2 Hour Drive 2015 Corolla S indicates 41.6 MPG, Comparo to my Prius

Discussion in 'Other Cars' started by cycledrum, Apr 11, 2015.

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  1. cycledrum

    cycledrum PSOCSOASP

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    Dropped my 2011 Prius three off for its 35k service and headed to rent a car at Piercey Toyota. They had prius, Camry, Corolla, and more available, so I asked for highest trim Corolla for a couple hours. Turns out it was 2015 Corolla S premium which gets 17" alloy wheels, Softex seats, 8-way power driver seat, HD radio, 2 door and trunk smart key, push button start, sunroof, navigation and would you believe the price with destination is $23,750 ??

    I reset the MPG indicator and tripmeter. Drove some city streets, got on the highway, took a backroad, another city street and so on. ....

    Well, I turned in the car after 40 miles driving and the gauge was indicating 41.6 MPG. Obviously I wasn't hammering it, just driving it mostly like my Prius, but I'm no avid hypermiler that's for sure.

    Interior compare:
    The corolla S premium is quite nice actually. I think they borrowed a page from VW with it 'upright' styling of the dash, but it looks nice and buttons are easy to reach. Would take me a while to get used to that touchscreen

    Ok, the driver seat - really good in this Corolla: The bolsters are fairly pronounced but feel good. They have extra bolstering in the shoulder area which really holds you in. The headrest was very well placed for me, inch or less behind my head.

    My Prius headrest is somewhat of a train wreck: In the best possible adjustment of the seat /back, the headrest ends up nearly 2 inches behind my head: Too far back. I've had to strap a pad lately onto the headrest to fill in the gap.

    Overall the Corolla S primo driver seat feels really good. I wouldn't buy it because I want a longer seat bottom cushion to support my long legs, but for most drivers this seat would seem to be very comfortable and supportive.

    The Corolla armrests were pretty well placed. When I want to set my left elbow down, the door armrest is there to rest on. The Prius door armrest is fairly pathetic. I remove my 2" block of foam from the door when going in for service, and there's just nothing there to rest my left elbow on. Poor design, plain and simple.

    I noticed it was a bit harder to see the speed in the Corolla when having to look between the steering wheel and decipher and analog gauge. The Prius 'heads up' digital speedo is much easier to see and decipher.

    The HD FM radio in the Corolla sounds so much more crisp than my basic 2011 vintage Prius radio. A/C worked great.

    Driveability:
    The new Corollas have CVTs. I'd say I prefer it over a standard geared automatic transmission. The Corolla engine was pretty quiet and the idle at stop signs was so smooth I didn't notice it at all.
    On the 17" wheels it had a more planted feel than my Prius.
    I went on a bit of windy backroad and in a tricky section, I could tell the steering was a bit numb where you can move the wheel a little bit and nothing happens. I suppose that is for safety though. Toyota doesn't want to make the wheel sensitive and have people fly into the other lane with a small movement.

    Overall:

    I could see why people buy gobs of Corollas now. I got 41.6 MPG on a two hour drive and I'll bet I might average 35 on commuting. For under $20k (starting Corolla price! This S premium is over$20k for sure) what a bargain. I wouldn't buy this Corolla S premium but only cause I want longer more supportive driver seat cushion and some more power for highway cruising and an overall bigger car to suit my 6'2" stance. But, for people less picky and shorter than me, which is a heck of a lot of people, yeah, go try out a Corolla.
     
    #1 cycledrum, Apr 11, 2015
    Last edited: Apr 12, 2015
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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    great car for the masses. peoples vagon.(y)
     
    #2 bisco, Apr 11, 2015
  3. mmmodem

    mmmodem Senior Taste Tester

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    I rented one of these new Corollas a few months ago and came away impressed. I achieved 40 mpg according to the dash. I also love the CVT. When I stomp on the gas for immediate power, I get loud noise and a slow steady surge of power. On any old automatic, I'd get a violent downshift and the car would buck out of control. Then it would hunt gears trying to keep me at speed on the incline.

    I found the HVAC controls vastly superior to the Prius. This is how I would want the layout to be. Rotary knobs for temperature should be defacto standard on all cars. I am so tired of jabbing the buttons on my Prius to turn the temperature up and down. It also let me change temperature while HVAC was off. On a PiP, you risk turning on the ICE if all you want to do is turn on the fan.

    The thing I didn't like is idle vibration. Maybe I had more miles on my rental but the vibration was unacceptable. The engine sounds and feels like the same engine on my 2006 Corolla. It starts out smooth but vibration builds as the miles pile on. Don't remember how many miles mine had but I felt it coming on already. Oh yeah, no lines on the back up camera, same as my Prius.
     
    #3 mmmodem, Apr 11, 2015
  4. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    I can attest to cycledrum's mpg.

    I got 6.6L/100km (35.6mpg) over a full tank (500 something kilometres) of mixed city driving and mountain highway driving. Cruising at a steady 100km/h, the readout was at 5.5L/100km (42.7mpg). Another half a tank with mostly city and some highway netted 7.2L/100km (32.6mpg). That CVT is tuned for fuel economy and will send the engine to fuel cut-off mode as often as possible (as indicated by the 0.0L/100km iFE readout). It'll greatly benefit from P&G style driving.

    If you're curious, setting the cruise at 60km/h (38mph) shows an average readout of 3.9L/100km (60mpg)! *I say average, because the number was fluctuating between 3.2 and 4.5L/100km.
     
    #4 Tideland Prius, Apr 11, 2015
  5. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    I'll point out that the entry level trim doesn't have the CVT, but the old 4 speed automatic.
     
    #5 Trollbait, Apr 12, 2015
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    then again, for 24 large, i'll take a prius over corolla any day.:) i wonder what the breakdown of corolla sales are by package/level?
     
    #6 bisco, Apr 12, 2015
  7. breakfast

    breakfast Active Member

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    I agree! For less than 24.5 large, I just took a very similarly equipped Prius Four home. Plus zero percent financing for 60 months. Glad the early adopter premium (vs Corolla, Camry, Fusion, Accord, etc) is fully off the Prius (at least until Gen 4)

    That said, the TrueCar price on the Corolla S Premium is just under 21k, and has ergonomics better suited to Cycledrum (I safely assume - his posts on the matter are legendary )

    Ps - I agree on the HD FM - my 2015 Four has it (as do 2015 Threes) - the sound quality is fantastic and the multicast stations have some great content in my area.
     
    #7 breakfast, Apr 12, 2015
  8. cycledrum

    cycledrum PSOCSOASP

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    So how are those little 15" wheels and nifty plastic wheelcovers working out for you? It's not much fun to pry them off before I go in for service. Necessary as it's much easier to retorque wheel nuts w/o covers. Plus Toyota service cracked one a year ago, so they won't see the covers again. Last car I buy with plastic wheelcovers.

    Here's a benefit the Corolla has over the Prius: It weighs 200 lbs less.

    Work on that Toyota o_O
     
    #8 cycledrum, Apr 13, 2015
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2015
  9. breakfast

    breakfast Active Member

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    I don't like the wheel covers but I am fine with the 15's. I live in pothole country, where I see too many cars with low profile rims with massive scrapes on the rims. At least the wheel covers can be replaced to make the wheels look new. Also, I need snows in the winter, and the size.lends itself better to snow tire performance (not to mention tire price).

    If I lived in NorCal I would have considered a base Five instead of a base Four, but more likely bought a Volt because of market distortions (namely, tax credits, my company's free electric chargers there, and hov stickers ;) ).

    I still trust NiMH batteries and the reliability record of the Gen III HSD more for the long haul, though.
     
    #9 breakfast, Apr 13, 2015
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  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    toyota, are you listening? lose some weight!:mad:
     
    #10 bisco, Apr 13, 2015
  11. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    200 pounds is about the weight difference between the hybrid and ICE Camry. Guess they could lose that.:p
     
    #11 Trollbait, Apr 13, 2015
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    yep, just make a gasser prius. 40 mpg and two hundred pounds lighter.;)
     
    #12 bisco, Apr 13, 2015
  13. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Can't be that far off, but: Toyota is notorious for sugar coating the mpg display. Maybe they've reached a new low?
     
    #13 Mendel Leisk, Apr 13, 2015
  14. Sergiospl

    Sergiospl Senior Member

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    No EV or hybrid can match the 2015 Toyota Corolla LE Eco - Torque News
     
    #14 Sergiospl, Apr 19, 2015
  15. Stevevee

    Stevevee Active Member

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    The biggest difference between the two is cargo hold, although the Corolla has a very nice trunk. For those of you that don't sleep in your cars, or do the occasional large item that the trunk lacks clearance for, fine. I only have the v because of storage space. Economical wagon, if you discount the high price. When I had a new Corolla for a Toyota loaner, I got an even calculated 40 mpg driving interstate at an even 75 mph on cruise. My 2004 Corolla (stick), would do 38 most of the year on the same route.

    If they came out with a Corolla to replace the old Matrix that did about the same, it would definitely bleed Prius customers.
     
    #15 Stevevee, May 4, 2015
  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    corolla hatchback, can you say, g'day mate?
     
    #16 bisco, May 4, 2015
  17. Stevevee

    Stevevee Active Member

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    If they make a Prius hatchback, why not a car that costs thousands less? The Corolla and Camry are on our replacement list for the old Camry Hybrid.
     
    #17 Stevevee, May 4, 2015
  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    they do, just not in usa.
     
    #18 bisco, May 4, 2015
  19. Stevevee

    Stevevee Active Member

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    So far, we don't need to sleep in the car. So maybe it won;t matter ;)
     
    #19 Stevevee, May 4, 2015
  20. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    let's hope it stays that way.:p
     
    #20 bisco, May 4, 2015
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