Testing a Corolla
Jun 26, 2020 15:42:22 GMT
Post by Avant on Jun 26, 2020 15:42:22 GMT
I don't want a new car until next year, but it's fun to start looking around and making a shortlist.
For my needs (about 12,000 miles a year, lots of fairly short 8-10-mile round trips, mostly up and down hills, and about twice a month a 200-mile round trip) it seems that a hybrid or PHEV would be ideal.
The Corolla 2.0 has been well reviewed. Platinum Toyota at Trowbridge couldn't have been more helpful. I would want the estate, but was happy to drive the hatchback as long as it was a 2.0. They booked me out for 3 hours which was easily enough. I took 2 and a bit hours and did about 80 miles, including a stretch of the M4. Very impressed with car and dealer.
The Corolla was very good to drive: brisk acceleration although not electrifying. Lightish steering, which I like, and ride and handling seemed fine. 55 mpg (indicated) for the whole trip - as you would imagine, much better in traffic and on B-roads than on the motorway, although at only 2,000 rpm at 70 mph economy should still be quite reasonable. Infotainment not the best: it worked OK but I'm not sure I could live with the background colour, best described as Channel Passenger Green. I didn't discover whether there was an option to change it.
I was feeling good about it - until I got back into my 2.0 petrol Q2. A true test of a new car is that you should get a 'back down to earth' feeling about your existing one. But for a whole lot of reasons the Q2 is just that much better to drive, and not much more expensive than a similarly-equipped Corolla estate.
And I think I need a PHEV next time. The forthcoming RAV-4 PHEV will be of interest, and Toyota's 5-year warranty is a plus point.
For my needs (about 12,000 miles a year, lots of fairly short 8-10-mile round trips, mostly up and down hills, and about twice a month a 200-mile round trip) it seems that a hybrid or PHEV would be ideal.
The Corolla 2.0 has been well reviewed. Platinum Toyota at Trowbridge couldn't have been more helpful. I would want the estate, but was happy to drive the hatchback as long as it was a 2.0. They booked me out for 3 hours which was easily enough. I took 2 and a bit hours and did about 80 miles, including a stretch of the M4. Very impressed with car and dealer.
The Corolla was very good to drive: brisk acceleration although not electrifying. Lightish steering, which I like, and ride and handling seemed fine. 55 mpg (indicated) for the whole trip - as you would imagine, much better in traffic and on B-roads than on the motorway, although at only 2,000 rpm at 70 mph economy should still be quite reasonable. Infotainment not the best: it worked OK but I'm not sure I could live with the background colour, best described as Channel Passenger Green. I didn't discover whether there was an option to change it.
I was feeling good about it - until I got back into my 2.0 petrol Q2. A true test of a new car is that you should get a 'back down to earth' feeling about your existing one. But for a whole lot of reasons the Q2 is just that much better to drive, and not much more expensive than a similarly-equipped Corolla estate.
And I think I need a PHEV next time. The forthcoming RAV-4 PHEV will be of interest, and Toyota's 5-year warranty is a plus point.
