2026 Toyota Corolla Cross facelift driving REVIEW - why is it so popular?

Why is the video about this vehicle here one of the most watched videos recently? This is the updated Toyota Corolla Cross and sometimes it's not about the fanciest vehicle, not about super cars or super premium, high luxury, whatever. It's more about that people are interested in a reliable vehicle, in a vehicle that is practical for everyday driving life, maybe for the family and also in a good price-performance ratio. Now, the Toyota Corolla Cross comes with this update, this facelift in different trims, exterior, interior and also important updates while driving, everything you need to know with Thomas Nautico Fuel in 4K, full screen, full length. Let's go. This is here a mid-trim model, so to speak, but even these, you get the new front grille with this honeycomb design, so a sporty look and here even in the vehicle color which is emotional red for you today, very strong color indeed. Then here, this middle area here is also a new design and in the highest trim, you can also get it illuminated and there's also optionally now the first ever GR Sport for the Corolla Cross. It was available in some markets before, I think in Asia, but now it's available also worldwide. You can get a GR Sport trim with a distinctive sportier look, then you now also get for all trims new headlamps, optional in highest trim also with matrix LED and here also with a nice design in the top here from the daytime running light and then you can still see these crossover claddings here to get the rugged look for this compact SUV which is at the length of 4 meters 46 or 176 inches, is by the way between T-Roc and Tiguan in the Volkswagen spectrum, this very interesting positioning also and then you can see the crossover cladding in lower part once again, 18-inch wheels we have here, they range from 17 to 19-inch, in this case then 18-inch wheels with winter tires. GR Sport again would get the 19-inch styling in a more dramatic fashion, but here you have these classic dimensions, upright that you have enough space on the inside and so on, standard steel suspension, the GR Sport would also be 10 millimeters lower with the sportier setup. Update also with this facelift that you now have the Corolla Cross lettering, very wide here in the rear and also these new tail lamps, nice signature, the turning indicator is a little bit small, I feel, and important updates also for the NVH, noise, vibration, harshness, so they especially improve the dampening on the inside of the roof and also especially from the rear area from the inside that it's less noisy on the motorway, so looking forward to that, if that's true, and then the highest trim models, they also get a special dampening towards the engine, but the less wind noise effect, that is for all models and even this here should account for that, so these vortex generators here, they should also help with less wind noise on the inside when you sit in the rear, very interesting fact, isn't it? Now to the interior, starting with the key fob, standard, and then here, door closing sound, not too bad actually, even in the rear and let's check out with the door handle thing, yeah, this, they are snatching a little bit, but actually not too bad, so they worked on that, it's nice, then inside of the door, this is also soft touch, a nice structure, so that feels really nice, then for the elbow, yeah, that should be a little bit softer, it is a soft touch on the surface, but there's not much foam underneath, so to speak, basic controls for the mirrors and so on, hardback then here at the inside of the door, there's a hybrid entry badge here, and then steering wheel, there's no animal free solution yet available for the Corolla Cross, for other models, yes, real buttons at the steering wheel, for example, here to control something of the digital instruments, right side for the cruise control, this here, by the way, is hardback, it seems structured, but it's actually not, it's just like the visual part is structured, then these are the fabric seats, and they look quite comfortable, let's see if that's really the case, low and mid-trim have these fabric seats, the GR Sport would have sport seat with microfiber, this one here, the fabric, optional, they also offer animal skin, the highest trim, but they here are actually really decent, so also as a tall adult, very nice comfort, it's also good seating depth, and this fabric is also feeling quite nice, so, yeah, I really like the seats, and they're also wide enough, actually, then with 189, 62, there's still some headroom left, and the steering wheel up and down, in and out, widely adjustable, oh, look at that here, some cars tend to do that, right, you know, like the stock columns move together when you move the steering wheel. Welcome to the updated interior here with the Corolla Cross, 10.5-inch infotainment system, and then here, also soft touch at the dashboard, the whole area, so this is nicely done, and these NVH measures, noise, vibration, harshness, talked about on the exterior, they count for almost as less noisy while driving in a motorway, and then especially for the highest trim and the GR Sport, they get this additional dampening between or behind the dashboard towards the engine, but that is only that you hear less engine noise, not especially against the wind noise, these are the other measures, so this will be still fine in here in this very trim, and there's a touchscreen here, as you see, has like the internal GPS, that's not too quick though, gotta say that, soon we'll get to that, then here we have the classic climate knobs, just turning it, easy to see and to do that while driving, also the fan speed and so on, then here is also a new middle console, it's done the shifting lever here like this for drive mode or reverse, really like massive, this thing, then here drive mode selector is in the top part, I can also show you the visualizations in the instruments, left side inductive charging pad, not ventilated though, right side just to put your smartphone, but here's also a USB-C charger, I would personally use, honestly, here, also pretty cool, like in an airplane, these are really like high-pitched click noises for high and low, and you can leave it in that, you know, when you want to start in the morning, again, it's directly on, cup holders are not adaptive though, but here's news, this fabric cover here for this armrest, and now you can also only open it with some space underneath, you can also slide it forward like this, so it's a little bit adjustable, then, I mean, why not improve such small things there, and now we can take a look at the digital instruments and also some more details here at the infotainment. Now, the driver POV here, once again, with the rear buttons at the steering wheel, right side for the cruise control, for example, and then we have the new digital instruments, and these animations are also new here, when I put in the different driving modes, so that looks a little bit fancier, a little bit more modern, and then, here, the main infotainment system, as I said, this may be a little bit slow, and let's say a basic system, what I always do is display, and then I put it always to the, like, nighttime dark mode, it looks a little bit better then, and then we also have the Apple CarPlay, this integration looks quite nice, and I would, yeah, use the CarPlay or the Android Auto most of the time, it's not flickering in real life, just on camera a little bit, by the way, and important update for all EU customers here, to deactivate the speed bling bling chime, just an easy press now here in top of the infotainment. Rear seats, this is all hard pack and simple, also with an interesting cup holder here, actually, that we don't see that often. What I find quite cool is that the rear bench here also to the side is actually quite wide, once again, ISOFIX here outside each, these clips here, however, just, you know, like, you have to save them somewhere that you don't lose them, so, be careful with that. Nice fabric structure here, the same, like, in the front, so, you know, for the cup holders, they are not adaptive, though, and we also have this cargo position, like this, if you have a little bit more length than in the trunk, yeah, but more relaxed, probably, when you leave it like this, then you now have two USB-C chargers there in the very down bottom part, the build quality here is very basic, honestly, though, and then, it directly fits when I'm driving as a tall driver, 189,642, so, that's fine, and also here, headroom-wise, no problem, so, I think it's overall, considering it's not the longest car, still good usage of space, and there is also a version with a panoramic roof, just connected in the very, very highest trim, but this one, then, of course, will be a little bit more silent, so, overall, I think, decent space for the car of that size. Now, to the trunk or the boot, which is at 470 liters measured to the top, and here, this cover here, there's no rails, left, right, you can also easily remove that, so, that's really easy, then, and here, this cabin trolley also fits in underneath, also vertical, and then, here, this is a meter of 40 inches, and you see here, between the wheel arches there, it's a little bit less, however, here, in this higher area, in the front part, this is way more, so, this, again, meter of 40 inches, depending on where you measure, actually, and then, here, the standard length is about 34 inches or 85 centimeters, this is rugged cover map, yeah, you don't have to use it, so, this would be, like, one layer, and then, there's, like, the normal layer underneath, and then, here, there's, like, some more space, and you can also easily reach over here, like this, and like this, and then, it's also nicely done here with these covers, you know, that you don't have too many holes, and you have this step there a little bit covered, then, the total length here is 65 inches or 1 meter 65, and, last but not least, the height, wow, that's, like, look at that, like, 80 centimeters or 31 inches, so, definitely, good dimensions, as for the trunk or the boot, what do you think? Now, to the engine specifications, and please don't forget to subscribe, if you haven't done so far, you know, support us with a like or with a comment, it always helps the algorithm, and it's totally for free. Then, about the engine lineup here, either you get a 1.8-liter 4-cylinder hybrid with 140 horsepower or the 2-liter hybrid with 180 horsepower or 4-cylinders, as I said, and, in Europe, only the hybrids, outside of Europe, you could also get these engines without a hybrid, this one in here, definitely, the hybrid Focus, and here, we do have the 180 horsepower version, front-wheel drive, 7.7 seconds is the acceleration figure, there would also be optional an orbiter for this one, then you get an additional electric motor in the rear. Let's start driving the Toyota Corolla Cross in this update here, and, as you might also hear, you hear nothing, because we're starting in the EV mode from this hybrid drivetrain, I also see this EV symbol there in the digital instruments, and you can always use these advantages, good fuel economy, and so on, and it's also more silent, and no less local emissions than in this mode, and a lot of Uber drivers are also really using this engine concept now, so here now, especially in Germany, like all the Uber cars are Toyota Corolla, wait a minute, it's Corolla Estate, right? Yeah, yeah, I think Toyota Corolla Estate, this is like the Uber car now in Germany, so really fun to see that, and they also are really happy with this engine here, and you also save brake pads, for example, because even when, for example, next traffic light is red, you're on the brakes, and then you're also using recuperation, and you're not wearing the brake pads that much, and there you go, in this case, the engine popped on, that might sometimes happen, because of you have heating turned on, or something like that, so it always depends on the situation, now the engine is off again, and the cool thing is that it gives you like a very smooth driving experience, and also, for example, when you're going like back and forth, so when you're like parking a lot, and so on, that really has like this very quick transition from G to reverse, and back again, that it really helps you also to calm down, together now with the new noise installation, brought down the NVH, and we already feel it actually when standing still, but we'll soon also experience it here on the German Autobahn, with this hybrid drivetrain, and this planetary gearbox, you also tend to drive a little bit more conservative, the moment I'm here in this eco mode, and you really try to be a little bit more efficient, because I'm soon going to push it really hard, you know, these are not the most performing engines, however, here in the strongest trim, with 7.7 seconds to 100 kilometers an hour, 62 miles an hour, I would say that's still decent, that you're not, let's say, lost when accelerating onto the motorway. Once again, starting the e-driving mode, now the engine is on again, now it's off again, so very smooth transitions between engine on and engine off, and I think, once again, it's really astonishing that, although the engine is on and off that often, that these engines are so reliable, and also has to do with that the electric boost takes off like this first pressure, you know, the engine would usually have, and that actually really helps the engine also long term, and we can, by the way, also deactivate these speed chimes, you have to go to the Toyota menu first, and then deactivate the speech, because Leo was already like, I don't, I really want to turn that one off, and now we can also go to the motorway, German Autobahn, very famous, of course, and we can also select the drive mode here from eco to normal, but also to power, so this is the power mode now, let's see how much acceleration performance we get then, so starting here at about 50 kilometers an hour, which repeats nicely from the seat in the corner, so these seats are wide, but at the same time, they give enough side support here, so I really like this this fabric seat, which has this sports seat style, so to speak, right, it's actually pretty cool, and now let's do some acceleration first, like 70 to 100, let's go, that's it, yeah, it's not the most powerful car, definitely not, but you see here, you get still sufficient acceleration for most situations, honestly, can I say that, at least when I would be driving German Autobahn, I would probably not go for a weaker one, you know, there's also the 140 horsepower version from the 1.8 liter, and yeah, this one here has a little bit more punch, and also, I always say, go for higher displacement, but lower horsepower figure in comparison, you know, so that you don't put too much stress on that engine, and it's still okay, noise sensation wise, yes, it's less noisy than before, definitely, so I felt that so far Corolla Cross was kind of noisy on the motorway, yeah, it's still not the most silent car, here at like 130 kilometers an hour, you still hear some wind turbulence here in the front, but it's definitely better than before, however, it will not win a prize for most silent vehicle, it is, however, good to control, steering feel is really likable, it's direct, precise, and so on, and the suspension also does not shake up, it is, I would say, like a good neutral setting, so between comfort and sportiness, when you go a little bit right left, you feel that it's not in the sportiest trim, but it shouldn't also be too sporty for this very vehicle, right, interesting, by the way, that when I have the CarPlay, GPS, I also see some basic arrows in the digital instruments, so that helps, you know, so I don't have like a bad mirroring by these basic guidances, so the car is, let's say, it gives you like a very good balanced feeling, also when we're here on the motorway, heated steering wheel, by the way, is a separate button here left next to the steering wheel, so I can also, but it's placed very, very low, as you can probably see that, but you can still reach it while driving, you know, when you accelerate, when you're already at speed, the engine feels a little bit, you know, that would be maybe struggling, but that's the thing, these engines are rather set on reliability and city driving, but not necessarily on the best performance, but how does it perform when we drive a little bit faster here, wind noise, I would say, up to 120, 130 is still okay, hasn't changed that much now, now it's picking up a little bit in 150 kilometers an hour, let's do another name change here, yeah, I think it gives you like a good balanced feeling, a T-Roc, for example, which we have driven recently, would convey a much sportier driving feeling, there you can also get the adaptive suspension, the DCC, that one gives more driving fun and sportiness, I would say this vehicle has a likable driving feeling, but it's not focused on the best driving fun, let's take it that way, the good thing is really that they improved the NVH, even though it won't win like the price for that, as I said, and the more you drive in the city, and the more you use this hybrid drive, the more fun you have with that, basically, here for the motorway, you get along, but then, of course, you won't have all the efficiency advantages when you're driving like really high speed for a very long time, the car is also upright and so on, it doesn't have the best CD value, it's also, you know, not changed that majorly, there we go, one more name change, how do you feel, passenger, it's fine? Yeah, it's fine, yeah. It's always a good sign from Lia when she's fine, and also when I'm moving the car around a little bit, it says the assistant systems, you can see it here on the right side of the steering wheel, so now let's say to 130, and now we offer also the active lane keeping assist, there's also special assistant view, now this vehicle went in, so now decelerated just a little bit now, it's keeping it, it's actually quite decent so far, let's see, oh, rpm quite high for that now, interesting, interesting, as if the vehicle would use the engine brake for that, that was interesting, so let's try one more time with free road, and see how nervous it is, or calm in the lane guidance, some minor corrections left and right, yeah, I wouldn't say not a hundred percent convinced, now it is also unavailable soon, not sure why that is, so yeah, I think the basic stuff is okay, but there are also more sophisticated systems out there now, and I would really say that the preferred traveling feeling is here at about like 120, 125 miles, kilometers an hour, not 120 miles an hour, so about like 70 miles an hour, and above that, it still gets a little bit noisy, but up to this speed, when you're a little bit, yeah, still a lot of beeping noise going on, but like the standard motorway speeds, it's better from the NVH, but as I said, can always be better still, and some countryside roads, I went to the eco mode now again, and when we're going uphill, that combustion engine, and these speeds here around 70, 80 kilometers an hour, there you especially feel that the NVH has been improved in the rear part, with these exterior measures, but also on the interior dampening, more damping at the inside of the roof, and also more damping in the rear around there, so that helps only when you're doing that German thing, driving really fast on the motorway, and then you might still think, yeah, okay, still out, you know, but here at these, let's say, normal worldwide speeds, I think it's fine. Here also the suspension is doing this balanced job. You know that the GR Sport has the 10 millimeter lower and stiffer suspension. I would not really need that. I think the suspension setup here is fine. Of course, you will have to sport the driving feeling, because this one does not have the sportiest drive, but if you would like exactly this model, and then say, yeah, you want to have a little bit more driving fun, then, of course, the GR Sport could be something for you, if you're willing to pay that extra price. Very interesting note, by the way, that worldwide, there are also more low trim versions sold in certain markets. In the U.S., for example, I think, what's the entry price, like some 20, 25 thousand dollars? Inconceivable for the European market, but here you always start with a hybrid, you have a lot of trim included, and so on, and these base entry versions that are, for example, sold in North America, they are, as we say in Germany, naked cars, so there's nothing in it, you know, like entry-level engine, no hybrid, hardly any equipment, anything, everything manuals on. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't have to be good, bad, when everything is rather manual, it's like a tailgate and whatever, but it's very interesting to know that here in Germany, for example, they rather sell, like, beginning with a global mid-trim, so to speak, that is the lowest trim here already, so here, feeling really nice at 100 kilometers an hour, 60 miles an hour, there is, like, where the car is still at home, not necessarily home on the motorway, but rather in the city and on countryside roads, and so on, and here, for example, as we're going downhill again, I'm already in the EV mode, although we are here at higher speeds, 100 kilometers an hour, and now using charging of the battery even more, because I'm on the brake, and once again, it really saves you a lot of brake pads over the time, especially, you know, and when you're driving in the city, it really calms you down, it's more silent while driving, somehow you also feel better that, you know, that you don't make any noise here, and less emissions locally, so it all plays into the hands of these hybrid drivetrains. To me, the best thing would always be the reliability, because they really have been proven to be reliable, definitely. Here, once again, downhill, EV mode on, and I think it's light on the steering wheel, but not too light, you know, some of the new vehicles are feeling, for me, too light in the steering, I think here they also found a good compromise, and let's see here one more time, oh, that's a nice s-chicane they built here in the city, there we go, yeah, there, maybe you also see on the camera that the car shakes a little bit. There again, the GR Sport would be different, but since the focus of this vehicle would rather be going around the city, picking up the kids, and so on, I think it's absolutely fine they found this more comfortable setup here, and then you're, you know, more and more playing with this hybrid drivetrain to be even smoother here, for example, and have an even transition, it's also smooth for the passenger, for example, using just a little recuperation, and you're smoothly starting again, so this drivetrain really teaches you to drive more efficiently, that's also a very interesting so overall, it will not get the driving fun price, recently, as we drove the VW T-Roc, that one has way more driving fun, it also has the adaptive suspension, that one also helps, and again, it goes higher in the price, this one here, of course, then scoring with the reliability of the engine, and this hybrid concept, so even looking more forward, when we can drive the T-Roc and the hybrid, how this one will directly relate to, and the fuel economy here, for our test route, and we had some city driving, kind of sweat driving, but also motorway driving, including acceleration, and that then rather went up, like on the motorway, high speed, like seven liters or something, however, because then the hybrid system was active, and we had now 58% of EV driving share overall, that's very impressive, that brought down the consumption again, that we have an overall result of just over five liters on more kilometers, like 45 MBG US, and yeah, some 53 MBG UK, and that's, of course, pretty cool, and most of the times, with the Toyota hybrids, we have exactly this result. Price range, if I take our German prices here, we range between 37,000 and 49,000 Euros, and this one is in the middle with, or maybe even towards lower end, 41,000 Euros, as it stands right here, this is also a trim, exactly how the car is right here, it's the most sold Corolla Cross version in Germany, for example, with this mid trim here, and I think, otherwise, it maybe also gets too expensive for what it offers, the best pro is, of course, the reliability of these Toyota hybrids, and that's also a practical vehicle, so you can use it for basically everything, very good that they now improved the noise insulation, because that was a big criticism point before, there are still some areas in the interior which are rather basic, and where some competitors are maybe ahead, but then again, the reliability, they are then ahead of the competition, that's always very important, and you have good space offering also for the trunk and so on, and I also find the front seats very comfortable, also for tall drivers and co-drivers, of course, so that is one of my favorite features here, these very comfortable fabric seats here today, and also the driving, I mean, it's not the most fun vehicle, so to speak, that's very like neutral in everything it does, you know, so it's not screaming out anything, and that's why it's also so successful, because it just basically does the job, and that's why the Corolla Cross will once again be also one of their best sellers here with these facelift changes. Do you think they are useful, these changes we had here today? Tell me in the comments, and now check out the bigger brother, the Toyota RAV4, or one of the competitors here is the Volkswagen T-Roc.