Review: Toyota Corolla Altis 1.6G AT really like the hands free bluetooth speakerphone in the car. The phone and radio can be controlled at the steering wheel. However, the dash display is very frustrating for me. To see the temperature or any other information you have to reach through the steering wheel and push a button to scroll through to the info that you want, for example outside temperature. The drive of the car is one of a small car. You definitely feel the road. My dad just bought a Touring Edition Prius which was almost $20,000 more than my Corolla, but it drives like a luxury car. Very smooth! My van was like driving a couch-so the 
Corolla takes some getting used to.I have a car seat and a booster seat in the back seat for my kids and there is no room for anyone else. Those two seats take up all 3 spaces in the back. With the car seat in place, my husband has to have his seat pretty close to the dashboard so he doesn't squish my daughter's feet. Lucky for my son, I am short, so he has plenty of leg room.The fuel efficiency is great. We definitely get our mileage for our buck. So we achieved what we wanted-but it is a hard transition from a van to a Corolla. You will be pleasantly surprised by the large trunk room. It is pretty spacious-you'll be surprised. I opted to not get the in-dash navigation system and I am glad. I am much happier with my Garmin after-market system than the system that my dad's Prius came with from the factory. I wouldn't spend the extra money. Go to Best Buy or Target after you buy your car; you'll save a lot of money! The only thing I wish I had gotten was leather seats. They are much easier to maintain than the cloth..The cabin is comfortable, too. While the seat foam is, in Toyota tradition, light and squishy, it's still supportive enough for government work, and generally unobjectionable compared to some of the rock-hard alternatives (I'm looking at you, Civic). Plastics are go
od, but, unfortunately, not quite up to the standards set by the previous Corolla Altis, as Toyota follows the industry trend towards lighter plastic pieces. A little more money spent in damping the action of such parts as the glovebox and the incredibly floppy front-center armrest (it's a nice touch, but feels cheap) would help here. Strangely, too, while it gives you decent enough knee room and head room, the front footwells are incredibly shallow. Suffice to say, the Civic has the Corolla trumped on leg-room, despite both gravitating towards sportier iterations of their previous “jumbo-bodied” models.And, thanks to the Corolla's unchanged, eight-year old (but slightly retuned) engine and 4-speed automatic, the Civic has the edge in performance, too. The Civic's 5-Speed automatic and 140 hp 1.8 liter engine give it a rip-snorting 10-second run to 100 km/h (that's good for an automatic), while the Corolla takes a leisurely 11.6 seconds to do the same. But when you compare that to other 1.6 and 1.8 liter automatics on the market (Focus 1.8, 12, Mazda3 1.6, 14+, Optra - 14+), the Corolla's performance comes across as outstanding. Despite the extra weight in the new chassis, the Corolla is still on the light side for a modern compact car. And this lightness allows the old engine and ancient 4-speed automatic to return decent economy numbers (about 9.6 - 10 km/l city), bettering both the 1.8 Civic and the 1.8 Focus we tested previously (both in the 8s).
Corolla takes some getting used to.I have a car seat and a booster seat in the back seat for my kids and there is no room for anyone else. Those two seats take up all 3 spaces in the back. With the car seat in place, my husband has to have his seat pretty close to the dashboard so he doesn't squish my daughter's feet. Lucky for my son, I am short, so he has plenty of leg room.The fuel efficiency is great. We definitely get our mileage for our buck. So we achieved what we wanted-but it is a hard transition from a van to a Corolla. You will be pleasantly surprised by the large trunk room. It is pretty spacious-you'll be surprised. I opted to not get the in-dash navigation system and I am glad. I am much happier with my Garmin after-market system than the system that my dad's Prius came with from the factory. I wouldn't spend the extra money. Go to Best Buy or Target after you buy your car; you'll save a lot of money! The only thing I wish I had gotten was leather seats. They are much easier to maintain than the cloth..The cabin is comfortable, too. While the seat foam is, in Toyota tradition, light and squishy, it's still supportive enough for government work, and generally unobjectionable compared to some of the rock-hard alternatives (I'm looking at you, Civic). Plastics are good, but, unfortunately, not quite up to the standards set by the previous Corolla Altis, as Toyota follows the industry trend towards lighter plastic pieces. A little more money spent in damping the action of such parts as the glovebox and the incredibly floppy front-center armrest (it's a nice touch, but feels cheap) would help here. Strangely, too, while it gives you decent enough knee room and head room, the front footwells are incredibly shallow. Suffice to say, the Civic has the Corolla trumped on leg-room, despite both gravitating towards sportier iterations of their previous “jumbo-bodied” models.And, thanks to the Corolla's unchanged, eight-year old (but slightly retuned) engine and 4-speed automatic, the Civic has the edge in performance, too. The Civic's 5-Speed automatic and 140 hp 1.8 liter engine give it a rip-snorting 10-second run to 100 km/h (that's good for an automatic), while the Corolla takes a leisurely 11.6 seconds to do the same. But when you compare that to other 1.6 and 1.8 liter automatics on the market (Focus 1.8, 12, Mazda3 1.6, 14+, Optra - 14+), the Corolla's performance comes across as outstanding. Despite the extra weight in the new chassis, the Corolla is still on the light side for a modern compact car. And this lightness allows the old engine and ancient 4-speed automatic to return decent economy numbers (about 9.6 - 10 km/l city), bettering both the 1.8 Civic and the 1.8 Focus we tested previously (both in the 8s).
