2020 Toyota Corolla vs 2019

What's the difference?

The Corolla has been an urban favourite for decades and a hybrid version just makes so much sense for anybody who feels they spend more time in traffic than on deserted open roads. Sure, the sedan is longer than the hatch, and yes, you’ll have to option parking sensors but the Corolla SX Hybrid sedan could well be the ultimate urban vehicle. It’s easy and comfortable to drive, has outstanding fuel economy, and is roomy enough for a small family.

Social call to action (formerly comment call to action):  Is the Corolla SX Hybrid sedan the ultimate urban car or does it miss the mark? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

I liked the hybrid-engined Corolla but I think I prefer the petrol-only ZR. It's nicer to drive and has a bit (if not substantially) more pep, without a huge impost at the pump. The new Corolla is a much more appealing proposition than the old one, but it has to be - the rest of the segment is so good, especially with the astonishingly good new Mazda3 knocking it out of the park.

Toyota seems to be making an effort to not only build cars well but to respond to what customers want. It's still missing techno must-haves like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and there's that curious omission of rear parking sensors, which vexes me, and yet it's still a car I can suggest without a long list of buts.

The number of my friends who now have Corolla sedans has increased by 200 per cent. Okay, so that’s only an increase of two people from zero but I put this down to two factors: 1) I’m getting older and so are they; and 2) The Corolla sedan is now actually good looking.

Sure, it’s not as sexy as the Corolla hatch, but it’s attractive for a small sedan which mostly tend to be a bit bland.

I like the blade-like headlights and the way they extend under the bonnet lip and almost meet in the centre, and that big mesh lower grill looks tough and menacing.

I’m also taken by the rear styling (normally the weak point of a small sedan) and how the tail-lights ‘pinch’ into the tailgate. It’s refined and not at all cheap or budget looking.

Telling the Hybrid SX apart from the entry-level Ascent Sport Hybrid below it is tricky as both cars are identical from the outside. Even distinguishing them from their petrol-only twins is hard, the only giveaways being the smaller 15-inch wheels and 'Hybrid' badges on the boot lid and front wheelarches.

The Hybrid SX’s cabin is neatly designed and stylishly straightforward in its layout, but I don’t think anybody is going to write it poetry about how enchanting and beautiful it is.

Nope, this is an interior design where functionality triumphs over form. Which is good for somebody who just want to jump in and drive… I’ve sat in an Alfa Romeo for days just pressing buttons trying to work out which one makes it go.

Want the dimensions? The Corolla Sedan is 4630mm long, 1780mm wide, 1435mm tall and has a wheelbase of 2700mm. In comparison the Corolla hatch is 4375mm long, 1790mm wide, the same height, with a wheelbase of 2640mm.

Only one colour is standard and that’s 'Glacier White', while the optional shades are 'Crystal Pearl', 'Silver Pearl', 'Ink', 'Wildfire', 'Volcanic Red' and the 'Lunar Blue' which my test car wore.

By the way, those two friends why bought Corolla sedans, went with hybrids, too.

The new Corolla isn't all that new any more. When I first saw it I wasn't that impressed - I didn't really see the point of building an essentially all-new car with a silhouette virtually identical to the previous one, which was dull beyond belief. New platform, why not a change-up in looks? And yet, when I cast aside my cranky pants and had a good look, I discovered the Corolla is quite a bit cooler than before. It's not pretty like the 3, nor is it as anonymous as an unadorned Hyundai i30. The new headlights are very funky, particularly with the LED running lights. There's more personality in the design than there has been for years. And far fewer random lines.

The cabin is lifted immeasurably by the excellent, racy front seats with the red inserts, Alcantara trim and metallic slots. There are still some unsubtle examples of parts-bin switchgear that no other manufacturer would touch, but everything is where it should be. The screen, unfortunately, grated my gums a bit (sorry, another metaphor - I did not try to eat the screen) - it's really big, sits too high on the dash and is framed by some really cheap-looking and feeling switches.

The dimensions in the section above probably give away what I’m about to tell you. The sedan has far more room inside than the hatch.

There is no way I can sit behind my driving position in the hatch without my knees wedged into the seat back and headroom is limited, too.

Different story in the sedan which is a bigger car with a longer wheelbase and that means I can sit in the second row with space to spare (even headroom is good).

The cargo capacities of the boots are also vastly different. The sedan’s boot volume is 470 litres – much more than the hatch's 333 litres.

Cabin storage is also good with four cup holders (two in the back and two up front), decent-sized door pockets, a deep centre console bin and a large shelf in front of the shifter which doubles as a wireless charging pad. There’s also a 12V outlet and a USB port.

If you’re planning to use the SX Hybrid as a small family car keep in mind that it doesn’t have directional air vents in the second row, nor rear privacy glass to shield the kids from the sun.

When I tested it my five-year-old son was back there in his car seat and it was hard to get cool air to him from the front on hot days. Also, the seatbacks don’t have map pockets which was frustrating, although there is a tray in the back of the centre console for the second row.

All doors open wide and the rear wheelarches don’t eat into the doorways too much, making entry and exit easy.

The Next Generation Architecture -based Corolla is a bit bigger in each direction, but it hasn't suddenly rendered the Corolla roomy for all. Front-seat passengers are in pretty good shape once they're in, but long-legged folks will have to remember not to bash their knee on the dash as they get in.

The chunky front seats eat into what little rear legroom is there and for me to sit behind my driving position (I am, unsurprisingly, 180cm no matter where I sit) is a bit of a tough assignment for longer journeys.

There are cupholders for front and rear seat passengers, for a total of four, and bottle holders in each door. The rear bottle holders look like cupholders because the shape of the door means there's no room for a pocket-style holder.

The boot boasts a 333-litre capacity, owing to its space-saver spare - the rest of the range labours with 217 litres, but gets a full-sizer.

For $30,370 you can have the top-spec ZR Corolla in 2.0-litre CVT. This is very competitive, if you're not worried about engine power. You're also just $1500 away from the ZR Hybrid Corolla, if you're interested.

You get 18-inch alloy wheels, eight-speaker stereo, reversing camera, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry and start, active cruise control, sat nav, LED headlights, heated front seats, head-up display, heated and folding electric mirrors, wireless mobile phone charging mat and a space-saver spare.

Hitting you like a freight train (this is a visual metaphor, obviously) is the huge 8.0-inch screen. The still-dodgy software runs the eight-speaker stereo and USB, Bluetooth and DAB but (deep breath) still no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. Toyota says this functionality is coming to the range, so here's hoping it lands in the Corolla sooner rather than later.

The Toyota Corolla SX Hybrid Sedan is not a plug-in hybrid - there’s no cord for charging it up. Nope, it’s a petrol-electric hybrid that recharges its batteries through regenerative braking.

So, you step on the brakes, the electric motor instantly morphs into a generator, transforming kinetic energy into electricity, which is sent back to top up the battery under the rear seat.

Not having to plug it in to recharge makes the Corolla SX Hybrid a good choice for those living in the city where you might not have access to a power point where you park.

This also means you’ll never run out of power and be stuck on the side of the road because along with the electric motor (making 53kW/163Nm) there’s a 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine (making 72kW/142Nm).

You can only have the hybrid with an automatic transmission and in this case it’s a continuously variable transmission (CVT). I’m not a big fan of these in petrol engine-only cars but the seamless nature of a CVT suits this hybrid powertrain perfectly.

While I think plug-in hybrids are superior to the system used here, it’s an exceptionally good powertrain that provide more than adequate acceleration.

As with the rest of the non-hybrid range, the ZR arrives with a 2.0-litre, naturally aspirated four-cylinder developing 125kW and 200Nm. As is now Toyota tradition, the Corolla also has a continuously variable transmission, which the company claims is a 10-speed.

It's also front-wheel drive, as has been the case for around three decades, and it will come as no surprise, I'm sure, if I tell you the Corolla is not very quick.

Toyota says if you were to stick to just urban driving the Corolla SX Hybrid sedan should use no more than 3.4L/100km of petrol. If you plan to do longer trips with motorway and country roads thrown in you’ll be happy to know Toyota’s official economy for a combination of open and urban use is only a smidge higher at 3.5L/100km.

In my own fuel test I started with a full tank and drove a route through Sydney’s CBD in peak hour traffic before returning back to my home in the inner suburbs less than 10km away, and continued the loop for 47km.

I finished at a petrol station where it took 1.52 litres to top up the 43-litre tank. The trip computer said my average fuel consumption was 3.7L/100km but my own calculations had my mileage at 3.2L/100km. Outstanding fuel economy.

The Corolla's claimed combined cycle-consumption figure is what I thought was a fairly optimistic 6L/100km, given I got 5.2L/100km in the hybrid version. While I didn't get anywhere near that, 8.3L/100km wasn't a bad result, especially in what was mostly suburban running.

If you’ve never driven a hybrid before, take it from me, right now you won’t drive a better one than this.

Some hybrids are noisy when their petrol engines ‘kick in’. Some have brake pedals that feel like wooden blocks. Some have dual clutch transmissions which lead to jerky movements. Don’t even get me started on the ones that hardly save you any fuel.

The Toyota Corolla SX’s hybrid powertrain is as good as they currently come. It makes sense, Toyota has been selling petrol-electric hybrid vehicles since 1997 and over that almost quarter of a century it’s mastered the technology. You only have to drive a hybrid from one of its rivals to feel how much more refined the Toyota is.

The dance between the engine and motor, or both operating together,  is almost unnoticeable, and the CVT performs smoothly. The result is a pretty much seamless driving experience that feels natural once you’ve been in the car a day or two.

The new-gen platform the Corolla is built on is excellent in that not only does it provide a comfortable ride, but handling is great for the segment, too. Add to this the little nudges of acceleration from the electric motor and the Corolla SX Hybrid is fun to drive.

Steering is light and accurate, while the 10.6m turning circle is what you can expect out of most small cars.

It’s not all good though. Remember right at the start I mentioned how the sedan was longer than the hatch and that there was something missing at either end?

Well, the sedan is almost 26cm longer than the hatch. That’s about the distance between two parked cars, and from what I experienced the difference between fitting into a car space and not.

Not only is the sedan less likely to fit into a smaller spaces, but making this part of daily urban life harder is a lack of front and rear parking sensors.

Yep, parking sensors aren’t on the standard features list and must be fitted as a dealer option. For an urban car not to have parking sensors as a standard isn’t good enough.

I wouldn’t let this put you off, though, because it’s one of very few downsides to the car and it can be solved by optioning the parking sensors. Dealers can be open to a little bit of persuasion, too.

For urban folk like me, living just 10km from the CDB, but having to sit in traffic for 50 minutes to get there on disjointed concrete and bitumen roads, the Corolla SX Hybrid makes these journeys easier and a bit fun.

While the centre of gravity is lower in this Next Generation Architecture Corolla, you wouldn't know it sitting in the driver's seat. It's a bit higher than I'd like and I was never quite as comfortable as I can get in its rivals. The seats themselves are fantastic and part of a pleasing trend of carmakers equipping vehicles with seats that are as good to look at as they are to sit in.

I can only guess the high driving position will appeal to the SUV crowd?

As I may have mentioned in these pages before, I was not enamoured with the old Corolla. While it was built to outlast humanity, it wasn't appealing to look at or drive and didn't set the spec sheet on fire with useful modern conveniences. During that car's lifetime, the segment played host to machines that were appealing in all those areas - the Hyundai i30, the Mazda3 and the VW Golf. Toyota's chassis engineers have risen to the challenge.

The Corolla rides well, has very good steering and is very smooth across the lumps and bumps of our urban environment. The multi-link rear end ensures rear passengers do pretty well, too. I quite liked driving the Corolla, except for my usual complaint - the drivetrain.

The 2.0-litre engine isn't particularly quiet or especially refined and that is compounded by the rev-hungry CVT. In normal driving it's fine, but as soon as you ask anything of the engine it jams itself at around 6000rpm and makes an unpleasant racket. With just 200Nm to move 1400kg, you will work the engine hard if you're loaded up or need to get a move on.

When you do get a move on, an infuriating voice will wag its finger at you to obey the road rules. While that's helpful if you missed the change in speed limits, if it goes the other way, you may find yourself yelling at the touchscreen that you can make your own decisions about the speed at which you travel, thanks very much.

On board are seven airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls, forward AEB with pedestrian detection and bicyclist detection (during the day), reversing camera, adaptive cruise, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, traffic-sign recognition and active cornering control.

There are two ISOFIX points and three top-tether anchor points.

Most of that gear is available across the range, which is impressive. Bizarrely, there are no rear parking sensors (or front ones, for that matter) which seems to be a Toyota and Subaru thing.

ANCAP awarded a five-star safety rating to the Corolla in August 2018.

The Corolla Sedan is covered by Toyota’s five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty. Hybrid versions are covered by the same warranty, including the battery.

Servicing is recommended annually or every 15,000km with the first four services capped at $175.

Toyota has broken its resistance and moved to a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty. As everyone knows, Toyotas are generally rock-solid, but that extra two years has brought it in line with most of its competitors.

Servicing comes at 12 months/15,000km (previously it was every six months/10,000km) and for the first five years/75,000km, each service is $175 each. Bargain.