that would make a Corvette proud. This is a Corolla? The vanilla ice cream of compact cars?

The FX is a throwback to the Corolla FX16 hatchback of 1987, when hot hatches were the new, new thing (my first car was the hot-hatch, segment-busting, FX16 competitor, 1984 VW Rabbit GTI). The U.S. was in a trade war with Japan, and Toyota (in the words of enthusiast mag Car and Driver) was “run by a bunch of gonzo back-yard tinkerers.”

The ‘80s are back, baby.

The rowdy FX16 was assembled in California to avoid the threat of steep Washington tariffs (and get around the Reagan administration-negotiated Japanese import quotas), and Toyota was tinkering with fun toys like the FX16, Supra coupe and innovative engines like dual-overhead-cam hellions. Sound familiar?

Supra came back in 2019, and Toyota’s elves have introduced mills like the 100-plus-horsepower-per-liter, 1.6-liter turbo-three.

As for the FX16, it has actually been reborn as the GR Corolla hot hatch. Like the FX16 and its high-revving, innovative DOHC engine, the all-wheel-drive GR gets a different engine from the standard Corolla — that Godzilla-in-a-briefcase, 300-horse turbo-3. And, like the ‘80s FX, the GR is laugh-out-loud fun — one of the most entertaining cars introduced in the last decade. Period.

The FX is no GR, but it’s plenty OK.

At just $27,635 — a four-grand bump from the base vanilla model — FX is the bargain of the Corolla family. That crouched stance isn’t just for looks. Approaching a series of twisties in Oakland County, I gripped the heavy steering wheel in SPORT mode, which made FX feel rooted to the asphalt.

I flung my steed into a righthander, and it went right where FXpected. Minimal body roll, minimal push. Sharing an independent suspension with its more expensive GR and XSE siblings, the short-sprung FX rotated beautifully. In sedan form, FX has a roomier cabin than the GX hatch, so I could take three friends to the Sign of the Beefcarver for dinner after I was done carving corners.

Of course, at 10 grand cheaper than the stick-shift GR hot hatch, something is missing, and that’s the drivetrain.

Under the hood is the standard 169-horsepower, 4-cylinder gerbil wheel controlled by the dreaded CVT transmission. Sliding across a corner apex, I nailed the throttle. My Night Fury Dragon was toothless:

DROOOOOOOOOOOONE!

My ears bled. Make it stop. I reached for the stick shift, but that’s only available on GR. I reached for shift paddles on the back of the steering wheel. Same.

DROOOOOOOOOOOONE!

The CVT is why six-speed automatic transmissions in, say, the Mazda3, are prized in the compact performance segment. And why Honda and Hyundai worked hard to implement shift points in their, respectively, Civic Sport and Elantra CVTs. Toyota is content for the CVT to prioritize fuel efficiency.

Add 34 mpg to FX’s long list of standard features: Bullet-proof reliability, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, adaptive cruise control with lane-keep-assist, rear-cross traffic alert, blind-sport assist and 10.5-inch tablet touchscreen display.

The latter is new to Corolla and will be an option on other trims. Positioning is excellent — high on the dash like a Mazda for good visibility, but — unlike Mazda — a touchscreen for easy access. Upon entry, the infotainment system mirrored my smartphone on the screen. Google Maps popped up complete with my pre-loaded destination, and the Sirius XM app played Comedy Greats.

Alas, the new FX is plagued by Toyota’s ol’ ergonomics issues.

I reached for the volume knob to turn up the volume on a Brian Regan bit, and — um, volume knob?

Curiously, Toyota has chosen a volume slider at the base of the screen instead of a simple knob. Honda and Cadillac tried similar solutions and returned to knobs after owners judged them hard to operate when driving.

I ignored it for the volume controls on the steering wheel, but here too Toyota ergonomics come up short. Where competitors like Hyundai, Honda and Mazda use lifted buttons to select volume and adaptive cruise controls, Corolla’s wheel buttons are flat, necessitating that you take your eyes off the road to find them. The good news is the adaptive cruise features lane-keep assist, so I could afford to look away while adjusting volume on I-275.

Typical of Toyota, the nannies are always close by if you remove your hands from the wheel for too long (Hyundai, for example, will allow you about a minute hands-free) on long hauls.

It was short trips that I really enjoyed — made shorter by the fun-to-drive FX. For Corolla, GR and FX are a needed shot of adrenaline in a segment boiling with performance. In addition to VW’s Teutonic threesome of Jetta GLI sedan and Golf GTI/R hatchbacks, Toyota’s Asian competitors have also stepped up their game.

Most formidable is the roomier Honda Civic with its full range of sedans, hatches and hybrids, starting with the base Civic sedan all the way to the rowdy Type R hot hatch. Hyundai, too, sweetens the deal with a 100,000-mile drivetrain warranty — and is coming on strong with variations of the Elantra sedan, which include a compelling N-line performance line. N for Nürburgring, a nod to the legendary German race track.

Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda is an auto enthusiast, has raced the ‘Ring several times, and has been on a mission to push the brand toward more performance. He’s established a Le Mans-winning Toyota racing team, Supra and GR86 sports cars, and GR Corolla. Now he is resurrecting the FX badge.

It’s affordable, stylish, nimble, with — ahem — droooooooning CVT. Keep pushing, Akio!

2025 Toyota Corolla FX

Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger sedan

Price: $27,635, including $1,335 destination fee ($28,144 as tested)

Powerplant: 2.0-liter inline-4 cylinder

Power: 169 horsepower, 151 pound-feet of torque

Transmission: Continuously-variable automatic

Performance: 0-60 mph, 8.1 seconds (Motor Trend)

Weight: 3,070 pounds

Fuel economy: EPA, 31 mpg city/40 highway/34 combined

Report card

Highs: Balanced, fun-to-drive chassis; new, big screen

Lows: The curse of the CVT; poor screen ergonomics

Overall: 3 stars

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