A FRIEND IN A JAM
1. HYBRID MATHS FINALLY MAKE SENSE
The Corolla hybrid costs roughly $30,000 drive-away, which is about $1500 more than the petrol version. You’ll get that investment back pretty quickly if you spend most of your time in city traffic. We spent a week of suburban driving back-to-back in the petrol and hybrid Corollas and the hybrid used roughly 3.5L less petrol every 100km. At today’s bowser prices of roughly $1.50 a litre — and using the national average of 15,000km travelled a year — you’d save close to $800 on your annual fuel bill. That means your additional outlay for the hybrid should be paid off in less than two years. If you spend most of your time on freeways, the equation changes, though, because the hybrid is less efficient and the standard car is more efficient on the open road.
2. IT’S NOT A NERDMOBILE
Undoubtedly appealing to enviro-nerds, the Corolla hybrid looks and feels very normal. Unlike the ungainly Prius stablemate, the Corolla is a sharp looking little hatch that drives pretty well. The power output of the 1.8-litre engine looks paltry on paper at just 72kW but the extra assistance of the electric motor makes it feel reasonably zippy off the mark. Having said that, its claimed 0-100km/h time of 11 seconds is leisurely — and almost two seconds slower than the standard petrol model. There is another drawback, too. While the standard Corolla can haul up to 1300kg, the hybrid can’t tow a thing.
3. IT WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU DRIVE
Those little fuel consumption displays in the dash and on the centre screen will change your approach to throttle application. Instead of flooring it every time the traffic moves, you’ll ease it on, hoping to stay in electric mode as long as possible and beat your lowest consumption score. You can save your consumption for each trip and try to lower it. Traffic jams are your friend with a hybrid, especially if you learn to coast up to a red light rather than applying the brakes at the last minute. I even found myself cracking open a window and going without aircon just to improve my numbers. My best was 3.1L/100km, achieved on one of the country’s most congested arterial roads.
4. THE CABIN’S NOTHING SPECIAL
Even if the technology under the bonnet is impressive, the cabin doesn’t feel particularly futuristic. It’s well finished and comfortable, with excellent ergonomics, but the interior styling theme is formal and predominantly grey. The touchscreen is impressively large and easy enough to operate on the fly but there’s still no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and elsewhere it’s pretty plain. The boot is small and, unlike the standard car, there’s no full-size alloy spare.
5. IT’S FUN TO DRIVE
The Corolla’s balance between comfort and cornering precision is among the best we’ve come across. The suspension soaks up all but the sharpest edges and bumps but it can still hold its own when you point it at a series of bends. Often hybrids’ brake pedals have a wooden, artificial feel but Toyota has done a good job on the Corolla. Our only gripe would be that the continuously variable transmission can sometimes be a little jerky in stop-start traffic and the tyres are noisy on coarse road surfaces.