Australia’s most popular small car just got a whole lot safer with Toyota offering vehicle stability control (VSC) as standard across the entire Toyota Corolla range.
Each Toyota Corolla produced since December has received the standard fitment of VSC, which also comes with traction control.
This move will have a big impact on the level of safety of Australian public roads in the long-term, with the Corolla remaining as the nation’s top-selling car for the past decade.
Coupled with an upgrade late last year which made stability and traction control standard for the Corolla hatch, road-safety experts have said the technology could prevent nearly one-third of all fatal crashes and reduce rollover risk by as much as 80 per cent.
The system works by automatically applying the brakes to individual wheels and, where appropriate, reduces engine power, helping to “steer” the vehicle where the driver intends to go.
Since its introduction in 2000, the Toyota Corolla has sold approximately 1.1 million Corollas in Australia – or around 22 per cent of all Toyota vehicles sold in this country.
Pricing
Corolla Ascent sedan $21,390
Corolla Ascent hatch $21,740
Corolla Conquest sedan $24,750
Corolla Conquest hatch $24,500
Corolla Levin SX hatch $25,690
Corolla Levin ZR hatch $28,900
Corolla Ultima sedan (auto) $30,690
Automatic transmission is a $2,000 option for all models except Ultima (standard).
This should have happened back in 2006 when other notable cars like… the Holden Commodore had it as standard.
Why did this take so long? Was Hyundai breathing down their neck?
Either way, we are talking about the sales leaders here, and the Commodore still had it as standard.
The VE Commodore was a 4 star vehicle from launch and required minor inconsequential upgrades (like seatbelt pretensioners) to be a 5 star.
The Aurion also didn’t have VDC as standard in 2006.
Holdens weakest link is General Motors if that makes sense, and right now the Cruze is still a far superior car to the Corolla.
the aurion did have vsc as standard the camry didnt
Whats the difference? Same car different name
The spec sheet for a 2006 ATX list it as standard.
and I’d suggest the weakest link for holden is the old daewoo designs,
The new models are bloody good little cars for their price ranges
The Chev spark is 5 star Euroncap
Actually the VE required extensive re-engineering of the steering column to only just achieve its 5-star rating. And seatbelt pre-tensioners are hardly inconsequential; you may be thinking of seatbelt minders.
As for the Cruze being superior, firstly if you read anything other than Wheels aka Holden Monthly you will find that it is an average car, especially in terms of dynamics, refinement, performance, and structural rigidity. Secondly, they just recalled 9000 Cruzes for potentially explosive fuel leaks. If I’m not mistaken, that is about 75% of all Cruzes they have sold. No, the Daewoo Cruze is not superior at all, it sells simply because it has a Holden badge on it.
Why are you so biased against Holden? They still are good cars despite some mistakes they have made.
The Barina’s crash rating has improved to 4 stars ages ago due to addition of side airbags so please don’t pick on that anymore.
Also, the Cruze has scored the best among all vehicles tested by EURONCAP. So don’t even mention the Corolla as it is nowhere near the Cruze in safety at least. (I reckon the Cruze is better in pretty much everything)
I admit that the Barina, Captiva and Epica are all overdue for upgrade but given the financial constraints they have due to GM’s cash flow problems, Holden are still doing very well.
Astra, actually.
Bravo! Little pat on the back for Toyota. This only took, what…3 years?
This doesn’t deserve a pat on the back. I reckon it is a response to their global recall issue. If that didn’t happen it still wouldn’t be fitted. Shame on toyota for being such tight ar*** to begin with.
I’m with you, Oracles Teacher. My sarcasm may have been a little too gentle.
Totally agree with the sentiment. Waiting 3 years for ESP on the Corolla is a pretty big insult. You just know that the delay had more to do with marketing than engineering, in the sense that Toyota probably assessed that most Corolla buyers have higher priorities than safety.
I’ve said it before, Toyota will be among the last to give you new safety technology. They know that the vast majority of their customers probably don’t care too much.
and 5 months latter turned it into a 4 STAR
did you forget about that??
I say again … 4 STAR
I’ll only buy one when a corolla has –
6 speed auto
2.4 l engine
interior comparable to sp25
a sporty look lancer VRX or sp25
if not, then it will just be another boring drive as it is right now…..
Then obviously the Corolla is not the car for you
How about a bit bigger and true independent rear suspension as well? The Camry with a body kit’s perfect for you. But it has a 5sp auto though.
get a second hand aurion, it’s far more than you need
Why on earth would you want a 2.4 litre engine in a car this size? All that does is compound the spiral of weight, size and fuel consumption that we have seen in the small and mid-size categories in recent years.
With a turbo and supercharger, a Golf has more torque and power with just 1.4 litres compared to the 2.4 that goes into the Camry. Putting that motor into the Corolla, whose power and torque figures aren’t terribly shy of the 2.4′s, would only blow out the fuel consumption to around 8.2 l/100 kms, so it wouldn’t be a smart move.
The US Corolla has a 2.4 option with 5-speed auto. It’s quite funny the Corolla here is the only major small car player without a performance version. There was a Sportivo in the previous model, and with brilliant performers like the GTi, MPS and Ralliart, Toyota needs a fighter. The Japan hatch has since come with the Aurion’s V6 packing even more power. Couple that with independent rear suspension and it will be a serious contender.
For now, please add another gear for the auto.
But retains a 4spd auto!
Damn – gotta hve me one of these ground-breaking engineering masterpieces.
Oh, what? you kid me – 4 speed auto, soul-less drive, runs on standard fuel, no direct injection, no excitement, ………
No Sale.
What’s wrong with any engine that can run on standard fuel? The other issues aside, it beats having to pay up to 20c more per litre all the time.
…and it’s selling so well.
I’m confused…
This upgrade was applied to the facelift which happened 4 months ago or so. Side airbags were also added standard across the range (not mentioned in this “news” article).
“Since its introduction in 2000, the Toyota Corolla has sold approximately 1.1 million Corollas in Australia” The Corolla was introduced to Australia quite a few years earlier, 1966 actually.
What was the point of this article? Did toyota throw some money at caradvice and tell them they had 5 minutes to write something?
If i recall, the sedan still did not have VSC as standard. Only the hatch did. I suppose now all of it comes with VSC?
this article has nothing to do with Barina so shut up fool.
It is clear that Australia only has two eyes one is holden the other is toyota… so many better cars on the market than either of these makes but ahwell gotta go with what you know eh…
Why is CA writing an article on such old news. This happened about a month ago. And Toy motor don’t deserve to be congratulated for this. They claim the Corolla as the worlds best selling small car and they cant even give it basic safety equipment as standard. Just think of all those people out there who think their safer than God toyota’s will save them in a slide.
Don’t forget about the 3 star Crap-ace van & the no star Troopcarrier.
See what Ignorance does to people!?
VSC has been in the Toyota Auris (aka Corolla) in Europe since it’s launch, everyone here in OZ is happy that the corolla has VSC now.
Maybe like the UE government if we added a law that every new car sold has to have VSC as standard, maybe just maybe, They could stop blaming death’s on speeding and start targeting bad drivers.
We just did. Its becoming active in 2011.
Now if they can just fit stability control to their public image, they’ll be fine.