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The Toyota GR86 adds a Special Edition model for 2023.Toyota intends to limit production of the GR86 Special Edition to 860 units.The Special Edition maintains the same 228-hp boxer-four as its lesser kin.Toyota’s bringing a GR86 fit for David S. Pumpkins to its model line for 2023. Dubbed the Special Edition, this low-volume GR86 model—just 860 are earmarked for production—wears a coat of orange paint (or Solar Shift in Toyota parlance) that’s complemented by black decor on its C-pillars, a black trunk-mounted lip spoiler, and a set of matte black 18-inch wheels.

Toyota bases the GR86 Special Edition on the coupe’s high-end Premium trim, which includes the likes of sticky Michelin Pilot Sport 4 rubber, heated front seats, and an eight-speaker audio system. This is on top of items such as a dual-zone automatic climate control system and 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment setup that come standard across the GR86 model line.
Alas, the GR86 Special Edition brings no additional performance to the 228-hp 2.4-liter flat-four of its lesser siblings. That said, Toyota sees fit to equip this orange two-door with a cat-back exhaust system—replete with black chrome tips—that ought to improve the sound coming from this GR86’s tailpipes. Though Toyota’s yet to release pricing for the 2023 GR86 Special Edition, the automaker’s likely to charge a few thousand dollars more for this model relative to its Premium counterpart, which currently stickers for $31,325. Any questions?
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The Buick Wildcat EV concept is a pure design study that indicates the brand’s future styling direction. The Buick lineup will consist entirely of electric vehicles by 2030. Buick EVs will be sold under the Electra sub-brand. Buick has just revealed the Wildcat EV concept, a design exercise intended to establish the brand’s future styling direction with a particular focus on its upcoming electric vehicles. Curiously, Buick laid its future look on a low, wide, four-seat fastback coupe rather than on an SUV, though the brand is currently made up solely of SUVs—and will remain that way, we were told. While neither the Wildcat EV nor anything like it will go into production, the execs on hand for our private viewing confirmed that the Buick lineup will be composed only of electric vehicles by 2030, all of them SUVs. Those EVs will fall under a new sub-brand called Electra—which, ironically, is the name Buick affixed to its largest gas-swilling models for about 30 years starting in 1959.

While the Wildcat concept is touted as an EV, it was neither designed nor sized to accommodate GM’s Ultium battery pack—nor any battery pack, for that matter. During our visit, Sharon Gauci, executive director of global Buick-GMC design, emphasized that the Wildcat’s mission is to inform the styling of upcoming Buicks by giving the brand’s designers a clear design direction that they can apply to production vehicles. “This was a tremendous opportunity to come up with what a new design language and aesthetic for Buick will feel like,” she said.The Wildcat’s design team started by defining a new look for the future Electra EV line. Those elements will in turn will be phased into Buick’s upcoming internal-combustion-powered SUVs. In fact, the team that created the Wildcat EV is also working on future production Buicks, so the new-age design influence is already at work in the studio.Buick has confirmed that the first Electra EV SUV will be revealed sometime in 2024; we expect it to go on sale as a 2025 model. That vehicle, we were told, will be based on the same platform as the upcoming Cadillac Lyriq and will be similar in size. That means it could have a 100.0-kWh Ultium battery pack in its floor and a driving range of more than 300 miles; both single- and dual-motor models will likely be offered. “Not Trying to Be Trendy”If you’re thinking that the Wildcat doesn’t look like an EV, then the designers have done the job they set out to do. According to Gauci, many of today’s EVs are faceless—they’ve done away with traditional grilles because they can. Buick EVs won’t. Electras will show the world a well-defined face like the Wildcat’s, with thin, high-mounted headlights and a prominent grille made of tightly space horizontal bars—bright metal on some models. The Wildcat’s softly rounded body sides are simple and elegant, said Therese Pinazzo, Buick exterior and interior design manager, because “the forms are more timeless; we’re not trying to be trendy.” Like the new face, those body-side shapes will be echoed in future Buicks, both EVs and gasoline models. Seen from the rear, a pair of beautiful taillamps wrap up the sides of the rear glass, indicating there will be some artful taillamp designs on future Buicks as well.
It’s no surprise that the new look also includes a major update to the well-known Buick logo, which has historically been made up of three slim connected shields—mini family crests—inside a circle. The shields have now broken out of circle prison and stand separated—free, finally!—on the nose of the Wildcat, lit from behind. It’ll likely not be illuminated on production vehicles, but it does look far more modern. The new badge will show up on Buicks starting next year. Like most concept vehicles intended purely as design studies, the Wildcat contains not only visual cues that will be interpreted for production models but also fanciful ideas that will never see the light of day. The Wildcat’s interior is show-car fancy, with exotic-looking seats that would be appropriate in a Ferrari, maybe, but in a Buick SUV? Not so much. When you pull the door open, a section of the roof pops up to ease your entry; that’s sure to be another nonstarter.
The interior’s big reach is the idea of the car as mood ring: the designers propose using biometrics to monitor your feelings and vital signs. Based on that data, your vehicle would decide if it needed to automatically turn on features like aroma therapy and seat massage to bring you to back to a Zen state when, say, a cabbie cuts you off in downtown traffic or that jerk up ahead is texting when the light turns green. Good luck with that.Much more likely to make it into production are the large, curved screen sweeping across most of the instrument panel that’s not unlike the one in the current Caddy Escalade, and the flat-bottom steering wheel that’s in, well, everything from VWs to Bugattis. Buick’s new look will debut first on a conventionally powered gas-engine SUV that will be revealed later this year and go into production in 2023 as a 2024 model. The first Electra EV will roll out of an assembly plant a year later.

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The Toyota Corolla Cross adds a hybrid powertrain for its sophomore model year.The hybrid engine is available across five trim levels.Combined fuel economy is estimated at 37 mpg.For the 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross, now in its second year, the big news is the addition of a hybrid powertrain to supplement the existing 169-hp 2.0-liter four-cylinder. Whereas the base engine can be combined with front- or all-wheel drive, the hybrid is AWD only, with the rear wheels driven electrically. The hybrid powertrain’s 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and two motor-generators make a total of 194 horsepower. Toyota expects a time of 8.0 seconds to 60 mph—which would be a significant improvement on the 9.2 seconds we measured in our test of the regular Corolla Cross.

Of course, a hybrid’s main calling card is fuel economy, and the Corolla Cross hybrid is expected to deliver 37 mpg overall. That’s 5 to 7 mpg better than the standard Corolla Cross, which has EPA combined estimates of 30 mpg with front-wheel drive and 32 mpg with all-wheel drive. It’s nowhere near as economical as the 52-mpg number posted by the front-wheel-drive 2022 Corolla hybrid sedan, however.Besides the arrival of a hybrid powertrain, the Corolla Cross sees other changes for 2023. The model adds new S, SE, and XSE trim levels as slightly sportier counterparts to the returning L, LE, and XLE models. The new S trio gets tweaked front and rear styling and a sport-tuned suspension. The SE and XSE add paddle shifters and offer a contrasting black roof along with a two-tone black and blue interior. Blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert join the list of standard driver assists, and the infotainment system upgrades to wireless smartphone mirroring.

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The 2023 Toyota GR Corolla is gaining a track version, the Morizo Edition, which gains 22 pound-feet of torque for a total of 295 pound-feet. The Morizo also sheds a claimed 106 pounds, doing away with the rear seats, speakers, rear window regulators, and rear wiper blade and motor. The sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires should boost grip, and only 200 units of the Morizo will be built for 2023. The 2023 Toyota GR Corolla is ready to hit the track with the newly revealed Morizo Edition. This special edition shaves almost 100 pounds of weight, ramps up the engine’s torque output, and should tighten the sporty Corolla’s handling thanks to stickier rubber and increased rigidity. Just 200 units will be built for the 2023 model year, with pricing to be announced later this year.
The Morizo Edition arrives with the same 300-horsepower turbocharged 1.6-liter three-cylinder engine as the Core and Circuit editions, but tuned to produce an extra 22 pound-feet of torque for a total of 295 pound-feet. Peak torque is between 3250 and 4600 rpm, a slightly smaller plateau than the 3000-5500 rpm range in the standard car. The Morizo also has close-ratio version of the six-speed manual transmission with shorter differential gears.

Weight declines from 3292 pounds in the Circuit Edition to 3186 pounds in the Morizo, with Toyota ditching the rear seats and associated hardware including the door speakers, window regulators, and rear wiper blade and motor. There are also redesigned 18-inch forged wheels, which are now wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. The Morizo Edition also gets special front brake ducts.
Toyota says the suspension has been retuned, and the Morizo Edition is also fitted with red-painted monotube shock absorbers. Two extra rear strut braces should increase rigidity, as will the same extra spot welds and additional structural adhesive on the frame that come on every GR Corolla. The Morizo Edition comes with standard front and rear Torsen limited-slip differentials like the Circuit Edition.

The Morizo Edition’s interior is decked out with red and black Ultrasuede and leather seats, with Ultrasuede appearing on the steering wheel and shift knob, too. Despite the two strut braces stretching across the rear of the cabin, the Morizo Edition can carry four tires for a track day. The Morizo Edition will be offered in Windchill Pearl and an exclusive new matte gray paint hue, and will hit Toyota dealerships next year. Expect a price premium for this track special, although Toyota has yet to announce pricing for any GR Corolla models yet.
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The Toyota GR86 is the designated race car of the newly formed single-make racing series.The series (called the GR Cup) was formed by Toyota Gazoo Racing North America and features homologated GR86 Cup cars.The GR Cup’s first season includes 14 events, with track locations and GR86 Cup car pricing coming this summer.It’s no secret that the Toyota GR86 is one helluva sports car, and now it’s set to become the star of a newly formed single-make racing series. Known as the GR Cup, the nationwide competition was announced earlier this year by Gazoo Racing North America (Toyota’s motorsport division), with the 2023 season said to be sanctioned by SRO America.
As with any single-make racing series, all the competing cars are from the same automaker. They’re also all homologated with the same parts so that they’re identical. To make the stock GR86 meet these requirements, Toyota transforms each model into race-ready form at its new Toyota Racing Development (TRD) facility in Mooresville, North Carolina.

The GR86 Cup car is born from a roster of upgrades from various aftermarket suppliers. It has an engine management system from Bosch, a Borla exhaust, Alcon brakes, JRI adjustable shocks, and a six-speed sequential transmission from SADEV. The track-built GR86 has extensive safety equipment that includes a roll cage and a 22-gallon fuel cell. In addition to custom bodywork and a carbon-fiber rear wing, Gazoo Racing provides specially designed parts including MacPherson struts and a splitter.
Toyota says the GR Cup provides “affordable competition,” and it’ll also have a total purse and prizes of $1 million. The company also says the 2023 season will consist of 14 events over seven U.S. circuits. However, it hasn’t yet announced the specific track locations. That information, as well as pricing for the GR86 Cup car, will be released this summer.
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