Toyota Corolla/Auris review (21/08/2013)

IT might be fashionable in some quarters to poke fun at the Toyota Corolla; endlessly dull, designed by someone with a white stick, zero fun and nada on the street cred front. All of these barbs have been thrown at the Corolla down the years, but they merely bounce off the legendary Toyota — as its sales figures show.

At the launch of the new car recently, Toyota illustrated some of the highs of the Corolla’s nearly 40-year career, including that there have been 40m of them built; 100,000 of them are sold every month — one every two minutes — 200,000 have been sold in Ireland; and, in the last 10 years alone, 50,000 new Corollas have been shifted off Irish dealership forecourts.

You’d have to be impressed, would you not, that the car is a monster when it comes to its worldwide popularity.

And, that being the case, you can be sure that this latest version of the car will also be a massive seller across the globe. But, to put the car in perspective, it is only a piece in the jigsaw of Toyota’s C-Segment contenders — including the Auris, the Verso, the RAV4 and the Auris Sports Tourer (which was launched in tandem with the Corolla and more of which later). That means the global impact of the Corolla is going to be buoyed by the impact of the sales of the others and will thus leave Toyota in a ridiculously strong position vis-a-vis its competitors in the segment.

Of course we used to know the Corolla as being both a saloon and a hatchback, but some time ago Toyota made the decision to call the hatch version the Auris in an attempt to

appeal to a younger market. So the Corolla is now only a saloon, but Toyota are confident this will not unduly detract from its phenomenal sales potential.

Toyota has done a fair deal to boost the exterior appearance and in design terms and have made what — for them — is a fairly radical looking car.

Corolla buyers — by and large — are less interested in looks than they are about the car’s traditional plus points, which include reliability, value for money and practicality. These, understandably, weigh far more heavily on Corolla buyers than how appealing or good-looking the car is.

Even so, Toyota has done a lot of work on the ‘sensory quality’ of the new machine and this means it comes as standard — from Terra grade upwards — with an interior look which is far more sophisticated than any previous model with a fair bit of chrome and metallic elements.

On the engine front the entry level petrol unit is the familiar 1.33 DOHC dual VVT-i powerplant with 99 bhp, 128 Nm of torque, a top speed of 180 kph and a 0-100 kph capability of 12.6 seconds. It has been tweaked to provide marginally better fuel consumption (5.6 l/100km as against 5.8) than was previously the case and with a CO2 emission level of 129 g/km, road tax is 10 less than before, at 270 annually.

The diesel offering is also familiar, although also tweaked slightly. It is the 1.4 D-4D six speed turbodiesel with 90 bhp and 205 Nm of torque available, making for a top speed of 180 kph and a 12.5 second 0-100 kph time. It is fitted with a stop/start system and will return 3.8 l/100 km (the last version returned 4.7) and has emits 99 g/km of CO2 to realise a tax bill of 180, as against the 270 of the last Corolla.

Wheelbase has been increased to 2,700 mm — bigger than that of practically anything else in the segment — proving extra legroom for rear passengers, while in terms of kit for the baseline Terra model Toyota has added front and rear electric windows, stop/start, vehicle stability control, a tyre pressure warning system and LED driving lights to what was already a fairly comprehensive package.

The Aura version adds alloy wheels, manual air con. and steering wheel-mounted audio controls, while the Luna version further adds a rear camera, the Toyota Touch system and four-way remote audio switches.

The Corolla Terra petrol model will sell from 20,995, moving up to 22,995 and 23,890 for the other grades. The diesels will cost 21,995, 23,730 and 24,550 respectively.

Curiously, Toyota has decided to call the estate of the Auris/Corolla range, the Auris Sports Tourer, and one would have to presume again that this is marketing/image ploy on their behalf. The new machine is again larger than before with more load and passenger pace. It comes with a choice of the 1.4 turbodiesel or 1.8 petrol engines and will cost from 21,970 up to 27,435.

We will be testing both cars in the near future, so keep an eye out for a more comprehensive look at two cars which Toyota hope will further dispel the traditionally conservative image of its C-Segment contenders.