Corolla Lifts Style, Quality And Dynamics

Toyota today unveiled a substantially upgraded Corolla hatch that offers improvements in the key areas of design, sensory quality and dynamics.Revealed at the Geneva motor show and due in Australia later this year, the new car features an extensively redesigned exterior that imparts a greater road presence with a visually broader stance.

The sensory quality of the cabin has been significantly enhanced through a redesigned dashboard and improved surface and trim elements.

The hatch version of Australia’s best-selling car further benefits from suspension and steering revisions designed to improve ride comfort, handling and driver involvement.

Australian customers will be offered improved fuel efficiency while retaining the most powerful Corolla engine available – the 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol with maximum output of 103kW.

Corolla hatch’s new exterior displays a more prominent Toyota logo at the front, flanked by chrome “wings” that run along the front lip of the bonnet and across the full width of the car.

Lower wings sweep down into the upper surface of the front bumper, framing the inside edge of new headlight clusters.

Below a more prominent front bumper, the lower grille now runs the full width of the car, giving Corolla hatch a broader, more purposeful stance.

From the side, longer overhangs improve the overall balance of the design, aided by a sweeping line from the headlights to the tail-lamp cluster.

The width of a deeper, more muscular bumper design is emphasised by the placement of horizontal reflector lamps at the extremities, and underscored by a thin chrome trim line.

Inside, Toyota’s designers have reduced the visual mass of the dashboard, revised the instrument displays and crafted a more consistent shape and finish to grained surfaces and trim elements.

Detail elements such as the air vents, door handles and gear-lever surround have been redesigned for a crisper, higher quality appearance.

New seat upholstery completes a more prestigious and sophisticated, premium quality cabin environment.

Revisions to the front and rear suspension have improved initial roll damping, minimised friction and enhanced straight-line ride comfort.

Mapping of the electric power steering has been tuned to further build steering weight as vehicle speed increases.