Toyota Corolla H4 Automatic EDIT: Now at 8+ years/78,000 kms Since my office shifted to Gurgaon last year, I had actively considered buying an automatic since I prefer to drive myself, and the daily drive was exceeding 65 kms/2 hours. Finally, I shortlisted 3: Corolla, City, and Civic. I was more interested in Corolla or Civic, since I already own a car comparable to City. Initially, my heart was for Corolla for build, interiors, legendary reliability, and fuel economy. But, then new Corolla has been launched in Japan, and is expected in India during 2008. Buying the present generation Corolla when the new one is in the market somewhere around the world would have been risky because of lower resale value, lower buying comfort. In looks and styling, Civic scores over Corolla for many buyers, and I also felt the same.
Finally, I test drove both cars thrice and I finally bought the Corolla. This was despite the fact that Corolla H4 auto is priced at same as Civic Auto. Further, Corolla resale could go down once the new one is launched. Personally, I felt the Corolla to be much better at driving with a better engine. I am a short driver and there are two things about Civic that caused me great discomfort: the distance from seating position to seeing the bonnet. It is like driving from the back seat and can be painful in slow moving curvy traffic, where you have to weave. That may mean slower response times in cutting through traffic. Just drive Civic and make your own decision. I have done further research and the large dashboard is usually not found on many cars. Bottomline, sit around 8-10 cms further back (which is the excess space taken by the digital speedo) in your car and check how that affects you. Maybe you may get habitualised but sitting so far back definitely cuts down on maneuvering (is it also responsible for higher turning diameter, do not know) My driving intuition says, the more far back the dashboard, the worse it is to see and slower responses around corners and traffic. Civic also has a greater turning radius. Further, the digital speedo distracts.
I took delivery of Corolla Auto on 8-3-07 and so far have driven 2000 kms. Although I can not comment on long term quality, it was comforting to know that Toyota and its products rank at the top worldwide in long term reliability. It may not attract as much attention as the Civic but it feels elegant to me, and it has one attribute that most cars just can't boast about; an impeccable long-term reliability rating.
Corolla is roomy and comfortable inside without feeling large, and is impressively quiet at my practical speeds (do not exceed 100 kmph). It can be seen that wind and engine noise are kept almost totally devoid from the cabin; this is something that I cannot say about City CVT or Civic.
Handles predictably and provides a comfortable ride. However, getting used to higher seating position took 2-3 days and with a cushion, I now get a panoramic view while at the same time sit like on a sofa. It does smooth out rough pavement quite nicely. Corolla is not for hard, high rev driving and is best driven with a light foot. Although it's not as agile as Civic, it does corner extremely well and remains predictable and secure when pushed to its cornering limits. Bottomline: it will respond when needed and feel effortless to drive when cruising.
The engine is sweet, quick and thrifty. However, after driving a 88 bhp Corsa, it does take a bit getting used to faster acceleration, which may require hard braking initially. Braking performance is very good. Honda's engine is reputed to be equally great but I found it more noisy and felt high revs at initial acceleration. Though the auto transmission is slower than manual, pick up is still extremely fast. Further, the 4-speed automatic transmission is extremely smooth; shifts are hardly felt.
Interiors appear durable, high quality, well finished and definitely score over the Civic. For the same price (now I can hear so what, Civic is newer ), I got all leather seats, wooden panel, auto headlights, intermittent wash wipers, etc. The quality and the look of the Corolla’s interior has also been a big selling point. Like the Civic, all materials feel solid and well put together; no exposed screws or loose plastic. The high roof imparts a roomy feel and allows a relatively high driving position. This was the major selling point for me, as I now find the seating position very comfortable. I have found that it enables me to have perfect all around vision. Although I have not sat in the back seat so far, other users feedback has been positive.
Fuel efficiency was 10.5-10.8 kmpl in the first 1000 kms. However, after the first service it has gone up to 11.4-11.6 kmpl in the last 2 fills. Remember this is an automatic, I use the auto AC (at 27C which cools great), and my drive involves around 20 kms at 70-90 kmph, 10 kmph at less than 50 kmph, and 4 kms that take 35 minutes. Also this is a 4-speed transmission (side info: according to official US figures, Corolla is the 8th most FE car in the US. Ranking above are it are 4 hybrids, Yaris-manual, Yaris-auto, and Honda fit). Note from mod: Please do not use FONT/SIZE tags. |