History/Overview
Cars don’t get much more mundane than the Toyota Corolla, a compact sedan renowned for its efficiency and reliability. Lately, Toyota has begun trying to make the Corolla more desirable by adding value and options aimed at increasing its visual impact.
What’s New/Key Changes From Last Year
For 2022, the Corolla gets taillights that turn on whenever the car is in gear, a change mandated by a new Canadian federal safety regulation.
Available Trims
Toyota offers the Corolla in L, LE, SE, XLE, and XSE trim levels, plus a Corolla Hybrid positioned as a stand-alone trim.. Gas engine options are 1.8L and 2.0L four-cylinders, both of which can be mated to either a six-speed manual or continuously variable automatic (CVT) transmission. The hybrid matches a 1.8L with an electric motor and a CVT.
Standard Features
Corolla L comes with keyless entry, six-speaker audio, a 7.0-inch touchscreen, power windows, A/C, power side mirrors, LED headlights, and 15-inch steel wheels with covers. Also included is the Toyota Safety Sense suite of forward collision mitigation, automatic high beams, and radar cruise control.
LE adds blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, an 8.0-inch touchscreen, heated front seats, electric parking brake, automatic climate control, a wiper de-icer, and 16-inch steel wheels.
SE’s additions include lane departure alert with steering assist, lane tracing assist, and passive keyless entry.
Corolla Hybrid is equipped similarly to SE trim, but with 15-inch alloy wheels, and digital gauges.
XLE brings remote engine start, navigation, heated steering wheel, power driver’s seat, heated rear seats, softex upholstery, digital gauge display, sunroof, 16-inch alloy wheels, wireless phone charging, and LED taillights.
Finally, XSE gains 18-inch wheels and softex/cloth upholstery.
Key Options
An LE upgrade package adds a sunroof, passive keyless, wireless phone charging, heated steering wheel, and 16-inch alloy wheels. SE trim can add a similar upgrade bundle with 18-inch wheels.
SE Nightshade Edition builds on SE upgrade, adding some black exterior trim pieces, and the Apex Edition is further set apart with a body kit.
A Corolla Hybrid premium package adds wireless charging, heated rear seats, ambient lighting, heated steering wheel, driver’s seat lumbar, and softex upholstery.
Fuel Economy
Corolla Hybrid leads the fuel economy charge here, with estimates of 4.4/4.5 L/100 mm (city/highway). The most efficient gas-powered model is a 2.0L Corolla with the CVT, with ratings of 7.6/5.9 L/100 km. The thirstiest configuration is the 2.0L/6MT combo, whose estimates are 8.2/6.5 L/100 km.
Competition
The Toyota Corolla is a key player in the compact car segment, where it competes with the Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Forte, Subaru Impreza, Nissan Sentra, Volkswagen Jetta, and the Mazda3.
