Toyota Corolla

FIRST DRIVE Powertrain and tech mods keep hatch competitive

- Sean Carson

THE Toyota Corolla is a British motor industry success story. The Japanese family hatchback is built at the brand's Burnaston factory near Derby, with nearly 500 Corollas of all variants rolling off the production line each day.

The plant is working at a significant rate, too, because the newly updated Corolla has just started progressing down the line - and we've had a chance to drive it on UK roads.

The 1.8-litre hybrid we're driving here a five-door hatchback in Design trim - will be the biggest seller, so this is very much the heartland of the Corolla line-up (85 per cent of Corollas built at Burnaston are powered by the 1.8 petrol-electric powertrain, which is manufactured in the UK, too, at Toyota's Deeside engine plant in North Wales).

The changes are significant in the areas that count. Firstly, the electric side of the powertrain has been reviewed, with the old battery replaced by a redesigned, lighter lithium-ion unit that's more energy dense; it weighs 14 per cent less yet delivers 14 per cent more power. It supplies an electric motor that offers more torque, while the hybrid transaxle gearbox is also lighter.

The result is a new fifth-generation hybrid powertrain that produces a combined 138bhp, resulting in a 1.7-second reduction in the 0-62mph time, down to 9.2 seconds. Despite the boost in performance, there's no change to CO₂ emissions, at 104g/km, while fuel economy is a claimed 61.4mpg for this Design model. You should easily see more than 50mpg in everyday driving.

Toyota claims that up to 80 per cent of trips can be completed on electric power alone, and we can well believe this if your routes are mostly in and around town. Even on our mixed test route, which took in more B-roads and some dual carriageways, the average was still more than 65 per cent, which is a strong performance.