We will have to see. I am interested to see what it looks like in person. The Avalon in photos doe not look as good as in person.

 

Well, it looks like a Prius v in the front even in person. The 50th Anniversary SE Edition in Black Cherry Pearl looks fantastic, however.

 

Just noticed that the 2017 Corolla is now up on Toyota website. Apart the exterior changes & new trim levels the biggest change IMO is the standard TSS-P active safety package.
Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection, Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist, Automatic High Beams and Dynamic Radar Cruise Control are now all standard even on the base L model !

 

wow, that's an impressive level of equipment.

 

It is, but Toyota has raised the starting MSRP by $1200 and they have found a few ways to take some features away. Also, if people are not watching carefully, the fuel economy has decreased in some trim levels. LE loses MPG in both city -1 and highway -2 for example.

 

interesting, thanks. what features did they take away?

 

The decrease in fuel economy may be from the newly revised ratings hitting all cars for 2017. Not positive though, but I'm noticing most cars have dropped their numbers thus far.

 

And the (Corolla) iM also has the Safety Sense standard.

 

The interior materials on the 2017 Corolla have definitely improved. Design is hit or miss for people, but it's comfortable, smooth and reliable car, which is why it's one of the best selling cars in the country, and best selling car in the world. Here's a quick pic I took of an SE last week.

 

i think the non se front treatment looks better

 

That SE could use a little less ride height but otherwise not bad

 

The 4 AT is finally gone. Even the base trim now gets the CVT. From what i saw on the Toyota website only the SE trim has the optional 6 MT. Earlier you could MT with both L & S grades. Am not sure if any competing vehicle offers this level of safety tech with a combination of manual transmission.

 

I don't know why they even kept the 4AT this long to start with. They probably weren't saving much, if any money, by using the less-complex 4-speed on the base model, because, by using two different automatics on the same car, they increased the associated costs of producing and stocking spare parts for them. It also made the assembly lines more complex than they needed to be.

Subaru made the same mistake on some of its N/A 2.5L vehicles. They hung on to the 4AT too long, even after they introduced a 5AT and 6AT on other vehicles. Then, when they finally DID phase out the 4AT, they replaced it with....a CVT.

I'll admit, though, that I'm somewhat biased on this issue. I never liked the typical 4AT, with the rather wide spacing between overdrive fourth gear and the substantially shorter third gear that was under 1:1. This meant that, at most of the typical driving speeds around town in suburban environments (30-50 MPH), most 4-speeds would constantly hunt back and fourth between 3rd and 4th, depending on throttle position and load, especially on hills. At least with a really old-fashioned 3-speed automatic, and its direct-drive 1:1 ratio top gear, the transmission would reach high gear and pretty stay there most of the time, though they could get buzzy on the highway with a small engine and cause more noise and engine wear. The 6ATs, of course, give you more or less the flexibility of both worlds......close enough ratios to cover both stop-and go and highway-cruise conditions.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if this is actually a couple inches longer with that new front bumper. Really extends out and makes the hood look longer. I still have mixed feelings about going this aggressive with the grill on a car that many conservative buyers have traditionally bought.

 

Not sure but the longer front bumper could also to do something with the IIHS small overlap test. I remember they did something similar for the prius V