A limited run with a limited focus
As of late, Toyota has been focusing more attention vehicles that are more fun to drive. There’s the 86, the Supra and the GR Yaris, the latter we will not see in North America, sadly. This new attention has landed its focus on the Corolla, as Toyota has released a limited run with the name APEX. Designed for the track, aiming for the corners, we’re wondering if it hits the apex.
Only 6,000 Corollas will have the APEX designation, a hardened version of the SE and XSE grades. Offering track tuned chassis upgrades, it’s a Corolla focused on handling. Only 120 are equipped with a 6-speed transmission, the rest with a Dynamic Shift CVT. Thankfully, we have the one with three pedals.
The APEX gains some bonuses over the base Corolla, of course. Performance upgrades include unique coil springs, a sport-tuned exhaust, unique stabilizer bars, tuned electronic steering and a set of lighter 18” rims paired with stickier rubber. On top of that it gets an angrier face, side skirts and a trunk lid. It certainly looks sporty, and quite decent too. It's a bold look that works well with Toyota's new design.
It doesn’t seem that there are any engine upgrades, and the manual transmission is no different than the other Corollas. The APEX has 169 hp and 151 lb-ft of torque, a good amount for a Corolla, but maybe a little low for those track-goers. Fuel efficiency numbers sit from 6.7 - 7.4 L/100km combined, depending on transmission.
Inside, at least in our tester, there’s a two-toned theme for the front dash and the doors. The black and white is a clean look, though, we’d like to see a better match in the white, where the door connects to the dashboard. There’s some silver details as well which fits right in with the rest. What doesn’t fit in as well are the grey, cloth seats, which seem out of place in this interior. They don’t match the rest of the car, and, for a car that’s entirely focused on cornering, we’d expect more side bolsters to better keep you in your seat. You could opt for the XSE trim and get some leather seats, the SE seats though seem no different than a base trim Corolla, and they won’t keep you in place if you’re using this car for its namesake intent.
Do you remember early days of smartphones where you could get the screen protector that helped ward of fingerprints? Well that’s what the infotainment screen looks like, and I’m sure is the exact reason. It works; there are less fingerprint smudges but the image quality goes down. The touch sensitivity is decent, no complaints there, but the menu design seems dated. The screen itself seems like it was designed by a different team entirely, it doesn’t flow well with the interior, and while everyone seems to be going the way of this floating tablet design, this feels less polished. The LEDs used for the screen could be better as well, if you were to dim the screen (completely separate from the dash lights I might add) because it’s too bright at night you can really notice the refresh rate or flicker from the screen which is terribly distracting. It’ll be left on too bright then.
The Corolla SE APEX edition starts at over $27,000, and at times you’re reminded that it’s not far off its sub 20 grand siblings. The window switches on the door are not lit or have any light on them, leaving you fumbling in the dark. The rear arm rest is flimsy, flopping down and resting in a way that’s just encouraging a spilled beverage. Yes, there are heated seats, and a wireless car charger, but nothing inside reminds me that I’m in an APEX edition. There’s a bar across the front on the passenger’s side that has a screen integrated into it, but from what we saw, it only let us know if the passenger’s airbag was off. It could have been used for so much more.
We like the direction that Toyota is heading, and this car feels like it’s just emphasizing that they are wanting to give a sportier ride, but ultimately, we just feel this falls short. We want to love this car, but it’s so focused on handling that it forgot the rest of the experience, leaving us wondering who this car is for. Someone new to the track likely isn’t going to be taking a brand new, limited run car, and a seasoned driver is going to notice the lack of power, the long shift throws, the lack of feeling in the clutch. We’re not sure who will be taking it to the track as intended, and if that’s the case, it’s far too stiff for the public roads. Maybe it’s for the beginner tuner, to provide a car that’s half set up, if that’s the case we hope that Toyota really pushes some aftermarket options to bring that crowd in. Toyota has both GR (Gazoo Racing) and TRD (Toyota Racing Development), but it feels like neither were invited to the development meetings for the APEX.
We hate to say it but it feels like the APEX was so focused on tackling the corners, it cut too many of its own.
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