JOHANNESBURG - The new, locally built Toyota Corolla Cross is set to go on sale in South Africa from early November, and while most of the details remain under wraps for now, the company has released new details on the engine line-up.
The base engine will be the familiar 1.8-litre unit that currently powers the Corolla Quest as well as the entry-level new Corolla sedan. The normally aspirated unit produces 103kW at 6000rpm and 173Nm from 4400 revs. Toyota SA claims a fuel consumption figure of 6.8 litres per 100km.
There won’t be a manual gearbox option by the looks of it as the only transmission Toyota mentions is a CVT unit with seven built-in steps. But will buyers really miss the manual option? We doubt it.
While the 1.8-litre unit will almost certainly be the volume seller, Toyota will also be offering a hybrid variant, which pairs an Atkinson cycle version of the aforementioned 1.8-litre engine to an electric motor. The petrol engine produces 72kW and 142Nm and the electric motor is good for 53kW and 163Nm, however the overall system output is limited to 90kW due to transmission reduction losses.
But how efficient is it? Toyota is claiming a combined fuel consumption figure of 4.3 l/100km for the Corolla Cross Hybrid, with CO2 emissions falling below the 100 g/km barrier.
What else do we know about the TNGA-based Toyota Corolla Cross?
Pricing has yet to be announced, but Toyota South Africa has previously stated that it will be positioned between the C-HR and Rav4, meaning that the entry price is likely to fall within the early 400 000s. In size terms, the Corolla Cross slots between the two aforementioned vehicles. It shares its 2640mm wheelbase with the C-HR, but is 100mm longer and has a more generous luggage capacity of 487 litres.
The Toyota Corolla Cross will also be offered with a range of exterior accessory packages designed to suit a variety of tastes. These include “sporty urban” and “rugged adventure” themes.
The vehicle has already gone into production at Toyota SA’s facility in Prospecton, which forms part of a R2.4 billion investment that will see the vehicle being produced for the local market as well as other African countries, in both right-hand drive and left-hand drive configurations.
IOL Motoring