New Toyota Corolla hybrid heralds a freshen-up for the range

The venerable Toyota Corolla continues to be a very popular car in Ireland no doubt due to its legendary reliability, decent standard kit and great dealer network.

Across the globe some 50 million, yes 50,000,000 Toyota Corollas have been sold since its inception. So Toyota have a formula that works and this latest version is all about an evolution of the product rather than anything radical or revolutionary

Recently Toyota introduced a new hatchback version whose style may entice a younger demographic of buyer to try the Corolla. This week though I am road testing the refreshed and mildly restyled Corolla saloon hybrid. Three trim levels are available, Luna, Luna Sport, and Sol. I am road testing the Sol hybrid.

So has it got any street cred?

The Corolla was never known to be a head turner and so it is with this refreshed version but you know what it is quite a stylish looking saloon. My test car was finished in a rich metallic red and with two-tone alloy wheels it did look good.

What Is it like inside?

The first thing that is apparent is the high quality of the interior. There are plenty of clever design touches too all which go to create a really upmarket feel to the Corolla saloon.

There is plenty of standard kit and safety features include Toyota “Safety Sense” pre-collision warning as well as adaptive cruise control, lane departure alert, heated front and rear seats, auto high beam assist, wireless charging, 18  inch alloys, dual zone climate control, rain sensor, and a leather clad multi-function steering wheel. This Sol version is very well equipped. 

The cabin feels very well put together and detail touches such as the white stitching effect in the dash trim as well as the ambient lighting at night create a high quality feel to the car. My only criticism is that the design and placement of the central touchscreen looks like a bit of an afterthought. It's perched high on an otherwise well-designed dashboard, the graphics too look a little bit dated.

Overall though this is a nice place to be. Up front the driving position is good, the rear will accommodate four adults with reasonable leg and headroom. The boot is a good size at 471 litres. More below picture.

What Is under the bonnet?

The 1.8 litre petrol “self-charging” hybrid performs quite well utilising a CVT transmission to put the power to the front wheels.

It really only runs on battery power at very low speeds or in slow city traffic, otherwise, the petrol engine is doing all the work. That engine is quite noisy too when revved but fine while cruising at motorway speeds.

On the economy front, I returned 5.1 litres per 100km which is better than about average for a car in this class. In my opinion, the self-charging hybrid is the very best solution. No range anxiety, no plugging in and it all works seamlessly.

Will I enjoy driving it?

In short yes! It is agile and nimble and will hustle along a twisty road with poise and precision.  I enjoyed the way in which it gets down the road. Around town its compact dimensions make it easy to live with and it proves quite refined though I did feel there was and more road noise than I expected at motorway speeds particularly, on more coarse tarmac surfaces.

So What is the final verdict?

The refreshed Corolla hybrid is really the perfect evolution of a pretty much close to perfect car. The Corolla hybrid does everything well and nothing badly and that is its key virtue. 

The new range starts at €34,060 the higher spec Sol version tested costs €38,800.