Toyota has injected more flair into the Corolla’s power and its ride and handling. By no means is it woke, but the 2020 Corolla’s awake, at long last, and it earns some enthusiast stripes with its manual gearbox and its smartly balanced road manners.

We think it’s a 5 overall, but the Corolla family has some high achievers among its solid mid-pack performers. (Read more about how we rate cars.)

Toyota Corolla hatchback performance

All Corolla hatchbacks come with a 2.0-liter inline-4 that’s relatively new to Toyota. Rated at 169 horsepower and 159 pound-feet of torque, it’s coupled to either a 6-speed manual or a CVT. In this more sporting Corolla, some transmission tweaks nudge its performance slightly above the median.

As for the engine itself, power and torque peaks come high in the powerband. It builds power progressively, but not remarkably; without a turbocharger or a peaky feel, the inline-4 feels willing enough. It speaks volumes—and not to anything in particular. It’s doesn’t sound coarse or unrefined so much as it does ever-present, even at low engine speeds.

When it’s paired with the 6-speed manual, it’s a more slick performer. The manual gets a switch that clicks it into rev-matching mode, so downshifts are smoother. We say leave the feature on as a default; the button should turn it off. As for the CVT, Toyota fits it with a direct first gear that launches the Corolla, then hands off power to the front wheels through the CVT. The pairing relieves some of the lazy feel CVTs often have, and paddle shifters egg the pulley-and-belt transmission into action, but with the wind-up required by both the engine and transmission, the unique design gets lost in translation. The best-life Corolla hatchback scoots to 60 mph in about 7.5 seconds, but needs a steady hand on the transmission in either case to extract all its power.

As for handling, the Corolla now rides on the vastly improved architecture that spawned the latest Prius. With the much more rigid body, this Corolla makes the most of its multi-link suspension; it delivers both a comfortable and controlled ride as well as steering precision that’s been all but foreign to the Corolla in years past. SE hatchbacks have 16-inch wheels with more tire height and more give, while XSEs have 18-inch wheels and lower-profile tires that give less, but don’t lapse into poorly tuned behavior. The new electric power steering also delivers a smile: The Corolla steers easily, with a light effort, and though it doesn’t have much in the way of road feel, it follows the road with less wander while it requires less attention.

2020 Toyota Corolla sedan performance

The same combinations appear in the new-for-2020 Corolla sedan, but two other drivetrain factor into the sedan body. Both may be a better fit for how the Corolla’s used on a daily basis by most drivers.

The 2.0-liter inline-4 fits into SE and XSE sedans, and the performance notes above apply to it as well. Stronger acceleration brings more noise and a higher degree of control; the sport-tinged Corollas have a more attentive ride that’s not stiff-kneed.

Pervasive competence colors the standard-issue Corolla, and that’s no backhanded compliment. The Corolla L, LE, and XLE carry over the 1.8-liter inline-4 formerly sold in the Corolla LE Eco. Rated at 139 hp, it’s quieter and more distant in its operation than the newer engine, but noticeably slower. It’s only offered with the manual in low-cost versions, and its CVT doesn’t have the take-off gear of the bolder inline-4, either. Fuel economy’s even lower than that of the 2.0-liter inline-4. Low curb weights—between 2,910 and 3,150 pounds—keep the lower-powered Corolla’s acceleration within the average range, if just.

So why recommend it? It’s just calmer in more sedate driving. The CVT doesn’t let as much sound filter in as the manual shifter, and the softer tire choices do their work in a more hushed manner, too. Sport drive modes and rev-matching shifts matter here too, but only as they hone down the tiniest edges.

The less thrummy Corollas with the 1.8-liter also handle the road with a more relaxed attitude. Steering still tracks true, but the effort’s even a bit lighter, and the tread dances on the pavement in slippers, not the track shoes found on the SE and XSE sedans. Credit goes again here to the new car’s much more modern architecture: Its stiffer body gave engineers more room to let the tires and springs ease up. It’s still more capable and assured in the way it handles than it was just last year, but the lower-aspiration Corollas actually hit their intended performance targets more accurately than the sporty versions.

2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid performance

Take the Corolla LE’s fuss-less ride and handling, drop the power slightly and shoot the fuel-economy numbers into another realm, and you have the new Corolla Hybrid. The first gas-electric Corolla ever sold in the U.S., it’s essentially a penalty-free Prius for those turned off by that hallowed hybrid’s weird new styling and very specific cultural niche.

In the Corolla Hybrid, Toyota fits the standard Prius drivetrain, with a 1.8-liter inline-4 teamed with electric motors, an electronic CVT, and a nickel metal-hydride battery pack wedged under the back seat. Power levels dip to 121 hp and 105 lb-ft of torque, and the Corolla LE Hybrid strains to hit 60 mph in fewer than 10 seconds, but in other meaningful ways it doesn’t force any compromises on the driver. The 15-inch wheels and tires soften the ride even more than in other trims; the Hybrid weighs less than the Corolla XLE, at 3,050 pounds. It can be tweaked through power and eco modes to maximize economy, but at 52 mpg combined, it’s already a stellar EPA performer. Purists will whine over its half-mile electric-only driving range and its lack of a plug, but no known Corolla driver will complain about the even lighter steering. At just less than $24,000, the 2020 Corolla Hybrid costs so little for such high economy, it seems to put the less-expensive Prius hatchbacks on life support.

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