Mainstreaming diesel

Toyota's Corolla, can you believe it, is now in its tenth generation. Talk about a long family history, the Corolla easily pre-dates me!

Of course it's evolved massively over the years, but has largely stayed true to its original design brief. Corolla has never been a car to light your nerve-endings with adrenaline, or even warm your cockles with daring styling. In fact, it seems to have been built to combat such emotional motoring ties. It was made to transport people. Safely, efficiently, reliably, and for a competitive purchase price…

In fact the tenth-generation model surprised me by, in small ways, breaking out of this mould. Its styling may not be full of flair, but it is rather handsome for a Corolla and manages to look modern. Still not exactly an Italian car, but quite a step for this brand to take. And the interior is similarly updated.

Then the drive, while still not gunning for Lotus Elise customers, isn't half bad either, and can be downright pleasing at times. It feels as if the chassis can make all four tyres work for their money nowadays, and the petrol variants I drove at the launch whisked me easily to beyond the 200km/h mark, even while my wife continued to sleep off an enjoyable night with the bubbly Toyota SA team…

So when the new D-4D Corolla arrived, and due to fuel concerns and my lengthy commute, it was assigned to me for its stay and I wasn’t entirely put out. And during the week I continued to be quite impressed. That torquey new turbodiesel actually makes this D-4D one of the strongest-feeling of the Corolla line-up. It's pretty refined too, even when blasting on the highway at very illegal speeds, and that thick mid-range torque curve makes reaching these speeds when the road opens up an easy process.

It's also blessed, quite strangely, with a superb six-speed shifter which is as slick and positive as anything I've felt in sportier cars in recent years.

However.

It remains true that the most exciting thing about driving a Corolla, even with an oil-burner in its nose, is the thought that the massive numbers sold contribute to it featuring among the leaders of 'Most Hijacked Vehicles' every year, a sobering thought driving through dark JHB suburbs during load-shedding.

Not a single other thing about the car will cause even so much as a blip on the emotional scale. It's all very competent yes, will no doubt go forever, is frugal on fuel, a comfortable place for you and yours to be sat, and features looks adequate for its humble purpose, but it is not in any way or by any stretch of the imagination fun.

And it's rather pricey too… For this money, you could get into something far less practical or reliable, but a whole planet more emotionally-charged.