Toyota Corolla Video Reviews

Toyota's ever popular Corolla is looking cool again, but without turbocharged attitude, is the hybrid the right bet for young couples in Sydney's suburbs? I have a top-spec hybrid ZR for three months to find out.

Think Toyota Corolla and you're likely to think hatch. But there's a sedan version, and it's recently been refreshed. Is it a family-friendly option?

The Corolla has moved on from its humble shopping trolley past. With snappy looks and a high-tech chassis, it's also available with high-tech hybrid drive.

The Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport 2018 model is the most affordable model in the new hatchback range, and comes with the choice of three drivetrains.The Ascent Sport is available with a 2.0-litre petrol six-speed manual at $22,870, a 2.0-litre petrol with new 10-speed CVT auto at $24,370, or a 1.8-litre petrol-electric hybrid with CVT auto at $25,870.Ascent Sport models come with LED headlights (with auto high-beam), LED daytime running lights, LED tail-lights, 16-inch alloy wheels, an 8.0-inch touchscreen media system with Bluetooth phone and audio streaming, voice recognition, USB/auxiliary connectivity and a six-speaker stereo.Ascent Sport hybrid models get push-button start, keyless entry and dual-zone climate control, where petrol versions have a regular old key and manual air-con. All Ascent Sport models come with a plastic steering wheel with audio controls, but at least there's an electric park brake and a 4.2-inch colour info display for the driver.Safety has been a big focus for Toyota, with every automatic Corolla fitted with auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection (day and night) and bicyclist detection (day), adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning with lane-keeping assist, speed sign recognition, active cornering control (torque vectoring by braking), a reversing camera and seven airbags (dual front, front side, curtain and driver's knee).If you choose the manual, you miss out on fully adaptive cruise that works at all speeds - it gets a 'high-speed active cruise' system instead, plus there's no lane-keeping assist. All models get ISOFIX child-seat anchors.All Corolla models will attract a $550 extra cost for premium paint, while the Ascent Sport is the only variant with optional equipment available: buyers can add sat nav and privacy glass for $1000. We'd suggest you just buy the SX.

The SX grade sits at the mid-point of the Corolla hatch line-up, and is available only with an automatic transmission for $26,000.

If you were leading a marathon at the 35km mark, you’d hardly start to skip sideways to stem the boredom, would you? The Toyota Corolla sedan adheres to a similar formula. If you’ve been winning at what you do for decades, why not keep doing it?So, the small sedan is hardly the most exciting or stylish model on the market, but together with other Corolla bodystyles, it’s led the small car segment for most of the past two decades and even topped the Australian sales charts overall for the past two years. The current Corolla sedan is more distinct than ever from the five-door hatchback version, with a longer body and completely distinct styling. The sedan’s interior is a more appealing place to be than Corollas of the past, and while the materials aren’t quite up to the semi-luxury level of the Mazda 3, they do feel as hardwearing as the Corolla’s reputation for durability suggests.The back seat is a highlight, with an extra 10cm over the hatch’s wheelbase to give it almost as much legroom as a Camry.The boot will hold an equally impressive 470 litres, which expands via a 60/40 split fold, and there’s a full size spare under the floor.The $25,240 SX tested here sits in the middle of the sedan lineup, above the Ascent and below the ZR. SX standard features include a 6.1 inch multimedia screen with embedded apps and a reversing camera, proximity keys, front foglights, extra chrome trim and 16-inch alloys.Like all current Corollas, the SX sedan comes with a 103kW/173Nm 1.8-litre petrol engine, and ours was paired with the optional CVT automatic transmission. You can also get a six speed manual for $2250 less, which is the more refined option if you don’t mind changing your own gears, but it uses nearly half a litre more petrol per hundred on the combined cycle.The Corolla's CVT auto does tend to buzz under acceleration, but extra noise insulation makes it quieter than in the hatch.A wide spread of ratios makes it quite nimble off the mark however, and helps the auto achieve a reasonably fuel efficient 6.6L/100km combined.The 1.8-litre Corolla can’t quite match the performance of the 2.0-litre in the Mazda 3 for similar money, but it does the job for general duties, and will cruise on the highway all day long.The sedan’s 35cm of extra length does make it less nimble around corners than the hatch, and a less direct steering setup requires more input when cornering. However, the extra wheelbase does help create a smoother ride, and the whole package feels more mature than the smaller hatch. All Corollas carry a maximum five star ANCAP safety rating, with dual front, side, driver’s knee and full-length curtain airbags, and the SX sedan comes with front and rear parking sensors.