Toyota’s GR-enhanced sports models are a nod to the car maker’s motorsport division, known since 2015 as Gazoo Racing, with the sub-brand  designed to ensure transference of engineering skills from motorsport into a new range of sports-focused road cars.

The GR range has been steadily expanding in recent times, with rebranded established models including the GR 86 and GR Supra, and new additions including the LandCruiser 300 Series GR Sport, and potent GR Yaris hot hatch.

Later this year Toyota will also add a GR Sport version of its top-selling Hilux dual-cab 4x4 ute, which is likely to quickly become the best-selling model in the sporting range.

Our focus here, however, is on Toyota’s perennially popular small car the Corolla hatch, which has also embraced the GR brand’s sporting ethos to transform from mild-mannered runabout into fully fledged fire-breathing hot hatch.

This hotted-up Corolla is underpinned by Toyota’s acclaimed TNGA-C platform, albeit significantly uprated for this higher-performance application to deliver more engaging driving dynamics.

Other central components of the GR Corolla’s more rowdy personality are its adoption of a turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, all-wheel-drive system, widened front and rear tracks, and reworked suspension.

Note that we’re talking here about a Corolla with a price tag nearing $65.5,000 plus on roads, which is some $24,000 more expensive than the most expensive ‘regular’ Corolla hatch, so prospective owners are likely to want the world to know that they’re rolling in something a bit special.

Hence why the overhaul also includes various styling enhancements and new design elements that ensure the GR Corolla won’t be mistaken for any of its mild-mannered siblings.

At that price some key rivals undercut the fire-breathing Corolla, including Toyota’s own GR Yaris which lists at $49,500 and $54,500 for the GR Rallye, the feisty and in-demand Hyundai i30 N Premium hatch ($49,200) and Subaru’s WRX tS Sport sedan ($57,990).

Marginally more expensive is Renault’s Megane RS Trophy at $63,500, and the VW Golf R at $66,990, while Honda’s acclaimed Civic Type R commands an even loftier $72,600 drive-away.

However, for GR Corolla buyers wanting something that bit more exclusive (and expensive) Toyota has snared 25 limited-release Morizo Edition variants that pushes the performance and attitude envelopes even further. Assuming you can get your hands on one, this rare beast will set you back $77,800 plus on-roads, and brings an extra 30Nm of torque, plus tighter gearbox ratios to make better use of that torque.

Other Morizo Edition changes include exclusive 18-inch BBS forged alloy wheels, sticky Michelin tyres, additional structural reinforcements and tweaked suspension tuning.

Add to this a range of weight reduction measures including a carbon-fibre reinforced polymer roof panel, deleted rear seats and a range of other comfort and convenience items downgraded or deleted.

Securing one of the 500 or so GR Yaris GTS versions Toyota has been allocated for the first year of production should be easier than snaring a Morizo Edition, although if sales of the smaller GR Yaris are anything to judge by, interested parties should get their skates on.

Following its release in 2020, the GR Yaris developed such a cult following that all available cars were quickly snapped up, even after a sizable post-launch price rise.

The surge in demand prompted Toyota Australia to pause orders from July 2021, before opening the books again in late 2022 with a further 12 months’ supply of 160 vehicles.

The full-fat GR Corolla GTS brings with it a decent haul of standard fittings and fixtures including deeply bolstered sports seats trimmed with synthetic leather and suede, heating for the manually adjustable front seats, heated three-spoke steering wheel, leather-trimmed gearshift knob, park brake lever and steering wheel, and a unique 12.3-inch customisable digital instrument display.

There’s also a wireless phone charging pad, colour head-up display, dual-zone climate control, and aluminium sports pedals.

On the entertainment and connectivity front, the hot Corolla boasts an eight-speaker JBL premium audio system and an 8.0-inch central touchscreen that’s compatible with wired Android Auto, wireless Apple CarPlay and Toyota Connected Services (TCS).

The GR is also supplied with a 12-month subscription to TCS which uses an inbuilt data communication module to allow owners to access real-time vehicle information via the myToyota Connect smartphone app.

TCS also allows for cloud-based navigation with real-time weather, traffic and parking updates, trip start and finish routing, and connected voice recognition.

Additional features include stolen vehicle tracking and automatic collision notification, with the latter activating a call to an emergency call centre if the vehicle’s impact or airbag sensors are activated.

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There’s no ANCAP safety rating available for the GR Corolla, but its Corolla siblings carry five-star ratings to 2018 ANCAP test protocols and the car’s features include seven airbags, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, reversing camera, and front and rear parking sensors.

There’s also a suite of Toyota Safety Sense technologies including a pre-collision safety system with pedestrian and daylight cyclist detection, high-speed active cruise control (above 30km/h), intersection assist, emergency steering assist, lane departure alert, lane trace assist, speed sign recognition, and auto high beam.

External features of the GR Corolla include LED lighting and headlights, daytime running lights, auto power-fold and heated exterior mirrors, rear privacy glass, rear spoiler, triple exhaust tips, 18-inch Enkei cast-alloy wheels with 15-spoke design, and high performance 235/40R18 Yokohama Advan Apex rubber. A puncture repair kit is supplied in lieu of a spare wheel.

Riding 10mm lower on its sports suspension and with front and rear wheel arches pumped out by 20mm and 30mm and track dimensions increased by 60mm and 90mm respectively, the GR Corolla is instantly recognisable by its low, wide stance.

The front of the vehicle is dominated by a blacked-out Functional Matrix G mesh grille, while the bonnet sits 25mm higher than standard and boasts functional air ducts to help dissipate engine bay heat.

Triple exhaust outlets provide a signature look at the rear, and there’s a suite of other bodywork enhancements designed to improve aerodynamics, stability, and cooling air flow to brakes, radiator, and turbo.

Beneath the skin, there’s also a plethora of mechanical changes and refinements over the standard Corolla, aimed at enhancing the car’s strength and rigidity.

These include an additional 349 spot welds and nearly 3m of extra structural adhesive, notably around the floor pan, front side members, and rear wheelhouse.

Reinforcing braces have also been added to the front and rear suspension members, steering gear, underfloor, and between the rear wheels.

Toyota says the GR Corolla’s suspension components have all been reworked and retuned, there’s new steering geometry and a ‘quicker’ ratio for the electric power steering system, all designed to deliver superior road feel and driver engagement.

Both the GTS and Morizo Edition versions employ a sophisticated GR-FOUR all-wheel-drive system which provides enhanced grip and dynamic driving capabilities courtesy of selectable drive modes.

The system uses an electrically controlled multi-plate clutch on the rear axle to precisely distribute torque between the front and rear wheels and there are Torsen limited slip differentials on both axles.

The GR-Four AWD system optimises drive to each wheel through its full-time active torque-split system with three driver-selectable modes.

The default mode delivers 60% of drive torque to the front and 40% to the rear wheels.

A quick flick into an alternative mode enhances agility and turn-in with its rear-biased 30:70 front-rear torque split. Finally, there’s the 50:50 split of ‘Track’ mode, designed to provide greater stability for circuit driving.

A VSC Off switch also allows drivers to alter stability and traction control parameters and includes an Expert mode for circuit driving that completely disables both stability and traction control interventions.

Reassuringly strong stopping power is provided by four-piston monobloc front calipers clamping 356mm slotted front discs, and two-piston monobloc calipers grabbing 297mm slotted rear discs.

The brake calipers are finished in a distinctive red with GR logo and look especially sharp sitting behind the gloss black alloys.

Under the bonnet, the GR’s beating heart is essentially the same lightweight, high-output, 1.6-litre turbocharged and intercooled three-cylinder engine found in the GR Yaris.

Engineering revisions have liberated an additional 30kW of power and the same maximum torque but over a wider rev band, compared to the Yaris. That takes the GTS’s outputs to an impressive 221kW at 6,500 rpm and 370Nm between 3,000 and 5,500rpm.

Official combined cycle fuel consumption for the GTS is 8.4L/100km, rising to 8.6L/100km in the Morizo Edition, with both versions sipping top-shelf 98RON premium unleaded.

The firebrand engine is mated up to a close-ratio six-speed manual box with Toyota’s i-MT intelligent rev-matching technology, with the combination delivering a claimed 0–100km/h sprint in 5.29 seconds, or 5.21 seconds for the Morizo Edition.

The torquey and enthusiastic powertrain is a ripper, with a characterful and distinctive three-cylinder bass note evident whenever the engine is prodded.

Pleasingly, it feels equally at home noodling around the ‘burbs, as it does when firing out of corners on a favourite piece of twisty tarmac.

Despite this, the latter environment is where the Corolla GR GTS feels most in its element.

Grippy, responsive and sweetly balanced, the combination of nimble, communicative chassis and meaty responsive steering makes it a joy to thread through corners.

Unsurprisingly, this dynamic bias comes via a stiff suspension that gives few concessions to ride pleasantries, though it’s liveable enough by hot hatch standards.

Less pleasing is the intrusive level of road and tyre noise that is most obvious when travelling on coarse chip surfaces.

You’ll be turning up the JBL audio or keeping conversation to a minimum to compensate.

The donor Corolla hatch isn’t an especially spacious vehicle even by small car metrics, and whilst there’s reasonable head room in the rear of the GTS, leg and foot space is only fair. There are seats for five, but three adults across the rear will be squeezy.

Cargo space is similarly limited for a small hatchback.

Toyota doesn’t quote cargo volume for the GTS, but a standard petrol Corolla hatch offers 217 litres of cargo volume (333 litres in ZR Hybrid), which is below the Hyundai i30N’s 381 litres, and less even than the micro car class Kia Picanto’s 255 litres.

Toyota’s Warranty Advantage covers the GTS up to five years/unlimited kilometres, extending to seven years on engine and driveline, subject to meeting specified servicing requirements and other conditions.

Capped price serving applies for the first three years/60,000km with each six-month/10,000km service costing $300.

Make no mistake, the hot-to-trot GR Corolla is no mildly warmed-over and tarted-up version of a standard cardigan-wearing model Corolla.

It’s the real-deal hot hatch that won’t fail to put a smile on a driver’s face.

Key stats

• MLP: $62,300
• ENGINE: 1.2-litre 3-cylinder turbo-petrol (221kW/370Nm)
• ANCAP CRASH RATING: Not rated.
• FUEL CONSUMPTION (combined cycle): 8.4 litres/100km (191 g/km CO₂)
• FOR: Sporty performance, engaging handling, distinctive styling, snugly supportive sports seats, healthy standard equipment list.
• AGAINST: Price, limited supply, no ANCAP rating, excessive tyre and road noise, requires 98RON fuel, small boot, limited rear seat space.