Until now. If you drove a hybrid, you'd have to announce it to the world. Well, today that changes.
This is the 2025 Toyota Corolla Hybrid, and it may be Toyota's most important hybrid yet because most people don't even know it is one. It offers impressive mileage, all wheel drive, and it looks like a normal car. The question is, has Toyota finally cracked the code on making hybrids mainstream?
Let's find out. Buckle up my friends. Let's go for a drive.
I'm your host, Brian Max racer, lover of driving fast, fun things. And on this channel you get reviews for drivers from drivers. Now I find this Corolla Hybrid interesting because it seems Toyota's finally decided that hybrids don't have to be boring, but a bit of an interesting story.
The other day I got an Uber ride in one of these. Exactly the same same color, same trim, everything. So this might be a bit of a review from both sides of the ride share equation, but I promise not to tell you my life story while I've taken you on an unnecessary detour in a sketchy neighborhood.
And before we get into what this is like to drive, let's have a look at it in a little more depth. Remember when hybrids were strange looking? Well, this is totally different.
Toyota put its latest gen hybrid system in its most normal looking car. It's kind of like getting your burger protein style it in and out. The powertrain starts with a 1.
8l naturally aspirated four cylinder under the hood, and then there's an electric motor at the front, plus one at the rear axle, which is what makes this all wheel drive. Combined system output is 138 horsepower at 5200 rpm. The transmission's an electronically controlled CVT.
Steering's electrically assisted Macpherson struts at the front, multi-link at the rear with conventional dampers, four wheel disc brakes all around, base wheels and tires are sixteens. This one's rocking the eighteens. Curb weight is 2,850 pounds, and that's a surprise, but good for Toyota for making this relatively lightweight in 2025.
And there's a long list of standard safety features that come with just about everything except the personal bodyguard. And for my Uber friends, this Corolla Hybrid is basically a purpose built rideshare machine. Toyota engineers clearly spent nights driving for Uber because they've given it everything 48 miles per gallon combined for those endless airport runs, all wheel drive for that 3 a.
m. Taco Bell delivery in the snow and Uber drivers turn signals that actually work, you should consider using them. Did you know that 80% of you are not subscribed?
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Here in the driver's seat, it's all modern Toyota Corolla, so you know what that means. Straightforward ergonomics. We do have a big screen on the top of the dash.
And all of this is very approachable. There's no real learning curve required. This seat very very comfortable helpful for you Uber drivers who have to sit here for a long time, Seating position is great.
Great relationship. The steering wheel and to the pedals. Lots of adjustment in this seat as well, so pretty much anybody could get comfortable behind the wheel.
Steering wheel, wheels perfectly shaped, right size and the wheel is heated properly here in the nine and three zones, which is where your hands are supposed to be up here, it's not heated. So for those who are Vin Diesel wannabes, well, good luck warming your hands with your hands at the top of the steering wheel. Although the shifter is controlling s CVT here, the shifter acts like a proper mechanical shifter, so you can't really screw up your gear selection that much.
I appreciate as well. There's a drive mode selector, and there's not much difference between each of the drive modes from the driver's seat, that's for sure. If anything, I do prefer in sport mode, which we'll talk about in a little bit.
Ergonomically, it's modern Toyota here, so it's fairly simple, straightforward, very approachable, easy to understand. There's really no learning curve if you're jumping into a Corolla from something else. What I do appreciate is there are lots of buttons, switches and dials, except for one, and that is a volume knob.
There are volume buttons here underneath the infotainment screen. Not really thrilled with that. It's much better to have a volume knob here, and that's something that Toyota really should consider for their most popular little four door sedan.
The infotainment system is straightforward. It's easy to use on its own. I use it on wireless Apple CarPlay.
There's a wireless charger here, very easy to live with in that regard in terms of spaciousness. Well, lots of room for you and your front seat passenger, that's for sure. A little bit of storage around, a couple of cupholders here.
Love that. This armrest, which is adjustable, there's a little bit of storage underneath the armrest as well, bottle holders in the doors, and otherwise you and your front seat passenger be very, very comfortable here in the second row. However, definitely not a place for three adults in my opinion, or at least North American sized adults, but two people back there can fit very comfortably.
I can certainly fit comfortably behind myself in the seating position and in the trunk. There's a generous amount of room and we're not doing dead body measurements. Maybe 3 or 4 full size golf bags will fit in that trunk in terms of visibility.
Well, no complaints there either. We do have a conventional mirror or not one of those camera mirrors or anything fancy, like an auto dimming mirror either. But visibility is fantastic.
Great mirrors on the outside, so if you adjust your mirrors properly, blind spots don't exist. And the genius of this interior isn't just one thing, it's how everything just works. The climate controls are actual buttons.
The screen is exactly where you'd reach for it. The gauges show you what you need to know. It's like Toyota had a meeting and said, what if we designed this interior for actual humans instead of tech pros?
And in 2025, that might actually be revolutionary. Yeah, 0 to 60 happens eventually, but that's not the real story here. This thing sips fuel like it's at a fancy tea party.
Not seriously. This thing will do 0 to 60 in about nine seconds. Top speed somewhere over 100 miles an hour.
But the real story is how this entire powertrain works so well together. It is so well resolved. It's not a different level.
This thing switches from gasoline motor to electric motor, adds the electric motor at the rear axle so seamlessly. And the best part is that rear motor engages quicker than your friend who changes plans on a Friday night. Because I have been driving this in the city, the one thing that is annoying is that futuristic hybrid sound that Toyota makes all of their hybrids do.
After a week with this thing in the city, it's about as subtle as your aunt. Sharing conspiracy theory is a Thanksgiving dinner. I get why it's there, but did it have to sound like a Roomba having an existential crisis?
Even better, why can't we customize it? Because I'd pay more to have it sound like an ice cream truck just to confuse people in parking lots as we're accelerating. This is a great example of the CVT, and yes, it's an electronically controlled, continuously variable transmission and it acts like a CVT from the driver's seat.
It does make the engine make unnatural sounds relative to a geared transmission. I understand these are bulletproof and they're amazing and they're efficient and all of that, but it still acts like a CVT and I'd much prefer a geared transmission. But given the amount of engineering Toyota has put into this entire hybrid drivetrain system, I understand why they do it, but I'd still really like a gear transmission here.
What I'm seriously impressed with, and I mentioned it earlier, is how responsive the electric motor is at the rear axle. It is incredibly responsive. There's no delay, unlike a conventional sort of part time all wheel drive system because it's an electric motor.
Responsiveness is like this. It is incredible. Plus, every once in a while, not all the time, but if you coax it just right, it will power oversteer in the snow.
That was a pleasant discovery for drive modes. There's ego, normal and sport. And sport is kind of like putting running shoes on a librarian.
Technically it's more athletic, but let's be realistic for you. Rideshare drivers. This hybrid powertrain switches quicker from gasoline to electric and back again faster than you can switch from Uber to Lyft.
Checking surge pricing plus, the whole thing is quieter than your mumbled explanations about why you had to take the long route to the airport. This Corolla Hybrid's dynamics package is very much tuned to be crowd pleasing. It's a very comfortable, quiet ride, and here, although the driving enthusiasts among us will appreciate that it can be coaxed into power oversteer in certain snowy conditions.
But it's very rare that that happens. What I will say is that these conventional dampers do a great job with body and wheel control. There is not much secondary movement zero tertiary movements in this suspension at all.
They ride is very well controlled. The suspension even handles potholes like a diplomatic negotiator. Fair but firm body roll.
More like sushi roll. It's at an absolute minimum here. Even though the suspension is compliant and Toyota's Dynamics engineers have clearly done their homework here.
Steering is electrically assisted and it does seem to have an abundance of assist. Steering is nice and light, of course. Very helpful when you're parking.
And as you'd probably expect, there's not a lot of feel or feedback that does come through the steering wheel. A lot of that is filtered out. I guess what I could say is that steering feel is like a modern relationship.
It's light, responsive, but could use a little bit more commitment. And for my Uber driving friends, well, the steering is light enough to make those mid-block three point turns on downtown streets fairly quick, and it's responsive enough to dodge those Uber Eats ebike riders who think traffic laws are optional. Braking is a highlight that seems to be consistent among all Toyota's and Lexus models.
For that matter. Braking is very strong, and you've got a lot of confidence in this brake pedal. Great control feel and modulation.
And of course, braking is your first line of defense in terms of avoiding a collision. So if you got confidence in that brake pedal, you can do what is necessary to avoid a crash. That's defensive driving 101 I suppose when even in the snow this thing stops quick and absolutely dead straight.
ABS is very well tuned and regenerative braking well, it can't even tell that it's working, which is awesome considering my phone starts screaming when it's at 20%. Thankfully, there's a decent amount of chassis feel so you can feel what's going on at each of the four contact patches. And overall, they've done a great job with this chassis.
They gave it a multi-link rear suspension, decent damping and electronic all wheel drive. It's like Toyota. I got tired of reading YouTube comments about corollas being boring and said, hold my green tea.
How do you expect yours? Well, fairly easy question to answer, that's for sure. What you are looking at is an Excel in Canada.
That's what this is. Or an L in the US with some options. This is the underground paint of course got a very fashionable name and inside that is the black Softex interior base price in the US is $25,225, plus the premium package at $1,415, for a total as tested price of $26,640.
In Canada, base price as tested is exactly the same at $36,355, and these prices are before freight and local taxes. Plus, at these prices. That's more than what people spend on their gaming setup.
Certainly racing simulators, that's for sure. Let's put this in perspective. For the same price you're getting Toyota's latest hybrid tech, all wheel drive and enough safety features to make a Volvo blush and an interior that doesn't scream.
I bought the cheap one, and at this price, you could barely get a base model crossover that'll drink fuel like it's at an open bar. It's like Toyota is offering a premium economy ticket for regular economy prices. My verdict?
Well, let's get fuel consumption out of the way because this is a hybrid, after all, and fuel mileage is important to some people. Here's the deal. In a very snowy week worth of testing, mostly in the city, I'm getting about 40 miles per gallon.
No matter what I do. I'm sure if I try it a little harder and certainly didn't have a lot of snow to drive through, we'd be doing a little bit better. You know how Apple puts all of its good tech in the iPhone SE?
That's what Toyota did with this Corolla Hybrid. They put their best, most advanced hybrid system in their most accessible car. Except in this case, this one actually looks modern.
This isn't just another efficient Toyota. It's proof that the hybrid revolution is finally complete. No weird styling, no virtue signaling, just a really good car that happens to get decent mileage and handles winter like a champ.
And I think this is a hybrid for people who didn't know they wanted a hybrid. And as far as Toyota is concerned, well, stealth mission accomplished. And for my Uber driving friends, if I have any, it seems like Toyota's created the perfect Uber vehicle.
It's efficient enough to make money, comfortable enough to live in during your breaks, and anonymous enough that passengers won't remember. You're the one who took that questionable shortcut through that sketchy neighborhood. And I think what Toyota's done here is created the perfect car for people who want efficiency without drawing attention to themselves, which is basically the opposite of a car YouTuber.
I think Toyota is playing 4D chess with this one. They took their most popular car, gave it a highly efficient, very advanced powertrain, added all wheel drive, and somehow kept it under 30 grand. It's like they're trying to make other manufacturers rage.
Quit. Thanks for hanging out with me today and having a look at this. 2025 Toyota Corolla Hybrid.
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Thanks, Toyota. Anyway, thanks again for watching. We'll see you again next time.
And remember, cars don't understeer by themselves. Not even Toyota Corolla hybrids. And since you've hung around this long, well, have a look at a review of one of my favorite corollas, the GR.
I think you might like that episode, and it's a total contrast to what this Corolla Hybrid is all about. Thanks again for watching. See you again next time.
