Yahoo Autos 2021 Toyota Corolla Apex First Drive Review | Not the pinnacle of cheap performance
Toyota has had something of a performance car revival over the past few years. It has released the Toyota 86 and Supra sports cars, and has even developed TRD versions of the Camry and Avalon. Things are even more exciting overseas with the wild, turbocharged, all-wheel-drive Yaris GR, which will reportedly spawn a fast Corolla for the United States. In the meantime, Toyota has spiced up its humble compact sedan with the 2021 Corolla Apex Edition. It’s a limited edition with an aggressive body kit and chassis upgrades. Unfortunately, while it looks cool, it’s frustrating to drive and expensive for what you get.
So what exactly do you get with the Apex? On the outside, the Apex picks up a unique body kit incorporating a front spoiler, side skirts, and an aggressive rear diffuser, all in gloss black. The trunk spoiler is optional and costs $375. These parts all match the pearl black roof and mirrors, as well as the 18-inch alloy wheels. Toyota claims the wheels are designed to aid brake cooling, and each one weighs 2.2 pounds less than the equivalent wheels for the regular SE and XSE Corollas. The Apex also features bronze accents and LED lighting, and a rear spoiler is available as an option. Inside, not much has changed, but each car gets unique upholstery, cloth for the SE and leatherette for the XSE, with bronze-colored contrast stitching. It’s a mean, sporty-looking thing, and conjures up images of Scion’s glory days.
But what really makes the Corolla Apex appealing are its performance upgrades, which are all focused on improved handling. Stiffer springs and shocks lower the car by 0.6 inch and help reduce body roll. Solid anti-roll bars also contribute to making the Apex corner flatly, and the bumpstops have been changed in an effort to keep the ride tolerable. Steering is also retuned for a more natural build-up of resistance when turning. All-season or summer tires are available for the aforementioned light wheels.
The powertrain is completely unchanged save for a cat-back exhaust that adds a bit more noise. The naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four-cylinder still makes 169 horsepower and 151 pound-feet of torque. A six-speed manual is available, and it even has rev-matching for downshifts, though that's shared with the regular Corolla. Sadly, you’ll be hard pressed to find one: only 120 of the 6,000 Apex models built will have a manual. The rest get the CVT, as did our test car.
On the road, the Corolla Apex’s suspension mods are extremely obvious, for better and for worse. When hustling it down back roads or curvy on ramps, you’ll be impressed by the near lack of body roll and solid grip. It’s a stiff chassis, too. But before you get to those twisty roads, you’ll be miserable for the entire stretch of straight commuter roads that are bound to be blighted by imperfect pavement. The cabin is kicked and crashed over abrupt bumps, and the whole car jiggles and bounces over waves and dips. It seems like the team in charge equated hard suspension with sporty suspension, and that simply isn’t the case.
