Vehicle: 2010 Toyota Corolla CE automatic transmission with enhanced convenience pkg
Price as tested: CDN$19200

Toyota Corolla has always been known for its quality use of materials, fit-and-finish, inexpensive to own and buy. While the latest generation remains inexpensive to buy, Toyota has cut corners drastically. When we first drove the current iteration about a year ago, we were unimpressed with its overall package. This time around, we chose Corolla’s most popular model with the option package that most consumers are going for.

Corolla used to set standards for workmanship and material quality in the economy car class. Not anymore. In places where you used to find soft-touch plastic materials in the cabin. It comes with cheap and nasty hard plastic. The switchgears for climate control have a cracky feel. It doesn’t feel like anything from a Toyota, to some extent, it feels like in any of those Chrysler products. When you consider this CE with enhanced convenience package come at 19 grand, there are many rivals have better interiors.

While this 132hp 1.8 liter DOHC 16-valve 4 banger is capable enough for most of Corolla’s target audience, Toyota just plain shoot themselves in the foot with the 4-speed automatic gearbox. While this 4-speed auto has good enough gear ratios to match the powertrain’s powerband. The low 1st gear also have launched 128 lb/ft of torque quite easily. When the rest of the industry is going from 5-speed to 6-speed and even 7-speed, this 4-speed automatic just feels aged and fell right behind all the rivals except for the Focus. Adding an extra gear would make Corolla a more comfortable highway cruiser.

Latest Corolla comes with electric power steering. It should be considered as one of the worse electric power steering I have ever driven. Its completely devoid of feedback and turn-in is just dead. The ride quality, on the other hand, is good enough for most of Corolla’s audience who need a comfortable car from point A to point B.

Over the year, we have driven both Corolla LE and XRS. All came out terribly unimpressed. The same holds true for this CE. While we should be judged Corolla’s merits using what its target audience instead of an enthuisast, however, we still came out disappointed. We had high hopes when Toyota decided to delay the introduction of Corolla as a response to class-leading Civic and Mazda3. The result is completely underwhelming. What Toyota is doing is milking their reputation for outdated technologies wraps in a new body style. If Toyota is not going to innovate and evolve themselves, they are destined to become another General Motors or Chrysler in the next decade.

Likes:
Comfortable, reliable and dependable
Spacious interior
Smooth powertrain

Dislikes:
Numb and dead driving feel
Detached chassis
Outdated technology
Price/value