A question must rise in our minds that what kind of persons purchases Toyota Corollas? Possibly the kind who strides into a showroom and the first thing they ask is “does it originated with an automatic system?” May be they are the kind of people who has an inordinate work in the GCC and still keeps asking “how will I endure these high petrol values?” Or it could be the kind whose first inquiry to a Jaguar sports-car proprietor is “what’s the resale charge?”
So it doesn’t really substance that the 2014 Toyota Corolla derives with antique drivetrains and outings on the most rudimentary of interruption setups. It has an optimistic answer to all the queries modeled above. And estimate what, it’s essentially an attractive virtuous car.
The all-new Corolla is only slightly longer than the outgoing one, but gaining 100 mm of wheelbase in the process. As such, it is indubitably spacious on the inside, with rear legroom maybe only a smidge less than that of a Camry. Even the boot is huge. It’s also supposed to be slightly lower than the previous model, although it still looks too tall, especially with those huge wheel-well gaps.
That new front-end is very original, and Toyota is especially proud of the chrome grille that sort of extends into the LED-sprinkled headlights, with even more LEDs around the fog lamps on our mid-range 2.0 SE Plus version.
Other features included smart keyless entry and start, dual front airbags, ABS with EBD, manual a/c, 6-speaker CD/MP3/USB stereo, power windows and not much else.
The ride quality is pretty good. It’s almost as smooth as a Camry over most surfaces, but wind noise can reach somewhat high levels on the highway, more audible than in the Nissan Sentra or the Ford Focus.
Handling is also surprisingly good with the 205-width rubbers on 16-inch alloys, up to a point of course.
Still, judging the car for what it is, there isn’t a whole lot to complain about. It lags behind its top rivals in just about every major category. But it gets the basics right, and sometimes, basic is enough.
