With the announcement of the 2023 Toyota GR Corolla hitting American dealer lots this fall, there has been a ton of excitement buzzing around the entire American automotive enthusiast community. Americans are used to not seeing the absolute best that many Japanese companies can produce. For example, the Honda Civic Type R, which was loved overseas for a decade, didn’t hit American shores until 2017, and the Toyota GR Yaris, which is an incredibly powerful compact hatchback, was announced in 2020 but was not produced for the American or Canadian market.

However, the Toyota GR Corolla is different. It is being released both in Japan and for the American market simultaneously. With this release, we are also seeing some exclusive trim options for the American automotive market. Here is everything you need to know about the 2023 Toyota GR Corolla and its trim levels.

What are the GR Corolla trim levels?

The 2023 Toyota GR Corolla comes in a variety of trim levels, including the Core grade, which acts as the base model GR Corolla, the North American exclusive Circuit Edition, and the top trim, the MORIZO Edition. The Core grade will launch in the fall of 2022, while the MORIZO Edition will hit dealer lots in the winter of 2023, and the Circuit Edition will launch in the spring of 2023.

While every GR Corolla trim level will come powered by a 1.6-liter three-cylinder engine packing a robust 300 horsepower, the Core grade and the Circuit Edition both have a solid amount of torque at 273 lb-ft. Meanwhile, the MORIZO Edition ramps up the power to 295 lb-ft of torque. 

The GR Corolla is no slouch in the interior, either. With Toyota’s Safety Sense 3.0 being standard, all GR Corolla models come equipped with driver-assist safety features such as lane departure alerts, pedestrian detection, dynamic cruise control, and automatic high beam. Every GR Corolla trim is also outfitted with sports seats. Opt for the MORIZO trim, which adds some exclusive red and black trim to those very seats.

How much does a fully loaded 2023 GR Corolla MORIZO Edition cost?

The 2023 GR Corolla MORIZO edition starts at $49,900 MSRP, with optional premium paint packages that can add up to $1,645. The GR Corolla Circuit Edition starts at $42,900, and the much more common Core grade trim starts at $35,900. The Core grade has options that can be added to up the ante a bit, including a performance package, a cold weather package that adds heated seats, and a technology package that adds wireless charging and premium audio.

The GR Corolla is a huge increase in price over the basic Toyota hatchback, which starts at $21,165 for the base trim, but the GR Corolla is a brand new performance-focused hot hatchback and is looking to take over the market.

The GR Corolla MORIZO Edition is a dynamically different hot hatch compared to what we are used to seeing. This hatchback aims to take over the automotive market with an unbelievably powerful three-cylinder engine with a racing heritage, all within the reliable and sensible Toyota Corolla lineup.

Why “MORIZO”?

According to Toyota, back in 2007, Akio Toyoda was hard at work trying to get more performance success for Toyota. Akio had a racing team consisting of coworkers from Toyota under the name GAZOO racing. The team entered a pair of used Toyota Altezzas in the 24 hours of the Nürburgring race in Germany.

Akio Toyoda didn’t want anyone to have any suspicion of Toyota officially working on their motorsports pedigree. To avoid this suspicion, Akio entered the race under the alias MORIZO. The MORIZO name has been used for the best performance trims that Toytota offers ever since.