First of all, the new Toyota Corolla Cross is very nicely balanced. It isn’t necessarily skewed too much for efficiency, with a good sized (1.8 liter DOHC inline 4) gasoline engine combined with the electric motor all combined with a well-made CVT transmission. Electric power stayed on long unless you demanded power aggressively, and then the switch to both sources and then to fuel-only was smooth. Bystanders noted happily that the engine sound was quite nice as well, not wimpy or over-compensating but pleasant.
The Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid was also quite well balanced in terms of comfort and handling. It uses the Toyota New Generation Architecture that is shared with vehicles such as the Altis sedan, but adjusted for SUV/crossover utilization. In this case, a new torsion beam system (completely new and in its first use) may be what helped to make the vehicle surprisingly consistent when we threw repeated hard acceleration, hard braking and hard turns at the car all in a few seconds of movement. This really separates the engineering men from the boys. We didn’t expect this, especially when we saw how much the car sank when our heaviest body-builder photog got in the car. We thought we would be dealing with an over-soft suspension. That was not the case.
All the right safety systems are in place in the Corolla Cross, whether you choose the Hybrid or not. We actually activated ABS and traction control a few times we didn’t expect because we were going off the well-used “racing” line and swung onto wet moss-covered patches. This shows how easy it is to lose traction (especially when requiring the car to take those big weight shifts with the aforementioned acceleration/braking/turning/acceleration movements) and how quickly modern cars are to react.
It’s not just the safety stuff. The Corolla Cross had nice tech, though not an overabundance. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are available via cable, we set up and tested both and it was all pretty seamless. The large 7 inch infotainment screen is a fixed one, sitting just above the air conditioning vents in the center console. High enough to see easily but not too high that it interferes in any way with forward vision. I think large unmoving screens detract from the beauty of a good interior, but I also can’t see how you can integrate such large screens smoothly into a dash unless you have a flat truck-like slab in front of you. And yes it worked very well. It even told us where to go for food, along with trip advisor ratings. I’m being converted. Slowly.
Final point. The Corolla Cross over-delivered. You may have been expecting a raised bare-bones Corolla Altis sedan, it isn’t that. You may have been expecting a somewhat lackluster execution of the hybrid engine, it isn’t that. It was a thoroughly smile-inducing experience from drive-up to seat and track time to sitting for long periods with the air conditioning going using just the battery power. We rave about the hybrid. But the gas will be an interesting choice as well. The gasoline-only Corolla Cross 1.8 G CVT It comes in at prices that will put it up against other Japanese cars and SUVs as well as newer brands from or made in China. The car will therefore be appealing almost to completely separate niches. And appealing it should be.
My choice? No question. The hybrid.
Flat on sidewards, you see the “cross” design. It isn’t just a cute aesthetic, it helps shape the side bulges. Oh, and right behind it is a current Corolla Altis Hybrid
The new Toyota Corolla Cross deserved a photo shoot day. And it ran with the air conditioning on using just battery for so long we forgot about it.
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