Up up and away! _
The 2014 Toyota Corolla is not faster than a speeding bullet or more powerful than a locomotive. And no, it certainly does not leap over tall buildings in a single bound.
It doesn’t grind or railslide, and it doesn’t drift. Unless, of course, you are the Stig. Or have a few tricks up your sleeve.
Mercifully, it is not available in beige. Although a comparable brown sugar metallic is there if you really want a more bland-looking Corolla.
But why would you? You can have it in white, silver, black, red, slate metallic or blue crush metallic.
The all-new 11th-gen Corolla is more parts Clark Kent than it his counterpart, and the bright red “S” badge doesn’t make this car a superhero.
But the Corolla is the people’s champion of the compact car category. At least in the eyes of Toyota and its customers.
The automaker sells more Corolla than any other model in Canada. They account for 25% of the whole enchilada.
Corolla has been Toyota Canada’s best-selling vehicle for 18 years years and counting, the outgoing model having racked up 26,000 sales since January.
Since debuting in 1967, Toyota has sold more than 39-million of them world wide. Here, that figure is over 1.3-million.
They’re built to last – 80% of Corolla sold in the last 20 years are still on the road.
At the factory in Woodstock, Ontario, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada is already pumping a new one out every 55 seconds. They’re already making close to a 1,000 new Corolla per day.
The free-for-all starts this week. The 2014 models just went on sale.
The base CE starts at $15,995 and rises to $20,250 on the LE Eco. In between are the S and LE trims, the latter ends up north of $24,000 when fully-loaded.
The S model I drove starts at $19,215. The CVTi-S transmission allows for manual shifting via paddle shifters or the sequential multi-mode shifter and adds $985. It is actually the best CVT I have driven!
The new two-pulley transmission, simulated shift points and smooth/quiet operation are great in normal driving mode, which takes advantage of the “Eco” settings. But it actually comes to life in sport driving mode. I didn’t feel the urge to try the six-speed manual afterward, so it’s even worth the money. Cue the apocalypse.
To read my full review of the 2014 Toyota Corolla, visit the PRN IGNITION website!