Hi all. Wanted to give my impressions after renting a 2021 Corolla LE from Budget down in Florida for 1 week. It had 26,000 miles on it. Right now I personally own a 2015 Tacoma, 2010 CRV and a 2006 Element. What impressed me right off the bat was the gas mileage. I drove a total of 550 miles, doing a long stint to the Florida keys and back. At 70MPH on the turnpike the car averaged about 42 MPG and during the long Route 1 down in the keys where 45-55 MPH goes for quite a while I averaged just over 49 MPG!! Pretty impressive for a normally aspirated 4 banger. Car was really peppy, quiet and quite smooth driving. The CVT with the actual 1st gear startoff didnt have that classic slip CVT feel. On the down side the seats were not the most comfortable and the external rear view mirrors could be larger. Also the lane assist feature can be annoying as it trys to keep the car extremely centered in the lane so you feel it "nudging" you. I would turn it off on the longer rides. With all the talk about EV's and Hybrids I thought the gas mileage was great for a standard 4cylinder considering the best MPG I ever get in my vehicles is about 27MPG with the CRV on the highway at 60-65. Hope this helps give some folks insight when looking for a vehicle.
FYI that cvt doesn't have the lanch gear. Only the.2.0 has it.
Good review. The gas mileage is excellent and the seats not so much.
Thank you for the feedback. This will hopefully give other members insight especially on fuel economy, which understandably is on folks’ minds.
With all the talk about EV's and Hybrids I thought the gas mileage was great for a standard 4cylinder.
Just another reason why I will not get an EV or Hybrid. With that gas Corolla you are getting excellent fuel economy and less complexity/better reliability than a brand new, unproven EV vehicle (or even a hybrid). It’s a win, win in my book.
I agree with your opinion on the seats. I test drove both a Corolla and a Civic to help me decide on one and exactly because of the seats and the interior in general I'm happy I got the Civic. The 2022 Civic because of the design you don't feel squished inside a small sedan which is the feeling I got with the Corolla.
