Living with the Rarest, Coolest Corolla Ever Made: GR Corolla Morizo Edition
The GR Corolla Morizo makes absolutely no sense — and good luck finding one without a dealer markup — but it’s also absolutely wonderful.
Last year, I attended the official launch of the GR Corolla and, shortly thereafter, drove all three variants — Core, Circuit, and Morizo — on a track. The track experience was very helpful in learning and appreciating the vehicle’s full potential, but was far from a typical ownership experience. So I reached out to get a press loaner to drive around Los Angeles in more normal circumstances. But the gods had some interesting plans for me, as the base Core edition fell through and, instead, Toyota dropped off the rarest, coolest, Corolla ever made… a 1-of-200 GR Corolla Morizo.
And oh my god did I have all of the fun one can imagine. Here’s what it’s like to daily drive a legend.
What is a GR Corolla Morizo?
For those unaware, Morizo is the pseudonym Akio Toyoda used when he first started his racing career (and for some blogging). As the grandson of Toyota’s founder and the company’s current chairman, Toyoda took his passion for racing and helped create Gazoo Racing (GR) as well as Toyota’s GR-branded vehicle lineup. Regarding the GR Corolla Morizo Edition, the story Toyota PR reps told us was that Akio Toyoda enjoyed the GR Corolla, but thought the engineers could go one step further to create the ultimate driver’s version.
The GR team then produced a GR Corrolla with added chassis rigidity that’s 100 pounds lighter and boasts more peak torque (295 ft.-lbs. vs 273). It also features Alcantara touch and seating surfaces, a rear-seat delete with a massive structural brace, a closer-ratio manual gearbox, and super sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. Tires that are technically street legal, but very track-focused and not to be driven in the rain or cold temperatures. Couple all of those upgrades with a limited 200-unit production run for the 2023 model year only, and you’ve got yourself the best-handling and most exclusive Corolla ever made. (Which is still a wild sentence to write down.)
The results, in person, are dramatic, which surprised me on the track. All GR Corollas are fun and capable, but the Morizo is so obviously next-level in the ways it performs and communicates with drivers.
But what’s it like to daily drive a track weapon around a city like Los Angeles for a week?
Living with a Legend
It’s just as amazing as you would think, and its two glaring “flaws” will come as no surprise to anyone who has seen a Morizo in person.
First, despite its track tuning and added rigidity, the Morizo is as much of a blast to drive in the city as it is in the canyons and on a track. Need to pick up the kids from school? Grab some takeout? Pick up some groceries or supplies at Home Depot? Daily driving through urban and suburban sprawl has never been so fun. And a lot of that comes down to engagement.
From its swooshing turbo noises to its close-ratio manual gearing, the Morizo (and all GR Corollas) are a total driver’s experience. From sounds to touch interfaces to steering, the Morizo feels nimble like a go-cart. But, oh, yeah, it’s also rocking 300 horsepower and a torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system that gives it traction anywhere and everywhere.
Seriously, this little hatch is so planted and communicative. Its power-to-weight ratio means you can hit seven, eight, or ten-tenths moments without having to (seriously) break the law or put others in danger. And it’s also reasonably smooth, even when facing off against our city and county’s crumbling asphalt infrastructure.
It’s nothing short of wonderful.
But…
Thanks to the handling benefits of deleting the rear seats and swapping in a massive structural crossmember, the Morizo is the first four-door car I’ve ever driven with two seats. You can’t even put the rear windows down for ventilation, that’s how deleted the second row remains. And, sure, while you can still put some cargo and grocery bags in the back, the Morizo’s sense of practicality is severely diminished.
Naturally, that’s kinda the point of this 1-of-200 limited edition race car… But still, it’s an odd experience to drive something that seems so at odds with its own vehicle genre.
Plus, as noted above, one needs to respect Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires at all times when it comes to cold seasons and/or rain. Here in Southern California, we’re pretty lucky on both of those fronts. Yet, given how quickly PSC2s wear out, one might be forgiven for grabbing a set of Pilot Sport 4S or All Season 4s for more daily driving.
GR Corolla Morizo Bottom Line
The GR Corolla Morizo is practically perfect in every way… except one. For its superior driving capabilities, one must trade away the day-to-day liveability that makes hot-hatches a perfect daily-driven enthusiast car. What’s the point of a four-door car… without at least four seats? Not to mention the tires you shouldn’t drive in the cold or rain.
(I’d also love to experience a magical doesn’t-yet-exist 400-horsepower variant, but that’s just me being greedy.)
Ultimately, the GR Corolla is an experiment in Toyota/Gazoo Racing/Akio Toyoda’s dedication to driver-focused vehicles. It is rigid and tight and quick and all the fun you can imagine while being reasonably practical. At least in terms of hauling cargo, not people. Making it the experience of a lifetime, which is why one would acquire this 1 of 200 edition if they were lucky enough, or wealthy enough to do so.
Still, I would encourage the GR team, if possible, to revisit the GR Corolla chassis to see if there are alternate ways to bring more of the Morizo Experience to the Core and Circuit models. If they could do that — while retaining a full back seat and, thus, everyday liveability — they truly would have created the ultimate hot hatch.
Until that happens, my hat is off to the GR team or anyone who experiences a Morizo in person. Toyota may have built it with mathematics and chemistry and engineering. But out on the road, the Morizo is nothing short of magical.
What do YOU think about the GR Corolla and GR Corolla Morizo Edition?
Let us know HERE in the forums!
Images: Michael S. Palmer
