Toyota South Africa Motors has launched the new
Corolla Quest, a car that is based on the
11th generation Corolla. This is not a new way of doing things, as the previous
Quest was also based on the
10th generation Corolla. The new
Corolla Quest though, is quite different in a number of ways, as I found out during the product presentation and drive around
Gauteng. It will be
available in dealerships from
March.
Firstly, there have been actual developments around the
Corolla Quest, simply because the car is being produced exclusively at
Toyota’s plant,
Prospecton in
Durban. No other country is producing the car and in fact,
Toyota Japan is in full support of the project. There is great enthusiasm and plans to sell good numbers. The previous-generation
Corolla Quest sold quite well,
averaging just under
900 units per month over its
6 year lifespan. And no, it was not all
Uber. That app only takes less than 20% of
Corolla Quest sales.
That the
Corolla Quest is based on the outgoing
Corolla sedan means that it already has a strong foundation to build on, and while some people have asked if it is a
down-specced version, the truth is that it is not. While it takes on a similar
front end look, the new car has a different
grille.
Three trim levels have been offered;
Standard,
Prestige and Exclusive. Each comes with its own version of the
front grille and a long list of standard features like the common
1.8-litre naturally aspirated engine,
LED daytime running lights, d
river and
passenger airbags,
adjustable steering wheel,
USB port and others.
As the
trim levels go up, so does the
specification. The
Prestige and
Exclusive for instance, also have
rear reversing cameras,
cruise control,
6 sound speakers,
16-inch alloy wheels (15-inch steel is in the Standard), and others. The
Exclusive adds things like
LED headlights,
60:40 rear seats split, and
automatic air conditioning among others. So it is clear how
well-specced these cars are from the
base all up to the
Exclusive. This is definitely no “
stripped-down”
Corolla. Riding in the
Corolla Quest is like riding in any normal
Corolla. It has a
quiet cabin,
comfortable seats and a really
fun steering wheel.
The
1.8-litre was another positive development as a replacement for the old
1.6-litre. It produces
103kW of
power at
6 400rpm and
maximum torque of
173Nm at
4 000rpm, the exact same one found in the
Corolla. Customers will be able to choose between either a
6-speed manual or a
CVT transmission. I drove both versions and was particularly impressed by the
CVT, which did not behave like a traditional
CVT, but more like a
regular,
smooth automatic. I would definitely recommend it for people who live in high-traffic areas like
Gauteng,
Durban and
Cape Town.
Toyota claims a
0 – 100km/h sprint time of
9.8 seconds for the
manuals and
10.2 seconds for the
CVTs. Top speeds are
200km/h for the
manuals, while the
CVTs stop accelerating at
195km/h. Despite all that, the
CVT is said to return an
average fuel consumption figure of
6.3 litres per 100km, while the
manual returns
7 litres per 100km.
Corolla Quest is aiming to buck the
SUV trend by providing customers with the option of a large, well-priced family
sedan, packed with features. The new car will not be replacing the
Corolla sedan, of which a brand new model is almost in
Mzansi. It will be a third model in the
Corolla range that includes the
hatch as well.
