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Toyota Corolla 1.2 XR

Corolla chatters CVT concerns

A month or two ago, we were most impressed with our test of the 6-speed manual Corolla that we deduced, finally pushes Toyota’s mainline passenger cars squarely into the new millennium. 

It is no secret that Toyota has lagged in engine tech — churning out old school naturally aspirated models trounced by quicker, more efficient and basically much better downsized force-fed European rivals, but this new Corolla hatchback consigns all that history.

That has much to do with Toyota’s great new turbo twelve-hundred hewn into a fine new chassis to not only kick those old performance shortfalls well into touch, but to also deliver excellent ride quality, crisp handling and even more space in a safer cabin to propel the world’s best selling car right back to the top of the hatchback pile.

But that was only half the story — Corolla also comes with a brilliant new CVT transmission and while that manual was brilliant, this one was far more intriguing to us — Toyota’s best European rivals pack some brilliant gearbox tech to keep them ahead, so we were more than just interested to learn how the new auto Corolla shaped up to some of those boxes…

The new 10-step Sport Sequential Shiftmatic, as Toyota calls it, may be slightly delayed in its progress from first to second on pulling away, but overall gear-change is smooth and responsive — I’d say the best CVT we've driven yet. It does not feel like a CVT and also, thanks to its ten steps, does not cause the engine to drone like a suffering drunk like most CVTs do. Most impressive.

Coupled to that new 85kW 1.2-litre four-pot turbo petrol that churns 185Nm out from 1500 to 4000rpm, Toyota claims a top speed of 200km/h top end at a measly 6.1 litres per 100km and while it was half a second off the manual in our road tests thanks to a sluggish launch, its 9.5 second sprint, 16.8 second 400m drag at 134km/h and better than adequate pulling power thrust it right into hallowed Golf territory. 

In fact Corolla outperforms the admittedly ageing Golf across the board, although the VW is better on fuel. Factor in 1500m of altitude and that this new Corolla no longer suffers that draconian performance penalty of thin air suffered by 70% of SA’s population who still drive normally aspirated cars and this turbo Toyota’s advantage is doubled over its ancestor too.

But it’s not just performance where the new Corolla hatch bounces back into contention — it also brings significantly improved quality and fit in a giant leap in both materials and finish, and in style and tech too. A spacious, modern and cohesive cabin with practical and eye-catching new textures, colours and trims gains a slim instrument panel in a wraparound cockpit with a sportier driving position too.

New Corolla Hatch’s high quality cabin with cool finishes impressed, its bucket seats kept us nicely in place too, although they can also make you feel a bit boxed in and claustrophobic on a longer drive. Suspension feels a little hard on a bumpy road, but that all makes Corolla Hatch more of a drivers car. Besides those quite trivial notes, silly e-handbrake logic and deafening safety chimes that irk you well beyond adhering to them, there seems very little wrong with this fine new Corolla. 

There’s quite a bit of movement in this neck of the woods right now with the arrival this week of the new Mazda3, the imminent arrival of heavily revised Opel Astras and of course Golf 8 in the not too distant future, but in a market so dominated by Toyota, this Corolla is more than worthy of a look see… — Michele Lupini


ROAD TESTED: Toyota Corolla hatch 1.2T XR
Engine: 85kW 185Nm 1298cc turbo petrol I4                 
Drive: CVT FWD
TESTED:
0-60km/h:              4.28 sec
0-100km/h:            9.54 sec                      
0-160km/h:            26.32 sec       
400m:                     16.9 sec @ 134km/h            
80-120km/h:          6.87 sec
120-160km/h:        12.90 sec          
CLAIMED:                                          
VMax:                     200km/h                               
Fuel:                       6.1 l/100km                         
CO2:                       141 g/km
Warranty/Service: 3y 100K/6 Service 90Kkm 
LIST PRICE:             R373K           
RATED:                    85%