this is the brand-new Toyota Corolla it’s actually replacing the ours but Toyota has decided to bring back the Corolla name which by the way is the best-selling car in history and it’s

decided to rebrand partly because the previous Eris was a particularly inspiring family car this fresh start for the Corolla name represents a complete ground-up reworking of the Aris

it’s now on a new platform which means new suspension and new steering it also gets new styling and perhaps most significant of all it is now available with too much improved hybrid systems

being a family car there are loads of brilliant rivals that it’s up against like the Ford Focus and the Volkswagen Golf but as a hybrid there aren’t actually that many brilliant competitors

and it feels like the world is crying out for an excellent hybrid car that isn’t just efficient but also a great package overall and the Corolla could be the answer and in this video we’re gonna

tell you why but before we do go to what calm and head to the new car buying section to find the best deals on every new car and subscribe to our channel to

keep up to speed with the latest new car reviews the Corolla is a fine example of how Toyota is injecting new life into its latest new car designs so you can see it’s actually a pretty cool looking

thing you’ve got some nice sharp headlights and loads of angular lines all over the front I think it’s cool but looks is subjective so we want to know what you think click on the banner

in the top right hand corner of your screen to tell us what you think looks better the Toyota Corolla Ford Focus volkswagen golf or Highlander ionic and

inside you can see the Corolla is different as well if you remember the previous Eris it wasn’t a particularly inspiring interior to sit in so it was

made of rough plastics it was a bit dull kind of soulless but now with the Corolla it’s generally much plusher throughout sleeker and more interesting to look at and also the materials used

throughout the entire interior are on a par with the Volkswagen Golf and what’s really good it just feels really solid and built to last

this driver display setup comes a standard on all Corolla sand it’s made up of these two analog dials either side of a digital screen in the middle and

you can control that screen with these buttons on the steering wheel but it shows things like trip information phone audio things like that but it’s a little

limited so it’s not as configurable as the system that you get in a Volkswagen Golf now the infotainment system let’s start with the positives so you get an

eight-inch touchscreen which is positioned helpfully higher up on the dashboard and also you get physical shortcut buttons so that means that it’s

all within reach and easy to use when you’re driving however what is very distracting is the complicated layout and the really laggy response times and

if you look you can see the resolution is really really poor and on a sat-nav screen it’s really cluttered all the graphics are really close together and

it’s just awkward to look at so it’s really distracting complicated and just generally frustrating and nowhere near what you get in a golf or an Octavia

or even a Ford Focus on top of all that you can’t even get apple carplay or Android auto even it’s an option so you’re stuck with Toyota’s iffy software

but what you do get a standard or do be radio bluetooth and a USB socket down there space wise you won’t struggle to fit in the front Carola even if you’re an especially tall

driver and the driving position generally is very good however the range of adjustment in the steering wheel is a bit limited compared to what its rivals

can do it’s still fine for most people but the in-and-out isn’t quite as generous as it is on other cars but there is a more pressing first-world

problem with the driving position so to adjust the angle of your backrest and the driver’s seat you’ve got to lift this lever and then shift your weight

forwards and backwards until you find the position that works for you which is pretty old-school and in a focus or a goal fail for a much simpler dial which

you can twist to fine-tune your position the door pockets are a bit on the small side but you’ve got other storage options up front as well so let me give

you a quick tour we’ve got the twin cupholders here and then you’ve got a space for your phone under the dash there which is a bit of an awkward

position and also the back of it angled up quite high-risk bit weird but you also have this storage compartment now this feels a bit on the flimsy side but

inside the storage is okay it’s a bit shallow but you’ve got a 12 volt socket and another USB port there as well and the glovebox is a good size rear space

is actually one of the weakest points of the Corolla so that curving roofline that looks nice on the outside inside it slopes down in front of you and to the side so it means

it feels really cramped and you can see Headroom is pretty tight Allegra’s okay but in the back in this class it’s only actually the Peugeot 308 that’s more

cramped than the Corolla a focus and goal from Octavia they all offer much more room for passengers in the back the rear seats don’t recline or do anything

else particularly clever really but they don’t in the Corollas rivals either the seats do fold with a 60/40 split as you might expect just how practical the Coronas boot is

depends entirely on which model you choose we’ve got the 1.8 litre hybrid version here now you can see the boot is a good size and in fact it’s so good

you can fit six carry-on sized suitcases in which is more than you can get in a Volkswagen Golf but both cars are much smaller than the enormous Skoda Octavia which is

basically like a limo in this class but in the 1.8 litre there’s a bit of a lip at the front which you’re getting the 1.2 liter petrol boot as well and the rear seats fold

but they don’t fold flat so there’s this huge step in the boot floor as well and annoyingly you can’t buy a height-adjustable boot floor on any model so that’s just something you’ve got to live with but at least the boot

space you’re given is very good however if you go for a two-liter hybrid corolla then the boot becomes so small that it’s actually smaller than some cars in the class below now let me explain the

reason for that is it gets a bigger engine which means under the bonnet there’s not actually enough room to fit the battery as well so the battery has to go somewhere and Toyota put it in the

boot and that greatly reduces the boot size so if you go for more power in the 2-liter hybrid just be aware that you’re going to be losing a lot of boot space however what you really want to know is

just how efficient is the hybrid Corolla and how do the numbers stack up if you’re running one well these are the key things that you need to know about buying and owning a Toyota Corolla the

Corolla is incredibly frugal especially around town with this 1.8 liter engine we managed to achieve 60 miles per gallon in real-world driving conditions it also has incredibly low co2 emissions

however a high D 11 D value means some less expensive petrol and diesel family cars can be cheaper as a company car and if you’re a private buyer then it’s

expensive compared to rivals as well the same goes for buying on a PCP finance deal so go to what cocom and make sure you’re getting the best deal it might be expensive but it is stacked with kid

every Corolla comes with a reversing camera and even entry level icon trim comes with dusk sensing headlights jewel zone climate control adaptive cruise control heated front seats and 16-inch

alloy wheels we reckon icon tech is the one to go for keeping the price relatively low while adding things like sat-nav and parking sensors these

powerful LED headlights are fitted as standard across the range and they’re great in most rivals you’ll either have to pay extra for them or upgrade to a

posh trim level euro end cap is yet to crash test the Corolla but it’s highly likely to score the full 5 star safety verdict that’s because automatic emergency braking lane-keeping assist

traffic sign recognition and automatic high-beam assist are all standard which is very impressive but it’s a bit strange that blind spot monitoring isn’t available even as

option Toyota’s reliability record is truly outstanding it ranked third out of 31 manufacturers and our latest reliability survey so you hopefully

won’t have to visit the garage too much now you can get a 1.2 liter petrol engine in the Corolla but Toyota reckons 90% of buyers are going to go for one of

the two hybrid options that are available we’re in the 1.8 liter hybrid which actually is the same unit that you can get in the Prius well some hybrids

if they’re plug-in hybrids you have to charge them up from the mains to get the best out of them the Corolla takes care of all that complicated business itself

so you can drive it like a normal petrol or diesel car filling up when you need to and the car itself will charge the battery and it does that when you brake

it uses that energy to help charge the battery and it will also decide when to use the electric motor to help improve efficiency or improve performance there

are a couple of things you can control yourself though you can put it in easy mode but you can only do that at low speeds really around town and also it

will only go into electric mode if there’s enough charge left in the battery this engine has 120 brake horsepower and claimed economy of up to

65 point 9 miles per gallon so you can guess what its priorities are outright pace is not the strength of this engine but there are definitely things to like

about it mainly those economy figures it also gets a continuously variable transmission which is very different to a manual or a normal automatic gearbox

so instead of increasing speed by taking up ratios one by one a CVT will spin the engine at the optimum speed required for whatever acceleration you’re asking for

it so this CVT is much better than other examples that are around but it still means when you’re going uphill or when you’re accelerating like we are here

the revs are always flaring it does become quite noisy but at least the petrol engine that is paired with is pretty smooth and actually when you’re

just cruising around gently not asking a lot of it then is very quiet the 2-liter engine is the best to drive in the range and it comes with acoustic glass which

helps make it quieter inside but that’s not the whole story it’s more expensive and as we’ve mentioned you lose a lot of boot space so given that the 1.8 is

cheaper and more efficient that is our pick of the range one of the best things about the Toyota Corolla is just how comfy is so along with the Volkswagen

Golf is one of the comfiest family hatchbacks around the steering is also pretty accurate but if you’re after a proper drivers car then a Ford Focus

just steers better and is generally more agile the Corolla is geared more towards being easy to drive rather than entertaining but when the result is something that’s as sure-footed as this

and as comfortable then you can’t help but think Toyota’s engineers have made a good compromise the highlander ionic and Toyota Prius have odd shapes and small boots and aren’t that brilliant to drive

but the Corolla is a good car first and foremost that’s good to drive and is very practical so it’s nowhere near as compromised as any other hybrid and that’s what makes it so impressive the Toyota Corolla is a

great family car with hybrid versions that offer exceptionally low running costs it isn’t perfect the infotainment system is average at best rear seat space is a little stingy and a Ford

Focus is a better driver’s car on the plus side it benefits from Toyota’s outstanding reliability record it’s incredibly comfortable and it gets lots of standard equipment as well we

wouldn’t just say that the Toyota Corolla is a great hybrid family car we’d say it’s the best hybrid car full-stop so if you’re looking to buy a new

Corolla or any of its rivals head to walk on well.