The Toyota Corolla is the bestselling automotive of all time, and it stays as related within the new car market because it ever was. 

That’s as a result of when it comes to worth for cash, the Corolla nonetheless has the market cornered. For round $25,000 you will get a snug compact sedan with all-wheel drive and an EPA score close to 50 mpg. In case you have these three targets in your buying listing, and you reside in an house, hire, or take care of a parking scenario that doesn’t permit sufficient charging entry, no different mannequin comes shut. 

It’s certainly one of only a handful of hybrids that supply AWD, high 40 mpg, and value lower than $30,000. 

In per week with a 2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid, in SE AWD kind, I discovered this compact sedan to be easy but pleasant, and located that it transcended what I anticipated given the value tag. 

2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid SE

Toyota Corolla Hybrid AWD: Actual-world mpg

First off, that is one very environment friendly sedan in real-world driving—even placing apart for the second that it has all-wheel drive. 

Over my 53-mile round-trip route that features 700 toes of elevation change plus a near-equal mixture of under-65-mph freeways, suburban boulevards, and rural rolling-hill backroads—a route that tends to convey out the perfect in hybrids—I averaged 55 mpg. This was with an ambient temperature round 66 levels Fahrenheit. 

Then individually, over about 140 different miles representing a sequence of suburban errands in additional congested commute-style circumstances, I averaged practically 49 mpg. 

These check-ins on mileage far exceeded the automotive’s window-sticker EPA rankings of 44 mpg mixed (47 mpg metropolis, 41 freeway), prompting me to incorporate an odometer calibration and located it shut sufficient to not skew any of the numbers I’ve reported. 

It’s not fairly the 65 mpg I noticed within the front-wheel-drive 2023 Toyota Prius on the identical route, in related circumstances however, to convey again the total image, this was with all-wheel drive—and with out the back-seat packaging sacrifices made by the Prius. 

2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid SE

2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid SE

2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid SE

Corolla Hybrid efficiency: Nimble, not fast

The Corolla Hybrid doesn’t supply up the identical form of sporty trip and dealing with as the most recent Prius. Though the 2 fashions do share a nimble feeling in lower-speed backroad corners that’s much better than what you would possibly count on from an eco-tuned Toyota compact.

The Corolla Hybrid AWD makes use of a 1.8-liter inline-4, with a entrance traction motor making 93 hp and a rear traction motor making 40 hp. The system makes a mixed 138 hp. As such, the rear motor and rear wheels don’t basically assist the Corolla Hybrid speed up any extra shortly, however they’ll assist it achieve confidence and traction on snowy driveways. 

If the Corolla Hybrid has a draw back, it’s flat-out acceleration. As with different Toyota hybrids with the planetary setup, off-the-line acceleration from stoplights doesn’t showcase the moment torque of electrical motors. However step abruptly into the accelerator at reasonable speeds of possibly 10-50 mph and the Corolla feels predictably perky sufficient to dart into a niche in faster-moving visitors. 

2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid SE

Total, the present Corollas drive round city with a quiet sophistication that bely the value, and the Hybrid makes probably the most of this upscale impression. It might need the perfect steering of any car within the U.S. Toyota lineup apart from the 86 sports activities automotive, with a mix of relaxed monitoring, light-but-near-perfect weighting, and a reasonably balanced, nimble perspective even once you push it exhausting. Brake mixing is neat, too. 

Its cabin felt quieter total than that of the most recent Prius—particularly much less boomy on the freeway. That mentioned, I wouldn’t stretch to name it a bit Lexus.

My examined 2023 Corolla Hybrid was an SE AWD, beginning at $26,600, and it was optioned with JBL audio, together with 9 audio system and subwoofer, the SE Premium Bundle, including a sunroof, heated facet mirrors, and blind-spot screens and cross-traffic warnings. Together with just a few different objects it added as much as $30,388, together with the $1,095 vacation spot payment.

After per week with the Corolla, I had newfound respect for the simplicity constructed into this machine—in addition to its super worth. Whether or not you map that worth out in options, in house and luxury, or in refinement, the Corolla Hybrid AWD delivered far more than I anticipated to get in a compact sedan with that $30k sticker value.

2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid SE

2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid SE

2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid SE

Corolla Hybrid execs and cons

To satisfy the value—even at lots of of 1000’s bought per yr—Toyota goes low-cost in some respects, and the one I observed most pointedly is its entrance seating. The entrance perches simply don’t embrace sufficient thigh help. I’m 6-foot-6, and oddly sufficient, it’s one of many few compact sedans for which I then examined the again seat and located it practically as comfy as being in entrance. Bookmark this, Uber drivers. 

The Corolla’s interface feels refreshingly easy, and the soft-touch sprint materials felt like a critical advance within the basic atmosphere of the cabin versus previous Corollas. The one exception to that—and massive disappointment—is Toyota’s 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system. Voice instructions are higher and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are properly supported, however display screen actual property is squandered, there’s now not a split-screen view, and a few typical every day duties, like channel-flipping whereas following CarPlay navigation, flip into clumsy back-and-forth duties. 

The Corolla’s most direct rival at current is the Hyundai Elantra Hybrid, which begins at a better value, makes an edgier design assertion, and isn’t supplied with all-wheel drive. Honda hasn’t deserted this phase utterly both; there’s a Honda Civic Hybrid as a result of return subsequent yr, instead of the discontinued Perception sedan. 

Toyota Corolla lineup

What’s lacking within the Corolla Hybrid lineup? Different non-hybrid variations of the Corolla are supplied in hatchback kind, however there’s no such model of the Hybrid. For that, take a critical take a look at the Toyota Prius—which can also be supplied with all-wheel drive, albeit with its decrease roofline that impacts back-seat house. 

If you need extra back-seat and cargo house, plus possibly a bit extra floor clearance, there’s additionally the 2024 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid, which is now supplied in a Nightshade Version. Nevertheless it doesn’t measure as excessive in gasoline economic system at an EPA-rated 42 mpg. 

The Corolla turned the bestselling automotive on the earth a half-century in the past, and since its U.S. introduction a number of years earlier than that it’s at all times signified nice worth for the cash. 

The most recent Corolla is not any exception. It’s nonetheless a miser, because it’s higher than ever at making extra from much less.

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2023 Toyota Corolla SE AWD
Base value: $27,695 together with $1,095 vacation spot
Value as examined: $30,388
Powertrain: 138-hp, 1.8-liter inline-4 gasoline engine, 40-hp rear traction motor, planetary hybrid system together with 93-hp entrance traction motor, mixed complete of 138 hp
EPA gasoline economic system (metropolis/freeway/mixed): 47/41/44 mpg
The professionals: Overdelivers on mpg, again seat house, rides and handles above its pay grade
The cons: Poor infotainment interface, unsupportive entrance seats, staid styling