When did existence stop being enough? If you’re a car shopper who’s willing to break the bank, you’re currently spoiled for choice if you want a soft-roady crossover that looks like an off-roady SUV, an off-roady SUV that drives like a soft-roady crossover, a mainstream car with luxury aspirations, a luxury car with sporting aspirations, a performance car disguised as a luxury car, or a luxury car disguised as a pickup truck. However, what if you just want a car that’s good at being a car?
Something that’s not too big but not too small, not wildly expensive but not a penalty box either. Something that offers all-wheel-drive for dreary winter days when the snow plough’s blocked your driveway with a few inches of hard-pack but isn’t trying to be an SUV [Ed note: I’m just gonna keep it Canadian and not change plough to plow, it’s fun – Pete]. Oh, and make it a hybrid while we’re at it, because you don’t want to buy another new car until 2040 and fuel savings would be appreciated. The Toyota Corolla Hybrid AWD seems laser-targeted towards those who just want a car, and it makes a rather good argument against needing anything more.
[Full disclosure: Toyota Canada let me borrow this Corolla Hybrid AWD for a week so long as I kept the shiny side up, returned it with a full tank of fuel and reviewed it.]
The Basics
Price: $26,360 base including freight, $30,810 loaded ($30,350 Canadian base, $38,115 Canadian as-tested)
Engine: 1.8-liter 16-valve twin-cam inline-four.
Battery Pack: 1.3 kWh lithium-ion.
Combined Output: 138 horsepower.
Fuel Economy: 47 MPG city, 41 MPG highway, 44 MPG combined (5.0 L/100km city, 5.7 L/100km highway, 5.3 L/100km combined)
Body Style: Compact sedan.
Why Does It Exist?
Here’s a little fact you can bore your friends with: The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car nameplate in the world. Nifty, right? With such widespread popularity, it only makes sense to build a hybrid variant, and Toyota’s hybrid all-wheel-drive system is simple enough to implement, so here you go. A compact, reasonably priced hybrid sedan with a little something extra for snow belt residents is such a good idea, you almost wonder why it wasn’t built sooner.
How Does It Look?
It’s hard to believe that the twelfth-generation Corolla sedan is now on its sixth model year in America because it still looks smart. It’s rounded, compact, and modern, and although the front end and rear bumper on the sporty trims are a bit overly aggressive for a compact sedan, I can’t help but get the sense they’ll actually age just fine. The rotund, cab-forward optimism just overpowers any hints of visual aggression, and makes the Corolla look bubbly in a positive way. I dig it.
How About The Inside?
Sliding behind the wheel of the 2025 Corolla Hybrid AWD, you’re greeted with a cabin that’s more basic than in most competitors and yet still complete. You have almost all the physical controls you could want, a slim dashboard fascia, enough soft-touch materials and stitched flourishes to add a little something to the cabin without posturing as premium, and solid build quality. Instead of trying too hard to be minimalist, it’s just pleasantly simple. The learning curve is remarkably shallow if you’re coming from an older car, and that’s an underrated quality in a vehicle.
As for space and comfort, the rear seat on the sedan is both more spacious than in the hatchback and properly comfortable for adults, although the front seats don’t offer as much thigh support as the ones you get in a Honda Civic or Mazda 3. Although the steering column telescopes, the wheel’s still a bit close to the dashboard on the column’s most extended setting, so this might not be the best car for long-legged drivers. Outward visibility is quite good though, and that’s a lost art these days.
How’s It Drive?
Unsurprisingly, the 138-horsepower Corolla Hybrid AWD isn’t quick, but it’ll keep up with traffic no problem and settle down into a nice, quiet freeway cruise once you reach 60 mph. As for the all-wheel-drive system, it’s not exactly what you’d get in a Subaru or an all-wheel-drive Mazda 3. The engine isn’t connected to the rear wheels, a 40-horsepower electric motor on the rear axle does all the work. Does it still work in the snow? Yeah, with winter tires, it works well enough to get you going without wheelspin.
As for handling, the steering is predictably light and a bit vague, but it’s also quicker than a chipmunk on 5 Hour Energy. Combine that with a stiff body structure and well-tuned suspension, and the Corolla Hybrid AWD feels eager to change direction, chipper in a way that many compact cars aren’t these days. Add in perfectly comfortable ride quality, and the result is a reasonably priced hybrid that won’t bore you when the roads get twisty or grow excessively tiring when freeways get monotonous. Well done, Toyota.
Does It Have The Electronic Crap I Want?
Almost all of it. Every new Corolla gets wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, radar-guided adaptive cruise control, LED headlights, lane-keep assistance, four USB-C ports, and single-zone automatic climate control. This particular fully loaded trim also gets a JBL eight-speaker stereo that’s perfectly dandy for the compact car segment, a digital instrument cluster, heated seats, and a larger 10.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system (an eight-inch unit is standard) that annoyingly, deletes the volume knob. That’s an electronic thing I’d like to still have.
Three Things To Know About The 2025 Toyota Corolla Hybrid AWD
- It starts at a rather sensible $26,360 in America, or $30,350 in Canada.
- The all-wheel-drive system’s meant more for security and less for snowy heroics.
- A combined fuel economy rating of 44 MPG is pretty good, yeah?
Does It Fulfill Its Purpose?
If you stick near the cheap and cheerful end of the model range, absolutely. Here’s a quality-feeling, economical, well-priced, practical yet properly compact hybrid sedan with all the headline features you really need and the confidence of four-wheel traction for particularly slippery winter conditions. However, if you load up a Corolla Hybrid, pricing really overlaps with the much more powerful, much more luxurious Honda Civic Hybrid. Best not go HAM on the options, but how many people would?
What’s The Punctum Of The 2025 Toyota Corolla Hybrid AWD?
When it comes to being a sensible car, this thing’s a valedictorian.
(Photo credits: Thomas Hundal)
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Rented a ICE Corolla this fall for a few days in Michigan. I really wanted to like that car. It was impossible to do, though. It felt cheap, electronics felt dated, and that fu**ing CVT which I hate with the fire of a dozen supernovas made itself known often at the worst moments. It was very tough getting comfortable in that car.
Mileage was great, and handling was ok. Not quiet though, you hear a lot while driving that thing and it gets tiresome.
For the money, if I was looking for a small sedan, I’d look at something else first. Trading off the Toyota name is fine, but it doesn’t warrant a premium over anything in its class at this point.
Yeah, I know, CVTs are pretty standard in small vehicles, but they are dogshit to live with.
How are they dogshit? IME they just do their thing. I drive econoboxes and the like conservatively and have never had one behave irregularly. This includes at least four Nissans and the Subaru Outback we own.
I certainly can’t say that for at least two of the DCTs I’ve driven…and I far prefer easy ratio changes on road trips vs violent 3-gear downshifts on a standard slushbox.
“For the money” …. what else would you consider? what is better? quieter?
a number of used vehicles – many of them with more room, more comfort, and better equipment. A decent used Camry for instance – still getting that Toyota build quality at reduced price. Or a used Sportage if you want an inexpensive SUV. Why, you may even consider a used Tiguan if you want something semi-exotic and like adventure (at the dealership).
DCTs… I drove a newer Sorento with one and it felt twitchy as hell when it was stopped. Yes they shift super-fast, but how fast really does a transmission need to shift in a family hauler or SUV?
Not saying they won’t fix that problem for sure. But CVTs have shorter lifespans (hello, Nissan and Infiniti!) and that rubberband behavior like a snowmobile with a bad clutch is the last thing I want when accelerating into traffic or when trying to avoid someone who barrels through an intersection without right of way.
I’m far from a performance enthusiast anymore. I traded a GTI for a Ford C-Max, so there. But that Ford’s Energi drivetrain produces 188 HP. This Toyota’s 138 HP just isn’t enough anymore.
Just tried to build out an AWD hybrid with heated seats. Nope. Not available. Explain to me in what universe that makes any sense whatsoever?
Rather buy a base model Camry. Standard hybrid. More efficient yet quicker. More room but not massive by any means. Much nicer interior. And, IMHO, better looking.
I agree that the new camry is more compelling, and we’ll see if a refresh of the corolla makes it more competitive. That said, I think that Toyota has done a good job setting the lineups to let people pick the flavor that’s right for them. Base corolla, hybrid corolla, hybrid AWD Corolla, base Camry, AWD Camry – basically price everything $1500 apart and let the people decide (same on the crossover side with the Corollacross and Rav).
I think an LE corolla is a solid buy and already gets great mileage, but if you’re going to step up to the hybrid then the AWD is a no-brainer. If you’re going to keep the car for 10+ years (and a lot of people will) then the awd Camry is the way to go.
Since the new Civic Hybrid came out last year, I struggle to see why anyone would choose the Corolla instead of the Civic. The Civic is 200hp and a better interior. The only downside is no AWD in the Civic, which would admittedly be a nice addition.
Yeah, it seems the AWD is the only thing the Corolla has over the Civic.
Serious time.
I had one of these as a rental, the nonhybrid version. I am not particularly tall, and my head was firmly against the ceiling. To add insult to injury, the terrible rental-spec seats were not doing nice things to my spine. I can’t look at one of these Corollas and not imagine discomfort.
Besides, the CVT they use is terrible! They put a real gear in it. What a waste. Another fail for any transmission that isn’t an Jatco CVT.
The logic for having that gear is pretty solid. It’s used to get the vehicle moving, reducing the wear and tear on the CVT belt at its least efficient point in the transmission’s operating cycle.
I’m guessing CVTs with that gear will outlast CVTs without it (all else being equal), but its presence also means they can skimp a bit on the belt, so we’ll have to see if it actually translates into better longevity.
Sounds like you had the seat lifted. There’s two levers on Corolla seats: one reclines the back, the other acts like a jack and raises and lowers the seat bottom. I daily a Corolla and am about 6’1”. I drop the seat to its lowest and I’m nowhere near the ceiling.
I do agree the CVT isn’t great, but I get 38 mpg, haven’t spent a dime on replacement parts outside of brakes, tires and oil changes.
It’s a cheap car that does its job well. YRMV.
The Jatco will almost certainly never leave you stranded, same can’t be said for those slap-dash engineers over at Toyota.
But does it make sense to pay $1400 more for AWD when it’s not going to get you farther down a gravel driveway or up an icy road any better than the FWD car?
Just get a set of Vredestein all-season tires when it comes time to change them out and you’ll have all the traction you need 90% of the time at no increase to your monthly payment.
Waiting three or four year to get to only 90% doesn’t sound all that great.
Personally, I’d splurge on the AWD.
people spend 10s of thousands extra to get an SUV that hauls their kids and crap with less efficiency and ease than a minivan because <reasons> so dumping $1500 on an AWD system that’s just added weight 99.9999% of the time makes perfect sense.
in america. maybe canadians are different.
Which SUVs are 10s of thousands extra over a minivan? Or do you mean like Tahoes etc?
don’t forget the $108k jeep wagoneer thingies, those seem pretty popular around here.
Yeah, AWD is useful for around 4 months of the year above the border, especially if you street park in a city – Digging yourself out of compacted snow plough banks can be quite difficult and frustrating if you have a 2WD car.
That’s… horrible. If I had to live with that much snow I would want an AWD moving van. 🙂
You now what else works just fine in snow and costs less? A regular FWD car with snow tires. The obsession with AWD on road cars baffles me.
Not everyone has the space to store 4 extra wheels and tires, or the time + space + equipment to change them. There’s a lot to be said for the peace of mind that comes with not having to worry about it.
That, plus there are more and more places where the temperature bounces above and below the point where you want to switch between all-season and winter tires.
More driven wheels do not mean more traction on an icy or snowy road.
If one tire is going to slip – they all will.
As far as wet weather traction – you’d be amazed at the difference in performance between tire compounds of various manufacturer’s “all-weather” tires.
Storage Lockers are also a thing.
If I absolutely was in a situation where I could only have one set of tires, I would run winter tires in the summer before I ran no-season tires in the winter.
When I was in college, I kept my off-season wheels under my dorm room bed. Where there is a will there is a way.
Your first sentence is patently wrong.
He recommends storage lockers. Has he ever heard of differential locks?
Sure have – Where are those on this Corolla?
It’s called traction control. It uses the brakes to replicate the effects of a locker at low speeds. Old school rwd trick is to use your parking brake a bit for the same effect. Furthermore, just from personal experience I can tell you that it’s much easier to get a 4wd/awd vehicle moving in low traction situation than a 2wd vehicle – the trick is it’s not any easier to get one stopped or turning.
I have traction control on my old RWD Mercedes too.
The few times I’ve been in ice and snow, it’s never been a problem to get it moving.
And as you say, turning and stopping isn’t improved w/ AWD either. So when it’s that bad – it’s probably best to call it a snow day and stay home
(Like today)
If I absolutely was in a situation where I could only have one set of tires, I would run winter tires in the summer before I ran no-season tires in the winter.
When I was in college, I kept my off-season wheels under my dorm room bed. Where there is a will there is a way.
As someone that lives in a mountainous climate, owned multiple FWD/RWD cars w/ winter tires, and AWD w/ all-seasons, I’ll take AWD and all-seasons every day.
When my GTI w/ LSD, TC, ESC and Michelin winter tires can’t get up the hill to work while every boring AWD vehicle is passing me, then yes, it converted me to AWD. My current AWD w/ Conti DWS6+ handles those hills w/ aplomb now.
You are the exception. The vast majority of the US relatively is flat as a pancake. And even back in my avid skiing days in the NorthEast, I never felt any need for more that winter tires in those mountains.
I am a cheap bastard and have no interest in spending money on something that is only really useful five days a year even in Maine. And reality is that if conditions are SO bad that you have a big advantage with AWD and snow tires, some dumbass on all seasons is going to slide into you, so you really should just stay home at that point. BTDT.
This, with the modification that I would test each of my car’s snow abilities on its stock tires in a safe area (like an empty parking lot), and see how well it stopped, turned, etc. From there, I decided if snow tires were worth it.
That said, I have found that my FWD cars with snow tires still perform worse in snow than my AWD car with all-seasons. This is me driving both back-to-back and setting each up to perform as best they can (turning off traction control in the FWD to keep momentum, etc). Totally anecdotal of course, but just what I’ve found across several FWD and AWD cars I’ve had simultaneously. Of course, the best case was my AWD Subaru with snow tires, which was basically unstoppable up to the limits of its ground clearance.
Eh, TFL’s slip testing of Toyota’s AWD-e systems shows it hardly functions, but I believe that’s more of a software problem than a hardware problem. Still needs fixing though.
Squirrel on red bull steering makes me doubt the snow handle experience. Recently Toyota quality has taken a dive. Do any components from poor car show up in this car? How long do snow tires last on this car?. New idea how do tire warranties work on EV and Hybrid cars? Finally as for costs of operations for Hybrid and EVS why don’t they ever mention the electricity costs where tested? Come to think of it why aren’t ICE car cost showing cost per gallon?
So my topaz awd is reborn? With “constant” awd.
JBL + AWD
Not for U. Not in USA. Toyota offers AWD in LE and SE models only. Toyota offers JBL on Corolla Hybrid as optional equipment, only on XLE. XLE is offered only FWD.
True for 2025.
Reminds me of the Civic in Canada. Heated steering wheel on hybrid is Canada only. Canada also gets heated rear seats.
1.6 quarts washer fluid tank USA Civic.
4.8 quarts washer fluid tank Canda Civic.
What the heck Honda. It get’s cold here in Michigan!
Corolla offers more flavors in it’s hybrid, Civic is more expensive and more fun to drive.
If I could have optioned AWD and JBL in Corolla I’d own a Corolla i/o Sport Touring Hybrid Civic.
The difference in washer fluid tank capacities is bizarre. I live in Southern Ontario, basically the same climate as you. I would get really annoyed if I had to keep refilling a half gallon washer fluid reservoir.
Could it be because American Honda is headquartered in the LA metro area, and forgets that there are other climates in your country?
I just looked into this and now I am seriously mad. The Civic Hybrid in Canada starts at $4k USD less, and it has more features than the same car sold south of the border. Does anyone know how difficult it would be for an American citizen to buy a Canadian car and import it? I tried looking into it but most of the info was for used cars.
Unless you have a residence across the border – very. It’s why I’m not dailying a bright-ass yellow A35 AMG hatch as we speak.
I had a non-hybrid non-AWD version of the Corolla as a rental recently.
About the only thing I remember about it was that the Eco mode seemed to dial up the resistance for the throttle, making the launch lethargic unless one put some leg into it. Yes, that’s the point I know, but still annoying for those of us used to linear throttle response. Did you notice that too?
Otherwise, it was a perfectly cromulent car. The kind of car you put in the drive as a commuter for 10+ years, do basic maintenance on, rarely has issues, and then trade for another.
I had one a couple years ago and was pretty impressed. Mostly because the usual “or equivalent” I end up with in that range is a Nissan Versa, so the bar was set very low.
One of my friends has one of these at my suggestion. He absolutely loves it. He’s not a car guy and just wants reliable, efficient transportation. He’s averaging around 60 mpg in two years of driving and says he’ll get another when his lease is up. Toyota hybrids are amazing for non car people.
You can definitely manage far better MPG then what the EPA rates those things. I’m sure I’ve said it here before, but I had pointed the Corolla AWD hybrid out to a buddy of mine. First drive back, fresh from the lot on the highway an hour and a half away? He averaged like 70mpg or something ridiculous like that. And now he drives to get more efficiency out of it, and he really enjoys the $20 fill-ups from near empty.
I definitely want one!
70mpg on the dash computer, or doing the math with miles traveled on a full tank over gallons filled?
I ask because my old Prius’ dash display would wildly inflate the mpg (even for a full tank, not just a long downhill drive). It would read ~25% higher, in the neighborhood of 50mpg displayed, 40 actual. Cars I’ve owned from other brands I’ve owned have been much closer.
I’m curious if Toyota is up to the same tricks here.
My Ford C-Max was wildly optimistic, I just got an Escape PHEV and it’s significantly more accurate.
Honestly, it probably was the dash computer, but last I knew he calculated his mpg himself, so I can’t remember.
I’ve almost actually bought one of these, I have a truck for a DD and want something nimble around town and not have to use the truck so much. That fucking pop up screen that Toyota does, removes all their cars from consideration. I wouldn’t drive it for free.
“When did existence stop being enough?”
Roughly a billion and a half years ago.
https://www.nps.gov/articles/stromatolites-of-capitol-reef-national-park.htm
Being stromatolites had been just fine for everyone for the previous 2B years. Nothing but making oxygen from water and sunlight. No thinking, just community and being. Pure heaven.
But then some jerk had to go get all *aspirational*. Now its all predators, taxes and bills.
Thanks a lot you ancient jackass!
I really really wish someone would build a basic 6-7 passenger hybrid along the lines of this. I don’t need an suv or a minivan for my day to day commuter but I do need to occasionally fit all 4 kids and wife.
There you go: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacia_Jogger
Funny you mention this. My wife is English’s and we are talking about moving back and this is on the short list for family car. Or a lwb t5 at the other end of the spectrum
So you won’t buy one? Bobs your Uncle
The Corolla or the jogger? If we end up back in the uk, the jogger is a solid contender
So a Camry Hybrid with a bench front seat?
That or a maverick hybrid with one would tick all the boxes for me
I had to rent a non-hybrid Corolla for a couple of days back in the fall. It really wasn’t a bad car but the way the interior is packaged makes it feel smaller inside than it should be – the door cards bulge way out (as does the bottom of the dash) which really restricts side-to-side leg room and makes it feel claustrophobic. The Corolla Cross does the same thing; it’s not that much smaller than a RAV4 on the outside but feels tiny inside.
I ended up buying a new Camry for about $28k – much more space, more power, and slightly better mileage in the hybrid.
My former company had a hybrid Toyota fleet. The Camry and even Prius were substantially better vehicles than the Corolla Hybrid. No basic features are worth the compromise of driving a Corolla over a slightly more basic Camry. Granted, none were by any means bad cars.
Sorry you are wrong. If you are a owner of a business that needs a car fleet but not a person who will be driving a fleet car these are a great choice.
Toyota interior packaging seems to be a strange one for sure and most models have ‘shrunk’ inside over their predecessors. Current Corolla certainly did, when the prior gen came out they touted how it had more rear legroom than the Avalon of the time. But even the Camry has seen interior volume shrink in the current and the prior generation. Still better than a Corolla of course but low by midsize car standards.
OTOH Hondas are big inside for their size, a Civic has nearly the same interior volume as the Camry. Granted, Honda seems to be hedging on making a better Civic at the expense of the Accord, rather than Toyota committing to their 2 nameplates.
The Corolla is truly the best car at just being a car. Especially in hatchback form, it’s everything you ever really need in a car if you want something new with a warranty that’ll survive for a long time after the warranty runs out. I rented a fairly recent model Yaris when I went to Tokyo and I was impressed with how decent it was, even with a tiny NA 3-cyl engine and a CVT, it did everything I asked it to do and returned great fuel economy.
The other half’s first car was a Yaris.
“It’s a car” is the best sense of basic transportation that it needed little to no attention of the bad kind. Never broke, never gave grief, and got people from a to b.
This is going to be the end of Subaru.
You severely underestimate the brand loyalty Subaru has, I think.
How? Subaru buyers wouldn’t be Subaru buyers if they put mpg as highest priority as the AWD system makes them one of the worst in their classes. OTOH, unlike this Corolla’s paper AWD system (part time electric motor on the rear axle that only works at very low speeds and only offers about 20hp. IMO, it does more for regen capability than foul weather traction), their’s works. This is also—stupidly—only offered in a sedan body style, which is something far less popular with Subaru buyers.
I’m going to be very charitable here with the following response:
LOL no.
Hard disagree. Subaru buyers are not going to run drooling to their nearest Toyota dealer for this lil booger.
Except Subaru is bringing out Hybrids next year with Toyota hybrid / boxer motors to replace the e-boxers.
Plus wagon.
Not even close. Subaru’s AWD system is objectively far more capable than this and ground clearance is higher. For the outdoorsy Subaru types in the PNW that actually do take their cars off pavement to get to trailheads and such (and believe me, most Subaru owners I know really do that stuff), the low-slung Corolla with feeble AWD isn’t on the radar.
I agree, Wagons ho! You may remember the Prius V ! A wagon version the Prius. Very practical. My customers at Toyota Service loved them. Disappointed when they got discontinued. May have had a lil more rear headroom too. A small car always makes more sense as a wagon. Maybe if the had called them “shooting brakes”?????
An estate wagon?.. lol
They make the Corolla Touring wagon for JDM, Europe and a few other markets. It solves the hatchback’s two biggest problems – cramped rear seat with its’ shorter wheelbase and high load floor that makes for a tiny cargo area with the back seat in use – by being as long in both wb and overall as the sedan, without the Corolla Cross’ compromised CoG and soul-sucking conformity.
The Toyota Matrix aka Pontiac Vibe was a nice compromise. The CH -R was a joke. Coupe High Rider my ass! LMAO …IMHO
If not Toyota, some carmaker really should try this in the US. We really are fond of our shootings here.
The PV was NOT a wagon. It was an MPV.
Sorry but you are incorrect. I worked for Toyota Service during this car’s production. It is on the Prius platform and shares many parts with the Prius hatchback. Perhaps you are confusing it with the CHR, now discontinued. An acronym that stood for Coupe High Rider. Here’s the problem. Coupe…nope has 4 doors, High z Rider , nope no more ground clearance than a Camry. One young gal came in with one. She had a better breakdown of the acronym. She said it stood for….”Cool Hip Ride” !
You may have worked for Toyota Service, but I worked for Ford’s segmentation team for two years around the time the PV was introduced and I am not confusing it with anything. It was literally my job to know what segment every car in the entire U.S. market fell into. The C-HR was a (sub)compact crossover (sized like a compact, priced like a subcompact). The Prius V was a compact MPV. Straight from the horse’s mouth:
Toyota marks the next evolution of Prius with the world debut of Prius v at the North American International Auto Show. Due for market launch in the USA this summer, it is a full hybrid MPV-style model designed to bring the benefits of Toyota’s world-leading Hybrid Synergy to Drive to a new market segment.
https://media.toyota.co.uk/toyota-expands-prius-family-with-debut-of-prius-v/
I had one for about a month and, as someone who had a ’08 Camry SE 5MT and found it to be a soul-draining experience that I quickly bugged out of even to have it as a winter beater, the Corolla hybrid was pretty impressive. It was not fun to drive (of course), but it was perfectly tolerable. Seat wasn’t great, but acceptable enough for the under 2 hour drives I did. Power was adequate—not fast by any means, but it always seemed to have enough for normal driving and wasn’t a dog off the line. I easily got 55mpg, with one trip saying a hair under 70 all without trying and that’s on piss-gas, of course.
Sucks that it doesn’t come in the hatchback. Something about the size of the trunk-to-interior opening after folding the seats meant that I didn’t find it much more practical than my GR86 (unless, of course, you use the rear seats for actual people, but I could transport longer lumber and wider stuff more easily in the sports car). The hatchback also looks better, but I don’t think looks are a top priority for a purchaser here.
The AWD, with the ~20hp motor that disconnects at a really low ceiling (20mph? I forget) seems more like a marketing exercise to satisfy people who are convinced they need AWD (if this system is good enough for you, then no, you don’t need AWD) and that probably serves mostly to offer better regen than FWD alone. Biggest annoyance to me was not this specific car’s problem and more my abject hatred for useless wuss tech programmed by mental defectives: brake assist that can’t be turned off and overreacts to cars in other lanes and such even in the weakest setting. Really, though, for “just a reliable car with a warranty to get around as cheap as possible” it’s a home run for the lower end of the price. I haven’t driven the Civic hybrid, but the regular Civic is a much nicer car, so I completely agree that the Corolla hybrid works best at the cheapest end with minimal options, plus there’s the Prius at that point.
Idk. Small sedans don’t make any sense to me. Make them wagons and they start to make more sense. Which is what a Prius is. And it looks cooler. And gets better MPG. Just my opinion.
I drive a small sedan (Audi 8V). I don’t need anything bigger, and don’t need the hatch. There’s less form drag and I can keep my tools in the trunk without it being obvious to people walking by. (I live in a condo so I can’t park in a garage.) Station wagons and hatches are great too, and provide as much practicality as the ever present CUV, but not everyone needs one. In fact, I’m looking at getting something smaller, probably a coupe.
Probably just save the trouble and get an ebike with a cargo rack. You don’t need a car.
My small car is enough to simultaneously carry my drill press, router, belt sander, and bags of clamps, hand saws, drills when doing wood working. It is also big enough to fit my hydraulic jack, jack stands, the majority of my torque wrenches, ratchets, wrenches, sockets, a small motorcycle lift – pretty much everything I needed to swap out the rear diff. For the latter, the rear seat needs to come down, or somethings go in the back seat, but most jobs that is unnecessary. I know some people actually carry more than that, but I almost never need to.
That’s not even getting into the winter and icy roads, and just how damn dangerous trying to take an e-bike on 40 mph roads where everyone drives 50 in full size SUVs.
Not sure I understand your argument over keeping things from prying eyes. Nearly all hatches have a cargo cover so people can’t see what’s in there (obviously if you stacked it higher, you couldn’t cover it – but then it wouldn’t fit in a trunk either)
Me neither. Hatches tend to have lower drag too.
When I mention form drag, I’m referring to typical old school hatches on CUVs, SUVs, and the compacts popular in Europe. For example, the Golf – a great vehicle in my opinion, but not something I personally need – has about 7% higher coefficient of drag than my sedan on the same platform.
If the hatch extends all the way back with a mostly vertical rear windshield, you end up with a lot of eddies forming behind it increasing the drag coefficient. If it is shaped like a Kia Stinger or a (ugh) a Model Y, whether or not it has a hatch isn’t going to affect drag much.
Case in point, an Ioniq 6 (with a trunk) has a much lower drag coefficient than an Ioniq 5 (about 33% lower). If we compare the model 3 to the Y (again, ugh), the 3 only improves by about 9% by ditching the hatch. The important bit is technically the shape of the rear part of the car, rather than whether or not it opens as a hatch or a trunk.
Yeah, I’m aware of all that, I meant like a kammback ex prius or insight
Except when they don’t. Case in point C-Max vs. Fusion hybrids. Ford caught a lot of flack because the C-Max couldn’t match the Fusion’s MPG.
I prefer a hatch, but mine didn’t come with a cargo cover. I’m in Florida, so tint has me covered.
Not all hatches come with the cargo cover. On a wagon, the space is comparable, but on subcompacts CUVs or something like a Golf (more or less the hatch version of my car), a lot of the space is vertical and lost when you use the cargo cover due to the short overhangs/higher departure angles. Again, your mileage may vary, and hatches are great for a lot of people. But I can see my neighbor’s stuff piled up in her Juke, and it’s not any more stuff than I can comfortably fit in my trunk.
So far, no one’s been breaking windows in our condo complex, but a number of kids have been rifling through unlocked cars. Anyway, I like my sedans, but I can appreciate hatches too. They just aren’t required for my particular use case.
I’m not convinced a Juke is the most space-efficient vehicle out there.
Many hatches are, as you note, taller in the back for storage to reduce their overall length and make them more manoeverable/space-efficient (e.g. Golf v Jetta) however, there are many others gain overall rear space (e.g. Impreza vs Impreza – or Golf wagon). Options are out there, though the choices are drastically dwindling if they’re not being SUV-i-fied.
I love my hatchback, but there’s a lot to be said for the security of a trunk. My friend’s little iA has lots of room and the trunk is full.
I like a sedan myself. Wagons are also cool. But from my experience with any car in the last 20 years, the visibility out of the sedan version is better (if the sedan version exists at all, of course).
A Prius is a lot of things, but a wagon ain’t one of them.
For me, a smaller sedan works because 90% of the time it’s just me and my lunch in the car but I need the extra doors for when the kids come along.
For me it’s visibility. I’m eyeing up a Mazda 3 and the sedan has better rear visibility according to reviews.