you have put forward a difficult question, gli has a slightly better ride, yes, SLIGHTLY. Consumption wise city wins, power wise the 1.5 is definitely better but the gli isn't half bad on plain roads. As for the goodies are concerned, well thats a matter of choice. as for finish is concerned, toyota have done a ridiculous job, the quality is annoyingly bad and there is a huge difference in each and every corolla due to the haste in production. Seen so many with unwanted gaps in the pannels. Stability wise city wins as its not too high off the ground but the corolla isn't that bad. the seating position of the new corolla is annoying for a tall fellow as front leg room isn't sufficient. As per space, city all the way.
Coming to a very major point, since your comparing the automatics, teh prosmatic is annoying in hilly areas, doesn't allow sudden bursts of power whereas the auto corolla is better in this aspect(my auto experience is based on the 1.6 auto) utilized the 1.3 in manual only.
to sum up, both have pros and cons, ends up to what the buyer is looking for and what he values more