FLAT OUT in the 2023 GR Corolla Morizo - It's one FUN little car!

Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:44 Trims
1:02 Styling
2:00 Cargo Space
2:13 Exhaust Sound
3:05 Wheels, Brakes, and Tires
3:28 AWD System
4:00 Under The Hood
4:32 Pricing
4:55 Interior
8:17 Driving
17:03 Verdict
The automotive world has been eagerly anticipating the release of the 2023 Toyota GR Corolla, and I can confidently say that it does not disappoint. As a high-performance variant of the Corolla lineup, the GR Corolla takes the renowned practicality and reliability of the Corolla and elevates it to a whole new level.
There are three versions of the GR Corolla, the Core, the Circuit, and the Morizo, all are basically a Corolla on steroids but the Morizo differs from the other two in a number of ways especially since it is limited to 200 units.
Morizo Edition
My tester is the 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Morizo edition, which comes from Toyota's president Akio Toyoda who uses Morizo as his racing name.
The Morizo gets a close ration transmission, shorter differential gears, exclusive forged wheels, mon-tube shock absorbers, a stiffened chassis, front brake ducts, Alcantara-trimmed seats, and no back seats. It also gets wider Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires with 14-inch vented front rotors and 11.7-inch rotors at the rear.
Two standard front and rear differentials help keep the car planted and you can select between 40, 50 or 70% of the torque to be sent to the rear axle but since the dampers are the fixed rate variety there's no toggling between soft and firm, you simply get what Toyota gives you.
Under the hood
Under the hood, the 2023 GR Corolla boasts a potent powertrain that delivers impressive performance. It's a 1.6 liter turbocharged 3-cylinder which on the Core and Circuit have 300 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque. The Morizo gets a power bump, the same 300 hp but 295 lb-ft thanks to a little more boost.
All this power is fed through a slick-shifting 6-speed manual transmission and the clutch has been beefed up to cope. 0-60 as per Toyota takes a shade under 5 seconds but driven gently expect to get 28 mpg on the highway.
2023 Toyota GR Corolla Morizo Numbers
BASE PRICE: $49,900
PRICE AS TESTED: $53,283
VEHICLE TYPE: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 4-door hatchback
ENGINE TYPE: 1.6 liter turbocharged inline 3
POWER: 300 hp @ 6,500 rpm
TORQUE: 295 lb-ft @ 3,000 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual with rev-matching
CURB WEIGHT: 3,186 lb
ZERO to 60 mph: 5.0 sec
TOP SPEED: 143 mph (limited)
TIRES: Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2, Front: 245/40 ZR-19, 245/40 ZR-19
EPA FUEL ECONOMY: Combined/city/highway 24/21/28
OUR OBSERVED: 19.2 mpg
PROS: Incredible chassis balance and grip, Scintillating handling, Superbly quick
CONS: Hard ride, exhaust could be more aggressive

[@GeraldPUR]

Audio re starts at 5:16

[@boots_n_coots]

Yeah, and before that point the left and right channels are out of phase. Very odd.