Toyota Corolla Hatchback 2019 unifies fun and functionality. And he does it very well

[- !el Catire *O*]

Toyota launched its first Corolla in 1966, and during these last 52 years, there was never a time when you could not buy a new Corolla. Toyota made it the best-selling model in the history of the automobile, offering it an affordable car with a much more than acceptable performance and usefulness.
The 2019 Corolla Hatchback continues with the best of this tradition of Toyota and with two levels of equipment easy to memorize and understand: SE and XSE. Why complicate things more? The car comes with only one engine for both adjustments, two transmission options and a good list of safety equipment and technology. As you may guess, the SE is the basic level, and the XSE adds some nice features such as a leather upholstery, adjustable thermal seats and a series of digital indicators. The SE will be entry-level, but still includes palettes of change for the CVT, electronic parking brake, smart key and support for Apple CarPlay.
This Corolla is a very serious competitor for hatchbacks like the Honda Civic and the Chevrolet Cruze, although Toyota will have more difficulties converting the infidels of other hatchbacks, such as Mazda3, VW Golf or the Subaru Impreza. Things as they are.

 

Today you can not put a new car on the market without the latest developments in safety technology and handling aids, which starts here with the same chassis platform. From the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) arise the current Camry, the Avalon, the Prius, the RAV4, the C-HR and even some Lexus models.

It also has the Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) 2.0., A package that includes a system of pre-collision with detection of pedestrians -even at night- and cyclists during the day.
 

If the Corolla is equipped with continuous variable transmission, then we already know that it includes adaptive cruise control, a feature Toyota calls dynamic radar cruise control. It is a great feature, and Toyota raises many points to include it in its basic equipment models.

TSS 2.0 also includes lane departure control with steering assistance and new lane tracking assistance functions, all of which help keep the car in line at all times. In addition, the TSS 2.0 also reads traffic signals, and issues an alert if the driver does not follow them. Actually, they are worthwhile features.

 

Toyota offers the new Corolla with an 8-inch touch screen, mounted high and close to the driver's natural field of vision. The XSE setting adds the HD radio, the Sirius XM satellite capacity and the connected Entune 3.0 services. From there, you can upgrade to the 800 watt JBL stereo with GPS navigation and everything in between.

As we said earlier, the 2019 Corolla Hatchback has only one engine for the entire line: the new 2.0-liter four-cylinder and natural aspiration, which improves the 1.8-liter output, giving 168 horsepower and 151 lb-ft of torque

There are two transmission options: a 6-speed manual and a CVT, continuous variable. This new one, and presents a first gear of real fixed relation, which gives the Corolla a safe and decisive feeling when it is set in motion. There is not that feeling of stretching of rubber bands in which you move while the engine moans and "takes off". The Corolla, simply, moves with intelligence.

Once it is working, the CVT emulates a 10-speed automatic transmission, and even includes a change paddle, if you feel the need to "pretend to change". The Corolla is not a hot rod, but it is perfectly acceptable as an economic hatchback.

 

The manual comes with a program of adjustment of revolutions and, in addition, a system that helps the drivers so that the engine does not stop them when they stop the car. All of this works pretty well for the students, but actually slows down the output power of the motor, which is just the opposite of what you want and expect from a manual transmission. The shifter itself is also disappointing: it returns a loose, almost loose feeling, and it seems more a late occurrence by designers than anything else. This is the reason why this Corolla will not take away many faithful to the Mazda3 or VW Golf.

The miles per gaon vary between, 28, 37 and 31 in city, highway and mixed respectively (for the model grade SE MT). For its part, the XSE CVT model performs between 30, 38 and 33 miles per hour for city, highway and mixed respectively.

In addition, it is probably covered by Toyota's standard 3-year or 36,000-mile warranty. With more than 50 years of experience, reliability should not be a concern with this car.

Let's say things by their names: the Corolla Hatchback we like more than the basic Honda Civic. It's more fun to drive, and its two-liter engine is more to our liking. Let's also assume that it will be competitive in terms of price: in reality, this is the biggest obstacle that Toyota has to overcome with this car.

In more general terms, it is a car worthy of the Corolla plate, and Toyota should be proud. Of course, there is room for improvement, but assuming that its price is attractive - and there are many reasons to believe that it will be - we could be facing the new King of the segment.

Availability and price

The new Toyota Corolla Hatchback will be available in the United States starting at $ 19,990 in its SE MT version, while the more expensive version will be $ 24,090.