by Anthony Fongaro - Photos via Toyota- 07/13/2021
Automakers like to make their sedans into crossovers or SUVs. A lot of the time, these will be named differently compared to their sedan counterparts. I understand the appeal of these sorts of crossovers, especially smaller crossovers. They can do almost anything that you would like, can come with an all-wheel drive, and may have the space that you need. These work well in the city, but sometimes are not the best when it comes to a higher speed. That is where Toyota comes in with their Corolla. What they did was create a crossover that is almost the same as a regular Corolla. They even named that similar, the Corolla Cross.
This is going to be a very important crossover for Toyota because it is basically the same as the regular Corolla, which means that it is a white good that is going to sell in the thousands. As dull as the regular Corolla can be, the combination of its price point and amenities makes sense in an urban situation. What about the Corolla cross? Is this the SUV that potential small vehicle owners would want to trade to? For this answer, I drove the Corolla cross throughout a multitude of different situations and came up with an answer that I pretty much had in the beginning.
When you park the Toyota Corolla cross in a parking lot, you can almost lose it. That’s mainly because the styling looks like a smaller Toyota Highlander, but without some of the more distinct features that the larger SUV has. This isn’t exactly a dull-looking SUV, but it is definitely one that blends into the point of almost being anonymous. The Toyota Corolla cross is not an ugly vehicle, nor is it the most handsome vehicle. It's just your regular small SUV.
This XLE model is the top-of-the-line Toyota Corolla cross, and it came with some gray paint along with the almost not necessary body cladding to make it look more off-road than it actually is. Like I said, there really isn’t anything too distinctive but nothing too offensive. There are a few nice touches such as the model designation on the rear pillars. My favorite part was the rear end because the taillights are probably the best part of the entire exterior. If you told people that you have this vehicle, they may not know that this is a crossover version of the Corolla, but the appeal is there.
Entering the interior you have a layout that is almost exactly the same as the Corolla sedan. That means that the materials do feel cheap, but it has everything that you would want in a small SUV. The interesting thing is that, although there is a digital dashboard, it showcases your speed in a traditional-looking analog dial. It isn’t a bad thing, but it is a little odd considering other competitors have more detailed information that you can see on this display. In terms of the seats, this XLE did come with some quite comfortable seats with heating. I did like how the infotainment system and climate control are separate from each other and, for the most part, we’re not too difficult to use. This model does come with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but I was never able to connect my phone through Apple CarPlay. That means that I had to go through the regular Toyota interface, which is very bland and not too nice to look at. When I tried to make some phone calls, the person at the opposite end said that the quality was quite poor.
If you think that this might be a little boring, just wait until you actually try to drive it. This particular Corolla cross did come with all-wheel drive, but it uses a two-liter naturally aspirated engine mated to a CVT. The engine makes 169 horsepower and 150 lb-ft. This has the Corolla Cross take its time to a 9.2-second 0-60 MPH. Is this slow? Absolutely. When you are driving anywhere over 30 MPHl, you will see that the traffic is going faster than this little SUV wants to be pushed. The engine also doesn’t make its power until much higher in the rev range which means that you don’t really have a lot of power when you first start accelerating. Thankfully, there is now a hybrid version that should help with acceleration.
Once you are up to speed, the Corolla cross really isn’t too bad. You do get Toyota's safety features which include blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, and lane-keep warning. Driving around town and at lower speeds is where the Corolla cross excels the most. When you have to do hard acceleration or are on the highway trying to get up to speed, you do notice that the Corolla cross really struggles. Speaking of hard acceleration, the engine is quite loud and not pleasant. What’s interesting is that I didn’t hate the CVT. It “shifted” well and was quite smooth. Nice job Toyota. It also is not the biggest fan of going into corners, but the regular Corolla isn’t a fan of going into the corners as well.
One thing that I was quite alarmed about is the fuel economy. I know that this vehicle is the top-of-the-line model with all-wheel drive, but with how small the engine is, I only received 28 miles per gallon. Granted, it was about 90° during my testing and I did have to have the air conditioning on full. This is definitely a vehicle that enjoys going slow and just having the Artie paint go from point a to point B. That is not at all a bad thing. What’s the point of trying to make your crossover sporty when it won’t ever be used like that?
Another number that I thought was interesting was the price. This particular model did start at $27,000, but with some options that included a decent JBL sound system, this increased the price to $33,000. That seems like a lot of money for a vehicle that is small and has a lower quality interior, and acceleration than the price point would suggest. Would I go for this trim level, no I would not? Instead, I would go for the LE trim and forgo the all-wheel-drive system. That gets you to around $26,000, which seems like a much better value. In fact, the price does keep it in line with other competitors.
The ultimate question is: do I think the Toyota Corolla cross is a good vehicle? I think it is OK. It’s definitely not exciting, and there are many other vehicles such as the Mazda CX-30 and Hyundai Kona which are all-around better vehicles. Granted, Toyota is going to sell a plethora of these SUVs. It was a very smart idea to put the Corolla name onto this SUV because that instantly grants name recognition. If you do like the Corolla Cross, save the money from AWD and you have a decent city runabout.
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