About a year ago I was on the Geneva Motor Show and this car was presented to the world, and it was called 'Auris'.
A few months later, the same car was called Corolla all of a sudden. With that, Toyota dug up an old name with a big heritage.
However, they say, this is a whole different kind of Corolla. The press release that came with the car states,
that the chief engineer has focused on two key points. A dynamic design and driving pleasure.
You can judge for yourself when it comes to the dynamic design, but the driving pleasure... Well, it's built on the TNGA-platform,
which is the same platform the C-HR uses, and that's a truly directly steering car.
Also, it has a new hybrid drivetrain producing 180 horsepower. It all sounds good, but today we'll find out if it's really good.
And the result is pretty close to your expectation. If you think this is a lower, more powerful and lighter C-HR,
you'll be disappointed. That's because the C-HR is the best steering car in its segment. The non-premium compact crossovers.
For that price, I can't really think of alternatives which steer as sharply.
And that fits the description of what Toyota wanted with that car. More sportiness, more fun, more driving pleasure.
This Corolla however... I can think of a few rivals which have better steering than this.
The Focus, the Civic, but a Kia Ceed as well. Those cars have tighter steering than this Corolla.
It's a very kind car. It rolls, it heaves, the steering doesn't have a lot of feeling to it, it's indirect...
It's just not an exciting car. If you go a little quicker, it understeers quite quickly. When you lift off, it's all alright again.
It's not a dynamic car and it's not fun to drive, but if you let go of the expectations...
If you get in without any prejudice, it's not a bad car. The steering isn't direct, but you can easily place the car.
The fact it's a tad softer means it's comfortable, everythings damped away nicely.
It's not like you lose contact with the road surface everytime.
It's just a Toyota. Very safe, very predictable, but just good. It's just not incredibly exciting.
It's the same story for the drivetrain. If you think '180 horsepower, nice, 0-100 km/h in 7,9 seconds...'
You'd be right, but if you put your foot down...
The combustion engine starts revving a lot. It'll even reach the limiter.
You'll have to wait a little until you're at the speed you want, and the engine will go quiet again.
It's just not its strong point. Toyota has put flappy paddles on it as well,
which ables you to set the planetary gears. And they're right, but they're not real gears.
What happens when you do that, is that you put your foot down in fourth gear...
But when I put my foot down and I shift into fifth, it'll remain idle at 3.000 RPM. It's the same for sixth.
There's always some kind of laziness in the drivetrain, and that's not sporty. But, like I said, if you let go of all expectations,
and you start looking at what this drivetrain does good, it's a more powerful Prius-drivetrain.
And that's not just the combustion engine, but the electric motor as well.
It's an 80 kW-electric motor, which means it's incredibly quick in the city, without making a single noise.
Toyota has a lot of experience with that system, so the moment the combustion engine actually has to kick in,
it goes seemlessly. No vibrations, no noises, and as long as you're driving around easily,
it's all very smooth and economical as well. We're filming now,
so the only thing I do is accelerating, driving past the cameraman, braking and doing it again.
In the Netherlands however, I think you can do 20 km per litre when you're just driving around.
On the other hand, that could be a reason to just choose the 1.8 Hybrid, because that's on its way as well.
And there's another reason why that might be the better choice.
Multiple reasons actually. First of all, there's the price, because it's slightly cheaper. Also, the 1.8 is more spacious.
Because this 2.0 has a bigger battery pack, the luggage space is compromised. You do get an additional compartment, but it's still only...
313 litres, which is cramped for a modern C-segment car. Usually, you get 350 to 400 litres in the same segment.
The 1.8 Hybrid, with its smaller battery pack, does offer you 361 litres.
That still doesn't make it the most spacious car in its segment, but it's acceptable.
Speaking of space, the Corolla isn't incredibly royal when it comes to spaciousness.
I'm 1,80 m. myself which is very average for a Dutch person and I like to have dynamic driving position, which is pretty far forwards.
But still. It's doable, I can fit my feet beneath the seat, but I'm pretty stuck back here.
The headroom isn't too good either. The sloped roof makes it feel like you're trapped in the back.
Things look better in the front.
The finishing and used materials are really good for the segment. It's not the best quality, but the way it's built,
deserves some praise. It's solid, it's decent, and the seating is very good.
Also, it has a nice head-up display. The rest of the digital screens are alright. The blue color is a matter of taste,
but you'll get used to it. The infotainment itself is an evolution of the one from the previous Auris.
It has been improved, because there are more shortcuts, but the menu structure?
It's not always clear which function is in which menu. The satnav has been improved as well,
you can now pinch to zoom in and out. That saves you a lot of frustration, because otherwise, you'd have to use these buttons.
But, it won't win any prizes.
Speaking of prices, you can go a lot of ways with your Corolla. It's available as a Touring Sports as well, the station wagon.
For that, I put on a different shirt. Across the whole line, the station wagon is only €1.000 extra. I'd always go for it.
It's four centimetres longer, and all of those centimetres are inbetween the axles.
That means there's a lot more legroom and a bigger luggage space. If you choose the 2.0 Hybrid, the difference in luggage space is smaller.
Personally, I'd do it. So what prices are we talking about? Well, a 1.2-litre hatchback starts at €24.000.
You can add €1.000 for the Touring Sport. It goes up all the way to the 2.0 Hybrid, which'll set you back around €37.000.
A very competing price, especially if you think that it's a very economical hybrid.
Other than that, the new Corolla doesn't do anything wrong. It's not a groundbreaking car, but it does offer you a total package.
So, in short: it doesn't come close to matching my expectation, but it doesn't disappoint me either.