2015 Toyota Corolla Reviews, Pricing & Specs

When I was 12 years old, I drafted a list of the qualities I’d like to have in my future husband. Among other things, he had to be rich and smart and look good in a scarf, and apparently I had decided that I absolutely must be able to check off each and every line at the time I was to decide on a life partner. I don’t have the list anymore, but I recall it vividly, mostly because my mom was laughing so hard. Not with me, but at me.

Nowhere on that list were intangible things like how he made me feel. In my callow youth, I didn’t write about how he had to possess a similar sense of humour to mine, or feel comfortable enough with me to dismiss the occasional bodily emission, or genuinely like being with me, even after a 48-hour Disneyland marathon with two little kids.

I’m not saying that buying a car is anything like choosing a soul mate—although performance enthusiasts might disagree—but if you’re gonna drive the thing every day and spend a good chunk of your life interacting with it, it would be preferable if you found the experience delightful, no?

The 2015 Toyota Corolla compact sedan is a car that checks off several of the sensible and practical qualities you want. It’s reliable. It’s fuel efficient. It offers some of the modern features you seek. It's even surprisingly roomy and comfortable inside. But it lacks any of the attributes that make driving a pleasure. In a Corolla, your commute to work or your trip to the mall is just another task that must be performed rather than an experience to relish.

Toyota redesigned the new Corolla just last year, missing an opportunity to make the car’s styling something more than an appliance. Four different trim levels are available, including the basic CE, the popular LE, the thrifty LE Eco and the sporty S. All versions include standard features such as LED headlights; air conditioning; power windows, locks and mirrors; a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel; a height-adjustable driver’s seat; and Bluetooth connectivity with a USB 2.0 port.

A more efficient continuously variable transmission (CVT) is offered on the CE and S grades, as opposed to the six-speed manual that’s standard on both. On LE, the CVT becomes standard along with larger 16-inch wheels and heated front seats, while a power sunroof is optional.

The Toyota Corolla LE Eco is equipped like the LE but adds a retuned engine that makes 8 extra horsepower for a total of 140 and gets better fuel economy at the same time. That is, in part, because this model is more aerodynamic and rolls on smaller wheels with low-rolling-resistance tires. An Upgrade package combines the features offered in the US. LE Eco Plus and LE Eco Premium grades by adding similar features to those offered on the LE, but with unique 16-inch alloy wheels.

The sporty Corolla S features unique hubcaps, side mirrors with integrated turn signals, a rear spoiler, sportier front seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel with paddle shifters, a Sport driving mode and revised dashboard trim. In a somewhat feeble nod to driving enthusiasts, you can even get a manual transmission with the S.

My test vehicle for the week was a US-specification Corolla S with the six-speed manual transmission, a car that almost nobody buys. This trim sells in Canada for $19,600, not including the $1,590 destination charge (with the CVT, the S trim costs $20,585 before fees). While my red Corolla S demonstrated more personality than previous versions of this iconic small car did, I wouldn’t venture to call it handsome or sleek.

A 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine powers all versions of the Corolla through a front-wheel-drive (FWD) drivetrain, and in all but the LE Eco trim, it makes power specs of 132 horsepower. That’s not much, but this engine is refined and quiet, and because the Corolla is relatively light, it supplies a decent amount of power after an initial lack of thrust.

A six-speed manual transmission is an increasingly rare find in a nicely equipped small car, and while most automotive journalists are, in my opinion, overly excited about rowing their own gears, I can honestly say that none of them would enjoy this one. Not only is shifter action floppy and imprecise, but the clutch lets up at a ridiculously high point. Two seasoned drivers with decades of experience with manual gearboxes stalled the car several times over the course of a one-week loan.

On the other hand, the powertrain with the six-speed gearbox made it easy to keep engine revs high in order to wring maximum power from the engine. That’s necessary to keep up in traffic, as independent publications show that when flogged it still takes a Corolla about 8.5 seconds to run from zero to 60 mph (zero to 100 km/h figures are not available).

Give up on the quest for maximum forward thrust and you can earn a benefit at fuel pumps. Natural Resources Canada estimates that my Corolla S test car should have returned 8.3 litres per 100 kilometres in the city/6.2 highway. I averaged 7.9 L/100 km in mixed driving.

As for how it drove, in the city the Corolla was decently hushed and provided a mostly peaceful ride, although imperfect pavement jarred the car from its reverie, creating a busy jitteriness, no doubt as a result of its unsophisticated beam axle rear suspension.

On the handling segment of my regular test loop, the word “lackadaisical” kept popping into my mind. While the brakes, suspension and steering handled the curves without trouble, there was no joy experienced during this portion of the drive, no beguiling suspension action or acceleration capabilities urging me to exit a corner with enthusiasm. As a result, I was as bored as a teenager at a mandatory poetry reading.

Look, what most people want from their car is a reliable way to get from point A to point B. The Corolla delivers. But if excellent cars such as the Mazda 3, Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf and even the Honda Civic or Hyundai Elantra can also do that while simultaneously providing a degree of driving pleasure that makes your trip more fun and enjoyable, why can’t the 2015 Toyota Corolla? Why wouldn’t you want to look forward to the drive as much as the destination?

If there's an area where the Corolla is substantially improved over the previous version of this car, it's within the cabin. The improvements may not show in terms of cabin materials, where pleasing materials starkly contrast with cheap-looking and brittle-feeling plastics. Rather, I refer to excellent comfort levels, from the front seats that are firm and supportive to the truly massive amount of rear-seat space.

Believe it or not, the compact Corolla has nearly as much interior space as the larger Toyota Camry and most other midsize family sedans. Credit a 13-centimetre increase in rear legroom over the previous version of the Corolla for this gain in cabin room. Add high seating positions and the genuine potential to carry three smaller adults in this car’s back seat, and the cabin’s sheer voluminousness might be its best selling point.

Unfortunately, I can’t say I was pleased with the rough-feeling cloth upholstery in my Corolla S test vehicle. I would consider choosing a grade with the SofTex leatherette.

As for storage areas, the glove box is roomy, but the centre console bin is so tiny as to be useless. Open the trunk and you’ll find 368 litres of practically configured space, which is good for this class of vehicle. A wide trunk opening makes loading and unloading bulky items much easier.

The 2015 Corolla offers Bluetooth connectivity as standard equipment for all models. Toyota’s Entune App Suite infotainment system is available on higher grades.

To use this technology, Corolla owners download apps to a smartphone, pair the smartphone to the system, and access such features as the Bing search engine, Pandora and iHeart radio, and Facebook, in addition to other information and services. Pairing my iPhone to Entune was a breeze.

Fortunately, Toyota includes large menu buttons and actual volume and tuning knobs for the radio, because experience using the rather dainty and capricious 6.1-inch touchscreen controls precludes me from characterizing it as easy to use. The virtual buttons are small, require more precision than is sometimes possible and are frequently unresponsive.

The navigation system was simplistic enough in terms of operation, although the small display screen limited its usefulness, too.

Toyota doesn’t offer any newfangled active safety systems in the Corolla. There is no blind-spot monitoring system, no lane-departure warning system, no rear cross-traffic alert system, no active cruise control system with forward-collision warning and no automatic braking function. A backup camera is about as sophisticated as it gets, and that's not standard.

Likewise, the automaker’s Safety Connect service is unavailable for a Corolla, no matter how much money you’re willing to spend to get automatic 9-1-1 assistance in the event of an accident. Some competitors offer this service as standard equipment, and in a few competitors it doesn’t cost anything extra.

In crash-test evaluations, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gives the model year 2015 Corolla an overall rating of 5 stars. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gives the 2015 Corolla a Good rating in all assessments except for the small overlap frontal-impact test, in which the car rated Marginal.

While the Corolla might not be an emotionally stimulating new car, it sure does make up plenty of ground when it comes to practical matters.

The Corolla is expected to prove cheap to own and to retain a big chunk of its original value over time. And remember, my well-equipped test car comes in at a relatively low price with a decent load of equipment, so it falls on the more affordable end of the spectrum in the first place.

Furthermore, both Consumer Reports and J.D. Power predict that the Corolla will prove to be reliable and dependable over time as it becomes a used car, and even if you flog it on a regular basis, that proven 1.8-litre engine delivers good fuel economy.

Clearly, when it comes to cost of ownership, both in terms of its affordable sticker price and how cheap it is to own, the 2015 Toyota Corolla shines brightly. And that’s the main reason to buy one.

Note: Images show a US model.