Gran Turismo 7 players will be able to get behind the wheel of the Toyota GR Corolla, in Morizo Edition form, starting from August 7, ahead of the car’s appearance in the final round of the 2023 Toyota Gazoo Racing GT Cup.
The GR Corolla is the fourth model from Toyota’s performance sub-brand and rally and endurance racing team Gazoo Racing, after the GR Supra, GR Yaris, and GR86 — all of which made their debuts in Gran Turismo.
It follows very closely in the tire tracks of the GR Yaris, essentially transplanting a lot of the smaller, rally homologation model’s tech to the larger, C-segment hatch. That includes both the 1.6-liter, three-cylinder turbo engine — turned up to 300hp in this application — and the GR Four all-wheel drive system.
Unlike its bespoke predecessor models, the GR Corolla is based on an existing model in the range. However Gazoo Racing has implemented a sweeping set of chassis changes to improve vehicle dynamics. That includes widening the front and rear tracks by two and three inches respectively, and adding over 300 more weld points.
For the Morizo Edition, which will be the car introduced to Gran Turismo 7, there’s further changes in the name of performance. That includes rear-seat deletion, model-specific forged wheels, and tweaks to the turbocharger and gearing to improve acceleration.
Notably this isn’t actually the model teased by Toyota itself, which stated that the MY24 GR Corolla Circuit Edition would be made available in Gran Turismo 7. That may mean more than one version of the car is coming.
A slightly complicated release schedule will see the GR Corolla become available to drive following a server maintenance period on Monday August 7, but only in free practice mode for Round 7 of the one-brand championship.
Players will then be able to race the car in that final round, a one-make event for the car at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Sunday August 27. Subsequently, anyone who has participated in any round of the Toyota GR GT Cup this season and appears in the points ranking tables will receive the GR Corolla as a gift on Monday August 28.
However the car itself won’t be available in Brand Central to all players until the end of September — a situation reminiscent of the Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo car introduced in December 2022.
It’s not clear exactly when the update that will add the car to the game will arrive, although we are expecting one towards the end of July on Polyphony Digital’s usual final-Thursday schedule.
See more articles on Gazoo Racing GT Cup and Toyota.
