Corolla 2.0 - questions from a prospective buyer

[Catlover]

Water in the exhaust is likened to condensation in your home, cold surfaces next to hot surfaces, and of course you get that in a car exhaust system. I have followed cars where water is spitting out of the tail pipe. Obviously on shorter runs more water accumulates in the system, car not run enough to steam it off, this can be the start of rusting from inside to outside.

[TheTJW]

15 hours ago, nielshm said:

Accelerationen with GPS powered app. Of course the car starts moving before GPS detects signal changes, but still impressive. 

Battery charge was with only 3 bars, so battery condition don't need to be perfect. 

So Niels, the GPS Race Timer app you've used to measure acceleration is showing that you got to 30mph (50kmh) in 2 seconds - is that correct!?  That seems incredibly fast - is this accurate do you think?

[nielshm]

17 minutes ago, TheTJW said:

So Niels, the GPS Race Timer app you've used to measure acceleration is showing that you got to 30mph (50kmh) in 2 seconds - is that correct!?  That seems incredibly fast - is this accurate do you think?

 

Once the car starts to move, I think it's pretty accurate. The GPS is linked to satellites, and the timer starts when GPS movement is detected. My guess is, that the car moves a bit before the first movement is detected, which gives the very fast 0-50 time.

But it is very powerful, and you really gets pushed back in the seat, so the real is no more than 2,5-3 sec.

[Louie]

I have had a GR Sport 2l from new and as a replacement for my Golf MK7 GTD i am not disappointed. It is no slouch and is a more comfortable

drive than the Golf in that in that it tackles road imperfections in a more sedate manner plus astonishingly it handles corners exceptionally better than the Golf.

Obviously the power delivery from a performance  diesel is completely different to that of  a petrol hybrid basically its less brutal but it does not dissapoint.

The achilles heel of this model is the instrument panel and medial centre but there are some very simple ways round this which should not prevent you going ahead

with your purchase not forgetting Toyota help and support  which is second to none.

[Rosgoe]

I test drove both and went for the 1.8 excel and in my opinion offers more than enough power and you also get the bigger boot, although I think it is a tad smaller than my auris hope the ride isn’t going to be harsh with the bigger wheels.

[Timmon]

Yes, I notice it too, but mainly if stuck in traffic, and the ICE is firing up and shutting down. On firing up again I can see a  lot of white smoke. So mainly when stationary, I don't see much when driving normally. And at least it is white, not black.

[Timmon]

27 minutes ago, Rosgoe said:

I test drove both and went for the 1.8 excel and in my opinion offers more than enough power and you also get the bigger boot, although I think it is a tad smaller than my auris hope the ride isn’t going to be harsh with the bigger wheels.

I have the 18 inch wheels, and don't notice a harsh ride. But my comparison is with my last car.

You do get a lot of tyre noise, which I put down to the lack of noise from the engine, the low profile tyres, which I have not had before, and the tyres supplied are supposed to be economical and are quite hard, so you get rumble from them. That tends to reduce as the tyres bed in. And my last car had as much tyre noise, just a different tone!

[TheTJW]

3 hours ago, Louie said:

I have had a GR Sport 2l from new and as a replacement for my Golf MK7 GTD i am not disappointed. It is no slouch and is a more comfortable

drive than the Golf in that in that it tackles road imperfections in a more sedate manner plus astonishingly it handles corners exceptionally better than the Golf.

Obviously the power delivery from a performance  diesel is completely different to that of  a petrol hybrid basically its less brutal but it does not dissapoint.

The achilles heel of this model is the instrument panel and medial centre but there are some very simple ways round this which should not prevent you going ahead

with your purchase not forgetting Toyota help and support  which is second to none.

Yes, it seems that the 2.0 is quick, the one thing that concerns me is seemingly excessive revving required to get up to speed - it's one of my pet hates, revving, I don't even take my Leon FR past 3000-3500rpm if I can help it, just feels like it's straining the engine LOL, so maybe the Corolla hybrid isn't a good match for me, wish it was though, it sounds like a lovely car (ignoring the infotainment system that is, although it sounds like it'll be getting Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in May!).

[Louie]

To be honest its not a diesel which generally produces lots of torque at low revs so unless its a V8 you are not going to get sheds loads of power without 

some revving which is muted adequately. I did expect a tinny grating sound but it is nothing like that at all I would say its not intrusive at all and i got used 

to it pretty quick and no I am not a Toyota salesman. 

[TheTJW]

Can't wait to test drive the 2.0 hybrid, but there isn't a used one anywhere near me in Essex at the moment, which is very frustrating!

[Catlover]

Have you tried Toyota dealers?  I would have thought the manager or head of a dept would have one, at least one in the dealership, or at least one in a dealership in Essex. Surely a customer is not expected to pay £28k for a car they never test driven.

[OXYGEN]

23 minutes ago, Catlover said:

...Surely a customer is not expected to pay £28k for a car they never test driven.

This was exactly my case...I had to test drive a 1.8 sedan in order to decide if I want to buy the 2.0 TS and to believe dealer words what to expect as difference between 1.8 and 2.0.

[AndrueC]

10 hours ago, TheTJW said:

Yes, it seems that the 2.0 is quick, the one thing that concerns me is seemingly excessive revving required to get up to speed - it's one of my pet hates, revving, I don't even take my Leon FR past 3000-3500rpm if I can help it, just feels like it's straining the engine LOL

It isn't. The engine is designed to take the high RPMs and the ECU won't let you do anything to damage it. There shouldn't be many times when you feel it's necessary but if the moment arises give it some welly.

I also don't understand the criticism of the infotainment system. It's better than the others I've seen and the only fault I've found with it is pretty trivial (random shuffle doesn't seem to work properly). The satnav does the job reasonably well. What is it you don't like about it?

[Catlover]

To be honest Tim TJW, I am confused with your posts.  Your original post says you are also thinking about a 308 GT and asking will the 2.0 Corolla be as quick 0-60.  I dont know the figures for the GT but I would imagine pretty nifty. Then later you say you dont like revs, 3-3.5k is ok. I would imagine to get best 0-60 times in the GT (or other cars) the driver is going to have to welly it - which is not in line with "I dont like revs".  But now you are right off the Corolla 2.0 because you "seemingly excessive revving required to get up to speed".                        

Personally, I not bothered what you buy, your money, your choice, but it seems you are in a dilemma.

[TheTJW]

6 minutes ago, Catlover said:

To be honest Tim TJW, I am confused with your posts.  Your original post says you are also thinking about a 308 GT and asking will the 2.0 Corolla be as quick 0-60.  I dont know the figures for the GT but I would imagine pretty nifty. Then later you say you dont like revs, 3-3.5k is ok. I would imagine to get best 0-60 times in the GT (or other cars) the driver is going to have to welly it - which is not in line with "I dont like revs".  But now you are right off the Corolla 2.0 because you "seemingly excessive revving required to get up to speed".                        

Personally, I not bothered what you buy, your money, your choice, but it seems you are in a dilemma.

LOL, I can understand your confusion, so basically, I've been considering the Peugeot 308 GT because of its power yes, but its 0-60mph time is about 7.2 secs, so a bit faster than the stated 0-60 time for the Corolla, however, the GT has a turbo engine, so has a good deal of low down torque, so it doesn't really need a lot of revving to get going, which is why I've been considering it (diesels are definitely out of the question for me, despite the low down torque).  So, I've just been trying to establish if the Corolla is quite quick from stand still or not, and if it is, does that require high revs to get there.  I know I just need to test drive one, but they're proving quite hard to find, especially locally to me at the moment.

[TheTJW]

1 hour ago, AndrueC said:

It isn't. The engine is designed to take the high RPMs and the ECU won't let you do anything to damage it. There shouldn't be many times when you feel it's necessary but if the moment arises give it some welly.

I also don't understand the criticism of the infotainment system. It's better than the others I've seen and the only fault I've found with it is pretty trivial (random shuffle doesn't seem to work properly). The satnav does the job reasonably well. What is it you don't like about it?

Hi Andrue, thanks for your response.  I've just heard on most YouTube reviews of the Corolla that the infotainment system is not up to the standard of other new cars in the class.  Nearly every review has stated that it's sluggish (not very responsive) and the lack of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is pretty bad for a new car, but I'm sure it's just a matter of opinion and I'll be checking it out once I get to actually test drive one.

[Luke717]

20 minutes ago, TheTJW said:

... the lack of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is pretty bad for a new car, but I'm sure it's just a matter of opinion and I'll be checking it out once I get to actually test drive one.

Hello Tim. This was an issue for me when I started researching hybrids last November. I use Android Auto in my current car (a 17-plate Focus), and it's a significant feature for me. Every Corolla review I read or saw for the 2019 models were very negative indeed about the lack of being able to use these apps, relying only on Toyota's in-build nav app which gets little praise either. But when Toyota said all 2020 models will come with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay (https://www.toyota.co.uk/owners/vehicle-information/in-car-multimedia/), that helped me decide to go ahead and buy a Corolla.

And so I did. Not got it yet, expected end March!

Good luck with your research.

[TheTJW]

1 hour ago, Luke717 said:

Hello Tim. This was an issue for me when I started researching hybrids last November. I use Android Auto in my current car (a 17-plate Focus), and it's a significant feature for me. Every Corolla review I read or saw for the 2019 models were very negative indeed about the lack of being able to use these apps, relying only on Toyota's in-build nav app which gets little praise either. But when Toyota said all 2020 models will come with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay (https://www.toyota.co.uk/owners/vehicle-information/in-car-multimedia/), that helped me decide to go ahead and buy a Corolla.

And so I did. Not got it yet, expected end March!

Good luck with your research.

Yes, I've also read that an upgrade will be available for Android Auto or Apple CarPlay from May for existing Corollas, for something between £100 - £200 I think, which sounds very promising!

[King Crimson]

I have the 1.8 hybrid and torque wise it's not bad from a stand still. When you floor it you get full instant torque from the eletric motor, about 0,5 sec after you floor it the engine comes on to help with the acceleration. It hits 50 km/h pretty fast, after that however it doesnt accelerate that well. This however is with the 1.8 engine so the 2.0 would be much better since it has more torque from the electric motor and the engine is stronger. The revs get quite high but that's the nature of the cvt's in general and it doesn't really bother me, it actually makes it sound like you're going much much faster than what you are actually going, with the 2.0 the revs won't stay high for too long since you'll reach your desired speed much faster than the 1.8. When you're crusing however it's as silent as ever (especially if the road is newly paved).

[Rosgoe]

17 hours ago, Timmon said:

I have the 18 inch wheels, and don't notice a harsh ride. But my comparison is with my last car.

You do get a lot of tyre noise, which I put down to the lack of noise from the engine, the low profile tyres, which I have not had before, and the tyres supplied are supposed to be economical and are quite hard, so you get rumble from them. That tends to reduce as the tyres bed in. And my last car had as much tyre noise, just a different tone!

Yes I noticed more tyre noise on the test drive and that was on 17” wheels hopefully I’ll get used to it, but as you said if the engine is not running you notice it more.

[AndrueC]

4 hours ago, TheTJW said:

Hi Andrue, thanks for your response.  I've just heard on most YouTube reviews of the Corolla that the infotainment system is not up to the standard of other new cars in the class.  Nearly every review has stated that it's sluggish (not very responsive) and the lack of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is pretty bad for a new car, but I'm sure it's just a matter of opinion and I'll be checking it out once I get to actually test drive one.

It doesn't seem sluggish to me but it did behave oddly when I was testing out USB as an audio source so I went back to using my iPod. Other reply replied to say they had no problems :-/ I've also not tried using any other audio sources so perhaps the radio is poor. The satnav has a few foibles (it doesn't tell you about the next road you're going to take which is unhelpful if you want to look out for signs but it does the job). I don't really see any advantage to having Android Auto or Carplay unless you don't have the satnav feature. And even then I doubt that an app running on a phone will be able to project directions onto the dashboard like the built-in sat nav does which is quite neat.

[AndrueC]

3 hours ago, King Crimson said:

I have the 1.8 hybrid and torque wise it's not bad from a stand still. When you floor it you get full instant torque from the eletric motor, about 0,5 sec after you floor it the engine comes on to help with the acceleration. It hits 50 km/h pretty fast, after that however it doesnt accelerate that well.

Yeah, I mentioned in another post that my previous car - A Honda Jazz 1.3 CVT - could accelerate to over 90 mph climbing up from M40 J11 toward Middleton Cheney on the A422 and almost ran out of room to continue the silliness. My 1.8 Corolla seems to run out of puff around 80 mph.

[Sidrat]

6 hours ago, TheTJW said:

Yes, I've also read that an upgrade will be available for Android Auto or Apple CarPlay from May for existing Corollas, for something between £100 - £200 I think, which sounds very promising!

It's £50 if you have it installed when having a service!

[Timmon]

On 2/27/2020 at 9:32 AM, TheTJW said:

LOL, I can understand your confusion, so basically, I've been considering the Peugeot 308 GT because of its power yes, but its 0-60mph time is about 7.2 secs, so a bit faster than the stated 0-60 time for the Corolla, however, the GT has a turbo engine, so has a good deal of low down torque, so it doesn't really need a lot of revving to get going, which is why I've been considering it (diesels are definitely out of the question for me, despite the low down torque).  So, I've just been trying to establish if the Corolla is quite quick from stand still or not, and if it is, does that require high revs to get there.  I know I just need to test drive one, but they're proving quite hard to find, especially locally to me at the moment.

I understand your concern at the revving. In other posts on this forum, I have said the same thing. My last car was a SAAB 93 Turbo, and I got my power from the tubo, not from revving the engine to get the torque. But you get used to it. The fact is, the CVT is a totally different animal, the driving experience is much smoother and less "aggressive", but the 2 ltr gets you up to speed if you want it. As AndrueC says, the engine is designed to take the high revs. I guess it is more like an Italian car, in that way, you can drive it with spirit. 

But it's not a turbo, the 2 ltr is Toyota offering a more powerful option as a Hybrid, with the benefits of greater fuel economy compared to a non hybrid petrol car. The 2 ltr isn't really there to compete with high performance hot hatches, but for me, it is a subtle step down from what I was used to previously, and with 20 mpg better economy.

[TheTJW]

Finally got to test drive the 2.0 litre hybrid today and was quite impressed.  It's about as fast accelerating as my Leon FR, although it does roar a bit!  The salesman told me that if I put the gear into sport and used the paddle shifters, then I could effectively change up quicker and so not rev so much, but it didn't feel like the paddles were doing much at all, as you can't feel the gears actually change, which probably makes sense as its a CVT box, so a bit confused by that.  Overall, a good comfortable drive and reasonably quick I think.  I was driving the GR sport version and was expecting it to have parking assist and blind spot monitoring, but it didn't have either of those, so does anybody know which model(s) have these, as it's not obvious from the stats online?  He also said that it's possible now to get the retro fit of Android Auto and Apple Carplay done at Halfords - is this actually the case?