2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid ZR hatch review

If you’ve seen Toyota’s most recent ad campaign for the Corolla, it’s an all-singing, all-dancing musical production with lots of high kicks and riotous colours. It’ll make you smile.

That says two things to me – the first is that Toyota knows the car is regarded, historically, as a little dull. Despite years of campaigns trying to inject some passion into dependability, it’s still not seen the way the company seems to feel it should be.

Second is that the Japanese giant still has a lot of faith in its cornerstone product. The Corolla has been around forever and is synonymous with the Toyota brand. And despite the arrival of the SUV-shaped Corolla Cross, there’s clearly some life left in the hatchback yet because the range has been expanded to add the top-spec ZR with a hybrid drivetrain, as tested here.

It doesn't hurt, either, that the Corolla is now more stylish than it's ever been, even showing up a few volume-selling and premium rivals when it comes to sheer visual appeal.

RELATED READING

Looking for more details on the wider Corolla range? Our full range review has everything you need to know.

JUMP AHEAD

• How much is it, and what do you get?
• How do rivals compare on value?
• Interior comfort, space and storage
• What is it like to drive?
• How is it on fuel?
• How safe is it?
• Warranty and running costs
• VERDICT
• Specifications

How much is it, and what do you get?

The most expensive Corolla hatch you can buy is $39,120 before on-road costs. That seems like a lot and it’s going to have to work hard to justify that price tag because a hot hatch it isn’t.

Just a few months ago you couldn’t get a hybrid ZR and now it exists, Corolla prices are up by about $2000 across the range.

When you’re looking at mid-40s on the road, you want lots of standard equipment and you want it to be good stuff, something the Corolla has not always delivered.

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To partially justify the price increases, Toyota has finally flung that disgraceful head unit that was old when it made its debut. While its replacement has closed off an avenue of creativity and comedy in my reviews, the new one is vastly better although the lack of a home button troubles me. Interesting how we’ve been coached by our phones all these years.

Its screen size is still 8.0 inches, now backed by decent hardware and the display loses its predecessor's washed-out appearance.

All told, it’s a vastly better system and matches the one in the homely-looking Corolla Cross, with the handy addition of wireless Apple CarPlay that I found to be quite reliable, unlike a Volkswagen Golf’s.

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The eight speakers are JBL-branded if you’re that way inclined.

Along with the new screen, you get a year’s subscription to Toyota Connect, a phone app that offers remote control features as well as telematics when things go awry and you need to call an ambulance after a crash.

You lose remote connectivity to locking, engine start and climate control after the first year unless you pony up $9.95 per month for the Essentials package and another $12.50 per month to add a bunch of connected services to the navigation and user profiles.

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How do rivals compare on value?

Until recently, the Corolla’s most obvious rival was a Honda Civic.

But, with price rises and the mildly insane decision to go to a business model that leaves us with two expensive Civics – one petrol and one hybrid, with the former starting at $47,200 drive-away – the Corolla looks pretty good. Although the Honda has a lot more interior space.

Step across the Sea of Japan, however, and two Korean rivals – the Hyundai i30 N-Line Premium ($37,020 before on-road costs) and Kia Cerato GT ($35,790 before on-road costs) – throw pretty good punches with a sportier chassis and turbocharged 1.6-litre.

Neither are hybrids, though. And the Cerato has a lot more space in the back seat than either.

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Also not a hybrid is the Mazda3 G25 GT hatch a hybrid at $36,690. It looks fantastic and drives very nicely indeed. Mazda does have what it calls a hybrid, the supercharged mild-hybrid X20 for $43,190 (both before on-road costs).

It doesn’t deliver the fuel economy you might want from a car with a hybrid badge but it does go faster than the Toyota.

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Interior comfort, space and storage

A few years ago, Toyota discovered the joys of really nice front seats.

I feel like someone bought a Peugeot and someone else a Citroen (the three companies do work together in Europe on the Aygo/108/C1 tiddlers) and said, “Hey, these are nice. We should do better front seats.”

And they did. In my head, anyway. A good number of Toyotas now sport these both attractive and very comfortable front seats that in the ZR feature some slightly lairy red inserts, as does the cabin as a whole. They are so comfortable, though, and that’s the main thing.

The convenience that goes with your comfort extends to door pockets, a pair of cup holders, a wireless phone charging pad that fits large format phones and a small bin under the armrest. And just the one USB port, sadly, although one might argue the wireless charging somewhat softens that blow.

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It’s quite a nice-looking interior even though it’s starting to feel its age a little. Somehow the Corolla Cross interior is largely the same forward of the B-pillar but looks and feels old and a bit tacky. It’s amazing the difference a slightly different grade of plastic can make.

Moving to the rear and, like most cars in the segment, it’s a little grim for passengers. There isn’t a lot of knee or leg room and even headroom is best described as passable.  Amusingly, there are cup holders are in the doors, which is novel and slightly curious given there’s a centre armrest.

The boot is a surprising 333 litres. Surprising because while there’s a battery in here somewhere, it’s a good 116 litres more than the petrol versions. The trick is that those cars have a space-saver or even full-size spare depending on spec whereas you’ll be stuck, sometimes literally, with a can of goo in the ZR hybrid.

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What is it like to drive?

The basics

This generation of Corolla was a step-change for Toyota, when it first landed on dealer forecourts.

Like so many other classic Toyota names, this Corolla is now built around Toyota’s NGA platform.

While a platform doesn’t magically make a car good, it seems that this one inspired its maker to ensure the Corolla drives well rather than the understeery mess that was the old car.

The ZR has a set of double wishbones underneath the rear end, which helps the ride no end but pairs very nicely with the MacPherson struts up front to put the Corolla on a firm footing. It’s really, really nice to drive.

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And it remains competitively so, with a good set of well-calibrated brakes and suspension that doesn’t want to tip the car up on its door handles. It’s not a hot hatch, but handles with the security and sense of fun that its Korean rivals do, just without the harsh ride.

As ever, the driveline needs a little explanation and the marketing a little debunking. While we call the Toyota hybrid drivetrain a series hybrid, the local operation has developed a mildly naughty habit of calling it a self-charging hybrid. Not as naughty as some companies calling mild hybrids a hybrid, but that’s for another day.

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Toyota’s 1.8-litre 2ZR-FXE petrol engine is under the bonnet, serving up 72kW and 142Nm via the Atkinson cycle. That’s not a lot and on its own would render the 1400+kg ZR unpleasantly slow.

Crammed into the continuously variable transmission (CVT) is a 70kW electric motor with 185Nm of torque. Toyota says that once you put them together, you have a combined output of 103kW and we-don’t-want-to-tell-you newton metres of torque.

Probably safe to say it’s more than the weedy 142Nm of the combustion engine alone, but not the 327Nm you get when adding the electric motor figure on top.

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The 2023 Corolla’s hybrid drivetrain includes an updated electric motor, smaller hybrid componentry and the switch from Ni-Mh to Li-ion for the battery, all of which reduce the weight of the system, which is always handy. Power is up by 13kW, too, which makes the new car a little snappier than the old one.

It drives like a normal car except you move off silently under normal acceleration and will likely reverse out of parking spaces under electric drive. You might also have trouble finding reverse because, like me, you put it B mode for maximum energy recovery when coasting and braking.

That’s the self-charging bit and, not coincidentally, the bit that saves you all the money on fuel. When you lift off the throttle or brake gently, instead of that energy being lost in heat or mechanical drag, the electric motor in the transmission becomes a generator and feeds the small battery with electrons for redeployment. Formula One types call it a Kinetic Energy Recovery System or KERS.

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A great thing about the Toyota hybrid system is that it’s seamless and utterly effective. You get very used to the silence on start-up and step-off and it’s a great game to see how long you can eke out electric-only travel. You can even hit the EV mode button to force it to use electricity for the few hundred (slow-ish) metres you can get without striking up the petrol engine.

The extra torque of the electric motor covers up the fact it has a CVT, my least favourite kind of transmission. You still get that lawnmower sound effect but you don’t get the rubber band effect, which makes the car far more relaxing.

It’s not particularly quick off the line but rolling acceleration is quite good and it’s better than the 2022 model. It feels like there’s quite a bit more torque available and it’s very smooth.

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How is it on fuel?

A hybrid is obviously all about fuel economy, although thankfully there’s a bit of power to go with it these days.

The 4.0L/100km claimed figure seems a little optimistic, though.

My time with the Corolla was untempered by my wife’s more relaxed driving style, so to come in under the notoriously inaccurate ADR fuel consumption figure was a bonus, especially considering the car was box-fresh.

One wonders if, with a couple of tanks under its belt, whether it will dip into the high-fours per 100km. That seems entirely reasonable to me.

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How safe is it?

This generation of Corolla was tested by ANCAP in 2018 and scored five stars, the maximum available.

The updated safety package includes more features in the auto emergency braking system, looking out for motorcyclists and helping stop you from launching out across a junction if someone is coming your way.

For the kids, there are two sets of ISOFIX points and three top-tether anchors.

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Warranty and running costs

Toyota’s five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty applies to all Corollas.

Each of the first five services will cost $205 each for a total of $1025 over the five 12-month/15,000km intervals.

It’s entirely likely most if not all of these will be done in under 90 minutes so you can mooch around and play with your phone while they do it.

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VERDICT

The 2023 Corolla hatch range doesn’t look a lot different. On the upside, at least it still exists, and it's still a good thing.

Once I’d got over the rarity of driving a hatchback in this SUV-soaked era, it was nice to be reacquainted with a car that has evolved subtly yet usefully for the 2023 model year.

More power and torque, more gear inside and the zeitgeisty connected services – with attendant subscription charges – mean the updated Corolla carries enough improvements to earn a spot on your small-car shortlist.

Top of the range is rarely the best value, but hey, if you want it, I can assure you the ZR Hybrid is really quite good.

RELATED READING

Looking for more details on the wider Corolla range? Our full range review has everything you need to know.

Specifications

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Related video: Corolla Cross comes in! Time to cross out the Corolla hatch?