2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback Review: Bringing Fun to the Corolla
Initial Impressions
Did I mention I love the styling? With aggressive lines, 18-inch wheels, and that kicked-up rear spoiler, this car has presence. Then there is the paint. Dubbed “Bronze Oxide,” it is one of the prettiest factory paint colors I have ever seen. It has a fabulous color shift property, moving from brown metallic to bronze, to an emerald green, depending on the lighting. Who knew a color that is, effectively, named brown rust could be so nice to look at?
Inside, my initial impressions are also positive. Compact cars, especially in the past five years or so, have really leaped forward in terms of interior materials and quality. To that end, Toyota clearly benchmarked the Honda Civic Sport hatchback when developing the Corolla hatch. The dashboard is leatherbound and padded, as is the center console and door cards. Similarly, the leather-wrapped sport seats on this Corolla XSE are excellent; nice to look at, and even better to sit in. Then there is the Toyota EnTune 3.0 infotainment system, which has a large, clear screen and is intuitive to use.
It’s easy to find a comfortable seating position in the Corolla hatch, and drivers of all sizes should be good on space. The hatchback foregoes a sunroof, even as an option, so there is plenty of headroom. Additionally, the steering wheel has both tilt and telescoping functions, as you would would expect from a new car.
So, initial impressions are positive, but what happens once the tires hit the pavement? A Toyota Corolla, no matter how sporting it looks, does have to work in the real world. Is the new Corolla hatch really fun? Let’s go for a drive, and find out.
Thoughts on the Engine and Transmission
Toyota’s new M20A engine is a peach. The brand has worked very hard with this new engine to maximize thermal efficiency and low RPM torque. So, while 151 lb-ft doesn’t sound like much twisting force, the majority of that grunt is delivered very low in the powerband. Combine that with the 6,800 RPM red line, and the fact that max horsepower is happening right up top, and it makes for a car with a very usable amount of power on tap, at any time. Indeed, at no point during my week with the Corolla did I feel short on horsepower, or acceleration.
The 6-speed manual transmission, on the other hand, was a bit of a mixed bag. As a manual transmission diehard, and someone who has daily driven manual cars for over a decade now, this hurts to say. During my week with the Corolla, I put 723.8 miles on the car. At no point did I ever really become accustomed to the unusual action of the clutch. The clutch pedal itself has next to no feeling, or weight to it, which makes finding the bite point rather difficult. This issue is compounded by the non-linear action of the clutch pedal. With the clutch, there is nothing happening in the bottom half of the travel, and everything happens at the very top. But, with no tangible amount of communication from the clutch, this results in a lot of jerky, rough take-offs.
Oh, and a lot of stalling. I very briefly hopped into a different car with a more “normal” clutch, and then hopped back into the Corolla. I immediately stalled it, twice. As someone who prides themselves on being a very adept manual transmission driver, this was frustrating. It seems like both the non-linearity and the complete lack of pedal feel could be fixed with some transmission hydraulics upgrades. Swapping out the clutch master cylinder and clutch slave cylinder would likely remedy both complaints.
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Looking past the clutch, I do need to talk about the transmission itself for a minute. This particular test car had about 3,000 miles on the odometer, and, from day one, it had an intermittent fourth gear grind. It happened about a dozen times during my week with the car, and always at low speeds, or in traffic. I’m hoping it’s just a fluke, as press cars tend to get thrashed pretty hard.
The 2019 Corolla also has iMT as standard. This “Intelligent Manual Transmission” feature is a button placed just ahead of the shifter. Switch it on and the Corolla will automatically build up the engine RPMs on downshifts. This allows for, in theory, a perfect rev match every time, if you can’t do it yourself.
Of course, even if you’ve been double-clutch heel-toeing your downshifts since birth, it pays to leave the iMT switched on in the Corolla. Why? Because the engine doesn’t rev up particularly quickly. This is my only real gripe with the engine, as it feels as if Toyota bolted on a 100 pound flywheel to the engine. There is no dastardly rev hang, thank goodness, but instead, a heavy flywheel means there is a lot of rotating mass to overcome before the engine revs up. That means on a quick downshift, you need to keep your foot on the throttle an extra second or two longer, otherwise you will come up short on RPMs. That heavy flywheel improves engine smoothness, and fuel economy (the car will coast forever in gear), but does dull responsiveness. Knocking just a few pounds off the flywheel would really improve the driving experience.
The Corolla is best driven by finding your favorite winding road and promptly sitting on the second gear rev limiter all the way through.
It’s really a shame about the funky clutch, and heavy flywheel, because, otherwise, the 6-speed manual is definitely the enthusiasts choice. The shifter, which looks to have been lifted directly from the Toyota 86 sports car, is fun to row through the gears. Keeping that engine on boil through a winding road is a ton of fun.
Continue reading about the Toyota Corolla hatchback on the next page…
