Struth! Toyota hatches a plan with new Corolla
Of all motoring name brands in South Africa, Corolla was, undoubtedly, the most chirped about.
Toyota sold so many of them that you could find one parked next to just about every kakiebos bush in the Transvaal.
Then, it stopped. No more Corollas.
Now the company has launched a radically new hatchback – ever so cunningly – under the Corolla banner in the hope that it will also sell like hell in its new guise.
I suppose Corolla just had to come back.
Just to show it’s a true departure from the past, the new Corolla hatches have traded the Auris badge for a Corolla one, and highlighting it as the 12th generation of the brand.
Talk about hip diction, Toyota refers to the TNGA – Toyota New Global Architecture – platform as being at the heart of this new hatch.
Struth! I thought we were talking cars here, not Colosseum!
Anyway, this TNGA allows for the Corolla’s design to be longer, lower and sleeker than ever before, says Toyota.
The car is 25mm lower, 30mm wider, 40mm longer and the bonnet line is a whopping 47m lower, which, I must concede, makes for attractive styling and also gives the driver a greater field of vision upfront.
For what used to be a fairly conservative Toyota, design-wise, the Corolla’s front and rear sculpting is pretty daring, with what it terms a catamaran look from the front and rear angles of the car.
The bold front trapezoidal lower grille has a mesh design with surround that’s more upright, reducing the front overhang by 20mm.
The tail end has a 14-degree increased angle to the rear screen and LED light clusters located as far to the edge as possible, a roof spoiler and a shark fin antenna, to catch one’s attention.
Styling is rounded off with the inclusion of 16-inch alloy wheels which sit neatly in the wheel arches with just the right amount of flare.
Toyota has opted for the same motor it uses in the C-HR, which is the lively 1,2-litre four-cylinder turbopetrol unit, delivering 85kW and constant torque with a pleasingly flat torque curve of 185Nm at between 1,500r/min and 4,000r/min.
Couple this to either a six-speed manual transmission, or Toyota’s new, remarkable, 10-speed Sport Sequential Shiftmatic Continuously Variable (CVT) automatic cog-swapper, and you have the best possible combo right there at the backbone of your running gear.
The car’s performance is, therefore, worth twittering about and the manual gets you to 100km/h in just 9.5 seconds - the CVT version does it in 10.4 sec – and on to a maximum speed of 200km/h, says Toyota. Not bad for a 1.2 litre. A well-balanced engine/gearing combination always leads to beneficial fuel consumption as well, and Toyota claims an average consumption of 6.1 litres/100km for the new Hatch.
The rear suspension is now a new multi-link system that is more compact and not only allows for a larger boot space but, together with a new shock absorber valve design for 40 percent less friction, yields a smoother ride and better tracking stability.
Likewise, the interior of the car is as no other Toyota before.
Because of the TNGA, you also immediately feel that the Corolla has a comforting, lower centre of gravity than the Auris.
As you take the wheel, the new instrument panel is now much slimmer and immediately leads one to feel interior space has been well optimised.
The flagship Xr models have sports front seats that are slimmer and wider, and have thick side bolsters for improved holding performance in hard cornering.
The rear split seats can be folded down to increase the boot’s load space and upholstery in the premium models is a combination of fabric and Alcantara leather.
There is just about a cockpit-full of passive safety features to the car and start with seven airbags – driver and passenger, along with two side and curtain, as well as one for the driver’s knee.
Active safety specs include Vehicle Stability Control, Electronic Brake Distribution, Handbrake Assist, Hill-Assist Control and the usual ABS.
In my opinion, the strengths of the Corolla – for many years, SA’s best-selling sedan – was that it always offered just sufficient to the everyday motorist. Not overly more than any other brand, but what it had worked well, economically and reliably.
Always costing a bit more than the opposition, but then resale values were high – and there was always a good Toyota dealership conveniently just around the corner.
There are three Corolla Hatch models. The 1.2T Xs 6MT (manual transmission) retailing at R336,800; the 1.2T Xs CVT for R347,400, and; the 1.2T Xr CVT selling at R367,100.
All come with a 6-services/90,000km service plan and three-year/100,000km warranty.