The all new 2014 Toyota Corolla replaces an outgoing model that everyone knew as a reliable and economical car. It just wasn’t the most exciting thing on the road.
Toyota invited Annie to experience the new Corolla in Miami a few weeks ago. UnFortunately, she was 9 months pregnant and couldn’t go, so I went in her place. Being a blogger’s husband is a tough gig, but someone’s gotta do it.
Miami was a great place to showcase the redesigned Corolla. We started out with a quick look at the car before heading off across Biscayne Bay to Corolla Key (a completely made-over Boater’s Grille at No Name Harbor).
Corolla Cove
Yummy rustic dinner
We were able to get the inside scoop on the new Corolla straight from Toyota’s marketing team over a delicious dinner of roast pig, paella, and whole fried fish.
The next morning, we met for breakfast on the beautiful pool deck of the Viceroy Miami before heading out to test drive the stylish new Corolla. On first impression, the car looks much edgier and more upscale. The front end is more aggressive, with standard LED headlamps and a large lower grille. The rear end has been also upgraded, with sculpted wrap-around taillights.
But it’s the interior that really makes this an attractive vehicle. The old Corolla had a basic interior with the usual hard plastics and basic center stack design common in economy cars. The new interior has been completely updated to an elegant horizontally flowing design with soft touch materials, stitching details, and piano black accents.
Slick looking new interior
I adjusted the seat to a comfortable position…all the way back and down for my big frame. Then I went and sat in the back seat to test out the extra 5 inches of legroom back there. I was pleasantly surprised to fit with room to spare!
Roomy back seat
Back in the driver’s seat, I set the navigation for the Cape Florida Light and headed south to the beach. Along the way, I came across a previous generation Corolla and just had to park next to it for comparison (not staged, I swear).
2014 Corolla next to previous generation Corolla
Looking at the two cars side-by-side really made the sharper lines of the 2014 model stand out. The standard wheels on the 2014 Corolla S were even better looking than the aftermarket wheels on the older Corolla.
After dipping my toes in the Atlantic at the historic lighthouse (and getting some sand in the new car..shhhh), I headed back to the hotel. At slow speeds in the state park, the Corolla felt nimble. Visibility to the rear was good and was helped greatly when parking by the standard backup camera. The suspension in the S-model felt nicely taut; I could feel the road but bumps weren’t jarring. The GPS took me back into downtown Miami on 95 and I was pleasantly surprised to find the Corolla drove like a bigger car and was very stable at highway speeds. With the comfortable driving position and improved steering wheel (which reminded my of the 2013 Toyota Rav4 we looked at earlier this year), I felt like I was driving a much more expensive car.
To round out the trip, Toyota took us to the amazing Wynwood Arts District to experience a neighborhood that has become the epicenter of the arts and creative businesses in Miami. The centerpiece of the neighborhood is The Wynwood Walls, a showcase of street art and graffiti from top artists, which was a great location to end an amazing weekend with the 2014 Toyota Corolla.
2014 Corolla at The Wynwood Walls
So what do you think? Do you like the Corolla’s new look?
All opinions are my own.
