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Mndsm
Mndsm MegaDork
11/13/18 5:58 p.m.

Swmbo wants one. We all know how I feel about corollas and hatchbacks. Game on. 

SyntheticBlinkerFluid
SyntheticBlinkerFluid UltimaDork
11/13/18 7:22 p.m.

I can tell you for sure that they have been showing a lot of the manual transmission on their TV commercials 

RyanW
RyanW New Reader
11/13/18 9:04 p.m.

I am a Toyota tech and the first one we got was a black manual. felt like it wanted to rotate and it was actually 'fun' compared to all the other new toyotas

mr2s2000elise
mr2s2000elise Reader
11/13/18 10:36 p.m.
RyanW said:

I am a Toyota tech and the first one we got was a black manual. felt like it wanted to rotate and it was actually 'fun' compared to all the other new toyotas

Do they have rear seat ac vents?

GTwannaB
GTwannaB HalfDork
11/13/18 10:43 p.m.

Seriously, for a magazine about driving, feedback and performance you are ragging on the lack of cup holders? I guess I am weird in that I don't eat in my car and once in a while I have a bottle of water. My kids have holders in their seats. It is not a minivan for a family of 12. 

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
11/14/18 10:07 a.m.
Robbie said:

Yeah, I'd venture to say that's a good looking car!

I know, right? JG picked us up with it for lunch. I was like, Who's here with the Lexus? Then we ate Chinese food. 

Brian_13
Brian_13 New Reader
11/15/18 5:11 p.m.

In reply to iceracer :

laugh

Perhaps it was just a typo, intended to identify the (new for this year in North America) independent rear suspension. Most people who write ads have no idea about the product. Even Toyota's corporate offices publish stupid things, such as calling this rear suspension "double wishbone" (hint: it's not, and that's okay).

te72
te72 Reader
11/22/18 1:08 p.m.
Vigo said:

88 lbs for the transmission? That seems kinda high for a small transmission, at least to me. If I remember correctly the R154 Supra transmissions are only about 110 lbs, and they're quite large compared to any FWD setup.

FWD transmissions have a differential in them. 

You know, I never realized that, that's pretty impressive actually. I'm not a FWD guy, if you couldn't tell, I owned ONE as my first car, back when I didn't really care much about cars, nor know much about them.

 

Will be interesting to see how these do on the autocross tracks, I hear good things about the TNG platform cars so far.

Ozzy
Ozzy New Reader
1/7/19 10:29 a.m.

Anyone driven this & the Hyundai R-Spec?  I still love having a manual to drive.

Mr. Lee
Mr. Lee PowerDork
1/26/19 10:02 p.m.

Took our 2018 IM in for an oil change and tire rotation at the dealership. They had one in a manual so I talked a salesman into a spirited test drive. I'll say this. If money wasn't an issue, the 'rolla hatch would have left the dealership with me instead of the IM. Real transmission, feels more planted through sweepers I took at ~60mph , real transmission, handled a 2 lane round-a-bout with my foot 3/4 of the way to the floor in 1st, (sales guy had one hand on the Oh E36 M3 handle and the other on the roof to brace himself), real transmission, GOOD brakes, did I mention the real transmission? Seriously though, 2800 rpm at ~75mph down the freeway. Felt planted at all times, even when I got a bit ham fisted on purpose. Will touch 60mph in second, so should make for a halfway fun autocrosser depending on how it's classed. 

 

Confirmed it will blip for you on downshifts if you think you're just going to drag a gear to slow down, the computer says otherwise. Don't need to touch the gas to start in first, it just pulls away from a stop as long as you don't just dump the clutch. Starts in second without any drama as well. Overall I really liked it. Nice size infotainment screen, though I'll be honest and size I didn't fool with it much other than to turn it off so I could listen to the car.  Heated seats work nicely. 

 

Only complaint is the electronic, push button e brake. I don't see that as an actual e-brake, as it can't be modulated. it's either on or off. 

EDIT: I was also informed that the regular sedan 'rolla will be getting a redesign next year to match the hatch.  If such things matter to you.

mr2s2000elise
mr2s2000elise Reader
1/27/19 3:09 p.m.

In reply to Mr. Lee :

Nice to see that current Corolla hatch is much better than previous Corolla hatch!! Sounds like a great contender 

 

how did the motor feel, lively? Had power ? 

Mr. Lee
Mr. Lee PowerDork
1/27/19 5:25 p.m.

Yes, plenty of power.  It acted like it wanted to rev. It was quite happy tooling along down the interstate in 4th till I realized I still had 2 more gears to go.  I can see myself getting a bit silly on on-ramps and round-a-bouts with it. Might even get me in trouble in the ticket department, as I've noticed since moving back to the Bay area my lead foot has returned. Though it may have something to do with the fact you can be doing 90 down the freeway, and get passed like you're sitting still a lot of the time. 

 

Edit: Another thought on it, the car really reminds me of some of the older "slow" toyota's that really seem to reward you for getting it "right". I really would love a chance to run this car at 10/10ths, as even with the sales guy understanding I was an "enthusiast" and "liked to drive" I still kept it at 7 or less. 1 I didn't want anyone yelling at me, and 2 it was still done on city streets, and near shopping centers on Saturday morning. 

red_stapler
red_stapler Dork
1/27/19 5:42 p.m.

This is such a weird timeline, the Mazda 3 and the Corolla have traded places.

pointofdeparture
pointofdeparture PowerDork
1/28/19 12:12 p.m.
red_stapler said:

This is such a weird timeline, the Mazda 3 and the Corolla have traded places.

What makes you say that? The new 3 is still an excellent driver's car judging by early reports, it's just moving upmarket to be more of a GTI competitor than a Golf competitor.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a26029080/2019-mazda-3-drive/

SyntheticBlinkerFluid
SyntheticBlinkerFluid UltimaDork
1/28/19 5:59 p.m.

Man, I’m liking the way these things look. 

Mr. Lee
Mr. Lee PowerDork
1/28/19 8:58 p.m.

Yeah, the one I drove was in white as well. I dug it. SWMBO has a thing against white cars though. Red, blue, or black would fly with her though. 

pointofdeparture
pointofdeparture PowerDork
1/29/19 10:29 a.m.

TRD is starting to roll out parts for these now. I imagine we will see more when the JDM 6-speed manual version is released in August:

http://trdparts.jp/corollasport/index.html

DirtyBird222
DirtyBird222 UberDork
1/29/19 7:08 p.m.
Klayfish said:

Personally, I think the car is really good looking.  I love the blue color in the posted photo.  Could this thing be a serious Mazda3 fighter? 

Toyota, why do you only give it 168hp?  C'mon...how hard would it be to drop 225-250hp into the thing and make it a true hot hatch?

I mean 168 is better than the Honda Fit's 130hp; but, I'd still prefer the Fit. HPD has B-Spec Track or Rally kits available for it and the magic seats make it very practical for carrying any kind of cargo. 

DirtyBird222
DirtyBird222 UberDork
1/29/19 7:11 p.m.

The exterior of this car looks great. The interior......that massive "tablet" sticking out from the dash and the early 2000s style instrument cluster are a huge buzzkill. 

Mr. Lee
Mr. Lee PowerDork
1/29/19 9:28 p.m.

That's one thing I will say about the instrument cluster. 

 

There is A LOT going on. speed in "analog" speed in digital, rpm in "analog", mpg in a little bar inside the "tach", sport mode, traction control, the array of idiot lights AND... the current speed limit... yes, if it's equipped with nav, it throws a little speed limit sign up on the upper left side of the cluster. Since road sign recognition has become a thing, the non nav equipped models may do the same. I drove the XSE just due to that's what we would get if we got one. (heated seats are a must with my back on any new car, and this dealership has a lifetime powertrain warranty as long as you can prove with documentation that the service schedule has been kept, so any tinkering would have to wait most likely. Hence, heated seats, and XSE) 

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