Toyota Corolla Altis 2019 – What to expect?

The Toyota Corolla is one of the all-time best-selling cars, and has been in continuous production since the late 1960s. Currently in its twelfth-generation avatar, the Toyota Corolla represents one of the most convincing options in the uber-popular C-segment sedan category.

Depending on the market that it’s sold in, Toyota’s evergreen sedan is also known as the Corolla Altis - case in point, the Philippines. Here it competes with cars like the Honda City and Nissan Sylphy, though the outgoing Corolla Altis usually comes out as the tip of the spear.

However, now it isn’t too long before the Japanese auto giant rolls out the latest-gen Corolla Altis in Thailand, with the Philippines guaranteed to follow suit soon after. So if you were getting ready to head out to a Toyota showroom nearest to you to lay your hands on the outgoing Corolla Altis, you may want to wait a little longer.

Apart from the obvious design and equipment updates, the 2019 Toyota Corolla Altis will also be built upon the brand’s new TNGA architecture, which should make the new model safer and perform better on the road.

Having said all that, let’s find out what one can expect from the latest iteration of the Corolla Altis.

Exterior

One of the most apparent distinguishing aspects of the new Toyota Corolla Altis over the old one has to do with its new exterior design. While the previous car looked good in its facelifted avatar, the model itself was over half a decade old.

In comparison, the latest-gen Corolla Altis is pretty much brand new, and it sports quite a contemporary and alluring design. The heavily-stylized front of the new model has sharp creases on the bonnet, a slender upper grille with sleek wing-like chrome garnish, intricately styled headlights, and a large bumper that houses a massive air dam, side scoops with C-shaped chrome detailing and low-mounted circular fog lamps.

From the sides (among certain other angles), the new Corolla Altis will surely remind you of the new Camry -- this new model is essentially a smaller Camry in terms of its design.

The side profile of the new Corolla Altis looks quite upscale and neat, especially when compared to some earlier models. The styling here isn’t too fussy, but actually portrays a sense of confidence and even to a degree, a feeling of sophistication - the sloping roofline certainly looks nice.

Moving towards the rear of the new Corolla Altis, the sloping C-Pillar leads to a rather pleasant looking backend -- there are wraparound LED tail lights, large chrome band on the sculpted boot lid, and a sporty bumper. The Toyota Corolla Altis has also grown in size, and is now 10mm longer, 5mm wider, and 45mm shorter at the roof when compared to its predecessor.

However, there have been no changes made to the sedan’s 2,700mm wheelbase and its 470-litre boot. At the end of the day, however, the all-new Corolla Altis will likely face no trouble trying to attract would-be buyers as they walk into the showroom.

Interior

Being an all-new model, it’s not just the exterior of the 2019 Toyota Corolla Altis that has been given a modern treatment, but the interior, too. For example, the design of the dashboard and centre stack is new and looks edgy and decent, while the part-digital instrument cluster has also been revised, along with the area around the gear lever.

Toyota has made several other minor stylistic alterations all over the cabin, too, making this a far better place to be in than before. The seats are also more comfortable now, while engineers have added extra sound insulation to keep NVH levels low, thus keeping the cabin noticeably quieter.

And while build quality and fit-and-finish have definitely been improved, there still are scratchy plastic - though that’s not unheard of in this segment. However, we suspect that the sloped roof might cause taller rear passengers some discomfort, but it should be totally fine for other people.

Under the hood

The all-new Toyota Corolla Altis should be arriving in the Philippines with three petrol engines on offer, with the base engine being likely available with a 6-speed manual gearbox. However, all powerplants will also be offered with a continuously variable transmission or CVT.

At least one of the trims of the new Corolla Altis would be equipped with a hybrid powertrain, which will employ a 1.8-litre four-popper 2ZR-FXE mill that’s tuned to 120hp and 142Nm of torque. This will then be assisted by a 600-volt electric motor that’s been calibrated to develop around 71hp and 163Nm of twist.

On the other hand, the 1.8-litre 2ZR-FE four-banger is good for 140hp and 173Nm, while the smaller 1ZR-FAE 1.6-litre engine comes armed with Toyota’s Dual VVT-I technology -- producing 132hp and 159Nm of maximum torque. The 1.8-litre unit will be fitted with the marque’s 7-speed Super CVT-i gearbox - basically a CVT but with seven pseudo gear ratios.

Features

Since the launch date is still some time away, there’s no confirmation from Toyota Philippines on the actual features list for the new Toyota Corolla Altis, the standard equipment level should keep most buyers happy. While the lower trims will offer basics such as keyless entry, alloy wheels, projector halogen headlights, air-conditioning and a four-speaker audio system, fully-loaded variants will get far more luxuries and amenities.

These will include automatic climate control, push-button engine start, leather seats, touchscreen infotainment system with smartphone connectivity, power-adjustable driver’s seat, all-round parking sensors with rearview camera, cruise control, larger alloy wheels, and full-LED headlights & front fog lights amongst many others. The new Corolla Altis will also feature up to seven airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist, electronic stability & traction control system, hill hold assist etc.

Also Read:- 2020 Toyota Corolla Altis - All you need to know