2023 Toyota GR Corolla Morizo Edition Review - Ridiculousness

Toyota is a sleeping giant. They’ve been building solid-but-boring cars, trucks, and crossovers for several decades, succeeding due to a legacy of anvil-like reliability. Of late, they’ve outsourced their sporty cars to other automakers or stuck the TRD badge on things like the Camry to which no sane mind would think to look for sportiness.

Disclaimer - I kinda dig the TRD Camry. 

But in the background, somewhere beyond the company that builds pickup trucks, SUVs, and even forklifts, you simply had to know there lingered a cadre of enthusiasts. A merry band of gearheads who would not rest until they had something they could build and enjoy by themselves. While it started with the rally-inspired GR Yaris overseas, we husky Yanks couldn’t be trusted to squeeze ourselves into such a wee hatch. Instead, we see this 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Morizo Edition. From what I can deduce using online translators and my butt dyno, Morizo roughly translates as batshit insane.

Take a gander, first, at the exterior of this car. Count the doors. I see five of them, assuming you include the rear hatch.

Now, take a look at the interior. Only two seats?

Yep. While you can indeed get a more normal GR Corolla with a traditional rear bench seat, this Batshit Insane Edition yanks it and gives you some bracing. Toyota quotes a savings of around 100 pounds for the Morizo Edition over the more typical GR Corolla. The rear windows don’t even open, which might be an oversight considering the number of people I see driving around with their dogs poking their snouts out of the rear glass. Whether it’s safe to fit dogs in the rear of a Morizo Edition without a real seat, I don’t know - I’m allergic to dogs and am, thus, a cat person. Our cats don’t like cars.

While I do what I can to properly test each vehicle that comes my way, I did not attempt to sit in the rear of the GR Corolla Morizo Edition except to climb back there for a photo. So I have no idea if the standard GR Corolla rear seating is comfortable, though I’d like to believe it’s the same as a standard Corolla hatchback. Up front, the well-bolstered seats are quite supportive without being overly aggressive. The Ultrasuede material is much more grippy than leather, keeping one’s butt dyno from shifting too harshly whilst cornering. 

It’s been mentioned before, but the GR badging on this GR Corolla stands for Gazoo Racing, the motorsports arm of Toyota primarily focused on rallying. As such, this hatch enjoys all-wheel drive. A knob on the console aft of the shifter allows to adjust the torque distribution front and rear. Options of 50/50, 60/40, and a rear-biased 30/70 torque splits are available, the last likely best for drifting action. While I’m fresh out of flat-billed ballcaps and closed-course racetracks to properly test the drift action, I can confirm that there is a noticeable difference when the torque ratios vary to the dual limited-slip differentials.

What’s remarkable is despite the all-wheel drive pulling and pushing through the bends, it doesn’t feel ponderous like many AWD hot-hatches. The GR Corolla simply disappears around the driver, begging you to go quicker. It’s a firm ride, certainly, and there is a mild buzziness to the wild turbocharged three-cylinder engine, but all of the numbers get lost as you open the throttle and unwind the wheel.

Incidentally, I’m told that Morizo doesn’t actually translate to “batshit insane.” Rather, Morizo is a nickname for Akio Toyoda, the president of Toyota, and himself a driving nut. This goes to show that there are indeed people who enjoy driving scattered throughout the Toyota corporation, rather than just crossover fanatics. 

Chances are good that you won’t be buying a 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Morizo Edition. The package is limited to 200 units, all of which likely have traded hands on the popular auction sites a half dozen times by now after seeing a five-figure Additional Dealer Markup tag next to the Monroney at the dealer. But nearly all of my observations here apply equally to a more standard GR Corolla (which starts around $37k delivered), with the likely benefit of a rear seat for additional passengers to enjoy the ride. This is automotive absurdity at its finest, and you really need to share the joy.

[Images: © 2023 Chris Tonn/TTAC.com]

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