H.Kishie Singh is based in Chandigarh and has been a motoring correspondent for newspapers like The Statesman, New Delhi and The Tribune.His column ‘Good Motoring’, for The Tribune ran for over 27 years. He has been also been the contributing editor for magazines like Car & Bike, Auto Motor & Sport and Auto India. His latest book Good Motoring was published recently and has co-authored a book with The Dalai Lama, Ruskin Bond, Khuswant Singh and others, called The Whispering Deodars.


Saturday, 31 October 2020

VEHICLE VIGNETTES---THE TOYOTA COROLLA APEX

The Oxford dictionary defines the word 'classic' as a work of art of high standard and lasting value. Substitute the word engineering for art and it describes the Toyota Corolla Apex

This year is the 50th year of the Toyota Corolla, one of the best selling cars of all time. Loved and respected for being good looking, well behaved (excellent road manners), faithful, meaning trouble free!

I’ll vouch for that. I drove it all over North America. Then London to Delhi, back to Tehran and back to Delhi. The car was utterly reliable.

To celebrate 50 years of the Corolla, Toyota is bringing out the Toyota Corolla Apex. The 12th generation Corolla. If the name is any indication it should be the pinnacle of engineering from Toyota.

It will have a powerful 2000 cc engine mated to a six speed manual transmission, which allows the driver to take matters into his own hands!

The body is sleek; a spoiler on the rear end replaces the standard design. It has 18 inch wheels. A conical shaped exhaust produces a bolder throaty note.

Topping off this aggressive design is a choice of cement grey body color with a black roof.

The upgrades don’t stop at the light weight wheels and sporty sounding exhaust.

To tackle twisty hill roads the Apex will come shod with special summer tires backed by a new sports tuned suspension that features solid stabilizer bars and a lowered ride height that makes for more responsive driving.

With these serious inputs of style, technology, engineering there is a promise of luxury and performance a la Toyota.

That's a lot to look forward to, especially from Toyota. Plans are to launch it in the USA in 2021.

Will it come to India?