I’m not really fond of the Toyota Corolla Cross. Despite that, I was optimistic when Toyota updated it last year. All variants now have a hybrid powertrain, they got rid of the horrendous footbrake, and it has a fresh new face. Oddly enough, they didn’t include the GR-S trim for that gorgeous new look and so the styling seemed it’s still powered purely by an internal combustion engine.
Step into the cabin and it appeared mostly the same – although new bits were introduced. This GR-S trim now has an all-digital instrument cluster along with a bigger touchscreen among other things. However, the overall vibe is the same as before in that it doesn’t seem eager to advance. It looked like Toyota made the updates just so the Corolla Cross could have something new and not meant to rival the competition.
My opinion didn’t change when I drove the GR-S trim. It’s not exciting, it looks dated, feels dated, and the hybrid capability is just not on par with the Chinese rivals that can go 1,000km or more of combined range.
I drove other cars while letting my thoughts about the Corolla Cross simmer in my head. We’re talking about hybrids and EVs from different brands (not just Chinese ones). While the fuel or energy consumption is indeed better, I always found myself frustrated with most of their cabin layouts.
Many of the new cars today went the Apple route. Remember when they removed many ports from the Macbook Pro and retained just a few – 2 USB ports, a 3.5mm jack input, and the MagSafe port? That’s what cars of today feel like.
They’re utilizing a minimalist look in exchange of functionality. They can design floating center consoles because the shifter has become a measly rotary knob, while everything else but the air vents have been crammed into the touchscreen. There’s also weird choices like the absence of stalks for the wiper and turn signal. Instead, they became buttons on the steering wheel or worse, you’re gonna dig into the touchscreen’s menu system.
Driving some of them definitely became a love-hate relationship. Again, the core of the car is good and it is indeed frugal in its fuel consumption. Only it also asks you to flip through menus on the touchscreen just so you can adjust the aircon, remember the knob is for the shifter and not for the sound system, you’ll have to set some things before you can eke out the best of the car’s electrified system, and top that off with the need to familiarize yourself with a car again despite having owned one before.
It’s at this point that I remembered the Toyota Corolla Cross and the need to apologize to it. Your cabin is not dated, I just misunderstood your perspective of the ‘advancement’. While other brands are sacrificing functionality in exchange of modernity, Toyota carefully tread the slim line between the two and does so magnificently. You are provided with contemporary standards like a wireless charger, a responsive touchscreen with smartphone mirroring for Apple and Android, Electronic Parking Brake with Auto Brake Hold, and a nicely weighted steering wheel that isn’t a chore to use even in traffic. The Corolla Cross has all of that without putting you through a learning curve. It’s also safe to say that it will continue in the near future as their most recent car – the RAV4 – still has tactile buttons and didn’t go the touchscreen route. The things you need are in the places you expected them to be, and everything that needs to be adjusted has a dedicated button.
My view of the Corolla Cross’s hybrid system has also changed. Sure, it’s not as long-range as the others in its class but it has one thing that makes it better than them – familiarity. It doesn’t matter if you’re a first-time owner, moving-up to a bigger car, or if this is your first electrified car – you can drive it off the lot and even without changing anything in your driving habit, you’ll have a more efficient drive.
During my time with it, the Corolla Cross GR-S returned 9.5 km/l in city traffic which includes rush hour madness, while on the highway it had 18 km/l. My starting range when I had it was at 450 km but thanks to my light foot and the car’s regenerative braking, I was on pace to get 583 kilometers when I returned it. I did it all without fiddling with any setting on the touchscreen too.
Just like Apple, the biggest draw of the Corolla Cross is it just works. You don’t need to have the charging rate, discharge rate, regenerative braking level, braking feel, in order to get good mileage out of it. You also don’t need to plug-in to save on fuel. Start the car and it’s already in hybrid mode, drive like you regularly do, and the Corolla Cross will do all of the magic to sip less fuel.
All of this is accompanied by solid engineering and build quality too. The cabin is quiet, the steering is weighted but not tiring, ride comfort is good, throttle isn’t too eager, and there’s just a lot of space. Combine that with the sit-and-drive nature of the car and the Corolla Cross turns out to be a really enticing option in the market today.
I’m still not a fan of the GR-S’s previous-gen look. I think it would’ve been better if they gave the GR-S treatment to the new front face. But I must commend it for not being all about aesthetics with its GR badge. Apart from sporty touches, it also comes with additional functionalities like Panoramic Moonroof, 360-camera system, and the digital gauge cluster.
The Toyota Corolla Cross GR-S HEV is unarguably steep at P1,943,000 because additional taxes are our politician’s scapegoat. However, you’re not paying for the badge alone. It comes with additional safety bits and the assurance that you’ll have a more frugal drive without changing any of your good driving habits. The absence of a learning curve is priceless and Toyota knows it.
