yardie876

Spot on review. I drive a Corolla as my work car and aside from the gutless engine (understandable in this class) it's a great little car. In terms of a people mover, I don't think there's a better choice honestly. The standard touchscreen (on LE and higher I believe), and LED headlights really set it apart from the competitors for me. I actually stepped down from a 2014 Camry and the only thing I miss is the extra .6L of engine.

mmarshall

Jill's basically correct on that one (at least for U.S.market specs)..........except for one minor point. The regular LE and S models do use the same 1.8L engine and CVT...but the LE Eco version uses a slightly different-spec 1.8L that fudges the HP and torque figures a little.

Toys4RJill

I was hoping the original review would of highlighted some of the outstanding features that come on this vehicle.

The fog lights, touch screen, solid feeling switches are impressive. And the whole over all design of the interior is very contemporary.

mmarshall

Thanks.

With the CVT, it's not completely gutless. There is adequate power for most normal driving, though I wouldn't want to necessarily try to pull into fast-moving traffic with the 4-speed automatic.

Unless you need a minivan for a large family or a large carpool, you have a point....the Corolla is a good small car. In its class (entry-level compact),it does pretty well.

mmarshall

I don't know why you are even bringing this up, unless you are trolling LOL. If you read the review, I gave ALL of the interior switches, trim, and hardware very good marks except for the hard, cheap-feeling sun visors. And I also specifically mentioned that I thought that the interior, more than the exterior, would sell the car. What more do you want?


As far as the fog lights go, I test-drove in daylight, with good weather, so there wasn't a chance to test them. This time of year, it's difficult to test-drive after dark, because most dealerships close up at 9 PM, which, at our latitude, is just about the time the sun sets.

Fizzboy7

Mike, you know you threw in a pic of the asian model (third from top)? Looks classier to me than the version we get here. Hopefully the facelift delivers this.

mmarshall

Thanks, Fizzboy ....yes, I know that not all of the images I post in reviews are always of the same car, or even the same trim-series in that car. The way the CL programming is setup, it generally allows only ten attached images per post...and that includes any small smiley-face icons as well. So, in the review image-postings, I usually try and provide a general overview of the car (in general) from stem to stern, sometimes including more than one version. I usually save the first image at the top for the brand-logo (which I think is a nice touch), but, if desired, I could also use that for regular car-photos instead of the logo. In some ways, the 10-image limit on CL might be a good thing.....otherwise, it might end looking more like a picture or image-gallery than an auto review.

Sulu

I will always have a spot in my heart for the Corolla. The 1987 sedan was my first car and a graduation gift from my father.

It never failed me; it never failed to start in the morning (even on cold winter mornings), except those few occasions when I did not properly -- fully -- close the door, leaving the dome light on and draining the battery overnight. The slightly higher ground clearance compared to Honda Civics allowed me to hop over small snowbanks in the winter that would stop those Hondas.

It drove me to the 2nd-coldest international capital in the world (Ottawa) when I moved up there and drove me back and forth from Ottawa to South-Central Ontario and back, never failing to get me home (both my childhood home and my own home in Ottawa). I only sold it for a Camry when I moved back from Ottawa.

I returned to the Corolla in 2010, moving down from a 2007 Camry due to bad personal finances at the time. After driving Camrys for many years, I was apprehensive about going back to an economy car; I had thoughts of the loud, choppy Civic that my wife had at the time. I was pleasantly surprised to find the engine and the car quiet and refined.

I thought about staying with the 2014 Corolla as my lease was about to expire. Although I never drove this new model, I was disappointed by the lack of an underhood insulation pad (but I understand there was extra insulation on the firewall to keep engine noise out of the cabin). I was also disappointed by the area between the 2 front seats: where my 2010 Corolla LE had a cloth-covered sliding central bin cover/armrest, the 2014 Corolla did not, and the quality of the material in that between-seats area also seemed quite a bit worse than my 2010 Corolla. I also was not pleased by the lack of adjustable/removable rear seat headrests; anybody who has to strap in a child car seat with an upper tether back there will understand. Finally, the compact Corolla -- even the larger 2014 model, which has a longer wheelbase than my parents' first 1984 Camry -- is just a bit too small to comfortably seat 5 -- 4 adults and a child in a car seat.

mmarshall

Yes, we tend to fondly remember our first cars. I was the same way....45 years ago.

Some cars, today, have sensors that shut off all nonessential circuits and bulbs when the engine is cut off.....including interior lights. That minimizes the chances of a dead battery. I don't know if today's Corolla has it or not.......features like that aren't always listed in the specs.

The Civic, during its history, like most small Hondas, has usually had more road-noise and a somewhat firmer ride than the Corolla, but its drivetrain is just as durable, if not more so.

It's true that Toyota economized on the new Corolla by not providing a underhood insulation pad (I noted that in my review), but the engine itself seems refined and quiet enough that it ended up not being that big a deal. Still, it might have been quieter with one, and that much nicer.

bagwell

exactly

I honestly couldn't tell if it was a CVT or not.....plus..I was getting like 43mpg cruising at 65mph.

mmarshall

Yeah, they did a good job programming the Corolla's CVT...you can tell the difference between it and the way Subaru CVTs, for instance, classically motorboat and rubber-band the engine when you accelerate.

I still don't understand, though, why Toyota didn't just use the CVT across the board for all of the Corolla versions, instead of tossing in the old 4-speed automatic for the base version. Could be a supply-problem......maybe they just can't get enough CVTs from their supplier for all the Corollas, given that so many of them are produced and sold worldwide.

mmarshall

It's too bad we don't get the nice Corolla Hatchback in the U.S. that is offered overseas. The Toyota Matrix hatchback and its rebadged Pontiac Vibe brother (which somewhat took the place of the Corolla hatchback) was offered here, even with AWD, for several years. But then the Vibe died with the Pontiac brand itself and Toyota (inexplicably, IMO since sales weren't bad) dropped the American-spec Matrix.

Here's a look at the Australian-spec Corolla hatchback:

pbm317

U.S. will receive this as the Scion iM

Toys4RJill

It's too bad Toyota did not redo the Matrix which was technically a Corolla wagon. Scion is dead and I can't believe Toyota is still pushing the brand.

mmarshall

Thanks, pbm317 ..........Good catch. I had forgotten about that, that Scion was going to give us that vehicle rebadges as a Scion.

Jill...........Scion isn't dead yet. And they are still very much part of the auto-show circuit this year, though I don't remember seeing the iM at the D.C. show. There are still a number of car buyers that like Scion's simple, no-nonsense sales policy and the no-dicker deals, much the same as Saturn used to do. Saturn didn't die because of their no-dicker sales policy, but because GM grossly mismanaged the division.