Thinking of swapping to Corolla from Prius

[RichSH]

I currently have a 67 reg Prius PHEV which is excellent in many ways: spectacular economy, fabulous ride, great led headlights and a very good JBL sound system. 
Downsides are a very small boot (because of the traction battery) and modest performance which, most of the time isn’t an issue, but just occasionally....

So, I’m thinking of swapping to the 2 litre Corolla Sports Tourer in Excel spec. I’m interested to hear from anyone who has made a similar change and specifically: what is the ride like with the (only available choice) 18” rims; is the performance significantly better than the 1.8?

Normally I’d just pop to a dealer and have a drive but that’s obviously not an option at the moment.

 

 

 

[john p williams]

Anything about the Corolla on Youtube that might help you Richie ?

[RichSH]

Had a look and the general view seems to be ride and performance are good. But you can’t beat hearing from an actual owner...

[bigblock]

Hi Richard,

I test drove both the 1.8 and the 2.0 Corolla. And the 2.0 is significantly better on performance if power is what you want. It will not return the mpg of a 1.8 though. Depends on your driving style but the 2.0 will not leave you wanting. I can honestly say it's the best Toyota I have had so far and I have been a Toyota convert for 10 years now. Great ride, very smooth and quiet. I have 17 inch wheels. 64 mpg max in summer. Around 48 mpg at this time of the year. I have averaged 58 mpg over my first 4000 miles. I couldn't get that with my previous  Auris 1.8 Hybrid TS and that didn't have 180bhp on tap either.

[AndrueC]

And for reference my 1.8 was close to 70 mpg during the summer and has dropped to high 50s during the winter. I find that it has more than enough power for normal driving.

[RichSH]

Many thanks for the feedback.

I really wanted an Excel spec but you can only get it with 18” wheels which I think is a bit marginal to ride quality so may look at Design but can’t have the JBL sound system. Very frustrating! The JBL in my Prius is really good and I’m concerned about the potential downgrade in quality. Might just have to bite the bullet...

 

[Catlover]

Richard, is the boot space such a problem?  Probably not when you bought it, so has something changed.?

I have a Prius Excel, not a plug in though. I too have the fantastic 10 speaker JBL sound system, leather seats, the colour I wanted (red-as most brochures showed as the cover car), but I managed to get the optional 15” wheels as I found the 17” wheel ride to be too hard. The wife has.a 17” Auris hybrid (used to be mine), and for a short time I had a 59 plate Gen3 Prius with 17”, both too hard.  I bought the Gen4 15” second hand from a dealer. It was 20 months old with 21k miles. Now 52 months old with 33600 miles.  Being 2nd hand, it took me ages to find Excel, red, 15” wheels, but got it from a dealer 100 miles away.  Beautiful car, excellent fuel consumption. Now here is a point, I normally drive in Eco mode, occasionally Normal mode, but if I really want to zip along I use Sport mode and find it very responsive to the throttle - more then enough for any situation that may arise.

Would I change it, from a very economic fuel efficient car to a Corolla 2.0 which may deliver mid 50 to the gallon, less if I boot it, and have to pay road tax (your Prius will be zero)..........  no way.    Only carry’s me and the wife, if we go on holiday we pile up the boot (and back seats if necessary) and for the couple weeks per year that’s sufficient. If we go shopping we bag the stuff at checkout and put it on the floor behind front seats, hardly use the boot.  None of that needs changing necessitating buying a Corolla. 

[AndrueC]

Yeah  I don't use my boot either. Although in my case it's because that's where I keep my golf gear 😄

[TonyHSD]

Wheels and tyres should not be of any issue as easily can be swapped with 17 or 16”, Toyota sells many alloys on good prices. The 17” wheels and tyres set is the optimal size for performance, efficiency and comfort ratio, the problem with comfort comes more from the make and models of the tyres used than the size with exception of the 18” where profile is really low, I also have Auris hybrid and with 17” wheels and winter tyres the car is super comfortable even in negative temperatures, before with summer tyres even with smaller size 16” once the temperature is below 10C° the car comfort is completely lost, I can only imagine what would have be in Corolla with 18” Falkens right now, probably worse than a horse kart... plus the road noise 👌 excel model and GR has hard seats, sometimes more important to consider then the wheels, only one owner has mentioned here and he noticed it’s too difficult to get out of the car because of the high boosters of the seats. 

[bigblock]

Just out of interest. When swapping wheel and tyre sizes does the speedo then correct itself to the new size these days or do you have get the vehicle re calibrated as changing sizes will not gave the same speed that your vehicle was travelling at before the size change. I'm thinking this may be a concern with speed camera's everywhere these days and you could get caught out thinking you are innocent? I know speedo's always show you going slower than you actually are. Mine seems to be around 3/4 mph slower than the local electronic speed sign that flahes at me as I approach it on a regular basis. That's if the electron sign is correct. Can someone throw a bit more light on the wows of changing wheel/tyre sizes if there are any.

[Catlover]

Michael, when you look at the outside dia of a 17” tyre and a 15” you see they pretty much the same. The 17” and 15” refers to dia of the actual wheel. The 15” gets the extra “suspension” by depth of tyre wall. 17” tends to look better, but I happy with the comfort from a 15”.

[bigblock]

Hi Joe, So what you are saying is that the rolling circumferance of a 15,16,17,or 18 inch wheel/tyre combination is much the same, so the vehicle speedo will be very similar what ever size you choose?

[Catlover]

29 minutes ago, bigblock said:

Hi Joe, So what you are saying is that the rolling circumferance of a 15,16,17,or 18 inch wheel/tyre combination is much the same, so the vehicle speedo will be very similar what ever size you choose?

That’s what I said, hope it’s right.  I suppose you could get low profile 15” tyres (or any other size) that would make a difference because wall height would be less.  But my 15” tyre/wheel combo was factory option (ordered by the first owner) and I certainly feel a difference over the 17” on the Auris or Gen3 Prius. And my 15” sized tyres are cheaper then the 17”.

[Rambler56]

44 minutes ago, bigblock said:

Hi Joe, So what you are saying is that the rolling circumferance of a 15,16,17,or 18 inch wheel/tyre combination is much the same, so the vehicle speedo will be very similar what ever size you choose?

The only rolling circumference difference between any of these tyres is caused by the difference between full tread and when worn down to legal limit.  Speedos always under read to 'help' keep you legal and more importantly for the manufacturer to keep them free from litigation.  Just don't put massive tractor tyres on and you should be fine😀

[bigblock]

1 hour ago, Rambler56 said:

The only rolling circumference difference between any of these tyres is caused by the difference between full tread and when worn down to legal limit.  Speedos always under read to 'help' keep you legal and more importantly for the manufacturer to keep them free from litigation.  Just don't put massive tractor tyres on and you should be fine😀

Starting to go off topic now (my fault) but it got me thinking that in hot temps tyres expand so the circumferance increases there by giving you an added boost to better mpg. So the more air volume your tyre has, the better mpg in summer. I'll get me coat now.

[TonyHSD]

For all the above sizes there will be some minor differences in circumference and speed will vary as a result but it will be insignificant so no worries about that. The volume of air may not cause any difference itself but what actually cause difference in fuel consumption is the air pressure and the unsprung mass of the wheel-tyre combo plus suspension per corner, if your wheel and tyre fitted together at size 15” weight less than wheel and tyre of 17” you are better set for fuel efficiency, lower unsprung mass, now add the width of the tyre, narrower tyres less steep on the ground, less friction, and you have the best combination. Here we have a site for calculations the tyres and wheel sizes, example is for Auris hybrid gen1 Prius will be very similar. 
https://www.willtheyfit.com/index.php?width=215&aspect=45&diameter=17&wheelwidth=7&offset=50&width2=195&aspect2=65&wheel_size=15&wheel_width=6&offset2=39

[shufman]

20 hours ago, RichSH said:

I currently have a 67 reg Prius PHEV which is excellent in many ways: spectacular economy, fabulous ride, great led headlights and a very good JBL sound system. 
Downsides are a very small boot (because of the traction battery) and modest performance which, most of the time isn’t an issue, but just occasionally....

So, I’m thinking of swapping to the 2 litre Corolla Sports Tourer in Excel spec. I’m interested to hear from anyone who has made a similar change and specifically: what is the ride like with the (only available choice) 18” rims; is the performance significantly better than the 1.8?

Normally I’d just pop to a dealer and have a drive but that’s obviously not an option at the moment.

 

 

 

Greetings!

As a 2.0 Excel owner (hatch) I can offer some insight I think as I’ve driven a few Prius’ when I was at Toyota including the plug in. 
 

They actually drive quite similar in overall feel but the Excel hatch is the firmest of them all as it’s got a shorter wheelbase and the big rims. I find the ride quite firm but not uncomfortable, it’s well controlled but the stroke of the suspension feels quite a lot shorter so over bumpy roads it can feel pretty firm. It might take a bit of getting used to as the plug in Prius with it’s much smaller wheels feels a lot more forgiving. It’s similar to other hatches though in this respect though. The seats are superb though - very supportive and comfortable. 
 

The road noise for me is a bit loud on rough surfaces but there’s not a night and day difference between the two. It’s very road surface dependant so if you’re quite sensitive to this then have a drive over roads that you know well to compare. The Excel ST is still on 17” wheels according to the Toyota website even thought I thought it was going onto 18” for 2021. Autocar tested the wagon on 17” wheels and the noise was 67db at 70 which is pretty quiet. 
 

As for performance then the 2.0 is quite a lot faster than the 1.8 but the 1.8 is more efficient. Because there’s more power and torque you don’t feel like you’re really thrashing the 2.0 even on quicker roads plus the paddle shifters add a bit of enjoyment as you can vary the engine braking over a typical A road. They don’t work like a paddle shift on DSG though. They both drive similarly around town and general use but when you put your foot down there’s a lot more performance higher up the Rev range. Bit like coming ‘on cam’

Fuel wise it depends but you should expect mid 40s in the winter and mid 50s in the summer as a general guide. Short winter journeys use a lot of fuel though. 
 

Hope this helps 😊

[RichSH]

Thanks, Ian. Really helpful.

I’m pretty sure the Excel 2l is 18” rims only and coming from 15” on the Prius with high profile tyres, that’s going to be a challenge...But the interior is nicer and is the only spec to offer the option of JBL sound (why?!), standard in the Prius, it’s this version or nothing.

Will get a test drive as soon as things open up.

[Timmon]

Be aware, in case you think in a moment of madness of the HB instead of TS,  that the 2ltr HB has the least boot space, you get more with a 1.8. I am single, and quite capable of filling the boot on my own, it is fine for me. When we were allowed to travel, going down to Devon for Christmas with presents etc, there was only room in the car for me!

Classed as a family car, I would have chosen a TS or Prius if I had a family. The Corolla HB 2 ltrs is a fun car for a couple in my view, although it is marketed as a family car. 

[AndrueC]

Yeah the HB is not a family car in my opinion. I don't think it's reasonable to sit two adults in the rear for longer than fifteen minutes at a time. My previous car - a Honda Jazz - took four adults and their luggage on a week's holiday once or twice. No way my HB could do that.

[TonyHSD]

Corolla hatchback has the worst legroom of all cars in its size, where Auris gen 1 has the best, here Toyota has done it wrong, even the new Yaris looks bigger on the rear seat. 

[Roy124]

Picking up on bits.  We have the 1.8 and possibly from what we might have unintentionally implied the dealer specified a spare wheel (I would need to check if it is a space saver but the wheel seems large enough to take the full size wheel.  This raises the boot floor.  This is an advantage giving the two of us a flat load bed with the rear seats folded.  We keep them folded for both dog cage and groceries as the simple boot is barely large enough just for groceries.

Then on performance, we are quite happy pottering along in economy mode with ACC selected.  Gone are my boy racer days though on a motorway I may well change to a true 70 mph on cruise control.  However the 1.8 has 3 modes, Eco, Normal and Sport.  I haven't tried the others except for a few moments.  Sport certain resulted in a kick in the pants.  Most ovbious though was the change of speedometer from blue to RED.  Very boy racer.

[shufman]

58 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Corolla hatchback has the worst legroom of all cars in its size, where Auris gen 1 has the best, here Toyota has done it wrong, even the new Yaris looks bigger on the rear seat. 

It’s made worse on the Excel because of the chunky seats .. I’m 5”10 and I can just sit behind myself but it’s almost impossible get in without banging the head!

[shufman]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

Corolla hatchback has the worst legroom of all cars in its size, where Auris gen 1 has the best, here Toyota has done it wrong, even the new Yaris looks bigger on the rear seat. 

It’s not - the biggest difference is width. It’s comfortable in the Corolla for 2 people well under 6ft 😄

 

compared to my 2005 Corolla, the length is within an inch or two... it’s the height from floor to roof. No deep at all - feels several inches less  it’s much lower than my old model Yaris which had a good shape. 

[Roy124]

40 minutes ago, shufman said:

It’s made worse on the Excel because of the chunky seats .. I’m 5”10 and I can just sit behind myself but it’s almost impossible get in without banging the head!

Snap, though it is made worse by my preferred high seating position.  At least it is better than my last Mercedes E class.  It was so similar to the earlier model but with a different door line.  I didn't half crack my head.  With the Toyota you have to fold in so gently that head banging is not an option 🙂