Review: Toyota Corolla Luna 1.8 Hybrid Saloon (2024)

NOTE: This post was done as part of a work application, hence its limited word count.

The Toyota Corolla is the most sold car of all time. With the current “E210” generation coming up on 7 years old, is it still a good buy, or is time catching up with it? 

The Styling 

In this saloon body style, the Corolla stays true to its tradition of inoffensive styling. The other body styles of the Corolla, the estate and more importantly the hatchback, do a better job of making the Corolla a handsome vehicle. One reason for this is that the saloon variant doesn’t share the same front-end lights or fascia as the other two, looking more like a mark 8 Golf than a Corolla hatch. The “Atomic Silver” on the car reviewed does it no favours in the charm department. The Corolla Saloon isn’t a bad looking car, but unless you specifically want the saloon, the hatchback and estate are better looking.

The Interior 

Inside, the Corolla still offers a premium feel and modern design despite its age. This is in thanks to a facelift in 2023, that dragged the Corolla’s “Entune” infotainment system kicking and screaming into the 2020s. It’s a revolution, being one of the best systems in its class. It’s bright, easy to use, clutter free, and features wireless Android Auto/Apple CarPlay that never gave me an issue. This is paired to a highly customisable digital gauge cluster that shares all the positive traits of the main screen. The rest of the interior features soft touch materials, high quality buttons and switches, and an overall sense of sturdiness. 

The Drive 

In a sense, the Corolla’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. It is the ultimate commuter, offering a complete driver assistance system, smooth and seamless drive thanks to the CVT gearbox, and soft and yielding ride that irons out bumps. If you need use a vehicle, simply as a form of transportation there is no better option. There are three different drive modes that change urgency of the hybrid system, “Sport”, “Normal” and “Eco”. Feeling the shove from the hybrid system in “Sport” is fun, but I realised that “Eco” is the correct way to drive the Corolla, getting the smoothest experience out of the drivetrain.

Sadly, all these benefits have a flip side. The Corolla features an assist system that will automatically slow the car when coasting behind another vehicle that is slowing down. It is brilliant when it works but is incredibly hit or miss, not able to detect the car in front, and then suddenly deciding to slow when the detection is made. The smooth and seamless CVT, makes no attempt to hide flaws, screaming when getting up to motorway speed. And lastly the yielding ride is at the cost of fun and handling feel, offering no excitement.

The Verdict

Overall, the Corolla does what it does best, being the ultimate commuter for people who just want to get to work as easily as possible, just don’t go thinking it shares any DNA with the GR variant.