if you think the Prius owns the hybrid
category what about the Corolla this
thing owns the compact econo car
category way before we ever heard of a
sitting let's see if Toyota still has it
as we drive the 2014 Corolla LE eco and
check the tech now spot a 14 Corolla
easily just open your eyes and look at
it it doesn't look at all like the
outgoing generation every panel every
details heavily revised here's a
spotters trick though look for led low
beam headlamps
they're standard on all the four teens
which I believe is a first for any
affordable car now if you want to tell
an eco from a non eco forget it there's
no real clear visual cue little
difference in the chin but not much
let's get inside inside Twitter has done
something at least different this dash
really harkens back to be honest to the
late 70s in the early eighties in a
tasteful way I think but this whole
eyebrow and kind of flat face thing is
at least a refreshing change from the
kind of dohyo voids that seem to
populate every other car's dashboard
these days now what's in it here's the
star of the show you have an LCD touch
head unit in either a standard or
premium configuration we'll get to in a
minute six inches of touchscreen is not
a lot and when you're here on the home
screen like I have and you've split it
three ways
one two three everything gets real small
upper left corner in this case I've got
my entertainment settings going lower
left those are phone settings and on the
right there's the map peeking through
now of course these will come full
screen as you go to any one of the
actual functions I like this about the
Toyota interface they put all the audio
together under audio if I go to my
navigation system I get there via apps
perfectly functional a tad slow on the
uptake but not bad and as you can see
it's microSD based voice command on this
car is also standard I think on every
trim level as is at least some version
of this head unit what would you like to
do start a new route to 35 second Street
San Francisco California
one I heard two 35-second streets and
cases go California is that correct as
you can see the voice system is very
good at comprehension dogs slow at doing
it so it's a mixed bag but it's nice to
have it when you get into these apps
here that are part of the Entune suite
it's a mixed bag of whether and how well
voice command works with them and the
array has not changed we've seen these
before and they're still in there but
it's nice to have them base on every
corolla now if you get the Premium
Package and upgrades to have HD radio
satellite radio Gracenote database for
your sources and a couple of interesting
features I haven't seen before check
this out when I go to a.m. or FM radio
and I pull open this little slide over
tray on the right this is a 20-minute
buffer so if you press live you're in
real time or if you want to skip back
you can skip back to various marks using
these buttons here's another one under
traffic so here's a traffic map but if I
hit this slider down here I can get
predicted traffic over the next 45
minutes you've also got a weather
overlay on the map if you'd like and
you've got the option for some pretty
rich text messaging support up to
including a vehicle sig for outgoing
messages rear camera on all these
Corollas I understand to be standard
that's also a nice feature given the
price point of these cars it doesn't
have any predictive direction technology
it merely shows you zones and it comes
on and that's about all it does also
nice automatic temperature control
single zone is standard on all these
cars as well and to go along with
climate thank you we've got mechanical
seat heater buttons I like those because
when they're on they stay on
in terms of drive controls this is our
one choice automatic it's a CVT a
continuously variable transmission with
three positions regular drive sport and
B which from the Prius is a additional
regenerative braking mode I'm not quite
sure what it does on a car without a
regeneration cycle there's no shiftable
gate no matter where you are no paddles
because it's a CVT but it does have
synthetic shift points programmed into
it
and here's your eco mode button this is
part of the eco trim model we have this
will put the car into a particularly
fuel saving mode although it's confusing
because you've also got an eco light
over here that tells you when you are
driving economically and then you've got
another light that tells you when you've
got the button to press to make you
drive economically it's a little odd now
one of the most interesting innovations
on the new Corolla is kind of a magic
trick they extended the car 2.6 inches
over the outgoing model within that they
found almost 6 inches of additional
legroom that's packaging so if I set up
my seat here in the front as I have so
it's comfortable for me to be driving
and I come to the back row can I
actually sit behind myself there are
very few cars where I can but in this
one I certainly could they've added five
inches of legroom to the backseat over
last year's model that's like going from
a Lexus LS to an LS L or an Audi eight
to an eight L that's like big car
legroom and they've got it here that's
really nice now front on the new Corolla
you've got a 1.8 litre inline-four
sitting sidesaddle driving the front
wheels here's where things get different
this one has what's called valve Matic
technology on the Eco which allows it to
ring another five percent MP
out of what is otherwise the same basic
engine as the other Corollas here the
numbers 140 horse 126 foot-pounds of
torque this adequate 0-60 about nine
point seven seconds at least for the S
trim should be about the same for this
car but they don't have a number
published yet
now the MDGs the key 30 City 42 highway
if you get the real stripper model that
has the steel wheels we have an upgraded
car with bigger alloys and that drops at
the 30 city 40 highway still really good
numbers and this car weighs about 2,800
pounds not a whole lot on the hoof that
certainly helps the efficiency let's go
for a ride see how it all works together
now underway the Corolla is exactly what
you probably thought it would be it's a
driving appliance but it's not sloppy or
numb it's just sort of uninspired in the
drive mode this powerplant and CVT
combined form kind of laggard Li
response but once it gets revving its a
pretty satisfying powertrain we're over
in sport mode and you get not so much
more
that was as you get more alertness in
the power train and there's this
nonsensical lead position which puts you
into a heavy break sort of a
deceleration mode by gearing down I
don't understand that doesn't make sense
on a car that doesn't have brake region
I can do that myself except there's
nowhere to shift on this car so I guess
that's why you have to have deep ride
qualities pretty good on this vehicle I
don't have a harshness coming through
it's it's firm enough I don't feel at
all like I'm wall like nothing about the
car feels cheap that's a that's a key
thing you got to get done in a car and
it is now pricing this guy's interesting
we have an le plus there is a lower trim
level but not available here in my part
of California anyway so check by region
because if you go one lower I believe
it's where you get the extra two mpg
with the lower trim package and
apparently skinnier tires that are key
to that twenty one three four the le
plus the second one in the line on top
of that I'm going to add one option for
twenty three sixty the convenience
package to get you the power moonroof
the enhanced Entune system with
navigation satellite radio HD radio
whole bunch of niceties little improved
audio I believe as well and that's
definitely worth the money
so all in your under twenty four grand
for a car that has no significant
downsides as nice transportation not a
driver's car but it's a nice car for
everyday living because of what they've
done by stretching that floor pan
putting it to use in the back seats and
doing a very credible job on a small but
packed central head units
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