Toyota Corolla 2007 test drive - 2009 hatchback

Class above

Toyota decided to divide the Corolla sedan and hatchback: a five -door car in Europe will be sold called Auris while the sedan will continue to wear a name for nine generations.
 

Auris hatchbacks are brought to car dealerships simultaneously with the intake of this production of wheels in kiosks and supermarkets. In the meantime, we worked on the content of this number, only Corolla were available from the modern C-segment of the Toyota line.
 

However, they, for us, journalists, are much more interesting: the Japanese divided the Korolla not only with the names. The hatchbacks remain in the golf class, and the sedans claim a higher status. So, now there is little one desire to buy Corolla: you also need to clearly imagine which model you are interested in the average or already business class?
 

Corolla was built on a completely new platform and developed in accordance with the new Vibrant Clarity design concept. The idea of \u200b\u200bartists and engineers is based on two principles: dynamism and logic. Toyota seeks to combine the shape and functionality in one car, unobtrusive simplicity, expressiveness and energy. It would seem that incompatible things find an amazing compromise in design and technology, further removing the car from the usual concept of golf class.

  

Outside Toyota Corolla, a reduced copy of Camry: the contours of embossed headlights and rear lights, a smile of bumper air intakes, a hump on the hood, left by a convex logo on a radiator grill, but if you look closely, Corolla lines are softer, feminine and rounded; The windshield more smoothly passes into the hood, and the rear to the trunk.
 

The interior of Corolla is quite spacious, and at the same time not to blame it for excessive orientation to utilitarianism. Gray polished plastic effectively selects a bending central console from the black ensemble of the front panel. Doors and torpedo lining materials are soft and expensive to the touch. What can we say about the quality of assembly and fitting of details: Corolla is collected in their homeland.
 

The front seats allow you to feel a high level of comfort, while having sufficient support. Convenient planting is promoted by the adjustment of the seats in height (already in the basic configuration) and the ability to set up the steering wheel in four directions.

 

Toyota Corolla can be equipped with two engines: 1.4- and 1.6-liter units with a capacity of 97 and 124 liters. With. respectively. As a transmission, you can choose a mechanical five -speed or robotic gearbox Multi Mode (only for versions with a 1.6 l engine). We took a sedan with a top unit and a robotic transmission in the Eleans configuration.
 

The engine and robotic mechanical transmission is an excellent and surprising combination! Perhaps the robots never looked like machine guns before!
 

Toyota Corolla the first C-class sedan to receive five stars in the Crash tests of EURONCAP and the sixth in the Toyota family. In addition, the sedan approached the leaders of the security segment, having scored, in total, 34 points for the degree of security of adult passengers. Corolla also gained four stars for the safety of children and three for pedestrians.
 

Corolla can be different: apparently, in order to please as many drivers as possible. Despite the fact that the pursuit of two or more hares usually does not bring dividends, Toyota succeeded. Due to, perhaps, one of the most quick robots of Multi Mode and a 124-horsepower motor with variable phases of gas distribution.
 

Corolla rides quietly and measuredly, smoothly fingering speed. But it is worth converting the machine to a sports or manual mode, as Corolla becomes not recognized! The sedan briskly gains speed from the first fourth gear and shows the impressive limit of high -speed capabilities of 200 km/h! In addition, although the sedan is not a real athlete, the title of the best racing simulator will be able to claim.


In addition to the usual automatic gear shift, Multi Mode has a sports mode, where the changing speeds are slightly faster and at higher speeds. In addition, having shifted the selector to the left, you can initiate a manual mode in which the driver himself chooses the moment of transmission change (and inexperienced drivers flashing arrows on the dashboard will tell you when to change the program).
 

Prices

Toyota Corolla basic equipment is available at a price of $ 18,600. The basic package includes a 1.4-liter 97-horsepower engine and a five-speed manual transmission, ABS C EBD and BA, front and lateral pillows for the driver and front passenger, adjustment of height seats, heating the front chairs, adjustment of the steering wheel by departure and inclination, air conditioning, front electric windows, CD distributor, supporting MP3 and WMA formats, 4 speakers.
 

At the same time, you can climb speeds with both the shocks of the selector back and forth, and by the steering wheel petals. When the tips of the fingers feel the steering wheel switches, the desire to drive it itself! The only minus is that in steep turns the steering wheel has to be intercepted, and until it returns to a neutral position, it is not so easy to find the petals quickly.
 

Corolla obediently follows the wheel, the suspension licks the canvas of the road, and the electric power steering enriched the steering wheel with excellent feedback and informative effort. An enlarged wheelbase, reinforced pendants and wide wheels have perfectly affected Corolla controllability, completely devoid of longitudinal swing, while (surprisingly!) Creating comfortable conditions. Special thanks should be said to be noise and vibration isolation, preserving acoustic comfort in the cabin, even despite the rustle of spikes on asphalt and high engine speeds.
 

But the brakes against the general background seem weak. Especially in winter conditions, when the road surface greatly lengthens the braking distance. At medium speeds, the pedal stroke is too large, and for a sharp or emergency stop, the pedal must be pressed on the floor. At the same time, ABS is triggered on time: pretty eagerly, but effective.

 

Formally, Corolla remains in the golf segment, but the sedan with claims is already closely within the middle class. The Japanese pug sniffs at the previously unattainable elephants and, perhaps, a competitor should beware of it. Corolla has become more interesting and comfortable. Class above!
 

The car was provided by Toyota Primorsky, the official Toyota dealer


Text: Alexander Korobchenko
Photo: Roman Ostanin
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 

Source: Wheel magazine [No. 114/2007]