The 20/20 Toyota Corollas redesign has been a surprise hit winning over even diehard Corolla naysayers
Does the hybrid version maintain that new fun energy or is it just a Prius and a different outfit?
We're in Savannah, Georgia to find out
Before we do though head over to edmunds.com for all your hybrid shopping needs
The redesigned Corolla is lower a little bit wider tiny bit longer than the outgoing generation
It's a pretty distinctive style
I mean it certainly isn't what you would think of when you think Taiyo de Corolla design whether you like it or hate it
It's kind of cool-looking. It's got this big grille. It has these very distinctive headlights
And that's on all of the different trim levels it has
fender flares
They look a little bit dorky with these small 15-inch wheels that are on the hybrid version
But they look cool with the optional 18-inch wheels that are on the upper trim levels
Speaking of the upper trim levels Toyota calls them the sport models they have arrow on them. This is not your old Corolla
We are driving the back roads of Savannah Georgia, it's very pretty here recommend it for a vacation spot
I recently reviewed the Toyota Corolla hatchback
With a manual and the 2-liter and I totally surprised myself. I think I surprised everyone because I got out of it
It was like I kind of love it. It's super fun
in fact
The Edit team actually made fun of me because they were like if you played a drinking game on how many times you said fun?
In your hatchback video we'd all be wasted
That fun adjective doesn't quite apply as much to the hybrid version
So why is the hybrid not as much fun as the 2-liter? Well, some of that's obvious
It's a 1.8 liter hybrid engine rated at 121 course power versus the 2-liter which is rated at 169
More is better. Another thing is the transmission
it's an e CVT transmission, which is nowhere near as much fun as the 6-speed manual that I drove in the hatchback the
Hybrid, you can only get in what is basically the Le trim level which is sort of just in the middle
It has a similar infotainment system to the upper trim levels
It has all the safety stuff, but the interior isn't quite as fancy and you can't get a 2-liter
At slower speeds. I feel like the 1.8 litre engine in the hybrid. Corolla is pretty great
I mean it responds pretty quickly
You can move away from a traffic light with you know, not noticing not feeling like you're in a slow vehicle
however
I did notice a difference on the highway between this and the higher horsepower
2-liter engine that's in the non hybrid upper trim level Corolla and that is
When you're actually on the highway and you want to go fast and you floor it
It takes a really long time to get to passing speed so that kind of bums me out
The drivetrain that's in the hybrid Corolla is the exact same one that's in the Prius
So if you've driven a Prius and you're fine with that performance level then you will be equally fine with the Corolla
So why would you get the hybrid instead of say the 2-liter six-speed manual?
52 miles per gallon combined city and highway driving that is exactly the same as the Prius
So then why would you get Corolla versus Prius or why would you get Prius versus Corolla?
Well, they're different cars Toyota says that it expects sort of a different audience for the different cars
so I mean if you've ever been in a Prius, it's got all these gauges and
displays and stuff that tell you how many turtles you're saving and
The Corolla is like a little more low-key about the mileage and it's really more like you're saving a lot of money
The hybrid
Feels different one reason is the Wheels Hybrid gets 15 inch wheels versus
Well, there's an optional 18 inch wheel on xse. But even the normal le trim gets a 16 inch wheel
So the hybrid has a very small wheel and feel like that translates into more road noise, which is unusual normally
It's a bigger wheel that gives you more of an uncomfortable ride
But I definitely feel the bumps more in the hybrid than I did in the other trim level
Toyota's been working a lot on cabin comfort both in like the seats and the seating position and the visibility all of which great
They've also been working on sort of road noise and cabin noise
They were very specific in their press release talking about all of the NVH that stands for noise
Vibration and harshness. I feel like there's still a lot of wind noise
Maybe it was worse before
Toyota is doing an awesome job of making safety standard all up and down the line
even if you're buying the most affordable entry-level Corolla, you still get
Fairly high tech safety stuff like pedestrian warning and Lane Assist and you know, that stuff is great
Everybody deserves to be safe when they drive
There are a lot of features on the Corolla that you used to only find on luxury cars like
adaptive cruise control so you can just set it and it pays attention to whatever's in front of you and
Then it has like a fairly smart Lane monitoring system as well. It doesn't just track the painted lines
It can actually tell if the side of the road is
Grass or something and it can steer for you make little adjustments to keep you centered in the lane
Just an FYI. I freaking hate that it is so wrong feeling not into it, but you know, whatever if you're into it
it works I
Already talked a lot about how in general the redesigned Corollas interior is really nice
The upper trim levels are particularly amazing
But even this which is the le trim has a lot of interesting different colors happening and these seats are very comfortable
They're two tone cloth. That's alright the - and the infotainment display are both a bright digital display
They're very easy to read they're full color the dash display will tell you the different drive modes a power mode
there's an eco mode and then there's an IV mode which is really only for like
Tootling around like in a parking lot very slow speed like it automatically goes off
if you go faster another thing that corolla shows you in the dash display is
All of the safety stuff. So if you've got like the Lane Assist stuff on if you've got adaptive cruise control
It'll show you that it's on it also
Can read the signs like stop signs and speed limits and stuff and it'll flash those so it's not a gps-based
It's actually seeing traffic signs and reporting them to you on the dash here and it's pretty cool
Toyota's infotainment is much improved
Especially in how it looks eight inch screen is standard on all of the trim levels except the very base, which gets a seven
I feel like there's too many buttons that kind of all go to maybe the same thing
And it's always
Asking you questions that you're like that's irrelevant. No, I don't want that
But once you get it figured out
Like if you owned the car you would be able to do pretty much anything in general controls are all extremely easy to get to
actual knobs for temperature control actual knobs for volume control
tacular and
shifter in the console drive modes are down here, which totally makes sense as
Well as parking brake and a hill assist hold. There are two cupholders. They're pretty small
There's one phone holder way up here in the front which to me is a little bit far away from the driver
But I guess you're not supposed to be looking at your phone
Anyway, there's one USB port in the front that actually would connect to the apple carplay. No Android auto. Sorry
there's another USB port in the
Console here. It's a small console charging USB port and a 12 volt. Don't hold a little water bottle at an angle
and
then there's some storage compartments in the door not huge but
Pretty much all you need I mean, what are you living in here?
Backseat is spacious. I mean granted the seat is all the way up here, but even
Over here. I'd have plenty of room
Middle seat isn't even that uncomfortable
If you're sitting over here
Alright that's a little bit wonky. The other thing is, you know, that pretty roofline how it swoops down
Well you pay for all that beauty cuz not a whole lot of headroom over by the edges
The hybrid interior isn't as pretty as some of the other trim levels, but it has all the same functionality
Earlier we asked is the Corolla hybrid just a Prius in a different outfit and with the same Hybrid Synergy
System as the Prius and similar driving characteristics. The answer is basically yes
It is
But it's a more stylish outfit and if you're interested in getting a car that gets great gas mileage
But you're not interested in living that Prius lifestyle
The Corolla is a good option. If you liked this video subscribe and follow us on Instagram Facebook and Twitter
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