| Lancerion | 06-06-2013 07:53 PM |
2014 Toyota Corolla first look
2014 Toyota Corolla Takes Some Risks With Redesign | Edmunds.com 2014 Toyota Corolla Photos Leaked | AutoGuide.com News http://www.autoguide.com/gallery/d/7...Corolla-03.jpg http://www.autoguide.com/gallery/d/7...Corolla-04.jpg http://www.autoguide.com/gallery/d/7...Corolla-05.jpg http://www.autoguide.com/gallery/d/7...Corolla-01.png http://media.ed.edmunds-media.com/no...606137_717.jpg http://media.ed.edmunds-media.com/no...606136_717.jpg Quote:
Just the Facts:
Toyota steps out of its conservative comfort zone with the redesign of the 2014 Toyota Corolla.
The Corolla, one of the most popular products in its segment for more than four decades, gets a new chiseled look and standard LED headlights.
The 2014 Toyota Corolla goes on sale in the fall; pricing will be announced closer to launch date, Toyota told Edmunds.
TORRANCE, California — The redesigned 2014 Toyota Corolla debuted on Thursday with a new chiseled look and standard LED headlights, underscoring Toyota's willingness to take some design risks with one of its mainstay products.
Toyota said it is hoping to make "a much stronger design statement" with the 2014 Corolla, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the Toyota Corolla Furia Concept that debuted in January at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show.
The 2014 Corolla goes on sale in the fall; pricing will be announced closer to launch date, Toyota told Edmunds.
Toyota also appears anxious for the 2014 Corolla to join the 40-mpg club.
A new 2014 Corolla LE Eco model targets over 40 mpg in highway driving, the automaker said. The Corolla LE Eco adds underbody covers, a color-keyed rear spoiler, low-rolling-resistance tires on 15-inch wheels, a more efficient 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine and a continuously variable transmission.
The base 2014 Corolla is equipped with a carryover 132-horsepower 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine. The base Corolla L is equipped with a four-speed automatic transmission or a six-speed manual transmission. The six-speed manual is also available in the Corolla S.
The EPA has not yet rated the 2014 Corolla. The 2013 Toyota Corolla with a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine and five-speed manual transmission returns 27 mpg in city driving and 34 mpg on the highway, according to the EPA. The 2013 Corolla with the same engine and a four-speed automatic transmission returns 26 mpg in city driving and 34 mpg on the highway.
The Corolla has been one of the most popular products in its segment for more than four decades with a look that Toyota has seemed reluctant to tinker with in the past.
However, Toyota apparently is hoping to avoid the painful lessons learned by Honda with its disappointing redesign of the 2012 Honda Civic, a Corolla competitor. The 2012 Civic's interior layout and materials were widely criticized and Honda hustled to launch a relatively unusual mid-cycle change just about 18 months after the car's debut. General Motors was forced to take a similar approach with the recently redesigned 2014 Chevrolet Malibu.
The risk is that Toyota may alienate some of its conservative audience with the changes to the 2014 Corolla. But the reward is that it may win over younger buyers. The redesign of the 2014 Corolla may be the most important product moment for Toyota this year, since the Corolla is the main entry point for the brand. Toyota calls the car the "best-selling car nameplate on the planet," with nearly 40 million units sold. "Corolla is our #2 selling model in the U.S., behind Camry, and the best-selling vehicle globally," said Greg Thome, a Toyota Motor Sales USA spokesman, in response to an Edmunds query.
The Corolla faces increasingly stiff competition from compact cars with more design flair. They include the Ford Focus and Hyundai Elantra.
"Customers emphasized the overwhelming importance of vehicle design on product perception in the marketplace," Toyota said. "The 11th generation Corolla makes a much stronger design statement, with more compelling exterior and interior executions that challenge the preconceptions about Corolla."
The 2014 Corolla rides on a longer wheelbase that has been stretched nearly 4 inches compared to the outgoing model. Rear-seat passengers gain more legroom thanks to the redesign.
The cabin gets upscale materials, including piano-black gloss trim and metallic touches.
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The all-new 2014 Corolla is the 11th generation of the largest-selling car in the world. Along with the Camry it's the very bread and butter of a very bread-and-butter automaker. So it's pretty important for Toyota.
The Corolla hasn't had a significant redesign since 2009, yet last year it sold 290,947 units in the U.S.-- more than the Hyundai Elantra, Volkswagen Jetta, and Chevy Cruze. It sold more than the Ford Focus sedan and hatchback combined. All of these competitors are either the same age or newer.
Outside, the 2014 Corolla is certainly less milquetoast than the car it replaces. For one, with a Big Mouth Billy Bass front end it recalls a less chrome-laden Avalon. Creases and bulges outline the rest of the car, reminiscent of the Furia concept wrapped around Batman's Tumbler. Perhaps in a bit of youthful baiting, those black and silver wheels on the Corolla S are directly reminiscent of the Scion FR-S. We may be forgiven for thinking that some of its trucklike blockiness may indicate a greater tie-up with Subaru -- namely, the equally blocky XV Crosstrek -- than previously thought.
The wheelbase grows by 3.93 inches; the overall length, by 3.9 inches. Shrinking the overhangs allows Toyota to say "it communicates a more dynamic compact sedan form, even at a standstill." Big news up front: LEDs are standard across all models, allowing for lighter and smaller headlights.
The Corolla's Avalon theme continues on the inside with a dashboard that almost exactly mimics that of its larger brethren. All Corollas will feature Bluetooth, pollen filters, and many power-operated features like locks and windows as standard. A center touchscreen accesses Toyota's Entune on higher trim levels. Thanks to the use of acoustic glass, carpet insulation, and firewall silencing pads, the new Corolla will be much quieter, Toyota promises.
The Corolla comes with two 1.8-liter engines. A 1.8-liter all-aluminum four produces 132 horsepower on L, LE and S trims. The new LE Eco trim will be rated at 140 horsepower, as it debuts Toyota's Valvematic system for the first time in America: this improved variable-valve timing and lift system is said to increase horsepower and fuel economy by at least 5 percent. This means that the LE Eco, made for spendthrift fuel sippers, actually produces more horsepower than the S -- "sport," but with a lowercase s.
The base L model gets a choice of a four-speed automatic or a six-speed manual transmission. (A four-speed, in this day and age?) The other three trim levels will feature a brand-new pulley-type CVT, with seven stepped "gears" that will go far toward minimizing the "rubber band" sensation of traditional (read: cruder) CVTs. Toyota's words, not ours. Corolla drivers will be able to play with the seven "gears" through shifter buttons on the wheel as well as the gearshift lever.
Toyota isn't lying when it says the Corolla is "the best-selling car nameplate on the planet." Like McDonald's, millions and millions have been served, in 154 countries, with cars made in 16 factories. This Corolla will have to meet the demands of all these unique markets. Including ours. We get to drive it in a couple months, so stay tuned for impressions from behind the wheel and pricing announcements as they roll in.
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