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Whenever people call a car a “driving appliance,” it’s usually not meant as a compliment. But try cooking your dinner without a stove, or making ice in summer without a freezer, and you can appreciate how good an appliance can be.
Many people use the term for Toyota’s Corolla because it’s not sexy or spectacular, but that’s not the point. As an everyday runabout, it’s hard to fault this little car. It’s in a very competitive segment ( among cars in Canada, compacts are the top sellers overall) but it’s a decent combination of practicality, pricing, and safety tech.
All trim levels use a 1.8- litre four- cylinder engine, making 132 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque. A six- speed manual transmission is available on two trim levels, while an automatic continuously variable transmission (CVT) is optional or standard on all trims. The Corolla lineup starts at $ 16,790 for the CE trim ( that’s for the stick shift; with the CVT, it’s $20,155) and rises to $21,790 for the SE, which comes only with a CVT.
My tester, the CV T-only LE, started at $ 20,990 but was further equipped with an XLE option package that added such features as a heated steering wheel (my new favourite feature), GPS navigation, faux- leather seats, a sunroof, and an auto- dimming rear- view mirror for another $4,690, bringing mine to $25,680 before taxes.
That might seem like a lot for a compact, but many Canadian consumers tend to think that they’re “buying by the pound” and that size should rise with the price. Instead, I like the idea that I can get a loaded smaller car, and I don’t have to go bigger to get more stuff.
The LE trim level is also available as the LE ECO, at $ 21,490. While most of its features are similar to the LE, its engine uses computer- controlled technology to vary the intake valve lift height. It ups the power to 140 hp, but reduces fuel consumption.
Other Corolla models have a published city/ highway combined figure of 7.5 L/ 100 kilometres, while the LE ECO tags in at 6.9. I expect that as the technology’s price starts to fall with volume production, it’ ll show up on other Corolla models as well.
This stronger engine is al- so used in the Corolla iM, a hatchback version that was originally sold as a Scion, but was transferred to the Toyota badge when Scion was discontinued.
Even wit h its l o wer power, the regular engine gets the job done. The CVT is much improved over earlier editions, and it’s smooth and unnoticeable, save for on hard acceleration, when it can get a bit noisy. The steering is light, and while there’s not much feedback or handling fun, the Corolla is solid and composed, including at highway speeds.
It’s not exactly a pretty car, with that oddly gaping f ront end, but its f airly straight roof profile from front to rear provides good headroom back and front, and the lift- over into the t runk is l ow enough to make grocery- getting easier. The LE normally comes with 16- inch steel wheels, but my XLE package added aluminum rims.
Inside, t he Corolla is simple and straightforward, which is always good. All but the base model have automatic climate control, with easy- t o- use t oggle switches if you want to set the mode and fan speed yourself. The heated seats, standard on all but t he base CE, work with butt ons, as does t he XLE’s heated wheel. The touchscreen stereo is also easy to use, but Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are not included. The Corolla is also surprisingly roomy for its size, especially in the rear. I put my better half back there for a two-hour drive, and he reported that while the seats looked flat, they were sufficiently supportive.
Toyota is stepping up its safety technologies across most of its models, and added a substantial package, called Safety Sense- P, to the Corolla last year.
In addition to a rearview camera, every Corolla ( except the iM, which has a different package) includes adaptive cruise control, a pre- collision system with pedestrian detection, lanedeparture alert with steering assist, and automatic high beams.
Toyota’s taking a considerable shot at the competition with it. The Corolla’s starting price is a bit higher than most others in the segment — $ 100 over Honda’s Civic and about $ 900 more than the l east expensive Mazda3 — but no other mainstream ri vals have these as standard equipment.
Just as the truck manuf acturers are constantly one- upping each other on towing capacity, expect this to be the opening shot for compact cars to step up the safety-tech game.