Toyota Corolla Touring Sports Review 2023

There are plenty of compact estate cars you can choose from, but the Toyota Corolla Touring Sports offers a different proposition to many of its rivals. It’s big enough inside that it can be a good family car, although the rear seat space doesn’t accommodate taller adults all that well and the boot isn’t the biggest. But it is a comfortable car to travel in, which is always going to be good news if you are a parent. 

Similarly, if you’re not too concerned with how quickly your car can go around a corner, the Toyota Corolla Touring Sports is a sensible and solid choice. And don’t even get us started on those brilliant, fuel-sipping hybrid engines.

Of the two engine options, the 1.8-litre 122PS has everything you need, it’s plenty quick enough and returns in-town fuel economy that’ll take your breath away. That said, the 184PS 2.0-litre is a lot quicker and still very cheap to run.

As for trim levels, the standard specification is actually very strong. Basic Icon trim includes alloy wheels, adaptive cruise control, LED headlights, climate control, heated front seats, a touchscreen infotainment system with DAB, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a reversing camera and a digital instrument display.

The cars to beat are Volkswagen’s consummate all-rounder, the Volkswagen Golf Estate, the sharp to drive Ford Focus Estate and the incredibly spacious Skoda Octavia Estate, but there are also strong contenders in the shape of the latest SEAT Leon Estate, Peugeot 308 SW, Renault Megane Sports Tourer and Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer. In comparison, the Toyota Corolla Touring Sports is not the best in the class but does offer a range of attributes unlike much of the competition.

One aspect that has been pretty much a universal truth for many years now is that Toyota builds its cars to a high standard. The Toyota Corolla Touring Sports comes across as an attempt to retain this well-deserved reputation while adding a little more in the way of interest and luxury to make the cabin a more pleasant place to spend time.

Unlike in previous models, much of the dashboard and the key contact points are made from either soft-touch plastic or leather, which makes a significant difference to the ambience.

What hasn’t changed is the solid feeling of the cabin itself. Everything still operates with assurance, and it feels like an interior that will happily cope with whatever gets thrown at it for some years.

Both versions of the infotainment system in the Toyota Corolla Touring Sports are very similar - they use an 8-inch touchscreen mounted high on the dashboard, and come with the Toyota Touch 2 multimedia system that incorporates USB input, Bluetooth, DAB and six speakers. 

All versions also come with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard, while Icon Tech models and above have inbuilt satellite navigation (not really needed from 2020 onwards when Apple CarPlay and Android Auto were fitted as standard).

The touchscreen itself is well-placed but the way it functions is a little less impressive. The graphics seem quite basic and a little blocky, while its response to finger prods it isn’t always instant. If you’re into your music, you’ll also be annoyed to hear the eight-speaker 800W JBL stereo is only available as an option on top-spec Excel models. 

The Toyota Corolla Touring Sports measures 4650mm long and 1790mm wide. Unfortunately for the Corolla Touring Sports, it is someway behind its key competitors when you consider interior space. In the front, there is no cause for complaint. There is a good deal of space for both the driver and passenger, with a large range of adjustment in the seat for both fore and aft as well as height. 

Adults over six foot should have no issues with headroom or legroom, and there is enough range of adjustment in the steering wheel that you can get comfortable and still have a clear view of the instruments. There’s also a decent amount of shoulder room, so you won’t feel squished together with your front seat passenger.

In the rear, it’s less impressive. If you are an adult under 5’10 then you should have enough room to be reasonably comfortable, but headroom is an issue for anyone taller, and the same is true for legroom if someone tall’s sitting upfront.  

It’s not helped by the fact that there is little room under the front seats for your feet. Plus, anyone sat in the middle gets a narrow and perched chair and, due to the transmission tunnel that runs down the centre of the car, there’s less room for their feet. 

As for boot space, the Toyota Corolla Touring Sports offers a reasonable amount of space for a car of this size, but once again it is some way behind the key competitors. 

With the rear seats in place there is 581 litres of boot space available in the Toyota Corolla Touring Sports – that’s less than the Skoda Octavia and Volkswagen Golf which can both offer more than 600 litres – but more than the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer (540 litres). 

Fold the rear seats – by yanking a couple of convenient levers at the front of the boot – and the Toyota’s capacity increases to 1,606 litres.

With the 116PS 1.2-litre turbo petrol consigned to the history books, you now get two petrol-electric hybrids to choose from. Both engines are four-cylinder units driving the front wheels through a CVT automatic gearbox with the 1.8-litre offering 122PS and the bigger 2.0-litre unit delivering 184PS.

In most circumstances the 122PS 1.8’s performance is sufficient. It can deal with urban traffic with relative ease and is happy to cruise at higher speeds, but the lack of significant torque makes itself known when you try to accelerate briskly and you’ll also have to put up with the engine roar caused by the CVT gearbox’s keenness to hold revs. 

The 184PS 2.0-litre is significantly quicker than the 1.8-litre version, and if you plan to fill the car regularly then it might be the better option. It’s more relaxing to drive because you don’t need to work it so hard to make progress.

The Toyota Corolla Touring Sports is very much a mixed bag when it comes to refinement and noise levels, and much of that is down to the hybrid powertrain. When it’s operating on electric power only – which will be the vast majority of the time if you’re driving in town – it’s silent.

Even out of town the Corolla Touring Sports can run on electricity up to speeds of 70mph for short periods, which makes up somewhat for the sustained engine drone the CVT gearbox causes when you’re accelerating. 

Outside of the engines, road noise and wind noise levels are acceptable, with the usual issue that cars riding on larger alloy wheels tend to generate additional tyre noise. 

The Toyota Corolla hatchback was awarded five stars when it was crash tested by EuroNCAP in 2019, and those results can also be applied to the Corolla Touring Sports. 

As standard, all Toyota Corolla Touring Sports get front airbags including a knee airbag for the driver, side chest and pelvis airbags for the front seat passengers and curtain airbags for front and rear passengers. ISOFIX child seat mounting points are fitted in the outer rear seats as well as an airbag deactivation switch for the front passenger seat.

All Corolla models also benefit from autonomous driving aids that mean they can accelerate, brake and steer themselves on the motorway. Meanwhile, their automatic emergency brakes can detect other vehicles as well as cyclists and pedestrians. 

All versions are also fitted with hill start assist, a speed limiter and a reversing camera, while only Icon models do without standard front and rear parking sensors. 

Just like the standard Corolla hatchback, the Toyota Corolla Touring Sports has proved to be very reliable since its introduction a couple of years ago, with no common issues reported. Meanwhile, Toyota as a brand enjoys an excellent reputation for reliability. 

With just two engine options and no variations between trim levels, the insurance groupings for the Corolla Touring Sports are pretty straightforward. The 1.8-litre model falls into Group 15 whether it is the basic Icon trim or the top spec Excel model, while the 2.0-litre version is in Group 21 - even if you have the JBL sound system and the optional panoramic roof. That said, some rivals are cheaper to insure. 

No Toyota Corolla Touring Sports costs the earth to tax. The 1.2-litre non-hybrid version is charged at £150 per year, while all current versions with the hybrid powertrain pay £140 per year. 

Even the basic Toyota Corolla Touring Sports gets self-drive tech that means it can accelerate, brake and steer itself on the motorway and in traffic.

Icon is the entry-level trim, but you get an impressive amount of kit. Including (take a deep breath): 16-inch alloy wheels, bright-shining automatic LED lights, heated front seats, electronic lumbar adjustment for extra support on long journeys,  dual-zone climate control that means you and your passenger can set your own temperature, automatic headlights, a reversing camera and DAB. 

Icon Tech adds a seven-inch TFT display in the instrument binnacle, Toyota Park Assist, front and rear parking sensors, plus the infotainment screen gets built-in sat-nav.

Design models look sportier. They get 17-inch alloy wheels, LED front fog lights and tinted windows. They also add kit such as an auto-dimming rearview mirror that prevents glare, rain-sensing wipers, dark tint rear privacy glass and black side sills. 

Excel models are the most luxurious. They add powerful bi-LED headlights, part-leather seats and electronically retractable door mirrors.

GR Sport models, meanwhile, are the sportiest. They get a distinctive body kit and 18-inch alloy wheels, while inside there’s a fighter-jet style head-up display and body-hugging sports seats.