The Corolla is Toyota Canada's all-time best-selling car, an artifact linked to Canada's stronger historical preference for compact cars than our neighbours to the south. It's a statistic that will likely change sometime in the future as crossovers like the RAV4 continue to gain market share.
For now, the Corolla remains the household name it has been for decades for its combination of decent refinement, an affordable price and strong fuel economy.
For 2019, the Corolla carries over from last year and is once again available in CE, LE and SE trim lines. All three share a 1.8L four-cylinder engine that makes 132 hp and 128 lb-ft of torque, save for the LE Eco, whose version of that engine is tuned for efficiency but also gains eight horsepower.
As its best-seller status (within Toyota's lineup) suggests, the Corolla is one of the most popular cars in a class of well-known cars, including the Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra and Ford Focus. The Corolla is among the few in the category not available with a performance-oriented engine option, trading instead on its reputation for providing nearly flawless reliability and thrifty, A-to-B transportation.
In CE trim, the Corolla comes with a 6.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system, cloth seats, 15-inch steel wheels with covers, intermittent wipers, LED daytime running lights and the Toyota Safety Sense P suite, which includes forward collision warning with pedestrian detection and automatic braking, lane departure alert with steering assist, radar cruise control and automatic high beam headlights, among other things. The only option available at the CE trim level is a package that bundles an automatic transmission with air conditioning.
Building on the CE automatic model is the LE, which adds heated front seats, premium fabric upholstery, 16-inch wheels, heated steering wheel and a sunroof. The LE Eco gets the more efficient motor, automatic climate control, low rolling-resistance tires (reverting to 15-inchers) and a windshield wiper de-icer.
Next up is the XLE with satellite radio, navigation, power driver's seat, leather-like upholstery, passive keyless entry and an auto-dimming rearview mirror.
The Corolla SE line is the only other way to get a Corolla with a stickshift; it's also the only model to get rear disc brakes. With that or the optional automatic Toyota includes a heated steering wheel, 17-inch wheels and a sunroof. The XSE adds the same niceties found in the XLE.
Fuel consumption estimates are 8.3/6.5 L/100 km (city/highway) in CE and SE trims with the CVT (the manual is nominally less efficient in city driving) and the LE Eco's ratings are 7.8/5.9.
