The All-New 12th generation Toyota Corolla was successfully launched on 9th October 2019 at the Genting Sky Avenue. Here, they have just started calling it the Toyota Corolla again, but it still has that Altis badging at the rear. It actually makes sense as we actually don't have a Corolla as well as a Corolla Altis variant running around at the same time. Anyway, this new 2019 (2020 Model year) C-segment sedan is now here in Malaysia and it is impressive - You can view our first drive impressions review here as we have already published it on YouTube.
This video featuring the new 2019 Corolla 1.8G was taken on the date of the launch. We drove it up to the launch and down from Genting. The video features YS Khong of the YouTube Channel YS KHONG Driving and also Zachary Ho of Autoworld.com.my. Oh, do excuse the shaky camera at times and also the wrongly dated titles. It has been a looong week so far.
The 2019 Toyota Corolla Altis is the latest in a looong line of Corolla cars. The Corolla name has been around for over 50 years and many of us grew up with one either owned by our parents, family members or even friends. I personally have actually been in many of them. I think my first Corolla experience was riding in a 3rd generation one belonging to the father of a friend when I was about seven years old. Now, this new one hits the streets of Malaysia and it features a lot of change.
This Corolla isn't the staid, boring uncle type of car that you once knew. Toyota is back in terms of making nice looking cars. The last Corolla which was something totally game changing was the seventh generation model - the E100 series which had the better know AE101 Levin variants also. This one now takes after its larger sibling, the Toyota Camry and has a very modern, aggressive look to it which is so sleek yet cutting edge it makes some other brands look like they're only for pensioners.
This new car also sports Toyota's New Global Architecture platform and it does work in a lot of ways. It is a nice C-segment family sedan that looks extremely good and it is softly sprung with comfort of the passengers in mind. But with the new TNGA platform, the handling is secure and also competent as you can see in our drive down from Genting Highlands where the launch was held.
We get the 1.8 liter 4 cylinder 139hp 172Nm petrol powered engine powering the front wheels via a 7 speed CVT gearbox. The engine is very smooth, actually one of the best in the class in terms of refinement. It isn't a slouch. It isn't fast out of the box but it is adequate for most situations and can cruise at speeds in and around the 100-130kmh zone in comfort. Refinement is high with only some tyre roar intruding depending on how coarse the tarmac is.
In terms of fuel consumption, the normally aspirated engine coupled to that CVT is quite good. After the hard driving we did up and down Genting, the new Corolla gave us a 12.8L per 100km. So the car is efficient and on a normal drive, without a 5 time rally champion at the wheel and also having the three of us, me being a chubby bloke weighing the car down the mileage should be actually good! Of course, there are good points and bad point of not having a turbocharged engine. The fuel efficiency of the 1.8 is good.
I am impressed with the car in terms of overall comfort and refinement. In terms of performance, it is adequate and will not really struggle in day to day commutes. We also tested the DRCC or Toyota's version of Adaptive Cruise Control. This works quite well but you have to set it over speeds of 30kmh and then it can still be used in very slow moving traffic under 30kmh.
There are minor niggles like the large framed small infotainment screen, but it is easy to use and has a lot of function. So these are not deal breakers but only subjective in terms of whether you like it or not. After driving the Corolla, I don't even notice it actually. Small niggles are the only issue here. Even the question on most of your minds on why UMW Toyota only brought in the 1.8 liter variant here.
I think the reason they brought in the 1.8liter is that it is a balance between reliability and performance. Elsewhere, there is a 1.2liter turbo, which I think would be too small in the long run as off boost (say around 1,800 to 2,200 rpm where it usually is) the Corolla will basically be a heavy car with a 1.2liter engine and that isn't good. Other variants include a 1.6liter normally aspirated engine which I think most of you would complain even more and then a 1.8liter hybrid (which not many have taken up to this concept even though it may be efficient) and the 2.0liter normally aspirated petrol or 2.0 hybrid. These two would cost around and over RM150,000 so again, bringing that in would not make sense as the prices would be a little too high to stomach for a Japanese C-Segment sedan.
All in all, the new Corolla brings back chic styling, baby Camry looks and a lot of quality to the C-segment category.
Priced at RM136,888 as tested, the 1.8G spec Corolla is fully imported from Thailand with only some options fitted by UMW Toyota locally like the 360 camera, vehicle recorder and telemetry (optional) and that infotainment unit for tax break reasons (if not the price could be higher). So it does bring a lot of value to the segment.
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