Toyota’s Corolla FX Hatch – A-FORD-ABLE

Toyota’s Corolla FX Hatch

A-FORD-ABLE

Years ago I read The Fords – AN AMERICAN EPIC, written by Peter Collier and David Horowitz, published in 1987. The book’s 435 pages are divided in two parts: Henry Ford is given almost 200 pages of the family/business bio, while Ford’s grandson Henry II consumes (literally!) the balance. And while an almost century of family and business covers a lot of territory, the one takeaway is that Henry and the Ford Motor Company’s Model T put America on wheels. And with the company’s rapid move in the teens and ‘20s to lower prices via greater volume, those initiatives created a business model fully 180 degrees from what we see in today’s auto industry. But if there exists one automotive OEM capable of turning the economic headwinds it’s Toyota. And the company’s Corolla hatchback, in any iteration, would be a credible start. 

You know, of course, the Corolla. The small Toyota and Honda’s Civic put the Japanese on the U.S. automotive map with the first OPEC crisis, and have been there – in combination with the larger Camry and Accord – ever since. The Corolla continues to swing for the bleachers, with a 4-door sedan, a hybrid 4-door sedan, the hatch we tested and – most recently – a Corolla Cross. The Corolla Cross, also available as a hybrid, takes the Corolla’s underpinnings and clothes them within a compact crossover footprint. And with a base price not too far removed from our test Corolla hatch (think mid-$20s) it may be the deal on today’s Toyota showroom.

For hatchback enthusiasts, it’s nice that Toyota keeps the 5-door in its planning. This remains very much a compact platform, its overall length of 172 inches sitting on a wheelbase of 104 inches. Passenger volume is a tad tight, offering just 84 cubic feet combined. And the cargo volume behind the rear seat is just 18 cubic feet, although that’s obviously expanded with the rear seat folded. For two adults planning a road trip there’s plenty of space, but if taking that young family of four you’ll probably need to go to the roof with either your luggage or, uh…the kids. 

Behind the wheel you’ll enjoy the comfort of sport seats that remain accessible (as you’d hope), but those seats are covered in an Alcantara-like material that latches on to everything; if that ‘everything’ is lightly colored you’ll spot it immediately. If going into the FX I’d opt for the Katzkin leather option (Google it!), which – for what I’ll guess is now $1500 – will provide you with a washable interior that won’t be lint-free, but you won’t see the lint. But then, I only had the Corolla for a week.

The team at Car and Driver found the Corolla’s interior both dated and claustrophic, and while it’s undeniably a bit of a cocoon, I liked the smallish infotainment screen matched to a smallish instrument panel. And that infotainment was largely intuitive, always a good thing when this old guy drives a car for the first time from LAX. Outward visibility won’t be confused with your mom’s Volvo, but then, neither is it tunnel-like, oppressively claustrophobic. 

And the Corolla FX hatch gets out of its own way. While wishing you could still get a manual trans, the two liters of normally aspirated four cylinder delivers a very real 169 horsepower and 151 lb-ft of torque. Driving the front wheels via a CVT automatic, 0-60 (again, according to Car and Driver) arrives in just over 8 seconds, and goes on to an estimated top speed of 120. Top speed is academic, but in a day trip to a winery above Santa Barbara, speeds of between 75 and 80 were relaxed, and in a 180-mile roundtrip the Corolla FX returned just over 30 miles per gallon. 

In its Inferno red (think metallic orange) exterior with FX-specific white alloys, this Corolla hatch avoids the anonymity of most Corollas. (It shouldn’t be confused with Toyota’s much angrier GR Corolla, but might be confused…) If you could build a Corolla hatch with a manual, I’d take one in base form, head to TRD for some firmer suspension and upsize the wheel/tire package without going low profile. And that would keep the outlay under our test FX hatch’s $29K with destination.

But here’s what Toyota could (and should) do. Fund a $5K rebate on base Corollas via a 1% surcharge on anything in their lineup with a MSRP of over $50,000. That $500+/per car could be applied to the $5K rebate for families of limited means, and finance the remaining $20,000 thru a long term loan or subsidized lease. You’d give mobility to those without it, and get pollution-emitting clunkers off the roadways for those with old(er) cars or vans. It’d be a win/win, and Toyota could do it. 

For years we subsidized the sale of EVs to an affluent customer base to get the EV ball rolling. Toyota could turn to its own resources to make its current compact Corolla even more accessible. 

Or – you know – a-Ford-able.