Toyota Corolla ZR sedan 2020 Review

It may be technically correct to say the Toyota Corolla has the oldest surviving model name in history, but it’s not correct to say it’s the longest-running model in history.

That claim belongs to the original Volkswagen Beetle which, though extensively updated over the years, remained conceptually the same from the late 1940s to the final car’s rolling off the production line in Puebla, Mexico, in 2003.

Today’s 2020 Toyota Corolla ZR sedan, on the other hand, is nothing like the original rear-drive, two-door sedan that was assembled from 1967 in Port Melbourne by Australian Motor Industries.

Switching to a front-drive configuration in 1984 and then shifting production to Toyota’s now-closed Altona plant in 1994, the Corolla has looked different a number of times, but it has never really looked back.

After becoming the world’s best-selling car in 1974, the Toyota Corolla is now also a dominant player in Australia, where it was the nation’s most popular model on several occasions in the past decade.

Last year it not only led Australia’s small-car segment, but also came second outright to another Toyota, the HiLux.

The company is clearly doing something right, and most of us know what that is… Under the beneficent shadow of the Toyota brand, the Corolla is known for its longevity, imperturbability and its appeal on the used-car market.

There’s a downside though. The Corolla has been pilloried by those who think they know better: It has variously and consistently been described as staid, bland and colourless.

Over the years, Toyota has made repeated attempts to neutralise the barrage of negativity, sometimes successfully, but not always.

When the hatchback version of the 12th generation Toyota Corolla was introduced in August 2018 it was lauded for its safety credentials.

But, importantly, it was also praised for being a better drive, delivering a big step up in performance capabilities via an all-new 125kW/200Nm 2.0-litre engine and the option of hybrid power across all variants.

One thing observers were not so fond of though was the shrinking of the hatchback’s boot. Despite the new Corolla’s larger overall dimensions, the five-door’s luggage capacity actually dropped, while rear-seat legroom remained marginal at best.

These shortcomings left the door wide open for the latest Toyota Corolla sedan.

Introduced in November 2019, the new Toyota Corolla sedan, though its dimensions are hauntingly similar to its Mazda3, Honda Civic and Hyundai Elantra competition, arrived with more breathing space than the hatchback as well as a decent boot.

Here we look at the top-shelf 2.0-litre ZR sedan which, at $33,635, costs $1500 more than the 2.0-litre ZR hatch but the same as the ZR hybrid hatch (the ZR sedan is unavailable in hybrid form).

This might not matter a great deal to some Toyota Corolla buyers, but the first thing we wanted to know was how much the sedan’s longer body has benefitted cabin space and boot functionality.

Well, yes, compared with the hatchback Corolla, it has, by quite a bit – the 470-litre boot is way bigger than the hatchback’s 217 litres (though 330 litres is claimed for hybrid variants) and rear-seat legroom is better too, by around 12cm.

Of course, the sedan’s boot is never going to have the practicality of a gaping hatchback but there are still a lot of things you can do – thanks in no small part to the clean, well-shaped space and 60/40-split and folding rear seat.

Although some careful manipulation is required to pass through the narrow-ish boot-to-cabin opening, the obligatory mountain bike is swallowed with room to spare. The extra length offered by the sedan is also appreciated when loading such items as DIY furniture.

There are the luggage-attacking gooseneck bootlid hinges to consider, but these are set at the opening’s extremities to minimise any chance of cargo damage.

The Toyota Corolla sedan’s back seat is also definitely more habitable. It’s not difficult to slide in behind a tall driver though the headroom, no doubt a legacy of the 15mm lower roofline and the relatively high-set cushions, is marginal – yet not especially impacted by the Toyota Corolla ZR variant’s standard sunroof.

Indeed, where the Corolla hatchback tends towards claustrophobic for back-seat passengers, the sedan is instantly more open and accommodating.

The seats themselves are excellent. Deeply padded and well-shaped up front, they’ve also got plenty of cushioning in the back, whether it’s the cloth-trimmed mid-level SX or the part-‘leather’ trimmed premium ZR variant reviewed here.

The Toyota Corolla ZR also gets eight-way power adjustment – for the driver only – as well as two-stage front seat heating. But there’s no face-level air-venting for sear-seat passengers.

From the driver’s cockpit, the ZR is all functional and businesslike, with no beefs at all concerning the overall control layout.

Our review car came with inductive phone charging, sat-nav on a generous-size touch-screen and climate-control air-conditioning, but there is a shortage of oddment-storage space.

The paucity of nooks and crannies for storing small incidentals proved annoying. The door pockets are a bit stingy too, and there’s nothing other than two cup-holders on the centre console ahead of the smallish storage bin/armrest where you can conveniently drop your wallet, sunglasses or other paraphernalia.

Touchy-feely levels are good. There’s plenty of soft-touch padding on the dash of all Corollas, while the ZR gets a bit flashier on the doors with an extension of the soft-touch materials and a bit of contrasting stitching to avoid the monotone look of the SX.

Standard equipment extends to climate-control air-conditioning, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto (finally!) and a comprehensive list of safety technology including autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, pedestrian detection, lane-departure warning/lane-keep assist and blind-spot monitoring.

The ZR adds standard head-up display, a punchier JBL sound system, a glass sunroof and a self-dimming rear-view mirror.

Dynamically, the Toyota Corolla ZR sedan is a subtly more-refined version of the already-wieldy hatchback.

The handling/roadholding is polished and confidence-inspiring, leaning more towards sporty in the ZR sedan, which also gets a slightly faster steering ratio to go with its larger,225/40-shod 18-inch alloy wheels.

The result is that, while the ZR-spec Corolla shows an extra touch of liveliness, there’s an accompanying rise in suspension noise and ride harshness that are gratifyingly more subdued in lesser variants like the SX.

Like 72kW/142Nm 1.8-litre hybrid Corollas, the ZR sedan’s 125kW/200Nm 2.0-litre engine drives the front wheels through a CVT transmission, but there’s nothing common in the drivelines.

The regular CVT (apart from the adoption of a new step-off gear to improve initial acceleration) is more or less a conventional sliding belt-and-pulley arrangement.

The hybrid system on the other hand uses Toyota’s planetary-gearset tasked with not just delivering power through to the road, but also with directing energy flows back throughout the incredibly complex workings.

It’s a clever arrangement that has formed the basis of a whole line of Toyota (and Lexus) hybrids that began with the original Prius in 2001.

But while the Toyota Corolla Hybrid’s on-road performance is best described as adequate, the new 2.0-litre petrol engine is crisp, sharp and satisfyingly responsive.

With just a sign of the efficient, audibly-pleasing rasp that characterises a new generation of normally-aspirated four-cylinder engines, it delivers handy acceleration that is sadly compromised by the worst of typically-raucous CVT behaviour.

With its electrically-assisted mid-range torque, the hybrid’s 1.8-litre engine tends to be less reliant on the CVT to remain in its power sweet spot.

The regular 2.0-litre’s fuel economy is pretty good too. Not ridiculously short of the official 6.0L/100km claim, we recorded 6.9L/100km during our week with the ZR sedan.

That might be well short of the hybrid’s 3.5L/100km claim (we managed 4.3L/100km in an SX Hybrid sedan the week prior), but the 2.0-litre Corolla ZR sedan is entirely competitive in the small-car segment and close to lineball with competing 2.0-litre sedans such as the Mazda3 and Honda Civic.

Although not perfect, the latest Toyota Corolla sedan adds, more than any of their predecessors, a certain athleticism to the brand’s already well-entrenched but not so blood-stirring pragmatic reputation.

In its 12th generation the Corolla hatchback got smaller while the sedan pretty much stayed the same. And – though this is a personal thing – the sedan, with its swooping roofline and extended rear deck, tends to look a bit more balanced and stylish than the truncated hatchback.

With its discreet touches of extra chrome and the almost-flashy 18-inch wheels, it’s particularly appealing in ZR form.

Indeed, based on our positive experience, it’s very possible that the new Corolla sedan could do better than Toyota’s expectation of accounting for around 25 per cent of total Corolla sales.

How much does the 2020 Toyota Corolla ZR sedan cost?
Price: $33,635 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 125kW/200Nm
Transmission: Continuously variable
Fuel: 6.0L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 118g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP