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The tagline to the new generation of hip, peppy and musically infused Toyota Corolla commercials is “Let’s Go Places.” For me, that literally turned into a whirlwind two-day trip to San Diego to preview and test drive the brand-spanking new 2014 models.
"I'll see what I can work out," was my verbal response. My immediate non-verbal thought, though, was more along the lines of, "You had me at 'San Diego.' "
San Diego in late August -- are you kidding?
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Our first route turned out to be the longest as we set out in an LE Eco beyond the Otay Lakes region, on the outlying area of San Diego, and a roundtrip of over 40 miles. The LE Eco is a completely new Corolla model grade. Its calling card is that it is the only Corolla to feature the new Valvematic engine combined with a newly developed Continuously Variable Transmission. Explaining how that actually works is above my pay grade, but the result is more efficient horsepower and better gas mileage. It boasts 42 mpg on the highway, which Toyota claims as the best in its class.
What I can tell you is that we thoroughly enjoyed the LE Eco, and it handled superbly in all the conditions we encountered on this route, which featured some city and highway driving, followed by a lengthy stretch of two-lane highway through hilly and curvy roads out near Outay Lakes.
Our second excursion involved a 2013 Corolla on a short downtown route. This was offered as a way to compare the 2014 models with the year prior. The 2013 was fine, of course, but somehow we didn't feel quite as cool or sporty tooling through downtown as we had in the Eco. The 2014 models were a clear upgrade.
Another favorite was the Corolla S, which is the most sporty model. Once inside the S, we decided to take it on the second-longest route -- and the most scenic -- which involved navigating Palm Boulevard on the south side of Coronado, to Highway 75 and along Silver Strand Boulevard through a long stretch of the city before going over the Coronado Bridge and returning to San Diego. This jaunt offered some of the best views, with enticing white sand beaches just a short distance away. The sporty S, with its cool-looking trapezoid front grille, bright colors and rear spoiler, was extremely fun to drive.
Our final assignment was taking the LE grade for a spin, and the one remaining route cut right through the middle of Balboa Park -- a sprawling 1,200-acre cultural destination that is not only home to the San Diego Zoo, but also museums, theaters, gardens and walking paths. Balboa Park may have only been 4 miles or so away from Broadway Pier, but it seemed worlds away from the busy afternoon traffic in downtown San Diego.
Can I explain to you all the nuts and bolts of the 2014 Toyota Corollas? No. But I can tell you that they were all fun to drive, handled perfectly, accelerated nicely and were an all-around good ride. Oh, and the sound system rocked, although I avoided turning things up as high as I would have liked, out of concern for my riding partner.
Perhaps the best example of how smooth a ride it was is that Judy and I were so often lost in conversation and scenery on our last couple drives, that she would forget to keep close tabs on her navigation duties (following a detailed route map in a separate booklet). In that respect, riding along in the new Corollas felt right at home.
-- Doug Fox is features editor of the Daily Herald and editor of the Ticket entertainment section. In addition to his editing duties, he covers the rock music beat and other entertainment news as well as writing general feature stories. He blogs at www.heraldextra.com/blogs/editing-room-floor/
Read more from Doug Fox here
Read more from Doug Fox here
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