I had an exceptional time driving the Toyota Corolla cross XLE all-wheel drive. It’s not hard to see how the Corollas are the best-selling vehicle worldwide.
What Toyota has done is take their best-selling vehicle and combine it with one of the most popular auto segments in America.
The results are a compact crossover SUV that is built at the new joint Mazda and Toyota plant in Alabama. The joint factory is a huge initiative. I was very eager to get some time behind the wheel.
I found It was comfortable to drive. You have seating for five. I was able to transport my family around the Washington DC metropolitan area. In the Toyota Corolla Cross XLE, I drove as far east as Kent Island on I-97. I drove as far West on I-70 through the mountains of Appalachia to Hagerstown. I arrived all the way West to I-81 North in the northeast part of West Virginia. Underneath the hood is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 169 Horsepower. And 150 lb-ft of torque. Is mated to a CVT transmission.
It is pretty fuel-efficient. You get an EPA-rated 32 miles per gallon on the highway. I had an exceptional time even driving around the beltway on I-495 and through city streets in DC and in Maryland. The handling on the Toyota Cross was much better than I anticipated. It had a lot of great technology integrated. Features like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability are integrated well with an 8-inch touchscreen.
The model I drove also had Amazon Alexa compatibility. There was a JBL 9 speaker system. I always benchmark with my song Stop The Bullying that I made with the music department at Carnegie Mellon. I must say it came out incredible. The low end was pretty good. There’s so much to like about the vehicle. It’s pretty well built. There’s a lot of great technology in the XLE model I drove. It had heated seats, it had wireless charging capability.
I always loved Toyota’s safety sense. 2.0. It comes standard with auto-breaking and electronic parking. The base price on the Toyota Cross XLE all-wheel drive is $27,625. With options, I mentioned including the moonroof and more it came out to a delivered price of $32,594. For more information visit www.Toyota.com