Toyota Corolla review

Much like Honda claimed with the Civic, Toyota says the Corolla's seating position has been lowered by 25mm for a sportier feel. In reality, you don’t drop into your seat like in the Civic, still peering over the steering wheel to some extent. Don't get us wrong, the driving position is fine (with plenty of adjustment on the steering column), but the idea of pitching this as a sporty vehicle is far-fetched.

The seats themselves are supportive in all the right places, particularly so the sports seats in the GR Sport, which we found pleasingly comfortable.

There’s lots of room up front but far less in the rear, where even those under six foot will be bunching their legs up a bit. Plush chairs up front means little room for rear passengers’ feet beneath them, too. The estate has a longer wheelbase and a bit more room: if you're after a practical family wagon, that's the one to go for.

What's the tech like?

As part of a raft of updates for 2023, all models get a customisable 12.3-inch instrument display with numerous different modes to toggle through, along with Toyota’s latest ‘Smart Connect’ 10.5-inch infotainment display as standard.

While the OS itself isn’t the most visually appealing around, it is user friendly. Aside from the absence of any physical switchgear, though you do at least get a handy column of shortcut buttons down the left-hand side. Plus, Toyota has used common sense and kept the climate control panel – complete with knobs and buttons – separate. Hurrah!

In any case Apple CarPlay and Android Auto wireless connectivity are – at long last – standard throughout the line-up. Posher trims get a head-up display, which is designed with clarity and can display nav, media or driving data.

How much boot space is there?

The 1.8-litre has 361 litres of capacity, but it’s worth noting this shrinks to 313 in the 2.0-litre on account of the larger engine's extra hybrid gubbins. It may seem a small loss on paper (or indeed screen), but it makes the boot awfully shallow. If you regularly carry large loads, make sure you stick your head in there to see what’s what. Or consider the Touring Sports, which will give you almost 600 litres to play with.

Another bugbear is that there's only one interior light to illuminate the boot at night. Would it have killed Toyota to add a second light so we could see all of our stuff?