2012 Toyota Corolla ~ Toyota Car Toyota

2012 Toyota Corolla

The 2012 Toyota Corolla should stand pat after sweeping revisions to the 2011 Toyota Corolla that included freshened styling and a revamped model lineup.

The 2012 Corolla will remain a 5-passenger, 5-door sedan with a take-no-chances character that appeals to its legions of loyal buyers. That approach has put Corolla in the highest rungs of the compact-car sales charts. It may not be enough to keep it there in the face of aggressively redesigned rivals, namely the 2012 Ford Focus, 2012 Honda Civic, and 2011 Hyundai Elantra.

Style: 2012 Toyota Corolla will be a visual repeat of the 2011 Corolla, carrying over the modestly reshaped nose and tail that were part of the car’s midcycle freshening.

That’ll please buyers loyal to Corolla’s conservative character. It won’t help Toyota attract shoppers intrigued by bold new alternatives like the 2012 Ford Focus, 2012 Honda Civic, and 2011 Hyundai Elantra. Each will be fully redesigned and clawing for a chunk of Corolla’s market share. By comparison, the 2012 Corolla is likely to seem tired in appearance and a little outdated dimensionally.

Its exterior size will remain smack in the middle of the compact-car field. But Corolla’s 102.4-inch wheelbase will feel increasingly stingy as newer models stretch that key dimension. Wheelbase is the distance between the front and rear axles. It basically determines a vehicle’s passenger space. Corolla is already a bit pinched for rear-seat space versus leaders in its competitive set. That deficit could grow as roomier rivals hit the streets. Some competitors will offer more than one body style, too. The 2012 Corolla will continue exclusively as a four-door sedan. A wagon version of the Corolla is marketed as the Toyota Matrix, however; it shares the sedan’s chassis, but has a tall roof and is available with all-wheel drive.

The core of the 2012 Corolla lineup is likely to return the three-model roster born of the model-year 2011 reshuffling. Entry-level Base, volume-selling LE, and sporty-looking S versions should return. Styling distinctions between the Base and LE come down to details such as outside mirrors that are body colored on the LE and black on the Base model, and availability of alloy wheels on the LE. The 2012 Corolla S model should continue its impersonation of the departed XRS, with sporty-looking body spoilers, aero add-ons, and standard 16-inch alloys.

Mechanical: The 2012 Toyota Corolla could experience some powertrain updates if Toyota responds to competitive pressure from newer rivals that boast 40-mpg highway fuel-economy ratings. Without more advanced transmissions and other changes, the 2012 Corolla’s likely to rated a best 28/35 mpg – and that’s with the seldom-ordered manual transmission.

Resurrection of a sporty XRS model could also alter the 2012 Corolla’s powertrain picture by reintroducing a higher-horsepower engine, though the low demand that helped kill the XRS for model-year 2011 doesn’t seem ready to reverse itself.

That points to a return of one four-cylinder engine for all three 2012 Toyota Corolla models, a 1.8-liter rated at 132 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque. Once squarely in the ballpark, those figures are now below par for Corolla’s competitive set, where rivals such as the Elantra and 2012 Focus will offer base four-cylinder engines with around 150 horsepower, and advanced direct fuel-injection, to boot.

The new crop of top compacts will also come at 2012 Toyota Corolla with sophisticated six-speed automatic transmissions; in Ford’s case, a six-speed twin-clutch automatic. Unless Toyota updates the 2011 Corolla powertrain, its compact will again be saddled with a four-speed automatic transmission that’s archaic by comparison. In transmissions, the greater the number of gear ratios, the more efficiently the transmission extracts the engine’s power and the better chance of optimizing fuel economy. Automatic transmission will likely remain standard on the 2012 Corolla LE model and an option in place of a five-speed manual on the Base and S versions. Even here, Corolla seems to lag; the manual in top rivals has six speeds.

The 2012 Toyota Corolla will retain front-wheel drive, which places the weight of the engine on the tires that propel the car. That translates to good wet-surface traction and, by grouping powertrain components in the nose, results in efficient packaging.

Features: 2012 Corolla will continue to offer most of the features germane to the cost-conscious compact-car owner. Competitors, however, are increasingly emphasizing the sort of cutting-edge driver-aid and infotainment technology that Toyota has thus far reserved for its larger, more expensive cars.

To remain viable for a certain segment of buyer, the 2012 Toyota Corolla would need to offer at minimum modern essentials such as a navigation system; thankfully, it finally added an USB iPod interface and Bluetooth mobile-phone connectivity for model-year 2011. Still, shoppers drawn to new-age amenities like pushbutton ignition, lane-departure warning, and self-parking – all available in some 2012 Corolla competitors — will have to wait until 2014 to see if Toyota’s compact offers them.

The wheelbase of the 2012 Toyota Corolla is 102.4 inch, thereby giving a higher scope for passenger space. It has sporty body spoilers, standard 16-inch alloys and aero add-ons. It also features a 1.8 litre engine with 28/35 mpg and a five-speed manual transmission and 26.34 with a four-speed automatic transmission. Likely to be out in the showrooms by autumn 2011, 2012 Corolla is a much awaited impulsive machine that is worth the investment of a base price of $16,300 with a variety of standard features that can be asked to be disqualified against a certain amount of bargain. Toyota Corolla 2012 can produce 132 horsepower at 6000 rpm. Owing to the fact that Corolla 2012 has a 4-cylinder engine, the mileage is a hundred times better than a lot of its competitors in the market. The 2012 Corolla Toyota also provides the buyers with a second option in terms of engine, which includes the 2.4 litre engine that can produce 158 horsepower at 6000 rpm. This proves the robustness of the vehicle that has overgrown all the other models launched previously by the company.

Competitors:Honda Civic, Ford Focus, Chevrolet Cruze

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