Living with a Toyota Hybrid? (Toyota Corolla Sports Tourer)

[CageyH]

I am thinking of test driving a Corolla Sports Tourer of the 2 litre variety.
Before I do, I have a few questions:

What is the real world mpg figures of this car?
What is the eCVT like to live with, regarding motorway journeys?
What exactly do the shifter paddles do on a CVT box?

I am looking for a comfortable family car, that is relatively cheap to run. This seems to tick all.of the boxes, but I have never driven a CVT transmission before. I have concerns of it being noisy on a motorway, hence why I ask.

[struth]

Not sure re the corolla tbh but i have the C-HR hybrid which is a nice car to drive and is bigger than it looks(but not a sports performance one even though it looks it a bit) The cvt's do change a bit from company to company and ive also had one from Nissan too. If you dont have a heavy right foot and put it in sports mode it will still drive nicely but be a bit more responsive. This reponsiveness will improve too as you drive it. Mine is an 1800cc and i get from 49 to 63mpg for most part, but on short runs and driving like grandpa ive had over 90 in right conditions; just dont expect it.
Major issue with hybrids is the 12v battery is inclined to go flat if not driven/charged regularly. It is charged via the traction battery, and its mostly only job is to energise the relays etc and run the 12v system at times. There is no starter as the traction battery kicks the engine in and off.
Toyota are experts in this tech so it should do what it says it will and their safety kit is top notch and mostly fitted to all cars.

[struth]

I might add the 2 litre version of chr is much faster im told without losing much in the mpg. a fair bit dearer tho and i expect it to be same engine

[CageyH]

Thanks Grant.
How is the noise level on the motorway from the drive train?
I am not 100% on the 2 litre, but 122 BHP from the 1.8 just does not seem enough for a fully laden car and hills.

[struth]

Thanks Grant.
How is the noise level on the motorway from the drive train?
I am not 100% on the 2 litre, but 122 BHP from the 1.8 just does not seem enough for a fully laden car and hills.

its not too bad, although mine's a higher car so more wind noise i guess, but its acceptable; just turn up the audio. tyres are low roll resistance so can be slightly noisier i believe but im mostly very happy with car as it drives very well. Lots of aids to assist too. the rear cross traffic one is superb. especially reversing out of my driveway or supermarkets etc. spots cars, pedestrians etc. it can do partial self park but you have to selct gear and break etc i think. its not a full system like mercs. I tried it once and it did work, so if anyone has parking issues it will be a boon i guess.

[struth]

might add the chr loaded as mine is close to with me and my scooter/hoist combo(nearing 2 metric ton fully loaded.. 1.86 i think) etc drives fine at motorway speeds and i get good mpg on it. doesnt seem to lack ability but sure the 2 litre will be much perkier; ives heard its better with the chr anyway but its not cheap

[dave2010]

I had to look this model up - https://www.toyota.co.uk/new-cars/co...B&gclsrc=aw.ds
My guess is that on many drives the performance will be close to what is actually claimed by Toyota. You should certainly get 50 mpg - possibly more. A lot also depends on what you want to use if for - short trips/commuting, or long motorway outings and holidays.

You could consider some Toyota plug-in hybrids, which might go 30 miles or so before the petrol engine kicks in. Those might be really economic - but you would probably lose luggage space and perhaps reduce the number of seats - so might not work for you. If you do a lot of short journeys and there aren't many in the car, then a plug-in hybrid might be good for you. I test drove a Prius plug-in which I thought was a breeze to drive, but it was a 2019 or 2018 model, and wasn't configured well for luggage or seating. I could perhaps have got it for a knock down price if I made the dealer an offer - but I balked at paying even £18k for it, preferring to look at other cars, all newer models.

The head up display in the model I drove was interesting - but I don't think it added much to the experience really. A good idea which didn't quite work for me.

The standard Prius cars could have the back seats pushed down - great for bringing things back from IKEA or other shops - or taking stuff to the dump. I think the model you've been looking at may be similar.

I certainly was considering replacing my car with the sort of cars you are looking at when it had to be "put to sleep". Instead I went for totally electric, and even despite a not inconsiderable number of issues with the Tesla Model 3, I don't think I'd want to go back to another car now. However, the Model 3 is probably not quite right for some family cars, and if you had kids who could drive you wouldn't want to let them near it. I drive it mostly in Chill mode (i.e. slow) - but in Standard mode it gets up to speed so fast that one hardly has time to react if anything goes wrong. It also just eats up hills.

[CageyH]

I have 16 mile commute (one way). No motorways. Max legal speed is 50mph. Was looking at a PHEV, but not sure the extra cost is worth it.
Normally have minimum one 3 hour mixed road (incl. motorway) trip per month.
Need a big boot to keep Mrs H happy. Looking to spend €30k max if I can help it.

[dave2010]

Are you going for new ones, or nearly new, or several years old?

[CageyH]

Nearly new is my current thought.