Toyota Corolla Touring Sports long-term test

The car Toyota Corolla Touring Sports GR Sport Run by Jonty Renk, Video Production Manager

Why it’s here To prove that you don't have to go German for the perfect estate car 

Needs to Offer impressive fuel economy, reliability and performance while offering all the carrying capacity I need

Mileage 9822 List price £35,120 Target Price £32,295 Price as tested £35,120 Official economy 60.1mpg Test economy 49.7mpg Dealer price now £25,640 Private price now £25,258 Running costs (excl. depreciation) £1222.35 (fuel)

30 September 2025 – Singing praises in the rain

I’ve spent around six months and 10,000 miles with my Toyota Corolla Touring Sports, and I’ve spoken a lot about how I’ve put it to the test. I’ve spoken less about how it’s put my automotive preconceptions to the test, and I’d like to spend this final report doing exactly that.

First up is my view on estate cars. My car history has always consisted of small cars and large SUVs, with the former perfect for pootling around town and the latter best suited to hauling around lots of bulky items. My old Renault Clio and Nissan X-Trail fit into these two respective categories very well, and I didn’t see much point in exploring any car that split the difference. It took something very special to make me consider running an estate car – but then, the Toyota Corolla Touring Sports is just that.  

Running this hybrid estate car has shown me that you really can have the best of both worlds. The Touring Sports is quite long but reasonable in its width, so I’ve been able to navigate the urban jungle without any stress. And while it’s no seven-seater like the X-Trail, there’s plenty of interior space for passengers, and lots of boot space for my camera gear. In fact, at 596 litres, my Corolla actually has more boot space than the X-Trail (with five of its seats in place). 

What’s more, while you have to heave your items up and into a tall SUV’s boot, filling up the boot of a low-riding estate car like the Corolla Touring Sports is a much easier affair. I've had no issues loading and unloading my camera gear, and the same goes for luggage when the Corolla has been used as a holiday-mobile. It’s been to Italy, France and Scotland in my care, and handled each trip with ease.

There are plenty of clever storage compartments in the boot, too, namely a large storage well under the boot floor. You might be surprised to learn that, despite how much I’ve asked of it, I never filled the Corolla’s boot to the brim – it’s always had an appetite for more. And considering the sheer amount of kit I carry with me on a daily basis, that's impressive.

Speaking of appetites, fuel is something the Corolla consumes conservatively – naturally, seeing as it’s a hybrid (HEV). This is another preconception my car has challenged, because in the past I’ve never been particularly convinced that having a hybrid would really return much better fuel economy over a regular petrol in my line of work, where I mainly drive on the motorway.

Thankfully, I’ve been proved wrong. Its final MPG figure may be 49.7mpg, but when we pit my Corolla against the Seat Leon Estate – a mild-hybrid (MHEV) version, I should add – my Corolla averaged 59.9mpg, while the Leon put up a 56.4mpg effort. Sure, those figures are fairly close, but considering that the test took place predominantly on the motorway, I was impressed. If the cars had spent more time around town, the gap would’ve almost certainly been even larger. This is because the Corolla switches to pure electric power more often around town than it does at higher speeds. 

My final opinion that has shifted surrounds the CVT automatic gearbox. If you’re unfamiliar with a CVT, it’s basically like an automatic gearbox without any fixed gears. It’ll just hold the engine at an amount of revs – differing depending on how hard you’re pressing the accelerator – and the car will speed up until you lift your foot off the accelerator. The advantages of a CVT, at least on paper, is that it’s smoother, more efficient and reliable than a regular automatic. The problem is that, in many cars equipped with a CVT, the engine becomes annoyingly noisy during acceleration. 

I thought the Corolla would have the same issue and, yes, if you really put your foot to the floor things can get a little raucous. However, the Corolla has enough power to mean you don’t need to floor it often, so most of the time it’s completely fine. And because the Corolla can drive on electric power alone for short periods of time, the engine will often shut off entirely and then all you have to put up with is a subtle whine from the electric motor. And you can easily drown that out with the stereo.

I really don’t mind the CVT in this application. It's smooth and refined. If anything, I think it suits the Corolla and its hybrid setup.

So, I’ve changed my tune on estate cars, hybrids and CVT gearboxes, and I’ve come to this conclusion about my Corolla: it’s simply brilliant. The reason I say that is because it’s a no-gimmicks sort of car and a superbly executed one. It’s successfully played the part of my trusty workhorse for these past few months, and while I can only hope that my next car will follow in its footsteps, that’s going to be easier said than done.

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