By Riyad Jaffer
Former South African motor racer,
Attorney and car enthusiast
Attorney and car enthusiast
The Corolla nameplate remains one of the most successful in automotive history. The name Corolla refers to a ring of petals around the central part of a flower and can also refer to a ‘small crown’ – a name that rings true as the humble ‘compact-car’ has been a jewel in the Toyota crown. Now in its 12th-generation, the Corolla badge has been affixed to coupe, sedan, hatchback, ‘liftback’ and station wagon forms.
In South Africa, the Corolla nomenclature has traditionally been applied to predominantly sedan models except for the Corolla Conquest and Avante variants of the 80’s and 90’s.
The Corolla name has been adopted globally for the new generation of Toyota’s C-segment hatchback, saloon and wagon models. On the local front this all-new hatchback model has traded the Auris badge for a Corolla one and leverages all of the inherent qualities customers have come to expect from the ‘small crown’.
The new Corolla Hatch has a more striking frontal design that is dynamic and distinctive. The car’s overall length has been increased by 40mm, all of which is contained within a longer wheelbase. Significantly, overall height has been reduced by 25mm, while the cowl height has been brought down by 47mm.
The Corolla hatch comes with LED lamp clusters with integral daytime running lights and new LED fog lights. All versions of the hatchback feature a roof spoiler and shark fin antenna. Although the new Corolla hatch has aesthetic appeal its not to everyone’s taste, something seems amiss. The opposite holds true for the recently launched Corolla Sedan which exudes a head-turning design.
Six exterior colours are available for the Corolla hatch including three new colours – Scarlet Metallic (Red), Oxide Bronze and Caribbean Blue.
An all-new interior presents a spacious, modern and cohesive cabin environment in which new textures, colours and trims combine to offer the highest levels of visual and tactile quality. Boot space is quite generous.
The sporty front seat design has been revised to optimise comfort and reduce fatigue on long journeys. High-grade XR models have new front sports seats with thin and wide shoulder supports which overlap solid, thick side bolsters to achieve excellent holding performance in an overall slim seat design.
As standard, all rear seats can be folded using a remote lever to create a fully flat extension to the loadspace.
The materials and trim finishes have high visual and tactile quality, including satin chrome plating and paint, piano black elements, high-quality fabric seating and an Alcantara-leather combination on the flagship model (our test model).
A single engine variant the 1.2-litre turbocharged ‘four’ from the C-HR crossover has been adopted for the range.
Displacing 1,197cm3, the engine delivers 85kW and a constant torque curve of 185 Nm between 1,500 and 4,000 rpm. I must admit the Corolla hatch has minimal if any turbo lag with the result that overtaking and pulling off is effortless. 0 to 100 km/h comes up in 9.5 seconds for the manual (10.4 for CVT) and the top speed is set at 200 km/h (190 for CVT).
Fuel consumption figures according to manufacture standards is a claimed 6.1 litres per 100km for both manual and CVT variants, however we obtained an average of 7.4l/100km with the CVT transmission on the combined cycle.
A new 10-speed Sport Sequential Shiftmatic Continiously Variable Transmission (CVT) provides self-shifting capabilities whilst the manual mode activates 10 pre-programmed shift steps to simulate conventional gear ratios.
A simple two-grade strategy has been adopted for the Corolla Hatch; mid-grade Xs and high-grade Xr. The standard specification level for the Xs-grade is generous with comfort and convenience features such as LED lights with LED DRL, Dual-zone Climate Control, Smart Entry (keyless access), Cruise Control, Power-operated heated exterior mirrors, colour Multi-Information Display (MID), Reverse Camera, one-touch power windows and speed-sensitive door locking.
An electronic parking brake works ultra-intuitively, automatically engaging when turning off the vehicle and disengages based on throttle and transmission input when setting off. A dedicated Hold function is also present which lengthens the hill-holding period. To this point, a Hill-Assist function is natively built into the system.
The Xr variant builds upon this foundation and adds Sport front seats in a leather and Alcantara combination, power-adjustable driver lumbar support and seat-heating function for driver and passenger. Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM) completes the Xr package.
The Corolla Hatch features a host of active and passive safety features. Airbags are provided in Driver, Passenger, Side, Curtain and Driver Knee locations. Vehicle Stability Control is standard with the full suite of electronic aids present (ABS, EBD, Brake Assist and Hill-assist Control). ISOFIX attachment points are also supplied. Our test car was the top of the range Corolla Hatch 1.2T XR CVT which retails for R 412 600. Included in the price is a 6 year/90 000 km Service Plan and 3-year/100 000 km warranty. Service intervals are set at 12 months/15 000 km.
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