Road Test: Toyota Corolla

Review by Feann Torr - 7/Mar/2008

The writing has been on the wall for large cars in Australia for some years now and the gaps being left by fewer Falcon and Commodore sales have increasingly been filled by small cars.

Toyota's Corolla is currently the second highest selling vehicle in Australia, but to call it a gap filler would be unfair.

This Japanese small car is trading blows with the Holden Commodore, which has been the best-selling car on the Australian continent for more than a decade. That's no mean feat.

Meanwhile the Mazda3 pipped the Ford Falcon for third spot on the sales leader board in recent times.

The Yaris was sitting pretty in the #5 spot this month just behind the Falcon which suggests that the small cars market's long-term renaissance shows no sign of slowing.

This being our first test of a Corolla we were deeply intrigued to find out what magical combination of mechanical herbs and spices make the Corolla such a sought-after new car.

A bit more research shows that Toyota resale values are some of the best in the affordable car market, as are it's reliability ratings.

But are reliability and resale values the be all and end all of new car popularity? Let's find out:

Driving the entry-level Toyota Corolla Ascent sedan is like eating pudding: very easy to do.

The 6-speed manual gearbox is decidedly easy to shift, the engine is smooth and responsive, the steering is fairly keen and the vehicle's moderately small size (4.54 metres long) make it a likeable vehicle to punt around the suburbs.

The interior of this model reflects it's 'entry-level' status - the colours are fairly drab and the standard features list isn't going to raise any eyebrows - but it is comfortable and the ergonomics are good and the controls well thought out.

It doesn't have the futuristic flair of the Corolla hatch, which is sold in Europe as the Auris, but it gets a bigger boot. Not a bad trade-off.

There's a neat 'double' glove box that opens into two separated sections, a pair of cupholders behind the gear shifter and bottle holders in the doors.

Packing a CD stereo that can read MP3s, plus a AUX jack to plug in an MP3 player, it'll play most forms of digital audio and the features list isn't too bad for a $21K car.

These include things like the dual front airbags, braking aids such as ABS, EBD and brake assist, and a tilt and reach adjustable steering wheel.

Power front windows come in handy, as does air conditioning.

Unfortunately cruise control is not standard. This was one of the first cars that I have driven that doesn't include this feature.

In truth it wasn't too bad and was actually a nice change to have no automatic 'speed keeper'. It means you have to concentrate a little more on your driving, and even on a long and fairly monotonous 120km highway drive it was far less of a chore than I had expected.

As is the trend nowadays, Toyota offers a number of 'packs' with the entry-level Corolla models, such as the Cruise Pack. This $750 package adds cruise control, an upgraded leather steering wheel with audio controls and a leather gear shifter.

Toyota also offers the Enhanced Safety Pack (adding front side, full-length curtain and driver's knee airbags) for base model Corollas, again for $750.

One of the biggest omissions from the entire Corolla range however is ESP. Even if you wanted stability control on your Toyota runabout, it's not available.

To my mind this seemed like a strange move from what is one of the most conservative and 'safe' Japanese car companies in the country.

While the fancy-pants Corolla models, such as the range-topping Levins hatches and Ultima sedans get flashy instrument clusters and neat centre consoles, our entry-level Ascent model was built to a budget.

Everything works well - the CD/MP3 stereo is decent, the heater/cooler cranks up quickly and electric front windows are handy - but don't expect silver bells and whistles.

Take for example the instrument cluster - it's completely flat and devoid of any depth or 3D gimmickry.

The speedometer and tachometer are fairly uninspired, with only the cheap looking dials providing contrast. It's as though Junichi down at the Toyota factory in Japan has just slapped a sticker around the needles.

Instead of a Toyota emblem, the only text apart from the numbers on the dials is 'VDO E-97-B'. It would probably cost 3 cents per car to erase the manufacture code, but when you're building millions of Corollas per year, that 3 cents adds up.

And that's mass production for you.

But apart from a cheap instrument cluster and a lack of ESP, there's not much else I can grumble about here.

Having spent a week putting the Corolla through all sorts of conditions - wet and dry, daytime and nighttime driving, sealed roads, gravel roads, peak hour traffic, weekend highway cruising - it's clear that Toyota is on top of its mass manufacturing game.

Build quality is generally pretty good inside and out, and the powertrain in particular managed to impress this hack.

Powered by an all-new 1.8-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine (a longer stroke version of the 1.6 offered in Europe), the Corolla develops 100kW of power, which gives the vehicle a fairly swift feel.

But most of all is the refined feel of the 4-banger.

It's not a particularly dynamic engine-gearbox coupling, accelerating from 0-100km/h in 9.7 seconds, but it's nothing if not smooth.

The engine winds up to redline very cleanly with nary a hiccup, and though the needle doesn't race around the rev counter like a Honda Civic Type R, it's impressively refined.

When the tach needle hits 4000rpm the car begins to hustle and even pushing the engine to its rev limit doesn't invoke the rasping, breathless characteristics that some naturally aspirated engines do.

It's spritely off the line if you nail the throttle and I'd say the manual model could probably keep pace with a larger car, such as the Mazda6.

The engine doesn't yet make use of direct fuel injection, which generally increases power while reducing fuel consumption, but this is something we can expect in future.

Out on the highway at 100km/h and in top (6th) gear, the manual Toyota Corolla Ascent sedan revs at 2700rpm, and for the most part I found the 6-speed cog-swapper to be a very nice piece of kit.

It's got a super smooth shift with barely any notchiness, and provides the car with faster acceleration and better fuel consumption than the plodding 4-speed automatic.

I did encounter difficulty getting the transmission to shift into reverse a couple of times, but otherwise it was a much more involving powertrain that I had expected. I had a good relationship with 2nd gear.

In terms of driving dynamics the Corolla isn't too bad either. It has relatively direct steering with a progressive feel and though the suspension is geared towards a smooth ride rather than flat out apex chasing, it actually handles pretty well.

There is body roll and considerable understeer when you really push it, but because it's relatively light (under 1300kg) the front-wheel drive vehicle can be enjoyable when tossed around in the twisties.

Sitting on the same 2.6 metre wheel-base as the Corolla hatch, it is best suited to urban duties.

The Corolla is a good city car that can putt around town on the fumes of an oily rag, and its 10.4 metre turning circle makes it plenty manoeuvrable.

The extra length of the sedan (it's 32cm longer) and longer front and rear overhangs did make parking in some situations a little ponderous.

If feels very spacious inside inside and with a massive boot you can cram all sorts of odds and sods into it. The 450 litres of boot space is impressive for a small car and compares well with Toyota's Aurion large car, which has 504 litres.

The front seats are fairly comfy and have manual height adjust, but would be best described as durable.

I accidentally spilled milk and cereal all over the passenger seat after forgetting I even had food in the car, and after some very blue language it turned out that cleaning it up was pretty effortless.

And we're talking soggy sultana bran mixed with weetbix here.

Rear seat room is average for adults, but plentiful for kids and I reckon the Corolla sedan would make a pretty decent small family car.

Toyota has been marketing the new Corolla hatch as the hottest ever, and it's a fair call. While the sedan is a fairly attractive design, it's not quite as stylish as the hatch though.

The pointy front end inherits some Toyota family DNA, sharing some of its design cues with the Camry. It's a modern look that doesn't need a European influence to be attractive.

The rear end doesn't quite have the panache of the front, but all in all it's a fairly contemporary design that should age well.

Overall: 4/5

I'll be brutally honest here - I foresaw that I'd be saying the second-best selling car in Australia is average, dull, uninspired, and overrated.

The lack of cruise control on some models and no option of stability control whatsoever had me psyched for a grilling.

But in all honesty it's hard to poke holes in this vehicle.

Granted, there are some things that need to be remedied - ESP for one - but the Corolla is simply a consistently good motor vehicle. There are no stand stand out features and it's dynamics and styling won't blow you away -- but it's ease of use, reliability and refinement will make you smile.

If reliability and resale values are the be all and end all of car ownership, the Toyota Corolla has the market segment cornered. But even if they weren't crucial elements, this Japanese small car would still be an eminently likeable machine.