Toyota Corolla Touring Sports – Back to Basics

Toyota Corolla Touring Sports 1.8 Hybrid Active – €38,195

The Toyota Corolla remains sober considered an ideal car. It is considerably less boring and distant than its predecessor Auris, looks quite smooth, has the proven, reliable and economical hybrid technology on board and, as a Touring Sports, is also nice and spacious. So nothing wrong with that.

As a mainly rational purchase, such a Corolla is also an excellent candidate for this section, in which we aim to leave as much money as possible in the wallet. We do that on the basis of the Touring Sports, because that is by far the most popular version of the Corolla in the Netherlands. The choice for the station wagon does drive up the price considerably, because unlike the hatchback, the ‘TS’ is not available as a Comfort. The Active is therefore the basic version, which means that you pay a minimum of €38,195 for the extra spacious Corolla.

The price is best to swallow. If we take the price list from a year ago, we see that the Toyota Corolla Touring Sports was there as a Comfort before the facelift. It cost €30,750 at the time, or about 7.5 grand (!) less than now. The Active was already there for €32,250, which means that there is still a price increase of over 18 percent. Times change, shall we say. There is, by the way, a cheaper facelift Corolla, the Business. That version costs a minimum of €36,795 as a Touring Sports 1.8 Hybrid, but is only available for business customers. For private individuals, the Active is therefore the minimum, and in terms of equipment, that makes very little difference.

At least what you get for your hard-earned cash is an upgraded 1.8 Hybrid powertrain. Instead of 122 hp, it now produces 140 hp, while a greater role for the electric motor should provide more peace and comfort. Nice bonus. A (stepless) automatic transmission is of course standard and with a 0 to 100 time of 9.4 seconds there is really nothing to complain about the performance.

The basic Corolla is easy to recognize from the outside. The next step, which is now called First Edition, for example, already gets the more beautiful bi-LED headlights with wide daytime running lights, just like larger wheels, chromed window and grille surrounds and privacy glass. The simplest Corolla does without chrome and with clear glass, 16-inch alloy and the ‘reflector-LED’ headlights that were previously also found on simpler versions of the Corolla. The new rear lights are standard and an important landmark for the facelift version. The front bumper is also slightly different than before, although you have to have a sharp eye to spot the more accentuated fog lamp frame. Those fog lights are standard on the Active, by the way.

Safety sense

Every Toyota comes standard with a series of safety systems under the name ‘Toyota Safety Sense’, so that also applies to the Corolla. Safety Sense also brings comfort, for example in the form of adaptive cruise control, automatic high beam and lane assist. The Active also always has Toyota’s pleasant new infotainment system, with a 10.5-inch touchscreen and fully digital, 12.3-inch instruments. There is also navigation, although the standard Apple Carplay and Android Auto helpers are usually finer. Steering wheel and automatic gear lever are neatly covered with leather and both front seats are height adjustable. They are covered with a black fabric, as with almost all cars in this segment. For the interior temperature there is climate control, fully automatic and with two zones.

Although you still have to actively use the key to unlock (don’t be alarmed: by pressing the button), it will start with a start button. Together with the things already mentioned, this makes the simplest Corolla Touring Sports a fairly complete and comfortable car, although we did not expect anything else for the hefty starting price. What we miss? Seat heating would be nice, but is rarely standard. The same applies to an automatically dimming interior mirror and electrically folding exterior mirrors. It is also striking that the Active does without a rain sensor, although that loss can also be lived with.