Still hot at 50.
Would you guess that the Toyota Corolla has been in Australia for half a century now? Probably not.
The prices, specifications, and details of the 2017 Toyota Corolla have finally been revealed, after the Japanese carmaker teased an update in March last year. The Corolla is the best-selling nameplate for the brand in here, and the latest update is designed to mark 50 glorious years in the Australian sunshine.
For 2017, Toyota has endowed the Corolla with a new face and rump, with LED lights employed liberally. Aside from the aesthetic revisions, safety and standard equipment have seen a noticeable jump as well, ensuring that the Corolla’s fifth decade on Aussie soil is a memorable one. Most notable is the availability of a pre-collision warning system including autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane departure warning, and intelligent high-beam assistance.
The three headlining safety features are thrown in with the ZR variant (the red car in these release photos), and optional on lower SX models ($750 extra), and base-model Ascent ($1,500, but comes with 15-inch alloy wheels too). A 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system is now standard-fare across the range, with the mid-range SX gaining satellite navigation, while the ZR gets bi-LED headlights too. A 4.2-inch driver’s information heads-up display is also added to the Ascent’s spec list.
The drivetrain remains the same, with a 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine employed, paired to a 6-speed manual gearbox, or a continuously variable (CVT) automatic. Output remains at 103kW and 173Nm, but Toyota says it has revised the CVT somewhat to help deliver better performance. Minor suspension revisions and additional sound deadening means that the Corolla is touted to be better to drive and better to cruise in, with lower NVH levels and tighter handling.
What hasn’t changed is the Toyota Service Advantage capped-price servicing strategy, which caps the cost of scheduled servicing to just $140 per visit for the first three years of ownership or for 60,000km, or whichever comes first.
Toyota has confirmed to the media that the Corolla hatch will receive a raft of updates, in a release next week. As for the saloon, it’s already available for sale in showrooms, in case you simply cannot wait to get a new Corolla on your drive.
If you are considering it, the range now kicks off with the Ascent manual at $21,240, followed by the SX manual at $23,820, and then the ZR automatic at $31,920. Prices stated are before on-the-road costs. Options available stand at a CVT automatic for the Ascent and SX variants at $2,250, the Ascent Safety Pack at $1,500, the SX Safety Pack at $750, and premium paint at $450 across the range.
For more information on Toyota and its range, check out our Showroom.
