The Corolla's looks have freshened up

Introduction

What’s the highest-selling car in the world? It isn’t a small hatchback like you would’ve imagined, but it is Japanese. If Wikipedia is to be believed, a Corolla has been sold every forty seconds. Over the last forty years. India has had the Corolla since early 2002, and it was a sensible, practical car. It appealed to the masses with its inoffensive styling and all was good with the world. One fine day, Honda decided to crash the party with the Civic. It wasn’t a pretty sight; at least, not from Toyota’s point of view. A few years later, the Corolla Altis is here to show the Civic who’s boss. Does it succeed?

Conventional silhouette will keep the conservative consumer happy

Exterior

The Altis is a massive improvement over the old Corolla as far as looks are concerned. Where the elder sibling was organic shapes and flowing lines, the new one is in-yer-face and modern. The front resembles the Camry, right from the ‘comet’ logo to the katana-blade headlamps. The profile is typical three-box sedan, but the A-pillar and C-pillar flow into the horizontal hood and boot with a lot of elegance. The rear looks just a wee bit dowdy, but all is forgiven when the nicely-designed tail-lamps light up. The paint quality is superb, but there is a slight shade difference between the metal and plastic bits that irks us. It doesn’t grab eyeballs like the elder sibling does, but it is certainly worlds better than the old Corolla, and we find it hard to imagine how Toyota could have made the car look better without losing its target audience.

Leather and fake wood make up ambience. Lots of thoughtful little touches will make owner feel good.

Interior

The Altis’ interiors are… Inoffensive. Make no mistake, we aren’t rubbishing them. This car has got lots of space (more than the older car, although it doesn’t seem that way!) A pleasant, upmarket-looking center console possesses fake wood bits and neatly-designed air-con controls. We particularly like the ‘eyebrow’ lights the recirculate and heater buttons have. The color combination of the plastics is sensible and pleasant.

The twin-pod instrument cluster houses a speedometer and tachometer, with fuel and temperature gau ges on the outside of the two instrument gauges. The dials are clear and easy to read, and the red-on-white lighting is clearer than most color combinations on offer in the market. The lights dim when the headlamps are switched on, and there is an intensity adjuster for those with sensitive retinae. The digital readout shows ambient temperature, the odometer, two tripmeters, and in the automatic, gear position, among other things.

There is enough legroom for a basketball forward in the front row with the seats all the way back, but when he’s seated, the people in the back will feel just a wee bit cramped. Getting in and out of the car is not as easy as it used to be with the old car, since the Altis is slightly lower, and the seat squab is lower as well. The seats are very comfortable, and since there’s electric adjustment for every possible dimension except time, the driver won’t be complaining at all. The steering wheel tilts and telescopes a fair amount, making finding the perfect driving position a piece of cake. The buttons on the center console are easy to reach, placed logically and have good tactile feel. Fit and finish is typically Toyota – small, consistent panel gaps and quality of all the plastics remains the same throughout the car.

The audio system is a front-loading six-disc changer that can play mp3 and wma files. Its equaliser can take a little getting used to, but radio reception is good. We wish there was an option for an audio system upgrade – it sounds like the speakers are letting down the system. There are numerous small cubbyholes for passengers to place knick-knacks; our favourite is the novel slots that can hold mobile phones at the bottom of the centre console, to the sides. The glovebox is also worth a mention – it has an upper and lower compartment which can be opened separately, making life in the Corolla easier. Other thoughtful touches are the controls on the steering wheel, and the rear sun blind on the automatic and the top-spec manual. The boot is large enough for a couple of medium-sized suitcases and a little more.

We love the way the engine responds to our right foot

Engine and Drivetrain

The engine in the Altis is essentially the same engine from the older car, but both power and torque have increased from 125bhp and 158Nm to 132bhp and 170Nm. It is installed transversely and drives the front wheels. It utilises a DOHC mated to four valves per cylinder, and Toyota’s respected VVT-i variable-valve timing system.

This is, without a doubt, one of the most responsive powerplants we’ve come across. Floor the throttle in any gear at any speed, and there’s a momentary hesitation while the car makes sure you really want to give it the beans, and then it gets up and goes, no questions asked. Our figures show in-gear times of 4.5 seconds from 30-50kph in third gear, which is quite impressive. This goes on with no drop in pulling power worth mentioning right up to the redline. Shifting at 6500rpm up from first to second, we experienced a strange bogging – shifting at 6000rpm, the power peak, solved the problem. Refinement is as good as only a Toyota can be – hushed, with a muted growl near the redline that does sound like the engine’s not quite enjoying spinning so fast.

The five-speed manual has a positive feel and slots into gear well, but hurry the shifts too much and you might miss second to third. The lever is well-designed with short throws, but we’d rather stick it in a particular gear and let the engine do the work.

Fuel economy

Over a cycle consisting mostly of highway driving, we managed to achieve almost 11kpl with the manual and 8.5kpl with the automatic, which are good figures for a car of the Corolla’s size, weight and power output

The Altis is more for the chauffeur than the owner who drives.

Ride and Handling, Steering

The Corolla rides well at low speeds, swallowing bumps and ridges well. Up speed, and the car doesn’t lose composure over bumps. However, this great ride quality compromises the handling – the Corolla is uninspiring in a corner, the body roll and steering feel making the driver feel like slowing down, because there aren’t too many smiles to be got by pressing on. Grip levels are high, although mid-corner bumps taken at speed unsettle the car. The steering is made for comfortable progress through traffic, which robs it of feel. Change direction in a hurry and the Corolla complies, but you get the sense that it isn’t happy darting around.

Ground clearance has reduced by four millimeters, but the chin is quite low, so owners will have to keep that in mind while driving around. The old car had a high chin that let drivers make off-road excursions with ease.

The Altis makes a good fist of safety features. We wish it had better rubber, though.

Braking, Tyres, Safety

The brakes on the Corolla are powerful enough to haul the Corolla down to a standstill from 80kph in 28.6 metres and 2.8 seconds with no fuss, thanks to ABS with EBD being present. The pedal offers linear resistance and decent amounts of feedback.Bridgestone supplies their Turanza ER300 for the Altis. The 195/65 R15s have good grip and help the ride, but can get noisy at speed.

Two airbags, one each for the front seat occupants, are present. ABS with EBD helps you steer should you stomp on the middle pedal, besides bringing you to a stop in the shortest possible distance. The anti-glare rear-view mirror is a boon when driving at night. The driver’s side window has something called ‘jam protection’, which while not preventing smears from sticky, sweet foodstuffs, helps to prevent people’s fingers getting caught in an upward-rolling window.

The Altis is a value-for-money proposition from Toyota

Cost

Toyota Kirloskar has never priced its products competitively – the respect the Toyota badge earns is enough to keep customers coming in, despite the slightly high prices. The Altis bucks that trend, and offers an awful lot of equipment for the money: the base model retails at Rs 11.32 lakh, and the top-spec automatic costs Rs 13.43 lakh, ex-showroom, Mumbai. The Civic is keeping the Altis honest, but rumours of a January price hike are already doing the rounds, so book your car quickly if you intend to get yourself this mid-size Toyota.

Overall evaluation

The Corolla Altis makes a very good case for itself – there are a lot of references to its epic battle with the Civic being bandied about, but one should remember that the two cars cater to different kinds of owners. A Civic owner will want a sporty car that he’ll want to drive. The Corolla owner merely wants a car that will take him from point A to B in comfort while making a style statement. The Altis does that admirably, and makes no bones about the car it is. The Altis doesn’t suffer from an identity crisis; it has stayed true to its roots despite conventional wisdom dictating otherwise. That’s why it has earned the respect it has over four decades. That’s why we like it – for what it unashamedly is.

Exciting touches

• Steering-mounted audio controls
• Auto headlamps with washers

Painful touches

• Four-speed automatic unsuited to highway