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- Ancap Safety
One of Australia’s favourite cars, the Corolla Hybrid makes plenty of sense for city buyers looking for an affordable run-around. In hybrid guise, the Corolla is real-world efficient too. This time we review the most affordable hybrid, the Ascent Sport grade.
- Genuine fuel efficiency in all conditions
- Value for money is hard to beat
- Quality inclusions and attractive styling
- Boot space is way too small for the segment
- A couple of options could be standard
- Compact rear seat limits its suitability as a family all-rounder
The Corolla range covers a broad spread in terms of equipment and price. The most affordable five-door hatch is the non-hybrid Ascent Sport, which starts from $25,395 before on-road costs in a recently revised auto-only range. That base model also comes with a hybrid drivetrain, which is the model we’re testing here.
The 2021 Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport Hybrid starts from $27,395 before on-roads, and mixes a compelling list of standard equipment with sharp pricing and frugal fuel use.
Rivals are many, with perhaps the least traditional now being the most obvious. VW’s Golf starts from $29,350 with a manual (or $31,950 for the more popular automatic) and is in the ballpark as you can see from our comparison.
More traditional alternatives cover the Subaru Impreza, Hyundai i30, Kia Cerato and Mazda 3. The Impreza starts from $24,190 in hatch form, while the i30 starts from $25,420, the Kia Cerato from $25,490 and the Mazda 3 from $26,590, all before on-road costs when paired with an equivalent automatic transmission. This is nothing if not a crowded segment.
Ascent Sport rolls on 16-inch alloy wheels, with a temporary spare rather than full-size. LED headlights are standard, as are LED running lights, LED tail-lights, an LED rear fog lamp, and heated and retractable door mirrors.
| Key details | 2021 Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport Hybrid |
| Price (MSRP) | $27,395 plus on-road costs |
| Colour of test car | Feverish Red |
| Options | Metallic paint ($575) |
| Price as tested | $27,790 plus on-road costs |
| Rivals | Volkswagen Golf | Mazda 3 | Hyundai i30 |
Ascent Sport grade misses out on Toyota’s premium steering wheel and shifter, but the items included do the job well enough. Keyless entry and start are standard, along with dual-zone air-conditioning in the Corolla Hybrid, along with electric windows, 60/40 split-fold rear seats and a centre armrest.
Storage is taken care of with a centre console tray and storage box, door pockets up front, an illuminated glovebox, as well as four cupholders and four bottle holders.
The Corolla cabin is a comfortable, practical and user-friendly place to be. Cabin storage itself is well catered to, and the front section of the cabin is a good place to be even on long road trips.
Move into the second row and things tighten up if you have tall kids or adults back there. If you’re eyeing a Corolla as family transport, the hatch might be more ideally suited to younger families, otherwise the slightly more spacious sedan would be the better choice.
The front seats are sculpted enough, there’s plenty of fore and aft adjustment, and the driving position is suitable for all heights. The Corolla has always had that old cardigan feel when you’re in the cabin, in that you’re immediately comfortable and familiar with the surrounds. Around town, it’s a joy to drive.
While the 60/40 split-fold seats open the luggage space up nicely, it’s the size of the boot (217L) that is our biggest bugbear with the Corolla hatch. Some of you won’t mind, some of you will buy the sedan, but for us, the boot is nowhere near big enough compared to the segment leaders.
If you’re a one-car household, for example, the boot space (or lack thereof) might force you to head to another brand. Given everything else that Toyota got right with this Corolla, the boot is a letdown.
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| 2021 Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport Hybrid | |
| Seats | Five |
| Boot volume | 217L |
| Length | 4375mm |
| Width | 1790mm |
| Height | 1435mm |
| Wheelbase | 2640mm |
Infotainment and Connectivity
Ascent Sport grade gets a 4.2-inch multi-information display for the driver, with traditional analogue gauges relaying key vehicle info. We found the 8.0-inch touchscreen to work well, despite not being as big as those we’d consider to be the current standard-setters.
Crucially, though, the system is reliable and works well. There’s a USB input up front, Bluetooth connectivity (which also works well), voice commands and recognition, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a six-speaker audio system, and neatly arranged steering wheel controls.
We don’t think you necessarily need to tick the options box for proprietary satellite navigation and digital radio if you’re a keen smartphone user. Digital radio is obviously handy to have, but plenty of you remind us that it’s not a deal-breaker if you have access to streaming via your phone. Toyota’s satellite navigation system is a good one with SUNA traffic updates, but again, you won’t need that if your smartphone is up to date.
Both Bluetooth and smartphone mirroring worked well for us on test, and as we regularly find, the Apple interface is a little more intuitive than the Android operating system once you connect it up. We had no glitches with the system on test.
The Corolla gets a full five-star ANCAP safety rating having been tested at launch back in 2018. There’s a comprehensive suite of standard kit, too, as you’d expect in this segment.
Those features include Lane Trace Assist, lane-departure alert with steering, Pre-Collision Safety system with pedestrian (day and night) and cyclist (day) detection, speed sign recognition, automatic high beam, all-speed active cruise control, rear-view camera with fixed guidelines, anti-lock brakes, stability and traction control, active cornering assist, seven airbags, seatbelt warning, ISOFIX anchors for the rear outboard seats, and an engine immobiliser.
| At a glance | 2021 Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport Hybrid |
| ANCAP rating & year tested | Five stars (2018) |
| Safety report | LINK |
One area the Corolla punches harder than just about any other is in the value-for-money stakes. For starters, the buy-in price is sharp given the level of build quality and standard equipment.
Once you own a Corolla, though, it continues to be cost-effective to run. Servicing is required every 12 months or 15,000km, and will cost you just $205 each visit for the duration of the five-year warranty.
Then there’s the fuel use. Against an ADR claim of 4.2 litres per 100km, we used just 5.3L/100km on a specific city cycle with plenty of traffic and no highway running. That’s real-world efficient, especially given we were driving normally and not trying to hypermile to get the best result.
| At a glance | 2021 Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport Hybrid |
| Warranty | Five years / unlimited km |
| Service intervals | 12 months / 15,000km |
| Servicing costs | $1025 5yr |
| Fuel cons. (claimed) | 4.2L/100km |
| Fuel cons. (on test) | 5.3L/100km |
| Fuel type | 91RON |
| Fuel tank size | 43L |
While the engine doesn’t punch too hard on paper, it does get the job done with ease in the real world. We’ve never been the biggest fans of CVTs, but working with the hybrid system, there’s a smoothness and refinement to the way the Corolla gets to work. We’ve noted the efficiency above, and that’s matched by a quiet, refined feel from behind the wheel.
It feels light on its feet around town, aided by direct steering, a tight turning circle, and the nimbleness that comes from a well-sorted chassis focused on doing exactly what it does well – negotiate the confines of the city.
While 72kW and 142Nm from the petrol engine alone doesn’t raise eyebrows, the electric motor tips in 53kW and 163Nm, with Toyota claiming a combined power figure of 90kW. Combining the instant response of an electric motor with the higher-RPM ability of a petrol engine delivers a punchy experience in the real world, despite the lower figures on paper. The whole experience is quiet, too, regardless of engine RPM or road surface.
The 16-inch rims and chubby tyres play their part in the effortlessly comfortable ride over poor surfaces, along with the intrinsic rigidity of the chassis, which lets the springs and shocks do their work effectively. The best way to describe how the Corolla rides is tight but with compliance. It feels well bolted together, but is never firm on poor surfaces. Just as we’ve come to expect from Toyota.
| Key details | 2021 Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport Hybrid |
| Engine | 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol hybrid |
| Power | 72kW @ 5200rpm petrol, 53kW electric (90kW combined) |
| Torque | 142Nm @ 3600rpm petrol, 163Nm electric |
| Drive type | Front-wheel drive |
| Transmission | Continuously variable automatic transmission |
| Power to weight ratio | 64.3kW/t |
| Weight | 1400kg |
| Tow rating | 1300kg unbraked / 450kg braked |
| Turning circle | 10.2m |
One of Australia’s most popular cars, the Toyota Corolla continues to provide a compelling list of reasons for buyers to make the purchase. It’s cost-effective to buy, cheap to service over the first five years of ownership, and frugal in the real world as well.
Toyota listened to the commentary that the Corolla needed to be more stylish and less bland, and as such, the current model cuts a sharp figure on the road. When the only real negative is the fact that the boot is a little small, you’d argue that the manufacturer has done a solid job delivering a competitive product.
2021 Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport Hybrid review
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