The Toyota GR Corolla carves a spot for the automaker in the hot-hatch segment. The base model will arrive later this year, but today’s bit of news involves the hotter GR Corolla Morizo Edition. The car broke cover in June, a few months after the regular GR Corolla debuted, increasing the car’s torque output and reducing its curb weight.
A new YouTube video from Larry Chen captures the hatchback’s fierce exhaust note during a few hot laps at the Utah Motorsport Campus. The video is all noise, catching the car’s thunderous exhaust note and the gratuitous turbocharger whine as it rockets around the race track, with squealing tires adding to the exciting soundtrack. Toyota used the GR Corolla Circuit Edition as the starting point for the Morizo.
Gallery: Toyota GR Corolla "Morizo Edition"
The car gets its power from the same turbocharged 1.6-liter G16E-GTS three-cylinder engine that powers the regular GR Corolla. However, Toyota made a few tweaks, like increasing the torque to 295 pound-feet (400 Newton-meters), up from 273 lb-ft (370 Nm).
It continues to make the same 300 horsepower (224 kilowatts) as the regular GR, and the engine pairs with a six-speed manual gearbox, helping to power all four wheels. It has shorter gearing, decreasing the top speed while resulting in quicker acceleration. While the revised tuning increased the car’s torque, it also narrowed the peak torque power band from 3,000-5,000 rpm to 3,250-4,600 rpm.
Toyota also put the Morizo Edition Corolla on a diet, cutting out the rear seats, rear speaker, rear window regulators, and the rear wiper blade and motor. The car weighs an estimated 3,186 pounds (1,445 kilograms), which is less than the 3,292-lb (1,493-kg) GR Corolla Circuit Edition, and it has a few styling tweaks, too. It has a smaller spoiler, and there are additional functional front brake cooling ducts.
Toyota plans to produce just 200 examples of the GR Corolla Morizo Edition for the 2023 model year. While the GR Corolla Core will start at $36,995, including the destination charge, the Morizo Edition will be much more expensive, starting at $50,995. The GR Corolla Circuit, which will only be available for the 2023 model year, splits the difference with a $43,995 starting price.
