Wait, this is a Corolla?
Yes, just like the heroine in some 1990s teen rom-com, the formerly dowdy Toyota compact car has taken off its Coke-bottle glasses, shaken out its hair, and transformed into the “it” girl of the moment. Before: practical sedan with the personality of a bar of soap. After: Euro-style Instagram star.
Previously, Toyota packaged this sharp-looking little five-door under their Scion sub-brand as the iM, aimed at youth. That experiment is done, so now the Corolla hatchback gets full Toyota status, including badges that don’t need to be explained to your parents (who might be helping out with the down payment).
The question is: does all this new-found funk get in the way of traditional Corolla values that made the nameplate such a hot seller in the first place? Yes, the Corolla was perhaps not generally the most exciting choice in the market, but it was the one you turned to for quiet dependability and practicality.
The Corolla hatchback promises that same everyday usefulness, just in a more stylish package. But let’s just see if the beauty is more than skin-deep.
Design
At some point, car designers are going to start putting grille material on the roof because they’ve run out of space to stick it on the front of the car. Despite coming equipped with a four-cylinder engine that doesn’t need the kind of cooling you’d want for a Dodge Hellcat or Lamborghini Aventador or Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the Corolla hatchback’s front end features lots of faux mesh.
Having said that, I actually love the look of this thing. It’s fierce and snorty and looks like the type of fish that eats all the other fish in the tank when you turn your back for a second. No, a piranha won’t win any beauty contests, but one glance and you know what kind of personality it has.
My tester was the XSE version, which is the most aggressively styled variant. It gets 18-inch wheels, which poke out quite far – watch for curbs. A more city-friendly 16-inch rim is standard, and better suited to the winter tires you’re going to want to throw on.
LED taillights and a spoiler complete the package out back, giving the Corolla a little more European flavour. With a bright palette of colours to choose from, it’s anything but boring.
Environment
Inside, this little hatchback is likewise surprisingly un-Corolla-like, and perhaps not in a good way. On the plus side, the seats are quite aggressively bolstered but comfortable, and the interior is considerably nicer looking than you’d expect.
The Corolla sedan, however, has long delivered on excellent spaciousness, particularly a ridiculously big rear seat and huge trunk. The hatchback variant is quite a bit smaller inside, and while trunk volume is a claimed 500+ litres, Toyota must be measuring things up to the roof rather than the parcel shelf. It certainly doesn’t appear that big.
However, having the hatch and folding rear seats certainly makes this the more flexible Corolla option. Further, if you didn’t like how empty the sedan version of the Corolla can feel, the hatch offers a bit more of a sporty cockpit feel.
Performance
Previously, as mentioned, Toyota offered a hatchback in this class as a Scion, the iM. It was a pretty decent car to drive, with handling that certainly felt a bit sporty. However, under the hood was a very leisurely four-cylinder engine, one that did well on fuel economy, but made the car somewhat underpowered.
The new Corolla hatchback gets a new 2.0-litre direct-injection engine from Toyota, one that offers up a pretty energetic 168 horsepower at 6,600 r.p.m. and 151 foot-pounds of torque at 4.800 r.p.m. You’ve got your choice of a six-speed manual, or a continuously variable transmission.
On paper, things sound quite good. That’s about the same amount of torque that Toyota puts in their 86 sports car, and with front-wheel drive, there should be a little less powertrain loss.
However, let’s not get carried away here. The Corolla hatchback is certainly zippy, but not quite spicy enough to be considered a hot hatchback. Performance is adequate-verging-on-fun, and the handling of the new Toyota global platform is nimble. However, the steering is still a little low on feel, and the Corolla isn’t as lively as something like a Volkswagen Golf.
However, being a Toyota and not a Volkswagen has more than a few advantages in the potential headaches department. If you’re looking at buying this car for Toyota dependability, know that you’re not necessarily settling for a boring choice. The Corolla hatch gets even more fun when you realize you don’t have to worry about much more than routine maintenance.
Features
Pricing starts at $20,980 for the entry-level model, and ranges up to $27,980 for my CVT-equipped XSE. The sweet spot is the SE Upgrade package for just under $25K, which comes with visual upgrades as well as heated seats and a heated steering wheel (wonderful on a frosty morning).
The infotainment works very well, although some people won’t love the way the 8.0-inch touchscreen dominates the dashboard. Way of the future, I’m afraid, and the bundling on the basic car does include all the connectivity functions you need.
Fuel economy is pretty good, even with these cold days requiring a bit of warming up in the mornings. Official figures are 7.5 litres/100 kilometres in the city, and 5.8 l/100 km on the highway, and observed actual economy in mixed use was close to the city figure. Not bad, given the conditions.
Green light
Fierce looks; more fun to drive than expected; sensible options packaging.
Stop sign
Smallish interior; looks too aggressive for some; 18-inch wheels probably one inch too large.
The checkered flag
A fun and funky little Toyota hatchback that asks for a few practical compromises, but still should deliver dependable and economical transportation.
Competitor
Subaru Impreza five-door ($20,895): Often overlooked in the compact car market (people seem to snap up the higher Crosstrek instead), the Impreza five-door is a wonderfully practical hatchback that can handle all kinds of weather. Like the Toyota, it’s mounted on the newest chassis technology, so handles pretty well and has an excellent safety rating.
The Impreza is less slick-looking than the Corolla hatch, inside and out, but does offer a little more space, and some practical features like rear doors that open extra-wide. The engine is a little less punchy than the Toyota, at 152 h.p. and 145 foot-pounds of torque, but the Impreza still should be on your shopping list.
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