To me, the new Corolla still looks like a pretty low-end FF car, whereas I really like the IS. There may be a few styling cues in common, but the IS looks leaps and bounds better.

As far as Corolla vs. Civic, I was just on a Honda lot and there's no question I would buy their Civic Si (almost 200 hp and a nice car for $22k sticker) over the Corolla.

The Corolla is so boring now, I don't ever refer to my AE86 GT-S as a Corolla.

 

What is so boring about it, considering the fact that it is not meant to be a sports car? It is a commuter car.......and even a Bugatti Veyron or Ferrari Enzo, in the murderous stop-and-go traffic of today's big-city commuting conditions, would be boring.

 

I remember when everyone used to say the 1st gen IS looks like a corrolla.. with the 2nd gen people stopped saying that.. whellp.. guess they can start saying it again.. sigh..

 

Wow would you look at that. Everyone in the SC3/4 automatic community wants what this corolla has. 3 spoke steering wheel, interior other than tan, gated shifter, working cluster, and navigation!

 

Since this Corolla has been on sale in China for the past year or so, I've finally had the chance to look at it up close while traveling for business in Shanghai.

At first, my initial impression was that they basically took the last generation model and did ever so slight tweaks to make it current in line with the Camry. That still remains my thoughts on this car even after seeing and sitting it in person. HOwever, it is much more photogenic then the last generation sans the funky headlight / tailight arrangements. It has a much more clean streamlined look. SIde door bumper guards are gone like most newer cars. And the smaller sleekr windows portray a more sporty appearance. The new drivetrains are great, although i would have preferred they offer a 1.6L as they do in other countries for gas frugality. I don't see to many people opting for the 2.4L truth be told.

Like it or not, but it seems Toyco is moving to singular world platform cars to save on production costs. There were rampant rumors that Toyco went back to the drawing boards on the Corolla after the debut of this current Civic. Seems that instead they delayed the newer fresh design, and just evolutionized the Corolla, which still is to its core, a true commuter.

 

A global car can only mean one thing - we get folding mirrors on the Corolla. I don't care how big the spots are in the US but in Canada, we get standard sized lots and parking next to a Tahoe (let alone a Suburban) means folding the mirrors or let them get folded by the woman with the biggest LV purse she could buy as she walks between your car and the SUV.


Also, here's another tidbit. The navigation system shown there is a "lite" version of Toyota's/Lexus' standard navigation system. IOW, it has some features removed for the sake of a lower cost. The only feature I know that's missing is voice recognition. I doubt it'll be missed given the poll over at the LS forum and the no. of complaints. However, it'll be a BIG issue if Toyota still locked out the nav (since voice recognition was the only way without pulling over) so hopefully Toyota has removed that lockout or there will be a lotta pissed navigation owners.

Lastly, the S/XRS front sport seats look fantastic. I hope they're as comfortable as they look. They're much better looking than the standard front seats. However so far only the S model has been shown with black leather (and opt. heated front seats). I find it weird that the XLE model shown above has cloth seats and no moonroof or foglights. Why is it the XLE then and not the LE?

 

I was at the press conference for the new 09 Corolla and Matrix at SEMA last month. I like it alot. Toyota has definitely stepped up. I'm glad they're finally offering NAV in this car, considering that the JDM Corolla has had this option for a while.

 

Did you ask them at the press conference why don't they bring back the Corolla All-Trac........or at least the AWD Matrix like they used to have? Dropping both of them in the American market, IMO, was absurd.

 

Nice to see a Nav in the new Corolla. Does it have HID's too?

 

anyone who confuses a corolla with a camry/IS/whatever has got to be blind, yea there are a couple similarly looking features, if you see these things in real life the size of the car will be a dead giveaway as to whether its an IS/camry/whatever. Anyone who confuses a GS with an avalon is blind too. I have zero trouble in identifying any toyota/lexus vehicles correctly

 

honey! i shrunk the camry!

 

once you enter inside, new civic has yaris-like interior quality, while Corolla has soft plastics everywhere.

Our European one has upgraded interior and looks really nice in-person, both inside and out.

Cool thing is that USA finally gets JBL, navigation, bluetooth... too bad it still does not match my Euro-spec Auris with Xenons, auto-lights, auto-wipers, two-zone air...

I like this interior much better than one with the wood:

 

And of course, here is the European interior:

 

Just got back from China, it is on sale over there, and just like the sedan version of the Honda Fit, the new corolla is UGLY!!!!
The 2.4 I4 is good tho.

 

^^^Definately looks better than the fake wood...