The New Corolla gets a change of clothes as part of a middle-age face-lift.

New Toyota Corolla
Price Not available at the time of going to press
On Sale Now

It’s the best-selling car in the world. It’s the car you know you won’t have problems with and it’s proven itself in practically every corner of the globe. Reputations don’t come any stronger, which is why the Toyota Corolla entered the Indian market from a position of strength and was able to see off its immediate rivals, the Octavia and the Optra on the sales charts. However, of late, the Corolla has been under pressure. In the value-driven Indian market price works better than brand and the mighty Corolla had succumbed to the pressure of discounts. You could get a Corolla for a bargain but one of the reasons why the company was giving as much as Rs 1,00,000 off on financed buys is because there was a new one coming. In fact. Autocar India first broke the news that the Corolla face-lift was on its way (see our July 2005 issue) and this new change of clothes is essentially a routine middle age face-lift which was introduced in Asia earlier this year.
At first glance the new Corolla doesn’t appear much different from the outgoing design. It’s been given a mere ‘blink and you miss it’ treatment. A new bumper with integrated fog lamps complements the new grille and this is the most noticeable new feature, giving the car a fresher look. Clear headlamps and redesigned tail-lamps are welcome additions, which add a lot of sparkle to this conventional looking saloon.
The interior updates are more significant. The seats and trims receive a fabric change and higher-end variants get perforated leather. Except for the base model, all cars get mock wood panelling and driver-side adjustable lumbar support.
Toyota has loaded the Corolla with more equipment as well and a useful feature is the availability of audio controls on the steering wheel to operate the six CD MP3 changer (the base version gets only a single CD MP3). You also get automatic headlamps that switch-on when it gets dark, a printed antenna on the rear screen like a defogger instead of the usual one, and a keyless entry with the security alarm system.
The superb 1.8-litre VVT-i engine remains unchanged. Even the distinctive engine chatter is still there, though efforts to suppress it have been made. New insulation has been added under the bonnet and doors have been given double seals. As a result the new Corolla is now more refined but noise still manages to creep into the cabin, especially when you rev the engine hard. Toyota officials say that they have changed all items that customers complained about. However, the notchy gearbox remains untouched and is a bit crude for a Toyota.
The ride and handling of the Corolla was never its strength. It was quite fidgety on rough roads and the factory-fitted tube-type tyres and India-spec high ground clearance didn’t help matters. At high speeds the car would get light and floaty and never gave drivers the kind of confidence an Octavia does at expressway speeds.
Toyota has tackled this problem by offering tubeless tyres as standard fitment thereby reducing the hard edge of the earlier tube tyres. The rear suspension too has been modified by shortening the springs and lengthening the stroke of the dampers. Low speed ride is much better now and you can happily read the newspapers from the immensely comfortable back seat. The Corolla dispatches potholes with a muted thump and doesn’t crash through them like before. At high speeds however, the Corolla still feels edgy and the steering goes light making it hard to exploit the full potential of the engine.
Safety features get carried over from previous models, dual SRS airbags, ABS combined with ventilated discs in front and solid discs in the rear. In fact, all the other strengths of the Corolla remain. The performance is outstanding without penalizing fuel efficiency, which is pretty good for a car of this size. The back seat is by far the best in class, a reason why the Corolla is popular among the chauffeur-driven. Most of all, it offers hassle-free performance and the typical no-regrets Toyota experience built on reliability and top-notch service. It’s a car you know you can’t go wrong with.
Toyota is hoping that the new Corolla will give it an edge during the crucial festival season. But a bit more ‘shock and awe’ will be required from the company to fend off the upcoming next-generation Honda Civic that’s due next year.
Siddhraj Singh

FACTFILE New TOYOTA COROLLA
Engine
Layout In-line, 4 cyl, 1794cc, petrol
Max power 125bhp at 6000rpm
Max torque 16.1kgm at 4200rpm

How big?
Length 4530mm
Width 1705mm
Height 1490mm

WHAT TO EXPECT
Subtle changes add up to make the Corolla distinctly better
but it still lacks the solid build we would have liked.