Yahoo Autos 2014 Toyota Corolla
Stepping up to the LE brings the CVTi-S, with 16-inch wheels, a backup camera, automatic climate control, cruise control, keyless entry, and Toyota’s Entune infotainment suite, which operates via a 6.1-inch touch screen. Again, Plus and Premium trims up the content, and the options are a sunroof and a Driver’s Convenience package that adds an audio upgrade, navigation, and keyless start.
At $19,810, the 2014 Corolla S’s price is down ever so slightly from last year’s. It adds a leather-wrapped steering wheel, shift paddles on CVT cars, and dual-upholstery seats. You might want to spend extra for the S Plus to get rear discs in place of the standard drums. The CVT in S models offers a Sport mode that delivers higher shifter points and holds each “gear” under braking; the driver can choose from among seven preset ratios using the shift lever or the set of paddle shifters behind the wheel. The manual-gearbox S comes only in a loaded, $22,110 edition with a sunroof, navigation, keyless start, and 17-inch wheels. All S models have a nice stitched leather steering wheel that feels like it's actually connected to something; although the handling is hardly inspired, it’s competent enough to make you wish the Corolla had more engine. The S tuning feels more buttoned down than the LE’s, but not to the point of diminishing ride quality. Grooved pavement on the I-5 induced moderate on-center wander in all trims, although it was worst in the LE Eco.
The S is denoted by piano black trim in the grille and interior and a revised gauge cluster with a TFT info display centered between the equally sized speedometer and tach. (Other models get three gauge pods, including a giant fuel gauge on the right.) The S has a modest rear spoiler that looks less silly than the overstated one on last year's car, as well as a chrome exhaust tip. If you like to drive but must have a Corolla, the S is the one to have, but even here, driving enjoyment takes a lower priority than Toyota's traditional ones: implied quality, durability, and reliability.
If Toyota's touted quest for more passion in its cars raised anyone's expectations for a driver-centric Corolla along the lines of, say, the excellent and equally new 2014 Mazda 3, he or she underestimated the aversion to risk characteristic of the world's largest automaker. As the bestselling model of all time-40 million and counting, and 38 percent of all Toyotas ever sold in America-the Corolla's ubiquity defines mainstream conformity. It's not hard to find a Corolla owner professing “love” for the car, but if you ask why, the answers about “trouble-free” miles and fuel economy speak to passions that also drive excitement for leaf blowers and laundry equipment. It wasn't always thus, but today’s Corolla caters to people who equate driving with a chore and define a good car as one that minimizes their pain. By those standards, the new, improved 2014 model should still be a smash hit-it’s as painless as ever.
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