Topic: CD Article: 2009 Toyota Corolla

[chrischasescars]

The XRS is a let down, though: 148 HP out of a 2.4L? 

Actually, it's 158, but yeah, that's not a lot considering many other 2.4 and 2.5 litre four bangers are making upwards of 170 horses now.

[Leviathan]

That body cladding is more Canuck-influenza  than influence...

[gosteelerz]

I wonder how "good" the interior plastics are in this one; the last gen. Corolla was horrible in this respect IMO. It really looked and felt like a cheap, cheap car (without actually being quite cheap).
The door panels design in this new one is truly ugly and the dash yuck.... and the "ground effects”..... OMG....
Certainly the thing would sell, but this only tells you how unfair life could be to some better cars born with the wrong name....

I think we should all give up the notion of "good" interior plastics.  Its all hard crap in about 95% of today's cars.  You pretty much have to look at luxury cars these days to get anything that resembles a soft touch dash.  Most automotive journalists will spend a whole paragraph on interior materials and about one sentence on the chassis design.

[2JDM]

I wonder how "good" the interior plastics are in this one; the last gen. Corolla was horrible in this respect IMO. It really looked and felt like a cheap, cheap car (without actually being quite cheap).
The door panels design in this new one is truly ugly and the dash yuck.... and the "ground effects”..... OMG....
Certainly the thing would sell, but this only tells you how unfair life could be to some better cars born with the wrong name....

I think we should all give up the notion of "good" interior plastics.  Its all hard crap in about 95% of today's cars.  You pretty much have to look at luxury cars these days to get anything that resembles a soft touch dash.  Most automotive journalists will spend a whole paragraph on interior materials and about one sentence on the chassis design.

+ 1. Our 01' base model Accord had more soft touch materials than our 05' Odyssey.

[gosteelerz]

I wonder how "good" the interior plastics are in this one; the last gen. Corolla was horrible in this respect IMO. It really looked and felt like a cheap, cheap car (without actually being quite cheap).
The door panels design in this new one is truly ugly and the dash yuck.... and the "ground effects”..... OMG....
Certainly the thing would sell, but this only tells you how unfair life could be to some better cars born with the wrong name....

I think we should all give up the notion of "good" interior plastics.  Its all hard crap in about 95% of today's cars.  You pretty much have to look at luxury cars these days to get anything that resembles a soft touch dash.  Most automotive journalists will spend a whole paragraph on interior materials and about one sentence on the chassis design.

+ 1. Our 01' base model Accord had more soft touch materials than our 05' Odyssey.

Yeah my wife's 92' Civic was almost all soft touch, a work of art by today's standards.  Just sold that car last night.  In all fairness to your Ody' there is a vast amount of real estate to cover there.

[2JDM]

I wonder how "good" the interior plastics are in this one; the last gen. Corolla was horrible in this respect IMO. It really looked and felt like a cheap, cheap car (without actually being quite cheap).
The door panels design in this new one is truly ugly and the dash yuck.... and the "ground effects”..... OMG....
Certainly the thing would sell, but this only tells you how unfair life could be to some better cars born with the wrong name....

I think we should all give up the notion of "good" interior plastics.  Its all hard crap in about 95% of today's cars.  You pretty much have to look at luxury cars these days to get anything that resembles a soft touch dash.  Most automotive journalists will spend a whole paragraph on interior materials and about one sentence on the chassis design.

+ 1. Our 01' base model Accord had more soft touch materials than our 05' Odyssey.

Yeah my wife's 92' Civic was almost all soft touch, a work of art by today's standards.  Just sold that car last night.  In all fairness to your Ody' there is a vast amount of real estate to cover there.

Well, to be honest, for a vehicle that costed 40K, I'd expect some nicer materials.

[gosteelerz]

I wonder how "good" the interior plastics are in this one; the last gen. Corolla was horrible in this respect IMO. It really looked and felt like a cheap, cheap car (without actually being quite cheap).
The door panels design in this new one is truly ugly and the dash yuck.... and the "ground effects”..... OMG....
Certainly the thing would sell, but this only tells you how unfair life could be to some better cars born with the wrong name....

I think we should all give up the notion of "good" interior plastics.  Its all hard crap in about 95% of today's cars.  You pretty much have to look at luxury cars these days to get anything that resembles a soft touch dash.  Most automotive journalists will spend a whole paragraph on interior materials and about one sentence on the chassis design.

+ 1. Our 01' base model Accord had more soft touch materials than our 05' Odyssey.

Yeah my wife's 92' Civic was almost all soft touch, a work of art by today's standards.  Just sold that car last night.  In all fairness to your Ody' there is a vast amount of real estate to cover there.

Well, to be honest, for a vehicle that costed 40K, I'd expect some nicer materials.

Makes you wonder how much money they save with the cheaper stuff.  If it makes you feel any better, I was in a new Avalanche last weekend that was good for 60K and it too was all hard.

[UmroAyyar]

Is it just me, or does this new model seem to be a ripoff of the Mazda 3's design? 

When Toyota announced delays in launching Corolla/Matrix and went back to re-design, they said their inspiration would be Mazda3.

[Dante]

I know most of the cars today have hard plastic interiors, but there are different kinds. For instance, Mazda3 has a good hard plastic interior; Rabbit and Jetta too. They don't feel cheap at all. On the other hand, I spent some time with the last gen Corolla and it feels as cheap as it can be. Sure, it is a good appliance, but a cheap feeling one. Most were saying that the new Lancer has a cheap interior, but after sitting in a previous gen. Corolla and in the new Impreza, I came to the conclusion that the Lancer is not bad at all.

[UmroAyyar]

I know most of the cars today have hard plastic interiors, but there are different kinds. For instance, Mazda3 has a good hard plastic interior; Rabbit and Jetta too. They don't feel cheap at all. On the other hand, I spent some time with the last gen Corolla and it feels as cheap as it can be. Sure, it is a good appliance, but a cheap feeling one. Most were saying that the new Lancer has a cheap interior, but after sitting in a previous gen. Corolla and in the new Impreza, I came to the conclusion that the Lancer is not bad at all.

I will agree with that, I had the 2002 Corolla (previous-previous generation) and it had soft materials in the interior, better than the (previous gen) 2003-2008 Corolla.

Which car was better? The 2003-2008 Corolla, much much quieter at highway speeds even at 130+, better interior room. Its not meant to exude any kind of enthusiasm, consider it a comfortable compact family car. I don't think the interior room has shrunk in this one compared to its category. I could easily install 2 child seats in the back, fit a giant Graco stroller in the trunk and a lot of other stuff.

[sirAQUAMAN64]

I like the XRS aero bits, just as I do in today's S.

Interior plastics of Toyotas in general are not top 1/3 of the class competitive nor their fitment and feel appealing to me. The exception I marvelled at is the new Highlander which both looked and felt very high quality (and also very comfy in the 2 front rows).

Back to Crayola, the lower roof certainly improves the look - more sporty and less dorky - but I think Corolla buyers appreciated the height. They will steal sales, but best hope they don't marginalize their core buyer who may instead opt for an Elantra (don't laugh) or something similar. In the end the reliability, quiet cabin, and soft ride should keep the Toyota loyalist.

Again on the cheap front, at least Toyota now fits it with safety equipment standard - no ABS or side air bags? What a crock that was and shameful. And a telescopic wheel too now, standard. Wooo-wee. I still would pick the Rabbit and 3 over this, next Civic and maybe Astra then Corolla. Still, big improvement.

[Mitlov]

Tacky "ground effects"?
4 speed auto?
Beam axle?
132 hp?

Plenty of other cars would be roasted for coming out with a "new" model featuring the above. This is definitely an improvement over the previous model and will sell well. But there is nothing there for a "driver."

I have to agree with Cord on this one.

The one thing the previous Corolla really had going for it was reliability.  It had an unimpressive interior, it was boring to drive, but the things never f---ing died.  I think, with the new one, we should wait and see how its reliability is, and give it a blank slate, instead of assuming that it will be just the same as its predecessor--the same thing that Consumer Reports has started doing.

Going off of a previous model's reliability ratings is really only meaningful when there's a lot of carryover from the previous model.  And I understood that this model was all-new, not a North-American-Focus-style reskin?

[Mitlov]

I notice that Toyota has created a variation of the centre stack look from Volvo - only without the floating open area behind (which really isn't good for storage, but looks oh-so good).

It looks to me like Toyota's own Scion tC, which was released about the same time as the S40 MkII:

[UmroAyyar]

I notice that Toyota has created a variation of the centre stack look from Volvo - only without the floating open area behind (which really isn't good for storage, but looks oh-so good).

It looks to me like Toyota's own Scion tC, which was released about the same time as the S40 MkII:

That looks really nice! 

[sidriver]

no offense, but how does a 50+ year old reviewer have any credibility in saying the xrs should bring young buyers to corolla??  the last xrs, with more fun revving hp, didn't do squat for sales.  my gf liked it - and she used to drive a saturn sl.  my friends have all gone to mitsu, mini, acura, infiniti, subaru, and vw for fun - while their gf's (and mine) all got toyotas.  nuff said.  bring scion to canada and at least the cars will look cool...

[ArticSteve]

And I understood that this model was all-new, not a North-American-Focus-style reskin?

What's new about it, specifically, that will be prone to break down more than the current model?  The transmissions?  The 2.4?  The 5 speed auto coupled to that motor?  The rear brake drums?

 

 

[gosteelerz]

Is this car new or is it a re-skin?  To my eyes it, looks like it rides a the same wheelbase with similar overhangs.

[Seafoam]

I know most of the cars today have hard plastic interiors, but there are different kinds. For instance, Mazda3 has a good hard plastic interior; Rabbit and Jetta too. They don't feel cheap at all. On the other hand, I spent some time with the last gen Corolla and it feels as cheap as it can be. Sure, it is a good appliance, but a cheap feeling one. Most were saying that the new Lancer has a cheap interior, but after sitting in a previous gen. Corolla and in the new Impreza, I came to the conclusion that the Lancer is not bad at all.

I will agree with that, I had the 2002 Corolla (previous-previous generation) and it had soft materials in the interior, better than the (previous gen) 2003-2008 Corolla.

Which car was better? The 2003-2008 Corolla, much much quieter at highway speeds even at 130+, better interior room. Its not meant to exude any kind of enthusiasm, consider it a comfortable compact family car. I don't think the interior room has shrunk in this one compared to its category. I could easily install 2 child seats in the back, fit a giant Graco stroller in the trunk and a lot of other stuff.

The Mazda 3 seems to win in all categories except rear seat room[very cramped,and not as much room in back as the Protege that it replaced]and fuel mileage.When the 06 civic was introduced the rear seat room seems less than the vehicle  it replaced. Style over function I guess.

[Seafoam]

Is this car new or is it a re-skin?  To my eyes it, looks like it rides a the same wheelbase with similar overhangs.

It is a little bit wider from what the article says.

[carlos_da_fig]

Can you believe that the Matrix has less room than my buddies Suzuki Esteem Wagon?

Yeah, the Esteem may have more storage in the back, but the Matrix has WAY more room for the passengers.

I drive an Esteem and my wife has a Vibe and I can tell you that the Esteem feels way smaller then the Vibe.