Enlarge / North America was denied the extra-special GR Yaris, but Toyota has remedied that with a GR Corolla, which starts at a rather reasonable $36,995. (credit: Bradley Iger)

After decades of being the brand known for sensible, inoffensive motoring—as spearheaded by models like the Camry and Prius—Toyota has been going through a bit of a reinvention as of late. The brand’s roots in motorsport date back to the early 1970s with their rally efforts, and recently the company has been keen to recapture some of that racing spirit.

The first evidence came by way of its joint partnership with Subaru to develop the Scion FR-S (later known as the Toyota 86, and now, in its second generation, the GR86) as well as its more recent collaboration with BMW to produce the Supra and its Bavarian counterpart, the Z4. Now, after building the sensational GR Yaris the gearheads at Toyota’s performance-focused Gazoo Racing division have turned their attention to the Corolla, and the result is something that’s a far cry from the staid machine that we’ve come to associate with the name.

The slightly larger Corolla is much better suited to our roads than the Yaris would be. (credit: Bradley Iger)

Lowered, widened, boosted, and packing a sophisticated all-wheel drive system to go along with a raft of other performance features, the GR Corolla is a nod to Toyota’s glory days in the World Rally Championship, and it takes square aim at hot hatches like the Honda Civic Type R and Volkswagen Golf R. To celebrate its introduction, Toyota also introduced two special-edition models: The Circuit Edition—which includes performance hardware that’s optional on the Core base model as well as a forged carbon roof, heat extractors on the hood, and some aesthetic upgrades—and this, the Morizo Edition.